Pain from Gerd

[blademan]

Firstly hi to everyone,I'm a 48 year old male and I was diagnosed with Hiatus Hernia and 2 cm of barretts Esophogus 2 years ago I just wanted to know if my sternum pain is normal its tender to touch,I have pain 24 hours a day 7 days a week,I also suffer from lower left chronic stabbing pains and lower back pain,I have had to date,colonoscopy x2,MRI scan,ct scan,bone scan,endoscophy x2 and armfuls of blood everything has come back normal,my doctor has referred me for physio and acupuncture,as he thinks i have condritis the problem I have is my consultant told me barretts and reflux will not make my sternum sore to the touch,please could someone help me with an answer,I'm not questioning my consultants theory but I'm so confused and beginning to feel very down,my wife and children have been such a rock but I've got to a point of not complaining as I feel everyone has had enough of me,originally I was investigated after I had a severe belt of gastric flu,and they came across the barretts and HH while under that investigation,I was told I had colitis but then told I didn't have it.but I still have the pains in my sternum,back,lower left stomach,

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Hi blademan.

It could be trigger pain (look it up - complicated to explain). As all your investigations are normal, this could be the cause. Basically the trigger is remote to where the pain is felt. The pain travels along nerves and pops up somewhere else.

A sports physio will be able to investigate this and treat it. They will show you how to treat it yourself. Its by accupressure and will need ongoing treatment. But the good thing is, you can do it yourself and as often as you like. The treatment may cause worse pain than usual but this is normal.

[blademan]

thanks for the info i will look it up

[kebsa in reply to blademan]

it is true that with persistent pain especially you can get some strange things happening and there are things called referred pain for instance sometimes a person with gall bladder problems can get shoulder tip pain- theres nothing actually wrong with the shoulder but these tend to follow set kind of patterns and i have not heard of link between the barrets oesophagus and sternal pain. there is no real link between the sternum and the oesophagus, the nerve supply, blood vessels etc are not related at all so other than the fact they are in the same area of the body there is no actual link so inflamation in the esopahgus will not be felt through the sternum. you may be think of how people with problems with their intestines or things like appendicitis have pain that is felf from the outside in the same region but this is because there is only soft tissue no bone so when the doctor palpates the abdomen over the appendix it is putting indirect pressure on the appendix through all the muscles etc= but it is not the stomach muscles hurting. so even if you esophagus was badly inflammed the pain would not be transfered to the outside of the bony sternum- the ribs and sternum are protecting the structures underneath it

You mention that Chondritis has been mentioned and that actually can be very painful. it is inflammatory pain from the tissue around the ribs and the sternum. although your esophagus and your sternum seem to be in close proximity as mentioned before i just cannot see a direct link but i can understand that if you have chondritis and you feel around the sternum it can feel incredbly sore. it is very true that a physio should be able to help you, even apply gentle warmth to the area may help you temporarily.

when i have had ulcers in the lower part of the esophagus (i have something called oesophaeal dysmotility syndrome and have had severe inflammation and ulcers as a result) i have had so called referred pain at about bra strap level on my back but it was an internal pain if that makes sense- touching from the outside did not do anything at all but tis pretty nasty pain!

[Juloep101]

Sorry your in so much pain, hubby has all your symptoms, plus 2 heart attacks he has heart meds but also 60 mg ameprazole 3 colefec and 3 buscopan, I think the sore sternum is nerve damage to be honest, fingers crossed for you