Pain relief

[mellowyellow111]

Hi all, just got diagnosed with costochondritis but have been having symptoms for a couple of years now. Can anyone with experience in this ailment suggest an effective remedy? Thank you in advance.

[Twopies]

my husband, a golfer (at the time), had it so bad he ended up in er with heart attack symptoms which they ruled out but had no idea what was wrong. Thanks to my googling, he went to physiotherapy which helped him, actually cured him, within a week—the stretching exercises really helped. He didn’t do any ibuprofen that I recall, but it might have helped too. This is all I can remember. Hope you find some relief, it’s painful stuff.

[SheffieldJane]

I have had short lived episodes of it, rest and Tramadol helped me.

[piglette]

It is so painful. I tried to give up breathing, but it did not work!! Otherwise painkillers.

[Elispeth]

I had it badly after having a respiratory infection followed by covid. It was caused by coughing too much. It was painful for a few months afterwards. I started off using an ibuprofen rub on the area which helped. I eventually had a short course of Naproxen from the doctor which also helped. I had to rest more than usual and not do anything to aggravate it. I was on 8mg of steroids at that time. Hope it clears up for you soon. Its really miserable having that on top of PMR.

[Purplegloss]

I have it from time to time, in fact i have it at the moment. I had many checks for heart problems a couple of years ago because it was so severe, but all was ok. Now when I get up in the morning I sit on the edge of the bed, and stretch my chest as far as it will go until it really hurts. This is the only way I can gradually get rid of it over a couple of weeks. The pain also goes through to my back when it is at its worst.

[HeartMe]

I use heat when it bothers me. I would think NSAID anti-infamatory meds might help. I just can't take those. Thought I might be having a heart attack the first time with pain radiating from my sternum. Now I have it in my lower front ribs. I sometimes use a topical like Lidocaine Cream or a topical CBD 1:1 cream that is effective and non-psychoactive. Hope you're feeling better soon.

[PMRnewbie2017]

I also get it on and off and recently I discovered something. The band of my bra is often quite tight as I seem to have a "broad back" and am always on the last, loosest hook despite going for fittings. I noticed that the band was pressing into my rib cage a fair bit even though I wasn't expanding my chest. I bought a bra expander from EBay and hey presto! The bras fit perfectly, are not so tight and I have not had an episode of costchondritis since.

I couldn't see from your profile if you're a lady or a gent, so apologies if this doesn't apply!!