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Hi Dr Stoll,
First I have read all of your archives on this subject, and I am still very confused...Here is my situation....
For the past 4 days, I have tightness in my chest, and difficulty breathing...It hurts when I breathe in too much, and worse when I am laying flat...Recently, I was awoken in my sleep at 4AM with such chest pains (shooting pains in my heart) and very shallow, but quick breathing....I have a difficult time going from a laying to a sitting position b/c it feels as if my entire chest is bruised....
My husband rushed me to the local ER and the attending physician spent less than 5 seconds with me, before she diagnosed me with costochondritis without performing any diagnostic testing....Is this normal??? I still have not had a EKG, chest x-ray, nothing....I feel uneasy as to how she came up with this diagnosis....She prescribed me Naprosyn, and sent me on my way...I was under the impression that costo is just another form of a respiratory infection, but after reading your archives, I'm confused....Is it a stress-induced disease??? Should I be consulting with another type of physician, other than my PCP???? Also, the ER physician told me that it will go away w/in 2-3 days on it's own....What is your opinion of this, and should I be looking into bettering my mental status???
Is this a mental illness, or physical infection???
Please respond, I thank you in advance for your time...
Michelle,
Phila, PA
In Reply to: Costochondritis??????? posted by Michelle on September 18, 2003 at 22:31:20:
A condition that is caused by inflammation of the costochondral joints. This is perceived as chest pain with tenderness to one or both sides of the sternum (breast bone). Chest pains are often worse when taking a deep breath or when moving the chest wall.
Walt says: Costochondritis is simply inflammation of the rib joints, and attachments of intercostal muscles to the ribs, due to persistent "bracing" of the intercostal muscles. So far, the only known cause of this persistent tension of the intercostal muscles is chronic stress-effect storage in the hypothalamus. This makes breathing like trying to run with a muscle cramp in your leg. You can stop running, but you cannot stop breathing. SO, when this tension is always there of course, eventually, the muscles get painful and their attachments become inflamed.
In Reply to: Costochondritis??????? posted by Michelle on September 18, 2003 at 22:31:20:
Hi, Michelle.
Listen to Sally.
Kudos to the ER doc! This is the way costochondritis SHOULD be diagnosed. It is one of the easiest diagnoses to make. Unfortunately most docs are not as conscientious as this doc was and order lots of expensive tests to satisfy the patient that they are covering all the bases. They know within a very few minutes what the diagnosis is but still run all the tests. In my opinion, they ought to be ashamed!
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Costochondritis??????? (Archive.) posted by Walt Stoll on September 19, 2003 at 07:44:35:
Thank you for replying, however I am still confused as to how I should help myself, I guess I am looking for clarification as to whether this is mental and or just an infection.....I am still experiencing tightness in my chest and have been for a few weeks, however....the shooting pains, and the limited movement is gone....Should I be doing something for the tightness in my chest??? How can I get this tightness in my chest to go away?????
In Reply to: Re: Costochondritis??????? (Archive.) posted by Michelle on September 19, 2003 at 09:58:37:
You can do whatever you have done for sore muscles in the past, take a warm bath with Epsom Salts, you can rub arnica cream or some other muscle ointment. It's not an infection. Your muscles have been pulled from around your ribs and are now sore and swollen. Treat it more like an injury and take it easy with reaching or pulling on anything.
In Reply to: Re: Costochondritis??????? (Archive.) posted by Sally on September 19, 2003 at 14:21:49:
That's what I don't understand about this...I haven't lifted anything heavy, or done anything physical to cause this...As far as doing whatever I've done for sore muscles before, this is a little different you see.....I can't BREATHE correctly....and I feel like my heart is going to palpate out of my chest...I've never heard of this before in my life....I have an appt w/my PCP tomorrow morning, and hopefully then I will get some correct insight as to how I should be handling this, other than treating it like I pulled a muscle.....If you've gone thru this before, and have some HELPFUL tips as to how you can breathe easier...I'd love to hear your comment....
Thanks
In Reply to: Re: Costochondritis??????? (Archive.) posted by Michelle on September 19, 2003 at 14:52:23:
Hi Michelle,
Have you read the costochondritis archives? Walt wrote a great article at the top outlining the protocol for healing costo. The archives themselves contain other people's experiences. It's really helpful.
Best wishes,
Happygal (Certified Massage Therapist)
In Reply to: Re: Costochondritis??????? (Archive.) posted by Michelle on September 19, 2003 at 14:52:23:
Michele, what you aren't understanding about this muscle problem is all about bracing. But if you see a doctor about this you will get muscle relaxers, anti-depressants or worse yet, a beta blocker. It's up to you if you wish to go that route but Walt is trying to suggest other ways of getting well, especially for this type of condition.Bracing Walt's Article which talks a lot about Bracing Walt's Bracing Q/A Archive
Constant, chronic, muscle tension that is usually below the level of conscious awareness, limiting blood supply to important parts of the body.
A condition of unconscious muscle tension caused by severe, and overwhelming, stress-effect storage in the hypothalamus (the part of the brain where the interface between the environment, and body/mind function, is located)--commonly called the "fight or flight" effect.
Dr. Kim's version of Bracing:
Real or perceived trauma usually induces a fight/flight response in the body. The coccyx turns in to pull on the spinal cord to center it within the spinal canal for protection. The lateral pterygoid muscles tighten to help stabilize the cranial vault to protect the brain. Blood supply is diverted from the intestines to the muscles to prepare for battle. Upper trapezius muscles tighten to protect the neck, and so forth and so on.
The end result with most people is that they get "stuck" in this survival mode."
See Michele, it is more of an internal pressure.
In Reply to: Re: Costochondritis??????? (Archive.) posted by Sally on September 20, 2003 at 09:31:14:
Thanks, Sally.
Walt
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