I also experience this sternum cracking. Mine began during pregnancy about 3 years ago. I never thought it was anything serious. Thanks for all of the words of wisdom and experience. I will definately be getting this checked out.

I had hoped to find something like this... But yeah.. My chest had started popping about 3 weeks ago.. Mostly it was just a few times a day.. But today was different.. It has popped 8 times throughout the day... From what i've been told its not a good thing... Lol so it kinda scares me.. I just turned 19 a few months ago.. Growing pains maybe? I want to know what to do...

I am so happy I stumbled on this site. I do not have the symptoms described in these postings on a consistent basis, in fact, there is no real pattern. I can tell you that when it does happen it occurs for a few days at a time and feels as though it could be indigestion or heart disease. But the fact that my sternum will crack during these times and sometimes it feels as though my ribs are cracking at the point in which it joins the breast plate, it sounds more like this cartilage inflammation than gerd. Today I am also getting pain across my mid chest and sternum upon exertion (i.E. Bending down or rotating my trunk as if to crack my back).

I have tried to explain these symptoms to my doctor but I think she thinks I am crazy. I have had acid reflux meds - it does not seem to work. I have had ekg, nothing shows up. I have had chest x-rays nothing shows up. It sounds like this may be costachondritis??? Just glad to know I am not alone....

I have been an avid videogame player for the last 7 years. I have found that the poor posture resulting from such activities aggravates my sternum. The only way to relieve such pain is to crack my sternum. Thank god I found this site. I used to think there was something wrong with me, but now I know there are others just like me out there dealing with this phenomenon.

I too have this problem. I believe it is related to my poor posture. I sit at a computer all day and read on a real comfy couch at night - both cause me to slouch. I also have severe back pain directly opposite my sternum. Almost like a there is something connecting these two areas of pain. If I lay on my side, say on the floor I get this horrible ache straightening my self out. I think the best course of action may be to correct your posture and strengthen your upper back and abdomen.

I decided to do a little search on my new found problem and found this thread ;] I have the same problem as the rest of you. I contribute the cause to either improper form while weight lifting, or the more probable cause, bad posture.
My monitor is at a 45* angle on my desk, and I tend to tilt my chair facing that direction and lean on my left side while I type. I started to notice that when I crack my back, my sternum could also crack as well. Soon enuff I found myself twisting my back and then going even farther and stretching my arm outwards in order to acheive that satisfying crack in the sternum. After about a couple of weeks of this, one day I had servere pain in my chest. Directly over the area that I would crack. I found it hard to move my arms anywhere close to being in front of my chest, for the pain cause by the pressure and movement in the chest area was too great. After about a day, the pain went away.
Just felt like sharing haha

and yes, I have stopped cracking my chest and have since then started to correct my posture.

I am 20 years old and just started getting this. I also have a herniated disk in my lumber. It concerns me that I am so young and have the body of an 80 year old

I had the same problems that everyone else is experiancing. These symptoms came as a result of a car accident in which my sternum was dislocated. What doctors don't know, or don't tell you is that the problem is normally caused by subluxations in the sternum and surrounding ribs. Even though it feels at times like you are having a heart attack, which is how I discribed it. The ribs surrounding the sternum are out of place, that is what causes the pressure. A doctors will say that they don't know simply because they don't. They will most likely try to have you take some kind of pills to make you more comfortable. Take my advice, go see a chiropractor. Chiropractors specialize in these types of things. Leave the doctors alone. If you actually want to get better anyway.

I've had similar experiences of most of you. My sternum cracks when I stand up straight after a long bout with the computer. This has been happening for over a year now and I have had no problems and no pain with it except for the horrifying sound it makes.

But, for the past 3 weeks now, I have felt like someone's hand is on my sternum pressing on it constantly. It felt as if my pulse was racing and I was getting kind of dizzy when I stood up.

I finally went to the neighborhood medical clinic that sunday, told them about the heart problems that ran in my family and they gave me an ekg and a blood work-up. Everything came back normal and they told me to come back if it gets worse. Sooo...That friday, I couldn't handle it anymore and went back to the clinic and asked for a chest x-ray. The doctor (different doctor) looked at me like I was crazy, but did it anyway. Of course, he didn't find anything and wrote it off as "panic attacks" and sent me on my way.

At this point, I became pretty upset, because i'm not crazy and I know my body pretty well. I couldn't stand that a doctor was writing me off like that. After speaking with a friend of mine regarding this ordeal, she did some research on "sternum cracking" and found this forum. All the symptoms that you have are the same as mine! I just don't have the "pain" associated with it, just constant pressure.

This really put my mind at ease...I'm still going to see my family practioner tomorrow, but this gives me something to talk with him about. Thanks for your stories!

I am a chest cracking sufferer and it seems after reading all these posts that the condition is not as rare as I originally thought. Although, I have drawn up a conclusion that the condition does in some way link to problems with other joints. I myself have had several operations on my shoulder after it dislocated so easily, it became a habit to just sit there and voluntarily dislocate and relocate the joint. I know the long term effects are definitely not good. My spine also clicks when I stretch backwards and no matter how relieving it feels, I know it cant be healthy. It is getting the same way with my chest. It seems that I get so tense sometimes the only way to relieve the tension is to click.

Anyone else come to the same conclusion?

I love that this forum is up. I'm 24, f, and have been cracking my sternum for years, sometimes there is a little tiny pain but it is instantanious. But today, I was lifting somthing fairly light and all of a sudden got incredible pain in my sternum and it isn't going away with any stretching or anything. I'm wondering if I should go to a doctor, but from the posts, no one seems to have had any luck with doctors. Anyone have any stretches that work to ease pain? It hurts most when I arch my back or lift my arm (which is how I usually crack my sternum)

[quote="guest ee"]i've had similar experiences of most of you. My sternum cracks when I stand up straight after a long bout with the computer. This has been happening for over a year now and I have had no problems and no pain with it except for the horrifying sound it makes.

But, for the past 3 weeks now, I have felt like someone's hand is on my sternum pressing on it constantly. It felt as if my pulse was racing and I was getting kind of dizzy when I stood up.

I finally went to the neighborhood medical clinic that sunday, told them about the heart problems that ran in my family and they gave me an ekg and a blood work-up. Everything came back normal and they told me to come back if it gets worse. Sooo...That friday, I couldn't handle it anymore and went back to the clinic and asked for a chest x-ray. The doctor (different doctor) looked at me like I was crazy, but did it anyway. Of course, he didn't find anything and wrote it off as "panic attacks" and sent me on my way.

At this point, I became pretty upset, because i'm not crazy and I know my body pretty well. I couldn't stand that a doctor was writing me off like that. All the symptoms that you have are the same as mine! I just don't have the "pain" associated with it, just constant pressure.
Quote]

your post could have been written directly by me! It's spooky how identical our experiences are; if I sit on my couch for a while and stand up, arch my back and pull my shoulders back, it sounds as though I have fireworks snapping off in my chest. It's a brief relief but the pressure is always there as you mention. It also feels as though I have a slight pressure right below my adam's apple in my throat.

I too have had x-rays and they've found nothing. I too have had heart palpitations especially when my sternum is particularly irritable, and I feel dizzy from time to time. My Dr. Has said it's all part of chostochondritis, though it seems odd that inflammation would cause such other symptoms.

Finally, it's a huuge relief to know that i"m not the only one with these symptoms and problems. Close friends can't believe the noises my sternum makes when it cracks, and some doctors just think i'm blowing it out of proportion.

Thank you all for sharing your stories and providing some comfort amid the pain.

I am so happy I found this site and that other people out there have this issue like I do. I was so concerned with it. I've been to the doctor about it and the look at me like im crazy until I pop my chest and they hear the wierd sound. Im 24, f and im just so nervous that when I am older that ill have problems. I get nervous knowing that my heart and my lungs are right behind it and other very important organs. The reason I cam to this site is because lately ive been experencing a tight chest pain and the only way to releave it is to just crack it but it makes me very nervous. I just want some answers on how to fix it and what may be the cause of this.

I posted the post before yours and I can tell you that I sleep better at night and deal w/the bad pain episodes knowing there are others out there in the world who experience nearly the exact same things I do.

This board is a blessing & and makes me know that i'm not alone. The pain sucks, but i'd be more worried and obsessed if I thought I was the only one having issues like this. None of my friends have sternum popping, and no one in my family has even heard of it before...So it makes me feel like a freak or like something horrible is wrong w/my body. At least all of us here know that's not true!

I went to see my doctor for chest pain. I told her that every time I put my shoulders forward the middle of my chest feels sore. I feel like it needs to crack but it wont. She did an x-ray and told me my heart is fine and that I have chest inflammation.Which means that my chest bone is swollen. She priscribed me ibuprofen 800mg three times a day for two weeks."is that safe?" i'm not a fan of pill popping as it is, i'll take one or two for a head ach but that's it. But I did it anyway, after all, she is the doctor and she should know what she's doing.While taking the ibuprofen, I started to feel my heart beating hard and slow, it felt like it was out of rythm. I also have anxiety, so having symtoms like this is scary to me I have pills for that to and wont take them. So anyway, I took the ibuprofen for two weeks and it went away.But, it came back a week later. I called the doctor and told her. She told me to do it again for another two weeks. I told her how I was feeling wile taking it. She told me I need to do it, or it'll never go away. So I did it again but this time I only did it for a week. Because I did not feel safe taking ibuprofen 800mg for two weeks.I do'nt have insurence so I did'nt bother to go back, thought the'll just tell me the same stuff anyway probly not bother to help me cause I have no insurence. Now it seems that it turned into a cracking chest. I never in my life cracked that bone before. I feel pressure there every day,i crack it three or for times a day. I wonder, could it be from the food you eat. I'm afraid that doing this to much may weaken the bone and cause it to break or may cause a seriouse infection. I know this can't be normal. Tell me, dose anyone know if you can die from this? I'm 26, I have 4 kids I want to stick around to watch them grow!

Janessa, please read through the 3 pages of posts on this message board...You should feel better about your situation.

We're all living with this inflammation and none of us have been told it's fatal. Inflammation is like arthritis...And no one dies from arthritis. It's a nagging problem, and one i've had for nearly 5 years. It's annoying, painful and occasionally affects my sleep and work ability...But it's nothing that's fatal at all!!

I'm the "guest" that posted 2 posts above. I've had anxiety attacks about my sternum cracking and have learned to live with it and accept it. Worrying about it will do you no good, it will only make you miserable and waste days and months of your life worrying.

About the ibuprofen, i'm no doctor but I did play sports in college and was prescribed your dosage of ibuprofen several times. It's not something you'd want to do for long periods of time. It can cause internal stomach bleeding if you take it for a long time; simply ask your doctor about that and she can inform you from a medical angle.

Anyway, relax and enjoy your life and your kids. A cracking sternum isn't something you should worry yourself to death over :)

Just found this website. What a relief. I developed "popping sternum" about 13 yrs. Aogo after undergoing back surgery. When I was pushed to the max in physical therapy, I herniated my thoracic disk. The doctors did not believe a thoracic disk was possible because it was so rare. Mri confirmed the herniation. Since the herniation my sternum and chest fills with pressure and then pops. When I discussed this with leading doctors they looked at me with bewilderment as if this phenomena could not exist. So finding this website has eased my mind that this indeed does occur. Reading all the posts have encouraged me to continue to inform my doctors that I am not alone in this. Thanks all ot you sternum poppers for your information and stories.

My daughter (13 in the uk) has costo - the medics just keep telling us to keep taking parecetamol but this gives little relief to the pain (she cannot take ibuprofen as this causes nose bleeds after a few days). She has had it for over two years now and it is getting worse to the point it is not getting in the way of normal life… she has never had the cracking sternum sound..

Some sites hint that a diet change can make the symptoms stop… eg. Stop white flour, avoid chocolate, caffeine… could the symptoms be an allergy reaction to something? (she has had wrist and knee pains a few times recently)

i have read through the posts in this (and other) forums - and can find nothing solid to try…

has any one tried something that has worked and stopped the pain?

I look forwards to any help any one can give

I am still dealing with unusal cracking of my sternum......Has anyone found out anything from how to take care of this or what will happen in the long run???

I dont know if this apply's to anyone, but I remember one time going to the .Dr complaining of very bad pains in the middle of my chest. He suggested not to let my husband lay on top of me, he said that was my problem!!!! I dont know if I think that was really the cause but I remember it use to feel horrible all the time, never popped though.