I am 39 and my sternum has been popping for about 3 years now. It seems like it started after lifting something heavy. It seems like it went away for awhile, but now it's back and seems worse than before, to the point that when I lie on my side with my arms in front of me, my sternum burns. I've also been having pain and burning in the ribs on the left, back side. Sometimes at night when i'm lying down, I feel spasms around the rib cage. When I feel pressure, all I have to do is take a deep breath, and I hear about 3 mild pops up my sternum. This bothers me greatly, though it's comforting to know that i'm not alone. I do have some mild heart difficulties, mitral valve and tricuspid regurg, both very mild and not uncommon, so I have an irregular heartbeat sometimes, exacerbated by stress of course, which doesn't help. I've had several panic attacks over the last 3 years and am actually recovering from one now -- those of you who know what i'm talking about can appreciate what i'm saying.

I've been reading a website about treatment for costochondritis, and of course they talk about anti-inflammatories being the treatment method of choice, but I also have tummy troubles, so taking too much of this isn't a good thing. In fact, I wonder if it doesn't exacerbate this condition since I think ibuprophen inherently dehydrates the joints?


Healthatoz.Com/healthatoz/atoz/ency/costoc hondritis.Jsp

i found a lot of good information on this website that may help everyone or at least someone. I've started taking glucosamine supplements and i'll let you know how I feel in a few weeks.

Sandy

I have no cracking but I am experiencing pain in my left chest and sternum area. I attribute this to a new exercise I tried for the abdominals. Needless to say, I will not do this exercise again. The pain is decreasing except when I scrunch up when lounging and try to sleep on my back or left side. Before the pain decreased, it hurt to laugh or breath deeply. I am feeling better with rest. Still it is very concerning. I felt terrible to here of all of your pain; it brought me to tears. So, I prayed to god to heal all of you. Believe and he will.

I came across this site searching for information on the popping of my sternum. It has been happening in increasing frequency and I thought i'd better check it out. I'm happy to know i'm not the only one and it also appears not to be a "serious" medical condition...Although aggravating as heck. I, too, have poor posture, especially since having my children....So maybe there's something to that.

However, upon reading some of the posts I thought i'd share my experience with the same crushing chest pain that some of you have described. I have had several episodes of this pressure on my chest...To the point where it hurt just to inhale. I finally went to a doctor who ran all kinds of tests and concluded that I had pulled a muscle (i forget the name) that connects my rib cage together as well as to my sternum. This seems to happen when i'm under a lot of stress. It takes forever to heal and if not taken care of properly, will continue to re-injure every time you move. I just couldn't believe how the symptoms were so similar to a heart problem. Scary. Hope this helps some of you. Of course, any pain in the chest should be checked out by a physician! (had to say it)

I have a problem too, when I stretch my arms back, like a morning stretch there is a popping sound in the middle of my chest. If it doesnt pop, I am in severe pain until it does. If I shrug my shoulders inward, bend a certain way, it puts sharp pains in my chest thorugh my back. I have a mitro valve prolapse and this is very scary to me. Has anyone ever been diagnosed correctly?

Hi, your symptoms are similar if not identical to mine. Cracking when pulling my shoulders back, sharp pain when shrugging forward. Yes i've been diagnosed "correctly;" I say correct because my family doctor has run extensive tests on my chest and heart and found inflammation in my sternum. Costochondritis. It's what you have, stressing over it only makes it worse and aggrivates your day.

Relax and please use this board as a reminder that you're not the only one out there w/this problem, and that others are living with it too. It's painful but think of all the things that could be worse. God bless!

I am a 32 year old male who has symptoms similar to many. My sternum"pops" very infrequently (couple times per week), but when it does it is accompanied by an instantneous sharp pain. It seems to happen most in the middle of the night (wakes me up) or first thing in the morning, however I was just at lunch and it popped as I stood up after finishing my meal. Wow - the pain took my breath away. As I sit and type, it's just a dull pain in the area near the sternum.

I went to the doctor last week when the chest wall pain / popping increased. He gave me a prescription for some anti-inflammatories. After nearly a week, I have seen little / no change.

I was just wondering has anyone had breathing problems for about 4 or 5 months with this problem cause I do somedays are worse than others and somedays I have no breathing problems.....

Mine just started about 3 or 4 days ago. For the past 2 and a half weeks i've developed a new workout schedule and have been doing different excercises including a new abb workout. Haven't don't anything to get rid of it yet. But I am going to try and nip this now before it gets worse. I just went to do my crunches and when I put my hands behind my head my chest poped so loud it gave me the chills. But no pain yet thank god.

So heavy weights and new crunches. Thats my cause.

Ok here is the problem, my sternum cracks yes, but I am only 16. I dont have bad posture or anything, I workout everyday after school with my friends. About 2 years ago I got punched in the sternum and ever since then I could crack it a little. No big deal, but a while ago I was bench pressing and there was this really loud crack (loud enough to the point where everyone look and asked.) needles to say it hurts and it not going away, its cracking and my doctore says there is nothing wrong (yeah right) so anyways just wanted to know if anyone could tell me what the hell is going on and whn is it gonna stop.

I also suffer from cracking in my sternum. There is a great feeling of pressure that seems only to be relieved by arching my back backwards to cause the chest bone to crack and release the pressure. I as well have been to many doctors who cannot explain why this occurs.

I believe the syndrome is related to arthritis or joint disease. I also suffer from tmj, a mild form of carpal tunnel as well as clicking and cracking in most of my joints. Since vioxx and other similar drugs have been off the market (they did help) there is not much treatment that seems to work. I can share what I know - please do not attempt any of these remedies without first consulting a doctor.

Ibuproffen 800 mg is effective for acute bouts - mostly when taking at the first sign of discomfort or before. Doctors have advised me that these types of inflammation can go dormant from time to time and are usually brought back on by stress - sometimes simple deep breathing and exhaling breathes done routinely can stave off this symptom.
Icy hot when rubbed on the area can provide some comfort as it seems to decrease the inflammation. Wintergreen oil is also effective.

Seeing a dentist to evaluate your bite can provide tremendous relief as the tempro mandibular joint plays a huge role in joint distress thru out the body. A night guard or bite plate - properly fitted, can work wonders for this type of discomfort and also for back pain.

I have found chriopractors to only provide temp relief. Use lumbar support (an erogonomical designed back cushion) while sitting at a desk for long periods of time. Get up from desk and stretch 10 minutes for every hour - makes a big difference - I first balked at this - but it works.

My greatest relief came from having my bite (alignment of teeth) diagnosed - unusual - but tremendous relief and improvement. An excellent dr for this is Dr. Harold gelb in nyc, but perhaps his practice can recommend someone in your area.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions I may be able to help with.

Great info on the tmj/bite issue, I haven't thought of that before. I've posted here as a "guest" several times and have been living with a "snap & pop" sternum for about 4 years now. It's beginning to really bother me, and the acute bouts are nearly impossible to endure.

I've had a bite plate for 2 years but stopped wearing it b/c I got sick of having to wash it and bring it with me on trips. I'll start wearing it again and see how it helps, as I know I grind my teeth and have lots of tension in my jaw/neck as a result.

Again thanks for the great suggestion, i'll post here in a month or so and let you know how it goes!

Dear all,

i was diagnosed with costochondritis last november ('05) and have been on a medical rollercoaster ride ever since. It has literally 'stopped' my life. Yesterday, in another one of my searches for answers, I stumbled upon this site:

Caringmedical.Com/conditions/slipping_rib_ syndrome.Htm

i would love to hear anyone's feedback on 1) slipping rib syndrome (does it resonate with you sternum/back sufferers, and have you ever heard of it?) 2) prolotherapy - I would really only like to hear from those of you that have undergone this method of treatment and what your experiences were.


Thanks!

Let me be another one who says they have the same problem. Mine comes and goes, but I get the cracking in the chest, a soar pain in my sternum and pains in my lower and middle back also. I am also starting to have pain in my left side at the bottom of my rib cage. I have no clue what is going on, but I would love for it to go away or kill me because im sick of it. Anyone have any good suggestions?

I went today for a consultation with a local doctor here in the st. Louis area to see if I was a candidate for prolotherapy. Turns out I am, so monday I am scheduled for my first treatment. This is the 9th doctor I have seen in the last 3 months and for the first time I felt like I was talking with someone that knew what was going on with my body. He agreed it was slipping rib syndrome causing my pain due to weakness/hypermobility of the connective tissue in the intercostal regions both in my chest and back. I will keep posting my experience throughout the process and answering any questions anyone might have.

Later...

Underwent prolotherapy yesterday. It was much less painful than I thought it would be. The doctor used a local anesthetic in the areas that he injected so the pain was very minimal. After the anesthetic wore off there was a 'burning' sensation but nothing major. It took about an hour from start to finish and I was given approximately 10 injections in my upper/middle back and approximately 12 in my sternum/chest. The Dr. Said to do nothing that causes pain, so I will be limiting my activities even more than I have been. He said it takes approximately 6 weeks for the ligaments to heal completely and then we will do a follow-up at that time. I asked him about the solutions that are used and he uses 3 different ones that vary in degree of agitation. He started me with the weakest...A 15% dextrose sugar solution.

Later...

Same problem. It tends to get worse if I do deep dips. When doing dips, try not to go way too deep. Have mirror or something. When your upper arms are parallel to the floor go up.

My sternum has been hurting for over a month now and when I crack it I do get some relief. My main concern is that I am in remission from an acute leukemia and sternum pain was one of my symptoms at diagnosis. It was however a different pain than what I am experiencing now. Then it was a stabbing pain, unbelievable pain that would radiate into my upper spine. It would keep me up at night. I even had cortisone injections before my diagnosis to relieve the pain. Now it feels more like the joints themselves are in pain rather than the bone itself. It just freaks me out to think of relapse. My pain was also combined with shoulder pain, so bad I couldn't lift my arms.

So im in the same situation as every one of you and im glad I found all of you guys. I'm 18, and I have to stretch out my chest to get rid of that annoying pressure in my sternum every day. I've found that my posture makes a big difference in how often I have to pop it. If I try to sit up straight all day, I rarely have to pop it but if I slouch, I need to pop it more often. I happened to think it might have something to do with the way I sleep also. Normally I sleep on my stomach which puts some pressure on my chest which causes me to have to pop my sternum first thing when I wake up. Anyone else in the same boat?

Although my sternum does not crack frequently, I have a very heavy feeling as if though someone is pressing on my sternum. And sometimes it feels as if though my ligaments are too short and I cant completely stretch my chest out and that is why sitting up straight is painful.

I have had all the tests done - mri, ultrasound, x-rays, blah blah blah and nothing. But I do remember as a kid the school nurse said I had a mild case of scoliosis...Dont know if that is somehow related.

I am also considering prolotherapy but would like to know if it really works because my insurance does not cover it and it's $$$

also, dont know if anyone has tried rolfing? If yes pls let me know what the results were?

Thank you!!!!

I'm having the same problems! There is no information out there about this problem, even on google?? Right!! I'm in my 20s and just feel this pressure in my chest but like you guys, i'm sure cracking it is the only thing that satifies it and for me too, if I hear it crack, its almost a relief ..Like ok, it must be my sternum and not my heart..I have pressure followed by sitting up straight to crack..I am also reading these posts from people who also have anxiety...I def have anxiety issues and wonder if problems come up like these because we are convinced that something is wrong with us so we keep stressing and tensing and this causes our body to break down! You think? :) nice to mee you all