Hello...I will probably go to a doctor soon, but am fifteen and doubt I will be taken seriously. Okay, so I too have a chronic dull pain near the sternum thy is often associated with heart palpatations. I am also having increased trouble swallowing, even liquids. I have exercise induced athma, but this hasn't really been bothering me - unless you count that I have an accerated heart rate and loss of breath even after something like running up the stairs between classes. I am generally a healthy person in that I stay in shape, but this swallowing problem has really been bothering me.
Anyway, if somebody could give me some insight before my appointment that would really give me some more confidence going in.
Thanks.

Hello, I am also a victim of this dull pain in the sternum area of my chest. As of today, I have no memories of this kind of pain on my sternum; and for it to be really painful all of a sudden, I became very concerned. I workout on a regular basis (both lifting and cardio) and try to have a well balanced diet. I am a male 24 years old and don't have a clue what could be the reason for this problem. Just prior to this pain, I have worked out on my chest and actually did lighter weights than usual. I felt my chest tightening up when I did some ab exercises but nothing major. The next morning I woke up, I was struggling in pain on my sternum and eased it by massaging. Seems like the pain gets worse when I was jumping up and down or become active. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thank you

Hello, I am also a victim of this dull pain in the sternum area of my chest. As of today, I have no memories of this kind of pain on my sternum; and for it to be really painful all of a sudden, I became very concerned. I workout on a regular basis (both lifting and cardio) and try to have a well balanced diet. I am a male 24 years old and don't have a clue what could be the reason for this problem. Just prior to this pain, I have worked out on my chest and actually did lighter weights than usual. I felt my chest tightening up when I did some ab exercises but nothing major. The next morning I woke up, I was struggling in pain on my sternum and eased it by massaging. Seems like the pain gets worse when I was jumping up and down or become active. Does anyone have an answer to this? Thank you

I have been having chest pain on and off for a year. I am female, 28 years old and in over all good health. All of the comments are very helpful and make sense to me. In my case, there is no lump, nor have I had any injury..........also while it seems in the overall general "sternum" area, I cant exactly locate it, and cant tell if its the muscle that hurts, or the bone, or tissue, etc.............does anyone else have this same problem???

I have had this type of pain with many of the symptoms described in the above posts for years. I'm male and have pectus excavatum (an abnormal depression in the chest cavity causing the lower ribcage to protrude). At it's worst, the pain in my chest felt like I had just run a mile, even though I wasn't physically exhausted. Deep breaths caused the pain to manifest, as well as bending my torso forward or twisting my torso(especially to the right for some reason). The pain often occured while at rest. Arching my back, especially while breathing caused a series of pops from my sternum (just like knuckle cracking). The focal point of my pain was a the junction between my third rib on the right side, and my sternum, which was (and still is) slightly more pronounced than the rest of my ribs (running my fingers down my chest I can feel it more so than the other ribs). It felt like this point was trying to push together with the point of my right shoulder blade, and was extremely uncomfortable. I had no memory of trauma or injury, but assumed perhaps I had hurt myself in karate or tennis; or that the pain was being caused by my pectus excavatum.

I saw chiros, doctors, shoulder specialists, physios, and had all kinds of tests and x-rays with no definite explanation for my pain. I was advised however to really strech my chest muscles, and doing so caused my pain to lessen. I have now greatly increased my flexibility, and my pain occurs very rarely, and I'm confident that it will eventually go away. I'm now at a comfortable level. I've also noticed that some red lines caused by broken blood vessels in the centre of my chest have gone away.

I would advise everyone who suffers from chest pain to A. stretch, and B. see a physician to ensure that it's just tight muscles, and nothing else.

A good stretch for chest muscles is to go to a corner of a wall, place the arm nearest the wall at a right angle and take a step forward. Avoid arching your back. Gently taking a deep breath can increase the stretch if these muscles are very tight as they were in my case. And when you feel you are ready to increase the depth of the stretch, turn the step forward into a lunge. Listen to your body, determine your own limits, and do stop immediately if the pain is so intense it is preventing you from doing the exercise; contact a physician.

I have had chronic pain in my Sternum now for about 4 Months, the pain also radiates to my Ribs. My Sternum is tender to touch and I'm not sure if it is my imagination or not but the Sternum feels slightly raised. In the last few weeks my breasts have also started aching. I dread sudden coughing or sneezing. Lying down at night and getting up in the morning are a nightmare. I have had no physical injury to these areas. I have been taking Pain relief and NSAIDS. I am seeing my GP for something else at the moment and have been for a while and feel he will think "What Now" if I mention something else. I have always been fairly fit till this and reading some of the stories I am getting a little concerned. Somebody please direct me.

It all started with some sort of discomfort in the sternum, particularly in the area of the second and third ribs' joints. I felt that i need to make that click by arching my back.. it used to help... then the discomfort started to change into some sort of pain, but the one, which can be bearly called a pain, it was still more of a discomfort, but with this change it became more difficult to make that click...then it reached to the point when it became impossible to make the click, no matter how hard i arched my back... and it was frustrating it just never happened...slowly the discomfort turned into a real pain! this process lasted for about 6 month... Now it's been a year and I can't lie on my sides, i can't rotate and move my head, arms without feeling a pain... I can't sneeze, the quality of life has gone down, I become nervy and angry... I have always been sportive, swim at least once a week, jog at least once a week... the GPs are simply ignorant... had all tests, scans and x-rays done! The only thing they prescribe is diclofenac, which is just a pain reliever! WHat's wrong??? ARE THERE ANY RESEARCH ON THAT! PLEASE HELP

Soulsync, you spelled out my symptoms explicityly. Did you find out anything regarding your condition?

I am a male age 38 and have noticed my sternum protruding more than normal in the last two weeks (although I think mine stuck out a bit more than average for my adult life). And for now, it feels quite soar, but only when I examine it.
I just don't want to think about the "C" word.

im getting exactly the same pains as everyone above has said. im 17 years old and quite concerned. Im worried about going to the doctors, not knowing what they are going to say. Anyone got any advice for me.

I have read all the posts relating to pain around the sternum. I can ralate to all of them. I to suffer with sternum or chest pain. I often feel that there is fluid or what seems like air bubble moving around the strunum area. All x-rays, blood test and endoscopy test show nothing. The Dr has drawn a blank and I'm sure they think I'm making it all up.I get excrusciating pain especially while I sleep, the pain is so intense I can't even lift my head of the pillow in the morning. During the day the pain does ease. All I would like is an answer to what it could be and a solution, so I could have atleast one day with out PAIN.

I've had a pain in my sternum for about 2 months, prior to that I was doing alot of push-ups and yoga which I think I stretched my body a little bit too far, sometimes it bothers me more than other, but I also feel restricted when I wear anything tighter around that area, there is no swelling I can see, anyone else experience that?

I just started having pain on the upper right side of my sternum. It hurts to get up out of bed and sometimes hurts to yawn or breathe deeply. I am a 22 yr old female and i dont have insurance to go to a doctor. I have worked in a restaurant for 2 years and have lifted heavy trays the whole time. My pain just started two weeks ago so i am not sure it would be caused by lifting. I have rubbed bengay muscle relaxing cream on the irritated area and also took ibprofen. Neither of them helped. I also noticed that the upper right side of my sternum is protruding a little bit. I have had some friends and family feel the difference, so i know it is diffinitely irregular. If anyone gets any answers please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.

im reading alot about people on here that have lumps or pain in the sternum and im suprised to read that hardly any have been to see a doctor! just 2 days ago my best friend got results of her ct scan and it shows she has cancer behind the sternum, i kept telling her to go earlier as the lump was getting bigger and she said she was fine it would be nothing, it just shows you nnobody knows so please go and get medical help asap x

Hi, im a 30 yr old ex profesional athlete/male.I have all the symptoms some of you describe here -chest pain , in the lower area of the sternum,and sometimes it swaps with a pain in the upper right side of my back wich was a pin my mom had too , i went to all the doctors available pro/athlete or just plain md's did x-ray's echo's etc, and nobody found anything wrong phisically., so i came up with the conclusion that i have what my mom had since i remember she had exectl the same symptoms -wich is rheumatism and/or arthritis. Sometimes the pain goes away temporarly with stretching very hard the neck (head )to the rightand up while i force the torso in the opposite direction until i hear a crack , afetrwards i feel a relief for the rest of the day pretty much. Its funny how far we got on other medical issues , and a meare chest pain cannot be dealth with .

my mate starts radio therapy soon doctors cant cure it but will try to shrink the cancer it all stems to when she had breast cancer she is only 38 and has 4 kids i pray that she will get better.

I have had a recurring pain in my sternum for many years and have been to the Doctor several times, to no avail. I have found that if I take as deep a breath as possible and hold it as long as possible and release it slowly, the pain goes away, usually for good. I have not found anything else that addresses this pain except for the deep breath.