Costochondritis and lung problems

Hi @khanm
Speaking merely from experience - I suffered 3 years with Costochondral chondritis. I was seen by many healthcare providers including Physical therapist, acupuncturist, chiropractors, Reiki specialists, and pain clinics which one clinic included injections every single week for an entire year. I was seen by several surgeons. Finally ended up successfully pain free by going through the Mayo Clinic Pain Clinic and surgery where the doctors removed my sternal manubrium joint and have been completely pain free since.

Mine stemmed from an injury I sustained in a car accident where I sustained A paired over fracture through the sternum manubrium joint. Can you share alittle more about the source of pain or suspected cause?

Curious,
Dawn

@khanm
Do you mind sharing a few of the different treatments?

The greatest relief came from a referral to a Reiki specialist back in the early development of the Mayo Pain Consortium clinic. There’s a specific technique she taught me call the “Pain Drain”. In just a few short session I was able to master the technique and do by phone so I didn’t have to travel 5 1/2 hours to Rochester every week . I still use the technique on a daily basis to help me cope with my other chronic pain and acute issues. I highly recommend the Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/pain-rehabilitation-center/sections/overview/ovc-20481691
What are your doctors current recommendations?

Hoping for relief soon!!
Dawn

@jmb73
Thank you for reaching out and That is a very good question. The answer in short - YES But I will share a longer version which is not in the medical text books.

Before they removed my sternum my chest wall became very barrel shaped. The theory “The more stable you can keep the chest the better the pain control”. The doctors believed that the sternal joint is a “false joint” However the purpose of the sternal manubrium joint is to allow your chest to rise and fall with each breath. This constant movement becomes the problem. Unlike a joint like knee and elbow you can not immobilize it. At the time of my injuries we tried to have a special brace formed to help minimize the movement which did help but not enough to prevent further injuries which keeps the inflammation angry. My paired over fracture, over the course of 3 years splintered 100’s of different ways causing 100’s of bone fragments in my breasts & 7 hours of surgical intervention to dissect as many as possible during the 1st surgery. They harvested bone from my hip and implanted it in the sternal manubrium joint and wired in a figure eight pattern to prevent the movement and hopefully prevent further damage. 6 weeks after surgery the wires broke in 2 places therefore changing the once believed theory that the sternal manubrium joint is a “false joint”. I ended up back in surgery to remove all the hardware and we decided to leave a hole thus preventing friction when the chest would rise and fall with each breath. Resulting in the relief of irritation to the are and overall rest for the entire costocondral area and successful illumination of the inflammation.

Side note: your mind and body will subconsciously prevent you from deep breathing & will change your posture over time to drawl up the shoulders and pull them forward to protect the chest. This became the source of many other problems - chronic pneumonia, headaches, insomnia, depression, anxiety just to name a few. Took 6 months worth of physical & respiratory therapy to correct all the wrongs. But I was finally pain free!!

Have you noticed any other changes in your own situation?

There is hope and treatment options!!
Dawn

My wife started having serious problems with her lungs about 10 years ago and she started to cough for days and she also had asthma.They tested her with prednisone and antibiotics and she would get better for a few weeks and then start all over again. She seen a pulmonologist who was finding out from blood tests that she had a rare lung disease that most doctors had never heard of it. The patients were being diagnosed with different types of lung problems from emphysema, chronic bronchitis and were not getting the treatments that would extend lives of people who were dying and in many cases could live with a fairly normal life as long as they were receiving the medication they needed. Ask your doctor to test you for Alpha -1 Antitripson disease. If you have this disease it is treated with a weekly injection that a nurse comes to your home and gives you this treatment once a week. It is covered by Medicare and Medicaid and there are drug treatment programs that will pay for the medication. If your doctor has not heard about it , we can get you the free blood test kits .
If you have not been tested for Alpha-1 Antitrypson disease. You need to get it done ASAP. Please let me know how I can help you.

New experiencing symptoms, I suspect is costochondritis. All imaging tests ok so far but pulmonary test which was low.
What are your symptoms, which provider did you go to, and how was he able to diagnose it?

New experiencing symptoms, I suspect is costochondritis. All imaging tests ok so far but pulmonary test which was low.
What are your symptoms, which provider did you go to, and how was he able to diagnose it?

Welcome, @raisanicole. I see you want to connect with others dealing with costochondritis and lung and heart issues. For this reason, I moved your message to this existing discussion so you can connect with others like @jmb73 @al4terry @khanm @dawn_giacabazi and more.

See here:
- Costochondritis and lung problems https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/costochronditis/

You may also be interested in this related discussion in the Chronic Pain support group:
- Costochondritis: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/costochondritis-1/

What symptoms are you experiencing? Have you consulted with your doctor to confirm the diagnosis?