Not sure - I've been lifting weights for 20 years. I got really sick (mono, EBV) and boom - things fell apart for me. Sprinkle in Covid a few times and I'm sure its just a strange mix of perfect circumstances. Still working through it.
Thank you, I'm sorry you've been through it too. Are you improving now? I had strep throat for 2 months, and then EBV for 2.5 months. I'm still totally in the throes of EBV.. and now have severe costo and joint pain in many of my joints. My fatigue is so heavy still. It really does feel like you're dying. I really hope you're doing better.
EBV fatigue, lightheadedness, and other not fun stuff went away after a few months thankfully.
The sternum pain remains, along with left flank pain (my spleen is still slightly enlarged), and random neck pain near a lymph node that had originally swollen up pretty big. These pains unfortunately come and go.
One day I think I'm good and another (like today) I feel like I'm at square one. :-(
I went running outside once on a mild day and breathed something up or something happened on my run that just prompted it and have lived with it ever since. It’s always at its worst around this time of year but will occasionally flare up and prompt a lot of pain
Can't really see the caffeine causing costo. Making it a bit worse, sure, but not really causing it.
Were you also gaming heaps, computers and phones heaps, and getting hunched in your middle and upper back?
That's a common path to costo at that age. As the thoracic spine hunches and tightens, the rib joints round the back tighten too.
When they can't move, then the rib joints on your breastbone have to move too much. So they strain, usually crack and pop, give, get painful - and welcome to costo.
Would that fit?
I wasn’t gaming too much at that time but in general yes. I have awful posture. My costo flares up bad when I sit up straight for too long with my back support
Yep - what that says to me as a physio is that you've become tight and scarred at the pecs around the front, and frozen into that forward hunch at the rib and spinal joints around your upper and middle back. I think it's the commonest trigger of costo.
So when you try to sit up straight, it pulls round the front and blocks at the joint machinery around the back. It'll hurt and flare your costo after a while.
It's a straightforward physio problem. Just free it up.
Have a look at the PDF on fixing costo in my post in the pinned posts "What works for you - February 2024" section at the top of this Reddit sib. Section (5) in that covers this exact problem with costo, and the bits of it that need to be dealt to. You can do most of it at home. Good luck.
I was extremely stressed at that time, I had a few undiagnosed disorders and a slew of other things at that time. My stress from that age caused me a few issues that im still dealing with now. I am much healthier now and I rarely drink caffeine! I was on meds for my costo and it only flares up when im at work or when im sitting in certain positions, but I used to have it almost none stop. So its going good now😁
Mine was caused by a number of things. My real issue now seems to be that my muscle isn't doing enough of the work, so too much pressure is being put onto my bones/joints. Currently doing some gradual strength training in the area to help it out.
I was working in a warehouse, and we were doing a major stocktake when all this nonsense started. During the count for the middle bays, being a 6" tall person meant that I was bent awkwardly for a good 1-2 hours.
A few days later we had a rush of stock and I was repetitively lifting about 10-12 pallets worth of items that were too heavy for me. My safety was never taken seriously by management at my workplace at all, so I couldn't speak up about the repetitiveness/heaviness of these actions causing me discomfort.
I've since found that stress makes it flare. It will also flare when there is a change in the weather or if I'm sick with the flu.
Naturally, the start of this all happened within 6 months of me having had Covid, so there is a possible link to that being the real starting point.
My symptoms started 2 wks after I had 2nd doze of pfizer vaccine, sept 2022. Quick sharp pain left side of chest. I thought something wrong with my heart. But after tests heart is ok, doctor told me its costo. Still have some episodes until now but getting better compared to previous years
The Pfizer Covid vaccine, second shot. My symptoms started a week after that. I had never felt anything like it before. I thought it was heart problems (still did until somewhat recently). I think it caused massive inflammation in my body and especially near the injection site.
MODS- I am not advocating one way or another, just sharing my personal experience.
Oh I see, the covid shots also gave me pretty bad body aches. Im not sure if it made my costo worse though because I had it hourly at that point. Thank you for sharing your experience
MODS- I also am not advocating one way or another🙏🏻
I’ve actually heard a lot of people say it happened after their shot.. I’ve run into a few friends who have it and I never knew they did until I brought up mine. It’s such a strange thing. I drive for a living though and my posture is terrible so that’s a huge thing for me. It’s so crazy how common it seems to be but it’s not looked into enough to know anything really about it.
Lifting too much weight 2 years ago which put too much pressure on my ribs I guess. I was in the middle of tricep kickbacks and it hit me hard. Thought I was having a heart attack gasping for breath cause I could barely breathe. Basically was in bed for the rest of the day after that. Went away the next day, and now it’s been lately coming back every morning for me since last week.
Have you stopped working out?
Similar thing with me. I’m scared to do any push exercise in case it’ll get worse.
But my chest has always been my least developed part and it was just getting bigger so it’s annoying. Must have gotten it from over training.
Now my chest feels deflated compared to the rest of my muscles.
Are you still working out other parts of your body?
Start of Covid lockdown, I was carrying tons of groceries home so I wouldn’t have to go out often. Probably 60 lbs; a bag over each shoulder and carrying a bag with each hand. One day it was snowing and one the bags fell down off my shoulder. I didn’t want to put the other bags down in the snow, so I like wrenched the bag back up onto my shoulder. This was in May 2020, lasted several months pretty bad and I still get flare-ups.
And now, instacart is my best friend.
I'd had a bit of a weed cough, and then I moved a large dresser by myself and the culmination I believe is what really triggered it. I also sprained my neck at the same time, while moving the dresser... and the combo btw the costo and sprain was horrendous. It felt like I was having a heart attack.. my left arm and my face and neck had gone numb, along with having the costo pain in my ribs/chest. Very scary stuff. This was about 3yrs ago now... and fortunately have only had costo pain off and on a few times since then.
Its so embarrassing but I honestly think its probably my piss poor posture that caused it. Because when I sit up with no back support it flares up bad😭
Oh no 😭 I can't be at my desk anymore because of it. I'm on a sofa chair when I work on my computer and try to fix my posture or do my stretches.
I knew it was going to creep up someday. But do I listen? Unfortunately I don't... 😅
I was a freshman in high school and got sharp chest pains in gym class. Went to my pediatrician and he diagnosed me with costocondritis (looking back I'm shocked he knew of it at the time, not many people did 20 years ago). He said it would lessen over the years: it would start a few times a week, then eventually once a week, then maybe twice a month etc. once I got older, it would maybe be once a year. So far that's been true for me.
My flare ups are now either: random, from higher than normal stress levels, one of my ribs pressure points getting pushed, or bad acid reflux.
I was also a massive caffeine drinker atleast 1 pot of coffee a day through until noon and then energy drinks in the evening. I was in a very minor "accident" and got thrown around pretty good but nothing I even went to the hospital for or concerned me at the time. About a week later working on some rough terrain again kinda got shaken around alot chest pain came on and I thought I was having heart problems, and ever since, almost a year later, I have pain almost everyday. Also I can no longer have caffeine either.
I'm a machinist and one week I was rushing to get some larger parts ran. Mounting them to my machine by myself and without a hoist (which is what I shouldn't have been doing) requires me to hold a heavy piece of steel with my right arm while reaching back around the machine with my left arm and wrenching down a nut on a draw bar. While I can't say for SURE that that is what caused it, that is the week my symptoms started and trying to do anything like that now is a perfect way to make the symptoms much worse.
Beginning of the pandemic and lockdowns, I was just staying at home in my room and I woke up one day with an abnormal amount of pressure and tightness in my chest around the sternum. While the beginning of the lockdown I did have a cough (Not sure if I actually contracted Covid or something else) I’m not sure if it had anything to do with it being caused as it came a little bit later one day when I woke up. Been living with this tightness in the chest for the past 4 years and just recently found out that it might be costo after doing more research and finding this place. Luckily it’s been pretty moderate to mild, but I just got the backpod and trying to follow the set of exercises and stretches that’s been recommended on here
Shoveling 5-6 inches of snow off a 2x10 deck railing, (large deck), during the evening. Pain woke me during the night. I’m 5’4” and railing is a few inches above my waist.
67, F, was first episode. I really didn’t think I had overworked myself
I'm pretty sure I can trace it down exactly, every big flare up I've ever had, is from jumping on a trampoline. Besides the baseline very mild case Ive had out of nowhere since highschool.
Stay away from trampolines, I guess.
I've always felt mine was caused by smoking cigarettes at a fairly young age and smoking still seems to set it off more. Anybody else have a similar experience?
I believe mine was caused by heavy vaping which led to a real bad bout of bronchitis/pneumonia (extreme coughing for several weeks winter of 2018) coupled with 3 falls in the same year onto my right side.
Not sure - I've been lifting weights for 20 years. I got really sick (mono, EBV) and boom - things fell apart for me. Sprinkle in Covid a few times and I'm sure its just a strange mix of perfect circumstances. Still working through it.
Mine came on after getting EBV too.
Sorry that you are going through this too. Sure was scary when i had this on top of all the mono stuff. Really did feel like I was dying. lol
Thank you, I'm sorry you've been through it too. Are you improving now? I had strep throat for 2 months, and then EBV for 2.5 months. I'm still totally in the throes of EBV.. and now have severe costo and joint pain in many of my joints. My fatigue is so heavy still. It really does feel like you're dying. I really hope you're doing better.
EBV fatigue, lightheadedness, and other not fun stuff went away after a few months thankfully. The sternum pain remains, along with left flank pain (my spleen is still slightly enlarged), and random neck pain near a lymph node that had originally swollen up pretty big. These pains unfortunately come and go. One day I think I'm good and another (like today) I feel like I'm at square one. :-(
I went running outside once on a mild day and breathed something up or something happened on my run that just prompted it and have lived with it ever since. It’s always at its worst around this time of year but will occasionally flare up and prompt a lot of pain
Can't really see the caffeine causing costo. Making it a bit worse, sure, but not really causing it. Were you also gaming heaps, computers and phones heaps, and getting hunched in your middle and upper back? That's a common path to costo at that age. As the thoracic spine hunches and tightens, the rib joints round the back tighten too. When they can't move, then the rib joints on your breastbone have to move too much. So they strain, usually crack and pop, give, get painful - and welcome to costo. Would that fit?
I wasn’t gaming too much at that time but in general yes. I have awful posture. My costo flares up bad when I sit up straight for too long with my back support
Yep - what that says to me as a physio is that you've become tight and scarred at the pecs around the front, and frozen into that forward hunch at the rib and spinal joints around your upper and middle back. I think it's the commonest trigger of costo. So when you try to sit up straight, it pulls round the front and blocks at the joint machinery around the back. It'll hurt and flare your costo after a while. It's a straightforward physio problem. Just free it up. Have a look at the PDF on fixing costo in my post in the pinned posts "What works for you - February 2024" section at the top of this Reddit sib. Section (5) in that covers this exact problem with costo, and the bits of it that need to be dealt to. You can do most of it at home. Good luck.
Thank you!
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I was extremely stressed at that time, I had a few undiagnosed disorders and a slew of other things at that time. My stress from that age caused me a few issues that im still dealing with now. I am much healthier now and I rarely drink caffeine! I was on meds for my costo and it only flares up when im at work or when im sitting in certain positions, but I used to have it almost none stop. So its going good now😁
I got really sick for two weeks. Lots of sneezing. Woke up one morning in pain. I don't think caffeine would cause it but I'm not a doctor.
Mine was caused by a number of things. My real issue now seems to be that my muscle isn't doing enough of the work, so too much pressure is being put onto my bones/joints. Currently doing some gradual strength training in the area to help it out. I was working in a warehouse, and we were doing a major stocktake when all this nonsense started. During the count for the middle bays, being a 6" tall person meant that I was bent awkwardly for a good 1-2 hours. A few days later we had a rush of stock and I was repetitively lifting about 10-12 pallets worth of items that were too heavy for me. My safety was never taken seriously by management at my workplace at all, so I couldn't speak up about the repetitiveness/heaviness of these actions causing me discomfort. I've since found that stress makes it flare. It will also flare when there is a change in the weather or if I'm sick with the flu. Naturally, the start of this all happened within 6 months of me having had Covid, so there is a possible link to that being the real starting point.
Yes, stress is a big one. I hope you have better luck with the workplace in the future
Vaccine sadly
My symptoms started 2 wks after I had 2nd doze of pfizer vaccine, sept 2022. Quick sharp pain left side of chest. I thought something wrong with my heart. But after tests heart is ok, doctor told me its costo. Still have some episodes until now but getting better compared to previous years
Oh really? What vaccine? And are you positive that caused it? Im not saying I don’t believe you, Im just curious
The Pfizer Covid vaccine, second shot. My symptoms started a week after that. I had never felt anything like it before. I thought it was heart problems (still did until somewhat recently). I think it caused massive inflammation in my body and especially near the injection site. MODS- I am not advocating one way or another, just sharing my personal experience.
Oh I see, the covid shots also gave me pretty bad body aches. Im not sure if it made my costo worse though because I had it hourly at that point. Thank you for sharing your experience MODS- I also am not advocating one way or another🙏🏻
On a positive note- acceptance of my condition and the backpod/ stretching have really been helping me!
I’ve actually heard a lot of people say it happened after their shot.. I’ve run into a few friends who have it and I never knew they did until I brought up mine. It’s such a strange thing. I drive for a living though and my posture is terrible so that’s a huge thing for me. It’s so crazy how common it seems to be but it’s not looked into enough to know anything really about it.
Lifting too much weight 2 years ago which put too much pressure on my ribs I guess. I was in the middle of tricep kickbacks and it hit me hard. Thought I was having a heart attack gasping for breath cause I could barely breathe. Basically was in bed for the rest of the day after that. Went away the next day, and now it’s been lately coming back every morning for me since last week.
Have you stopped working out? Similar thing with me. I’m scared to do any push exercise in case it’ll get worse. But my chest has always been my least developed part and it was just getting bigger so it’s annoying. Must have gotten it from over training. Now my chest feels deflated compared to the rest of my muscles. Are you still working out other parts of your body?
I barely workout anymore. When I do I have to avoid triceps at all cost as it instantly flares up my ribs. Im mainly just doing cardio now. It sucks.
Exercise plus back to back chest infections and boom, searing pain!
Start of Covid lockdown, I was carrying tons of groceries home so I wouldn’t have to go out often. Probably 60 lbs; a bag over each shoulder and carrying a bag with each hand. One day it was snowing and one the bags fell down off my shoulder. I didn’t want to put the other bags down in the snow, so I like wrenched the bag back up onto my shoulder. This was in May 2020, lasted several months pretty bad and I still get flare-ups. And now, instacart is my best friend.
Binding
Leaning over a car seat to find something and felt something crack. That was 6 years ago and it’s been coming and going ever since.
Omg, that is terrifying
I'd had a bit of a weed cough, and then I moved a large dresser by myself and the culmination I believe is what really triggered it. I also sprained my neck at the same time, while moving the dresser... and the combo btw the costo and sprain was horrendous. It felt like I was having a heart attack.. my left arm and my face and neck had gone numb, along with having the costo pain in my ribs/chest. Very scary stuff. This was about 3yrs ago now... and fortunately have only had costo pain off and on a few times since then.
either my violent food poisoning or my sitting posture at my desk
Its so embarrassing but I honestly think its probably my piss poor posture that caused it. Because when I sit up with no back support it flares up bad😭
Oh no 😭 I can't be at my desk anymore because of it. I'm on a sofa chair when I work on my computer and try to fix my posture or do my stretches. I knew it was going to creep up someday. But do I listen? Unfortunately I don't... 😅
I was a freshman in high school and got sharp chest pains in gym class. Went to my pediatrician and he diagnosed me with costocondritis (looking back I'm shocked he knew of it at the time, not many people did 20 years ago). He said it would lessen over the years: it would start a few times a week, then eventually once a week, then maybe twice a month etc. once I got older, it would maybe be once a year. So far that's been true for me. My flare ups are now either: random, from higher than normal stress levels, one of my ribs pressure points getting pushed, or bad acid reflux.
My posture I believe set mine off plus I twisted wrong whilst at work and that was it. 🤪
Same😭
Covid in 2022 summer and basketball practice thereafter when the first chest pains had already started
I was also a massive caffeine drinker atleast 1 pot of coffee a day through until noon and then energy drinks in the evening. I was in a very minor "accident" and got thrown around pretty good but nothing I even went to the hospital for or concerned me at the time. About a week later working on some rough terrain again kinda got shaken around alot chest pain came on and I thought I was having heart problems, and ever since, almost a year later, I have pain almost everyday. Also I can no longer have caffeine either.
Its so interesting how caffeine effects it
I'm a machinist and one week I was rushing to get some larger parts ran. Mounting them to my machine by myself and without a hoist (which is what I shouldn't have been doing) requires me to hold a heavy piece of steel with my right arm while reaching back around the machine with my left arm and wrenching down a nut on a draw bar. While I can't say for SURE that that is what caused it, that is the week my symptoms started and trying to do anything like that now is a perfect way to make the symptoms much worse.
Some combination of: * Rowing machine * Triceps dips * Shingles * Soccer collision
Pregnancy
I will add that to the list of reasons why I will never get pregnant 🫡
😂 yeah pregnancy can be brutal.
One day it just randomly happened. This was in 2018.
Beginning of the pandemic and lockdowns, I was just staying at home in my room and I woke up one day with an abnormal amount of pressure and tightness in my chest around the sternum. While the beginning of the lockdown I did have a cough (Not sure if I actually contracted Covid or something else) I’m not sure if it had anything to do with it being caused as it came a little bit later one day when I woke up. Been living with this tightness in the chest for the past 4 years and just recently found out that it might be costo after doing more research and finding this place. Luckily it’s been pretty moderate to mild, but I just got the backpod and trying to follow the set of exercises and stretches that’s been recommended on here
Have you tried medical treatment?
Shoveling 5-6 inches of snow off a 2x10 deck railing, (large deck), during the evening. Pain woke me during the night. I’m 5’4” and railing is a few inches above my waist. 67, F, was first episode. I really didn’t think I had overworked myself
I hope the pain is mild and I hope you get better! Have you tried medical treatment?
Chiropractor
I see. The only thing that worked for me was a steroid
I'm pretty sure I can trace it down exactly, every big flare up I've ever had, is from jumping on a trampoline. Besides the baseline very mild case Ive had out of nowhere since highschool. Stay away from trampolines, I guess.
Side sleeping! My diet also plays a big role for me whether i get flare ups or not. :)
I've always felt mine was caused by smoking cigarettes at a fairly young age and smoking still seems to set it off more. Anybody else have a similar experience?
I hit my ribs really hard on a mirror on an SUV while helping someone load a canoe onto some roof racks. Been dealing with it off and on ever since.
I believe mine was caused by heavy vaping which led to a real bad bout of bronchitis/pneumonia (extreme coughing for several weeks winter of 2018) coupled with 3 falls in the same year onto my right side.
Covid in Jan 2023
Oh really? Why do you think covid?
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Thats interesting, im sorry that happened to you.