Turning the spotlight on Costochondritis helps to highlight a condition that can often be overlooked or misdiagnosed. At Blackberry Clinic our expert Musculoskeletal and Sport and Exercise Medicine doctors can help identify if you have costochondritis and provide an appropriate treatment plan for you. At Milton Keynes we offer Connect Therapy and the Thoracic Ring approach which may be of benefit in identifying and treating the underlying causes of the costochondritis. If conventional manual therapy does not have a satisfactory outcome our doctors may suggest a steroid injection to treat the inflammation, which combined with other treatments and exercises can often be beneficial in this condition.
Costochondritis: Symptoms
Symptoms:
If you have chest pain consult a doctor to rule out an underlying course that is not musculoskeletal. Costochondritis presents with the most common sites of pain close to the breastbone (sternum), at the level of the 4th, 5th and 6th ribs. The symptoms are:
- Sharp, stabbing chest pain, felt at the front of the chest, worse if pressure applied
- Exacerbated by movement, exertion and deep breathing.
- Some people may feel an aching pain, it can settle with a position change.
- The pain is usually localised to a small area but it can radiate to a wider area.
Costochondritis: Treatment options
- Sometimes it helps just to be reassured there is no serious cause for the chest pain. Seek medical advice if you have chest pain!
- Relaxation techniques. Anxiety is a common cause of chest pain.
- Simple painkillers such as paracetamol or ibruprofen
- Steroid injections or local anaesthetic medicines if pain is severe and other treatments have not worked.
Non-medicinal measures can be tried for relief of pain in costochondritis. Examples of such techniques include:
- Heat pads and ice application
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).
- Acupuncture
- Gentle stretching exercises.
- Avoidance of sports or activities that worsen the pain.
- Physiotherapy or chiropractic therapy to help loosen up the rib cage.
At Blackberry Clinic we offer diagnosis and treatment for Costochondritis. Get in touch!
