Living with Costochondritis one reason which could explain your chest pains

This condition is not suppose to effect younger people. But guess what, this is wrong. In recent times this is now becoming a condition which can effect anyone male or female. For no reason whatsoever you could end up suffering with this condition.

If you think you have this condition, go to your doctor, they are the ones who with a very simple test can tell you in five minutes if you have it. The symptoms of this condition, the first time you experience it will be very very bad. I'm not joking about this. It can be quite scary and you start getting really worry and think that it's your heart that's having problems,not realising it's really your chest area.

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TEST

The doctor will press down on the area of your chest just under your chin and will continue pressing on your skin all the way down to the bottom of the breast bone.

If you let out a YELP, then you have it. Simple as that.

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A person who is suffering from Costochondritis will tell you the pain is indescribable.

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So what exactly causes the pain?

It all comes about because the cartilage which is connecting the ribs to the breastbone become inflamed. Your probably wondering how something so simple can cause so much pain? Well due to the cartilage becomming inflamed everything is being pushed together and the result is, you guessed it lots of pain in your chest area.

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Anybody who recently suffered a severe trauma to their chest area or anybody who has chest surgery could end up been very susceptible to this conditions. Even a person who had caught a viral infections could end up been subseptable to getting this conditions. Or it could just be your bad luck to end up getting this condition for no reason whatsoever. That's what happened to me

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How do you know this is the condition you have?

Well some things that might give you an idea this is what you have could be the following:

• Tenderness around the breastbone where your ribs are connected to the cartilage
• Feeling of pressure on your chest area
• Pain might spread to your back
• Breathing might seem extremely difficult
• Aggravated pain if you sneeze are cough
• Cold weather and stress can make the symptoms worst in some people

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First off , prevention is better than cure.

So please do not do the following if you want to avoid getting a repeat of this condition once you have been diagnosed by a doctor as having it.

1) No heavy lifting.

2) Do not do any work in the garden which involves doing anything heavier than planting vegetables or flowers. (Lifting big plants is a big no no here, you will suffer from pain for the next 3 days if you do)

3) Do not take on the task of moving your furniture, get someone else to do it.

4) This one is going to be hard. Try not to get any viral infections in future. If you get a really bad bout of the flu, chances are after you have recovered from the flu, you'll end up having a sore chest for a few days after. i.e all that coughing and sneezing has now aggravated your COSTOCHONDRITIS.

5) Wrap up really really well in cold weather. I find that the colder it is outside, the more chance I have of getting it. For some reason you can feel the condition coming on once the weather turns, so I really don't like the winter months anymore.

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Since you now know some of the ways to avoid getting it. Lets see what you have to do if you get it.

1) Your doctors will give you a prescription for a very strong anti-inflammatory gel which you will have to apply 3 times a day.

2) You will be told to take anti-inflammatory pain killers like Nurofen or Ibuprofen. Follow the dose instruction on the pack or whatever the chemist directs you to take.

3) Sometimes you could even get away with paracetamol but only if it's very mild.

4) You might also try hot and cold treatment to the effected area to reduce the pain. Sometimes a hot water bottle against your chest area gives you some relief with the pain. Not a massive amount but some is better than none, right.

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All you can do if Costochondritis attacks you is take it very easy. When it comes back again, doing little things can become extremely hard.

Don't go off trying to do any strenuous work or exercise now while your suffering from it, that's just looking for trouble.

Sometimes you will get this condition once, that's it, it's now gone forever. That's great for those people.

But not everyone is so lucky. Chances are this will come back about 3 times a year. Little things can aggravate it, so avoid doing those if at all possible.

If you keep getting the pain well there's not much you can do, just have a supply of the gel and the pills handy. There is no cure for this condition, you just have to try and avoid getting it, or just try to handle it when you get it.

But on the bright side, the second time you get it, it's not as bad as the first. It's like a mild case of indestion, you know it's there, it's a little bit sore, but not enough to make you want to take to your bed for a week.