What is costochondritis?
Costochondritis is an inflammation of the costochondral joints - the rib that connects the ribs to the breastbone.
By itself, chest pain causes fear in a person, it is an unpleasant feeling, however, costochondritis is not a symptom of an infarction and, as a rule, in a large percentage of clinical cases, it does not cause any type of serious complication.
Costochondritis is one of the most common causes of chest pain. As doctors say, many people turn to clinics with this complaint, and statistically, in case of chest or rib pain, a third of the patients are diagnosed with costochondritis.
The pain worsens with deep breathing, sneezing, coughing, exercise or other activity. During this diagnosis, patients describe the pain as sharp, tingling.
The exact cause of costochondritis is unknown. According to some scientists, a contributing factor is repeated stress, pressure on the ribs, for example, microtrauma.
Examples of microtrauma are:
- Trauma in the rib or chest area;
- Severe coughing or vomiting;
- Chest infection;
- Intense physical activity without a break or when the body is not ready;
- Suddenly become burdened with physical work that you do not do every day (for example, move heavy furniture).
Risk factors are:
- Contact sports;
- Gender (this complaint is more common in women);
- When the job requires physical labor.
Source:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22167-costochondritis
