Pain under my left ribs. Can anyone help me work out what might be wrong?

[ApolloandDaphne]

I have a pain which really only appears if I have been bending/stretching/lifting/pushing etc. It feels like it is tucked under my left rib almost like something is trapped or caught. I have googled but I can't find anything and I am just trying to decide if it's something that I need to talk to the doctor about. It's been there for around a week. I am a slightly overweight 59 yo if that's if any relevance. If anyone can help me I would be very grateful. Thanks.

You could have an intercostal muscle strain, or even possibly costochondritis.
If it’s really bothering you then you’re best going to the gp to check, I’d personally give it a few more days myself. It’s always hard giving medical advice on the internet, so always better speaking to a professional so they can check you properly and know your history.
Hope you feel better soon.

I have had this on and off for years and have never found an answer to it.

If you are like me, it's not 'painful' as such, so doesn't match references for costochondritis - feels almost like something has slipped and got stuck? Sometimes moving fixes it, sometimes it doesn't; sometimes sitting aggravates it, sometimes it doesn't; there doesn't seem to be any pattern.

I asked my GP, but TBH they just shrugged: I don't have any other issues, it's not incapacitating, and the amount of testing that would have to be undertaken (scans, blood tests, colonoscopies, the camera down the throat thing that I can't remember the name of) would be so incredibly time and resource-expensive that I don't think either of us could be bothered with it.

For what it's worth, I DO have diagnosed endometriosis (Stage IV) and this really kicked in after I had surgery in 2016. I sometimes wonder if it's related to that.

I've been Googling the things mentioned by the pp and they don't seem to fit. I will just keep an eye on it for the moment.

It may be Precordial Catch Syndrome

The other possibility is pleurisy. I had that years ago. Thought I’d cracked a rib!

I had similar and it was diagnosed as gastritis (not the tummy bug but where your stomach is irritated/inflamed)

I have similar, and have never worked out what it is.

So the pain has gone from there and now I have pain under my left shoulder blade. It's really weird.
I should make a gp appointment but they are like unicorn shit at the moment. I don't like to trouble the gp s as it seems insignificant

I had what. I thought was intercostal muscle pain for years… turned out to be an ulcerated oesophagus owing to having a hiatus hernia. Apparently 1 in 3 over 50 have a hiatus hernia often undiagnosed. Might be worth asking GP if meet criteria for a endoscopy. Treatment is rapid and easy - you don’t treat the hernia just reduce stomach acidity. If it is acid reflux then if left untreated for too long it can scar & narrow your oesophagus. My poor Grandmother could only have a liquid diet in the end with the same issue I’ve got. I have no idea if that’s because treatment wasn’t available then or because she ignored the issue.

I have a sliding hiatus hernia. Took years as to a proper diagnosis. And had both the shoulder and trapped feeling under the rib at times. Plus many other weird symptoms.

It's not all Centred in the chest. Depends on what's going on at any time. Sometimes my stomach is up (and get chest and back issues) and sometimes it's in the right place but I get that trapped feeling.

I had no damage from it from acid. Had endoscopy. I've stopped all my meds now after miraculous chiropractor. And I mean miraculous. I was in agony at times. For weeks.

Hi @morninginging
Can you give us a bit more information? What were your symptoms and what did the chiropractor do? I have similar and driving me mad for months! x

The poster with the sliding hiatus hernia? How was this diagnosed please in the end?

Moving to under the shoulder blade can be gall bladder

I get this, got checked out and turns out have hiatus hernia plus a small umbilical one too, both as a result of pregnancy. Neither is apparently bad enough for treatment, but most unpleasant, especially as means can’t eat a lot of foods, or bend after eating as immediately vomit if do so. The plus side is that having to heavily restrict both what and how much I eat means I have lost more than 3 stone in the last two years!
@morninginging I don’t suppose you could share some more information about what the chiropractor did please? I would love to find something to help!

I have had similar for years under my right ribs. I describe it as feeling like I have a tennis ball under there.

Sometimes it does feel like it is musculoskeletal, sometimes more visceral. I saw the gp pre Covid and had an ultrasound of my abdomen which was normal. Never found out what it was

Hi!

OK so lots of this sounds really familiar. I had all sorts of diagnoses… seriously, asthma, potential gall bladder, etc before a proper diagnosis by endoscopy. My sliding hernia is small, but from what I now know these can be really painful compared to even larger ones. So size is somewhat irrelevant (more squeeze!!!).

Now I know I can mostly manage it. No meds now. And when I need something die to overeating or drinking too late at night then peptac on prescription . Like gaviscon advance. Normal gaviscon won’t work as this is mechanical as opposed to acidic. Peptac forms a raft that helps keep the contents “down”. Doesn’t solve the actual issue but just neutralising the “acid”… even though it’s not really acid… doesn’t help. I this helps weight the whole “contents” down.

The chiropractor was amazing. I thought that what he did had manipulated the hernia to push the stomach “down” back to where it should be. However, he has said not necessarily.

So what he claims is that by manipulating my rib cage on that side he has opened up all the ribs and nerves etc - showed me on his diagrams. This has basically altered my perception of the pain, and possibly deactivated my nerves there.

I had almost instant relief after first session. After three it was pretty much gone. I haven’t been for a few months and have done some heavy lifting recently which has activated it a little. I’ll book in for a session and am convinced the slight pain will be gone again.

Are you hypermobile? My ribs often subluxate, generally on the lower left side. It's a sharp pain that takes my breath away and I have to move around/massage it until it pops back in.

A PP mentioned costochondritis, which I have also had (and is common in hypermobile people). It's bloody sore, like a pulled muscle.

I get this. Doctor didn't know what it was. Sent me for an xray but nothing showed as it wasn't during an 'episode'.
It feels like a rib has moved.
I have to stand up and stretch my arms up in the air until it settles.

I am also a little hyper mobile. Had issues in the past with my hands. I also had a diagnosis of Costo at one point as did have a sore feeling in the sternum when pressed. It wasn’t. Everything fell into place with the sliding hiatus hernia. My symptoms ranged from breast pain (had scans), asthma (had inhalers etc.), costo (pain killers), rib issues…..

I had referred pain everywhere at one or two points. Breast, back, shoulder, awful. Have though I was having a heart attack on more than one occasion. Even now, sometimes something flares up and I think… it can’t “ just” be my tiny (2cm) hernia. But every time I tackle it, it turns out it is.

I think they call it and any associated GERD - the great mimicker. I know like me people can suffer for years due to what I previously thought would have been too simple a diagnosis.

Ooh I get this. Sometimes it's worse and sometimes I'm not troubled at all. I'm pretty sure I have a hernia as when I bend over, poo, or lift anything heavy I feel a twist. It can be terribly uncomfortable as I feel like I have a fist under my ribs. I don't bother with the docs these days as I'm overweight.