Costochondritis- at my wits end

[nelliah]

I've been suffering with costochondritis for the past few months. I think from driving (I do 10k+ miles a year) and sitting at a desk. I now have a standing desk but no sign of it getting better. I have pain along my ribs, my back, under my armpits. When a lay on my side and my ribcage squeezes together at my sternum it is so painful. I can't sleep. It is giving me anxiety. It hurts to breathe sometimes. I don't know what to do to get rid of it. Can anyone help? Feel like it's genuinely ruining my quality of life. Posting in AIBU because I need people to see my post as I am in so much pain. Doctor had me self refer to physio and I have heard nothing in over a month.

My mother had this condition. From what I recall, she used heat pads and pain killers mainly to control the pain. Physio had her do some stretching and work on her posture which improved things significantly in the longer term, but it took a while. Possibly she had steroids for it, but that might have been for something else.

I'm sorry I don't know much more than that. Hope you find some relief.

Oh I get flare ups of costochondritis and it’s awful. The things I’ve found helpful are wearing one of those braces that holds your shoulders back, to reduce some of the movement (sometimes I wear it while sleeping too), gel ice packs for about 20 minutes at a time on the most painful areas, and NSAIDs. If it’s mild I’ll take naproxen. If it’s really painful I’ll take ibuprofen every 4 hours on the dot, even through the night. That really helps knock the pain and inflammation down a bit.

If I do all three of these it seems to subside a lot faster than if I don’t. It’s still painful and annoying but bearable. The brace is really helpful as it keeps me from agitating it with excessive movement and then once I’ve done at least 24 hours of the ibuprofen the inflammation really seems to ease up.

Have you had antibiotics to treat the infection?

It does stay sore for a while after (well, mine did) but the infection can spread if not addressed.

You have my sympathy it’s bloody painful.
alternate heat and ice and strong painkillers are the best treatment for acute phase. Stretching can help longer term. For me it’s part of an inflammatory condition so it just appears one day without warning. Hot baths can really help short term too

No because it isn't a bacterial infection.

Thanks all, just so fed up.

No real advice but wanted to add my sympathies. My daughter has it and the doctors have been useless because they said nothing will get rid of it so she has to ride it out.
Rest helps, as well as nsaids but that can cause stomach issues so not ideal.

A family member has this chronically on & off for years. It's really affected her quality of life and hasn't been well understood by her doctors. However she has had some really effective relief from steroid injections into the joint - the GP referred her to the pain clinic at the hospital for this. Unfortunately the effect wears off over time.