Aching, hard growth at the bottom end of my sternum

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I have been noticing that my sternum has been aching - I assumed it wasn’t anything serious - in the past, when I have had a chest infection, it has irritated ny sternum and made it sore.

But tonight, when I was rubbing it to ease the ache, I noticed that there is a hard lump at the bottom end of my sternum - round, hard, sore and about the size of a half golf ball.

I will get an appointment with the gp as soon as I can, but I am freaking out a bit.

Bodies are weird. Odds are it's one of the weird & fairly harmless things.

Is it your xiphisternum? Totally normal hrs lump at the bottom of your sternum.

Your what now ohdear?

I have just googled xiphisternum, and apparently it can get inflamed, and that causes a lot of the symptoms I have been having - and it just needs anaesthetic or steroid injections to treat it - and it is less scary than what I was thinking, so thank you, @ohdearwhatcanthematterbee.

glad it’s helped put your mind at rest!

I've booked a gp appointment online, and the earliest I can get is the 16th! I will be ringing on Monday to see if I can get one sooner - my practice is not usually this busy!

Well - I managed to get an earlier appointment, so I am seeing the GP this afternoon.

I am still pretty worried by this - the aching is not getting any better - in fact it is worse after I did some dressmaking yesterday (no heavy lifting apart from the machine, but quite a lot of sitting in a bent forward position, I suppose), and it is making my back ache too.

Plus the lump is still there.

I know there are benign things it could be, but I am still fretting.

Hope your mind is put at rest this afternoon OP

The doctor thinks it might be acid, caused by my antidepressants, that has inflamed the underside of the sternum. She didn’t think the swelling was abnormal, but she has referred me to a, orthopaedic surgeon, for x-rays and his opinion.

In the meantime, I have some more medication, to suppress the acid production, and see if that helps.

I get it too, especially if I've been meaning over something. The doctor said it's in the sternum, where the ribs join on. And yes it affects the back, between the shoulder blades. It's some sort of inflammation but apparently goes away by itself.

Leaning, not meaning

That is reassuring - thank you. It fits with the dressmaking exacerbating it.

I remember worrying like you in my 40s, it all settled down eventually with no treatment, I think it's normal in 40s...no idea of your age.

50s - maybe I am just young at heart - well, chest - anyway!

:-)

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius long shot given how old this thread is, but did you get a diagnosis on this in the end / did the anti-acid medication help? Have just been prescribed this by doc for similar issue, pain in xiphisternum plus I'm having digestive issues!

@InTheTrenches - no, I never did get a diagnosis - the pain went away, so I assumed whatever it was, wasn’t going to do me any harm - but thank you for your suggestion and concern!💐