Costochondritis

To understand what kind of disease costochondritis is, you must first know where the costal cartilage is. There are several circles of ribs connected to the chest and spine on both sides of the human body, and the costal cartilage is located under the ribs. You can feel it yourself. There is a horizontal, soft, and relatively short line at the bottom of the rib. This is the costal cartilage. Costochondritis is a relatively common disease.

Costochondritis is common in women aged 20 to 30 years. Among ten people with costochondritis, one is a man and nine are women. Costochondritis patients usually suffer from it due to long-term physical labor. Excessive labor on the upper limbs is more likely to cause costochondritis.

The lesions of costochondritis are mostly located at the 2nd to 5th costal cartilages in the chest, with the 2nd and 3rd costal cartilages being the most common. It can also invade the manubrium sternum, the inner side of the clavicle and the anterior and inferior costal cartilages. The affected costal cartilage may be felt as dull or sharp pain in the chest, with tenderness and swelling. The pain may worsen with deep breathing, coughing or movement of the affected upper limb, and may sometimes radiate to the shoulder or back. They may not even be able to raise their arms. However, there is no change in the local skin. The pain varies in severity and often lingers, affecting the patient's work and study. After the pain disappears, the swollen costal cartilage may even persist for months or years. Sometimes the pain will occur after fatigue. The onset may be acute or slow. The acute one may occur suddenly, with a feeling of stabbing pain, throbbing pain or soreness in the chest; the insidious one develops slowly, making the junction of the ribs and costal cartilage bow-shaped, swollen and dull pain without being noticed, sometimes radiating to the shoulders, back, armpits, neck and chest, sometimes with chest tightness and shortness of breath. The pain is relieved by resting or lying on the side, and the pain is aggravated by deep breathing, coughing, lying flat, chest straightening and after fatigue.

Most women with costochondritis see a doctor for breast pain because the pain of costochondritis often radiates to the breast. Costochondritis can easily be confused with breast pain. But it is not difficult to distinguish. If it is a breast disease, you can often feel a lump in the breast or redness of the skin in one area of ​​the breast. The pain of costochondritis is often aggravated by coughing, deep breathing, raising arms and leaning sideways.