Costochondritis

Costochondritis – Inflammation of the Cartilage

Costochondritis is a medical term for inflammation of the cartilage which joins the ribs to the breastbone or sternum. Cartilage is the tough, though flexible connective tissue which is found in the body especially in the joints between bones and acts as a shock absorber, supporting all the joints.

The Costal cartilage area joining the ribs to the breastbone is called the costochondral joint. This ailment causes chest wall pain which could be reproduced on pushing on the involved cartilage at the front of the rib cage. It is a harmless musculoskeletal chest pain and tends to resolve without much treatment.

Females tend to get more affected with this ailment than men. Costochondritis can at time get confused with a separate condition known as Tietze’s syndrome since this condition too involves inflammation of the costochondral joint causing similar symptoms.

However, Tietze’s syndrome tends to be less common than costochondritis and could cause chest swelling besides other symptoms while costochondritis does not show any swelling.

Symptoms Gradual or Start Suddenly 

Inflammation is the natural response to infection, irritation or injury, by the body. It is unknown why the costochondral joint tend to get inflamed though in certain cases, it has been connected to severe coughing which could strain the chest area, or an injury to the chest, physical strain from continuous exercises or sudden exertion which one may not be accustomed to, infection which may include respiratory tract infection, wound infection, wear and tear where the chest’s movement in and out 20 to 30 times a minute could over a period of time lead to discomfort in the joints.

When the costochondral joint tends to get inflamed, one experiences sharp chest pain which could be worse while lying down in a particular posture, or with pressure on the chest like wearing a seatbelt or hugging someone, taking deep breath, coughing or sneezing, or any physical activity.

This condition can be common in adults over forty years of age while Tietze’s syndrome affects adults below forty years. The symptoms could develop gradually or it could start all of a sudden.

Self Help & Medication To Relieve Symptoms

At times it could be difficult to find the difference between a chest pain which is associated with costochondritis and the pain caused by a more serious condition like a heart attack though heart attack can cause more widespread pain with additional symptoms like breathlessness, sweating and nausea.

For costochondritis, a physical examination is carried out by checking and touching the upper chest area around the costochondral joint for any pain as well as the recent medical history of the person. Before confirming the diagnosis certain tests need to be carried out to find out the other possibilities that could cause the chest pain which could include, an electrocardiogram –ECG that records the rhythms and the electrical activity of the heart, a chest x-ray and a blood test for signs of underlying inflammation.

A diagnosis of costochandritis could be confirmed if no other condition has been found. This condition usually gets better after a period of few weeks though self-help and medication could help in relieving the symptoms like avoiding task which could aggravate the pain, applying hot fermentation to the painful area or using pain relief to ease the pain.