You Should Know

See, I am unfortunate in that I know exactly where my chest pain comes from and it is from 6 of my ribs being broken and fused together from falling off a cruise ship and breaking them on a railing on the way down.

The interesting part is I didnt know I broke them until years later when I was hit by a car and the hospital doctor was just like "oh yeah you just hurt your broken ribs again, put some frozen peas on it and wait for the pain to go down"

Anyways, dont break your ribs unless you want to know when the weather is changing by pain.

I had it when I was a teenager. When I stopped playing Trumpet it seemed to go away. Maybe the larger lung capacity caused it?

Ah fuck I just assumed I had random muscle cramps in my chest from a fight I had in highschool. Always third rib from the bottom,on the left, about 45 degrees off center

Sounds kinda similar to costochondritis, it is central chest pain. I thought it was a heart attack when I had it and went to the ER. Fortunately it was just costochondritis.

Oh good so it’s not just been me dealing with this random pain for the last 20 years…

Oh wow I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I turned 30 and it happens from time to time and I couldn't figure out what it was. Granted I was a little too worried to look into it

So it's not a tiny London man coming to check if I got my stabbing license in order?

Now look up Proctalgia Fugax

This thing haunts me every few months since always. You can usually stop it by exhaling deeply and relaxing muscles in affected areas.

Oh, same, never had it since about 30.

So it doesn't mean I'm low key having a heart attack?

Thank god.

Thanks for this revelation. It has a name! All my siblings got these and they told me "it's a gas in your lung" which i ran with for years, haha. Once, still as a kid, i got it for 6 hours so we called a doctor. She diagnosed it as intercostal neuritis triggered by high and unusual physical excertion the previous day. Prescribed nothing

I have this, randomly and only when sleeping on the back. one time it was more longer lasting them before.

Hey, I know this one. I've had it since I was a small child but didn't quite know the name.

I get these, I thought it was the front and back of my lung touching and behaving like universal velcro, which explained why breathing in hurt, but also why taking a full breath made it go away (fully separated.) I guess not?

Know anything about a kinda dull pain in the sternum that comes and goes, which lasts a week or month, then is gone for a few weeks or months before it comes back. Has been going on for a few years at this point. Got all kinds of scans and tests done the first year but everything showed normal. I at least don't think I'm gonna die anymore but it sucks.

Holy fuck it has a name.

Of course it has a name ..... Of course I'm not the only one this happens to.

As I got older those random pains have me worried "is this a cardiac event?!" despite showing no other symptoms for one.

Ahh, this is fun. Every time I'm like "Is this it? Is this the one?"

But no, it never is.

Well thanks for sharing this. I've been getting this since forever. Now that I think about it though I don't think it's happened in a while.

Anyway, much appreciated!

Oh nice post. I totally have this.

Treatment: Reasurance

Its okay. You're not dying. Calm down.

The pain is agitated by expansion and contraction of the chest. Taking a deep breath and allowing the rib cage to fully expand can relieve the pain, however it will feel unpleasant initially. At the point of full expansion, it can feel like a rubber band snap in the chest, after which the initial pain subsides.

Oh I gotta try this.

right near the xyphoid process?

I've had this since before I was a teenager...decades ago. Still happens from time to time. I've always considered it somewhat like a cramp in my diaphragm and so always breathe just deeply enough that it starts to hurt then relax and next breath try a bit deeper and keep that up until I "work through it."

harmless

Crashed on a bicycle because of it. Broke nothing, but a few scars on my face still there

My god it has a name... and so many people here seem to have it? I thought i was a freak for having this. Nobody else ever said anything about having similar pains.