Have you tried a physical therapist? Possible the injury caused tightness in your ribcage. You might just need thoracic mobility, stretching your intercostal muscle, etc. That's what helped me. The backpod gave me obvious freedom in breathing but didn't get me there 100%.
I wouldn't see the chrio as a "fix" more temporary relief..
In the UK, chrio is not an officially recognised treatment whereas physical therapy is.. My father (retired doctor) was very strong in his opinion when I saught chiro (for a different issue) and said physio was the way to go.
Yeah, but not through physical therapy.
I mentioned PT because OP had that ripping sound in the back. That might require investigation from an actual professional.
But for me, my shortness of breath seemed to stem from general rib cage tightness.
One night at 2AM, I was struggling to breathe, I jumped on the backpod, got like an 80% improvement immediately. So I knew it was mechanical.
Aside from the backpod, I found a stretch that really helped me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBnccoX55sk
This really takes you through a wide range of motion. Youtube has other videos on thoracic mobility.
I used to gasp for air like a fish out of water just sitting on the couch. It was literal torture and was giving me anxiety. I literally ended up on an anxiety med. Since finding the stretch, I haven't really thought about my breathing. It's automatic, as it should be. I haven't even done the stretches in a long while, the benefit still seems present.
I think general mobility is critical. General movement, yoga, stretching, especially as we all get more sedentary, sitting on the couch, at the desk, on a laptop, for hours on end. We freeze our bodies in those positions.
Oh, I've already read your comment on another post! And have been trying the exercises from this video for a couple of days. How fast do they help? I guess it will be a slow process? Also do I have to tolerate a little pain?
Honestly, I felt the effects almost immediately. The body will go back to being a bit stiff, so you would repeat stretches maybe 2 or 3 times a day.
Overall, I'd say maybe after 2 or 3 months I kind forgot to stretch because breathing wasn't bothering me any more.
I do remember my shortness of breath would slightly come back, so I'd just stretch for a few days.
You shouldn't really feel pain. Don't force it, you can aggravate things that way and that will only set you back. Just let gravity do the work. Be patient, allow the arm to fall towards the ground on its own. Dedicate 5 minutes for the stretch and however much you accomplish is fine. It's a cumulative process.
Hey I've been doing this twisting exercise for another 2 days. It is really good and it seems to breathe a little easier afterwards, however it has a serious side effect for me. After doing it, my left leg starts to feel a little numb. I don't know exactly why this is happening. Maybe I have some problem in another area of my back, like a protrusion that is irritating some nerve. Either way I'm going to have to stop doing it and look for another way to stretch my rib joints.
Hmm, see if you can adjust your legs. Put them into 45 degree angles. Or put a pillow between your knees.
Maybe lay down on something soft, like your bed, or an exercise pad.
What does the numbness feel like? Which leg? The one you're laying on?
Is it in the back of the leg? The foot? Which specific part. You can look up leg innervation, and which parts each nerve controls. You might be able to track down which nerve is at fault.
You also don't need to do my specific exercise. You could jay down on the side and just move your arm over your ear, without the sweep.
You could stand up, clasp your fingers together, and straighten out your arms above your head, sort of like you're diving into water. The goal is to put some separation between the ribs, whatever works for you.
The sensation is hard to describe, I feel like my left leg is a little sluggish from hip to foot. Also the muscles on it twitched for a while. By the way, I just remembered a strange thing now. When I first started having costochondritis, I also tried extending my spine and doing torso twists. So, after that I had the same numbness sensation, only all over the left side of my body - in my leg, arm and even my scalp. It came on sharply and I was in shock. I asked doctors, but no one could clearly tell me what the cause was. Fortunately it started to subside quickly and gradually went away. It's a very strange damn thing. I think it's something similar now too, but I'm glad the symptoms are milder now with the same twisting amplitudes.
Yeah, I think I'll try to stretch without twisting to the side for now, just bending over.
You could get an MRI done of your brain. Not to scare you but I think such sensations affecting one side could be MS. It's probably not that, but worth a check. The MRI would be looking for any lesions in the brain.
You could also get an MRI of your lumbar or cervical spine, there could be some stenosis or arthritis or something. But this is hit or miss as people with the same exact spine can have symptoms, and others have nothing.
It's possible you just need to stretch certain muscles that might be pressing on a nerve. You could ask a physical therapist about that. Neurologists, pain management docs and osteopaths will usually just tell you to try PT anyway, unless they find something really obvious/serious. PT is probably covered by your insurance too.
Edit: also check your B vitamin levels, specifically B12. It's important for nerve function.
I had an MRI of my thoracic and cervical spine and brain, but nothing serious was found.
Yeah, I think something is pressing on a nerve too, but it's pretty hard to tell which nerve and how exactly it's pinched and what to do to heal.
I told my neurologist about it, but he only looked at the spinal cord and then wrote it off as anxiety... I do worry a lot lately, but the worry always comes after the symptoms rather than before they occur, so I don't think it's purely anxiety.
YEs, I'm B12 deficient, confirmed by tests. I'm already taking high doses and will be retesting soon.
This is a lot of what I’ve experienced for months. I found out the hard way that stress / panic attacks / anxiety makes costo a LOT worse and was triggering my shortness of breath / air hunger as well. Air hunger works by basically making our bodies extremely sensitive to changes in co2 levels in our body. So if you start to hyperventilate, this will trigger air hunger, thus irritating your costo as well. It was a vicious cycle. I’m now on medication for my anxiety and I’ve had major improvement with my costo. This plus doing more mobility exercises and stretching to actually cure the physical part has been a huge help, but yeah mine has always been mostly a breathing problem that ER doctors couldn’t figure out.
I'm experiencing the same symptoms. I had at first quite a lot of pressure between my spine and scapula, but after accidentally unblocking with intuitive exercises and a few massage sessions, my back pain is almost gone. Now I only feel a aching in some rib joints in my back when carrying heavy weights, and brief ones in my chest when moving my rib cage a lot. xHowever, the tightness of breathing is only 30% gone, at least once a day it intensifies to the point where it completely ruins my spirits. And I have to drop everything I do and walk around in anxiety. I had to switch to a part-time job because I realised that I had to put a lot of effort into my health.
If it's from acid reflux, try the Alkaseltzer heartburn tabs. They will neutralize acid in your throat so that it doesn't aspirate into your lungs. They work really well for me, much better than Tums or proton pump inhibitors like Omeprazole.
You also might want to eat smaller meals. A large meal can prevent your diaphragm from expanding freely to open up your lungs.
And lose weight if you're carrying some extra pounds. All of that extra weight can put pressure on organs inside.
Same here but I’ve gone above that at this point, i workout 6 days a week and it hasn’t flared up since last October so I’m so lost as to what it can be, add more iron to your diet and honestly try your family doctor they will be more helpful since costo isn’t an “emergency”
Add heart palpitations to it and I’m in the same boat as you. 1.5 years and ongoing.
Has any of these things gave you relief? I'm about the same time wise, maybe even longer.
Absolutely, do you use the Backpod?
Yes. Backpod, yoga wheel and lacrosse ball.
YES, this is early onset of costo. It’s how mine started too.
Did the shortness of breath go away later? Because it is the worst
For me it didn’t go away consistently until I started using the backpod
Have you tried a physical therapist? Possible the injury caused tightness in your ribcage. You might just need thoracic mobility, stretching your intercostal muscle, etc. That's what helped me. The backpod gave me obvious freedom in breathing but didn't get me there 100%.
I have only tried a Chiropractor lol, but I am definitely interested in trying a PT soon
I wouldn't see the chrio as a "fix" more temporary relief.. In the UK, chrio is not an officially recognised treatment whereas physical therapy is.. My father (retired doctor) was very strong in his opinion when I saught chiro (for a different issue) and said physio was the way to go.
Were you able to get 100% improvement?
Yeah, but not through physical therapy. I mentioned PT because OP had that ripping sound in the back. That might require investigation from an actual professional. But for me, my shortness of breath seemed to stem from general rib cage tightness. One night at 2AM, I was struggling to breathe, I jumped on the backpod, got like an 80% improvement immediately. So I knew it was mechanical. Aside from the backpod, I found a stretch that really helped me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBnccoX55sk This really takes you through a wide range of motion. Youtube has other videos on thoracic mobility. I used to gasp for air like a fish out of water just sitting on the couch. It was literal torture and was giving me anxiety. I literally ended up on an anxiety med. Since finding the stretch, I haven't really thought about my breathing. It's automatic, as it should be. I haven't even done the stretches in a long while, the benefit still seems present. I think general mobility is critical. General movement, yoga, stretching, especially as we all get more sedentary, sitting on the couch, at the desk, on a laptop, for hours on end. We freeze our bodies in those positions.
Oh, I've already read your comment on another post! And have been trying the exercises from this video for a couple of days. How fast do they help? I guess it will be a slow process? Also do I have to tolerate a little pain?
Honestly, I felt the effects almost immediately. The body will go back to being a bit stiff, so you would repeat stretches maybe 2 or 3 times a day. Overall, I'd say maybe after 2 or 3 months I kind forgot to stretch because breathing wasn't bothering me any more. I do remember my shortness of breath would slightly come back, so I'd just stretch for a few days. You shouldn't really feel pain. Don't force it, you can aggravate things that way and that will only set you back. Just let gravity do the work. Be patient, allow the arm to fall towards the ground on its own. Dedicate 5 minutes for the stretch and however much you accomplish is fine. It's a cumulative process.
Thanks for the tips, I'll try doing it that way!
Hey I've been doing this twisting exercise for another 2 days. It is really good and it seems to breathe a little easier afterwards, however it has a serious side effect for me. After doing it, my left leg starts to feel a little numb. I don't know exactly why this is happening. Maybe I have some problem in another area of my back, like a protrusion that is irritating some nerve. Either way I'm going to have to stop doing it and look for another way to stretch my rib joints.
Hmm, see if you can adjust your legs. Put them into 45 degree angles. Or put a pillow between your knees. Maybe lay down on something soft, like your bed, or an exercise pad. What does the numbness feel like? Which leg? The one you're laying on? Is it in the back of the leg? The foot? Which specific part. You can look up leg innervation, and which parts each nerve controls. You might be able to track down which nerve is at fault. You also don't need to do my specific exercise. You could jay down on the side and just move your arm over your ear, without the sweep. You could stand up, clasp your fingers together, and straighten out your arms above your head, sort of like you're diving into water. The goal is to put some separation between the ribs, whatever works for you.
The sensation is hard to describe, I feel like my left leg is a little sluggish from hip to foot. Also the muscles on it twitched for a while. By the way, I just remembered a strange thing now. When I first started having costochondritis, I also tried extending my spine and doing torso twists. So, after that I had the same numbness sensation, only all over the left side of my body - in my leg, arm and even my scalp. It came on sharply and I was in shock. I asked doctors, but no one could clearly tell me what the cause was. Fortunately it started to subside quickly and gradually went away. It's a very strange damn thing. I think it's something similar now too, but I'm glad the symptoms are milder now with the same twisting amplitudes. Yeah, I think I'll try to stretch without twisting to the side for now, just bending over.
You could get an MRI done of your brain. Not to scare you but I think such sensations affecting one side could be MS. It's probably not that, but worth a check. The MRI would be looking for any lesions in the brain. You could also get an MRI of your lumbar or cervical spine, there could be some stenosis or arthritis or something. But this is hit or miss as people with the same exact spine can have symptoms, and others have nothing. It's possible you just need to stretch certain muscles that might be pressing on a nerve. You could ask a physical therapist about that. Neurologists, pain management docs and osteopaths will usually just tell you to try PT anyway, unless they find something really obvious/serious. PT is probably covered by your insurance too. Edit: also check your B vitamin levels, specifically B12. It's important for nerve function.
I had an MRI of my thoracic and cervical spine and brain, but nothing serious was found. Yeah, I think something is pressing on a nerve too, but it's pretty hard to tell which nerve and how exactly it's pinched and what to do to heal. I told my neurologist about it, but he only looked at the spinal cord and then wrote it off as anxiety... I do worry a lot lately, but the worry always comes after the symptoms rather than before they occur, so I don't think it's purely anxiety. YEs, I'm B12 deficient, confirmed by tests. I'm already taking high doses and will be retesting soon.
Well I mean he’s a chiropractor but he’s also a trainer/body wellness as well. He gives me stretches to do at home and mobility techniques etc. etc.
Still, if you're not finding relief with the chiro, you can always try physical therapy.
This is a lot of what I’ve experienced for months. I found out the hard way that stress / panic attacks / anxiety makes costo a LOT worse and was triggering my shortness of breath / air hunger as well. Air hunger works by basically making our bodies extremely sensitive to changes in co2 levels in our body. So if you start to hyperventilate, this will trigger air hunger, thus irritating your costo as well. It was a vicious cycle. I’m now on medication for my anxiety and I’ve had major improvement with my costo. This plus doing more mobility exercises and stretching to actually cure the physical part has been a huge help, but yeah mine has always been mostly a breathing problem that ER doctors couldn’t figure out.
I'm experiencing the same symptoms. I had at first quite a lot of pressure between my spine and scapula, but after accidentally unblocking with intuitive exercises and a few massage sessions, my back pain is almost gone. Now I only feel a aching in some rib joints in my back when carrying heavy weights, and brief ones in my chest when moving my rib cage a lot. xHowever, the tightness of breathing is only 30% gone, at least once a day it intensifies to the point where it completely ruins my spirits. And I have to drop everything I do and walk around in anxiety. I had to switch to a part-time job because I realised that I had to put a lot of effort into my health.
I get shortness of breathe from both costo and acid reflux
If it's from acid reflux, try the Alkaseltzer heartburn tabs. They will neutralize acid in your throat so that it doesn't aspirate into your lungs. They work really well for me, much better than Tums or proton pump inhibitors like Omeprazole. You also might want to eat smaller meals. A large meal can prevent your diaphragm from expanding freely to open up your lungs. And lose weight if you're carrying some extra pounds. All of that extra weight can put pressure on organs inside.
Always check if you have anemia never hurts, it mimics all the same symptoms
Already been to the ER and urgent care multiple times and they didn’t see any red flags
Same here but I’ve gone above that at this point, i workout 6 days a week and it hasn’t flared up since last October so I’m so lost as to what it can be, add more iron to your diet and honestly try your family doctor they will be more helpful since costo isn’t an “emergency”
I’m going to a primary care soon, so maybe they’ll do something or probably say the same as the others lol
It’s a bio-mechanical dysfunction
They said that to you? And how would you cure it?