Too many people have chest pain without knowing what is the caused. When it first presented, often is thought that it is a problem with the heart. This is mainly because often the pain is felt in the shoulder, arm and the pain is aggravated with physical activity. Mostly, however, this complaint has a different cause; Costochondritis!

Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the breastbone (Sternum). The body normally has 24 ribs, 12 left and 12 right, at the back of the body connected to the thoracic vertebraes of the spine by joints and at the front through flexible cartilage at the sternum. This cartilage is highly sensitive because it is very rich in nerve tissue. Everyone has heard how painful it is to bruise or break a rib. This is because this “bruised” and the amount of nerve endings.

Costochondritis (also known as Tietze’s syndrome) may be roughly caused by two causes. One possibility is a trauma, which can be anything. A fall against a table, a sudden tennis movement or a very severe cough. Because of this trauma a lot of stress is put on the cartilage and an acute inflammatory response is the result. This is similar to the swollen, red and sore ankle after spraining it. This is also an inflammatory response. Pain is usually felt when lifting the arm, deep breathing, coughing and lying on the painful side. This form of costochondritis should simply recover after a period of relative rest and lots of ice on the painful part. These kinds of traumas are often half the problem. The spinal joints on the backside could be part of the cause of the problem. This stress can overload the cartilage and will cause too much tension on the cartilage.

The second cause of costochondritis is often unclear, but lays in a poor posture. This is often the type of chest pain thought to be a heart problem because there seems to be no clear cause for this pain. People with these symptoms often have a curved upper back (kyphosis) and / or rounded shoulders which are rotated forward. This kind of posture puts the cartilage at the front of the chest under constant (excessive) pressure. This constant high load on the cartilage creates an inflammatory response and thus pain. Because this posture does not change and the cause persists, this condition does not recover by itself. With exercise the chest moves up and down and so puts stress on the cartilage, thus is painful. The upper ribs become rigid and shoulder pain starts with referred pain to the arm because of irritation of the arm nerve. These are all symptoms that also occur from a heart attack ….

After any heart problem is excluded and these symptoms persist, it is advisable to visit our clinic. A chiropractor is specialized in solving this problem and any other additional biomechanical results from this condition. By the mobilisation of the ribs and adjacent joints together with normalizing the body posture you do not have to live with these kinds of pains. Pain medication can often relieve a bit, but will certainly not treat the cause of the complaint. People with this phenomenon often have often other symptoms such as headaches or neck pain, pins and needles in the hands and dizziness. There is no need to live with these symptoms the rest of his life when the CAUSE of the complaint is properly addressed.