Costochondritis

inLOVEalready715

I saw my OB yesterday and he confirmed I have costichondritis. It's an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum. I had mentioned in an old symptom thread that I was having sternum pain and it seemed some others might be having the same, so I figured I'd mention this. Mine started out just as mild soreness but has started hurting more over time. It happens during pregnancy from hormones and from our rib cages spreading and irritating the cartilage. My OB said to take tylenol for the pain if I want and if it gets really bad he can send me for Physical therapy. Anyone else having this kind of pain? It hurts more with coughing, sneezing, deep breathing. Or has anyone seen a chiropractor or PT and know any of the exercises that relieved the pain? I plan to look some up later after work.

gotdiesel2007

I had it bad with my first, I still get flare ups from time to time. Warm compresses and massaging help me the most . I also have a few Vicodin if it's gets bad. (Obviously not used while preggo) if I have a flare up it's been mostly in my back to side rather than my sternum area

gotdiesel2007

Oh and a good supportive bra has seemed to help. I think that the weight of my breast is what brought it on originally.

inLOVEalready715

@gotdiesel2007 thank you! Yes I see that antiinflammatories are usually prescribed but not for us. It makes me feel a lot less wussy to know that they prescribed you Vicodin for it. Mine doesn't hurt that bad yet but I can see how it gets there. At first I thought it was from my bras getting too tight I bought ones with larger bands and it helps but by the end of the night it hurts no matter what. I'm def going to try some compresses.

gotdiesel2007

Mine after my first (6yrs ago) was so bad I ended up in the er bc I couldn't breath, now most of the time it just feels like a really really bad back/chest ache

inLOVEalready715

@gotdiesel2007 Ugh that's awful. I don't anticipate this will go away during the pregnancy just hoping it goes away after. How was your delivery with it? I'm so scared I won't be able to breathe well or push hard enough.

gotdiesel2007

I delivered just fine. I was induced (never again lol) and had oxygen but nothing crazy and was only in labor about 5 hours.

inLOVEalready715

Oh that's great!

jennaleigh23

I was diagnosed with that back in October, pre pregnancy.. had pains off and on throughout the pregnancy.. anyways really long story short it ended up actually being a gall bladder attack misdiagnosed as flare ups. After a painful night in emergency and being monitored in the hospital for 4 days, they decided to remove my gall bladder and I haven't had that pain since. Just a warning, since the pain can often be described as almost exactly the same feeling and both can be worsened by pregnancy!

inLOVEalready715

Thanks @jennaleigh23 im going to keep a close eye for other gallbladder symptoms. That's scary, sorry that happened to you

claudia3059

I have been noticing more and more pain in the front of my rib cage. I thought it was because I'm small and the baby was getting bigger but maybe it's more than that. Either way I don't think it matters...suck it up and wait for it to get worse. Just like every other pregnancy symptom:(