Costochondritis anyone?

[RValentine09]

A few days ago after climbing at the gym I got home and started noticing a dull pain on the left side of my chest near my heart. As the night wore on it got progressively worse and eventually began radiating through my entire chest and even into my neck, left shoulder and arm. Needless to say I was pretty convinced I was having some sort of major heart issue and I was this close to walking out the door to the emergency room. Glad I didn't make that expensive mistake.

Since then the pain has come and gone and after a few more nights of little sleep and reassuring myself that I wasn't going to keel over I was able to figure out that it all started at one very tender point in between my 3rd and 4th ribs where they connect to my sternum on the left side of my chest.

A little internet research led me to find a condition called costochondritis which is an inflammation of the cartilage where the ribs meet the sternum and is often confused with a heart attack. The shoe fits so without seeing a doctor yet this is the conclusion I've come to.

Basically wondering if anyone has experienced this or anything similar and if so how'd you work on treating and recovering from it?

[dustonian]

Hopefully you're right. However, I'm no doctor and the internet is no clinic, but it could still be acute angina secondary to myocardial ischemia. You need to get it checked it out ASAP if it happens again, or go now to be safe, especially if you are over 30-35 and have any risk factors.

[cliftongifford]

yep, same thing happened to me a year or so ago. although, i ended up in the ER. they ran a few tests and my heart was good to go... scary experience though, thought i was a goner.

[KD]

you really should go to a doctor if you are having chest pain.

[mike_a_lafontaine]

I was pretty convinced I was having some sort of major heart issue and I was this close to walking out the door to the emergency room. Glad I didn't make that expensive mistake.

Make a mistake in one direction, you're out a handful of cash. Make a mistake in the other direction, you're out a...well, you're just out. Better to err to the cautious side if you even suspect the ticker. While you may or may not be correct about the Costochondritis, I wouldn't wait too long to find out.

[dustonian]

Completely sad that the state of the healthcare system in this country consistently dissuades people from seeing a doctor just to make sure. Normal citizens of almost every other "first-world" nation wouldn't even bat an eyelash before going in to get it checked out. Does anyone else feel this is absolutely pathetic? There's a sort of nationwide collective denial in effect.

[cliftongifford]

it's good to have the peace of mind that everything's okay. it's not that expensive for them to run an ekg to figure out if you've had or have anything going on... it's much better than searching the internet for a diagnosis, and being wrong.

[dustonian]

Even Cuban and Thai citizens can go into a clinic and get worked up for chest pain without fear of financial devastation.

[cliftongifford]

Completely sad that the state of the healthcare system in this country consistently dissuades people from seeing a doctor just to make sure. Normal citizens of almost every other "first-world" nation wouldn't even bat an eyelash before going in to get it checked out. Does anyone else feel this is absolutely pathetic??

there needs to be something done, it is crazy to think how many people die each year from something preventable because they thought they couldn't afford to get things checked out. sad. we can definitely do better.

most people that don't have insurance qualify for financial assistance through just about every hospital i can think of, they just don't advertise it. it's the hassle of filling out the paperwork. if you're less than double the poverty level for your state, it's usually 100% write off.

as a health insurance agent, i can say that this is most of our problems are associated with insurance bs... profit.

[pigsteak]

free health care for everyone except the obese and smokers.