How To Treat Costochondritis

Costochondritis is a chest condition that involves inflammation in the cartilage around the sternum. This condition is not considered dangerous, but it can cause significant chest pain. Costochondritis is fairly common and is more common in children and women than men. For children, it is one of the more common causes of chest pain. Doctors will typically do a lot of tests to make sure a patient's chest pain is not caused by something more serious before diagnosing costochondritis. Treatment often does not require medical intervention, but medications or surgery may be necessary for severe cases.

Avoid Triggering Exercises

One thing patients can do to treat costochondritis is to avoid triggering exercises. What exercises are considered triggering may vary from patient to patient. In general, it is best not to participate in contact sports such as soccer, rugby, football, and martial arts. As a general rule, if an exercise starts causing chest pain, patients don’t do it until the condition has fully gone away. Individuals should make sure to get plenty of rest so the cartilage in their chest can heal. It is always a good idea to consult with a doctor to find out to what extent physical activity should be limited.

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Practice Stretching

Yoga and stretching routines are recommended for patients suffering from costochondritis, as these gentle exercises can relieve pain over time. A good stretch for the chest is to raise the arms, bend the elbows, and lace the fingers behind the head. When doing this, individuals should pull their shoulder blades together so they can feel the stretch in their chest. This is a great way to relax the chest muscles and reduce inflammation in the cartilage around the sternum. Another stretch individuals can do is a wall stretch with their forearm against a wall. First, they must find a doorway. Then they need to bend one arm to form a ninety-degree angle with their hand facing up towards the ceiling. Individuals must then press the length of their forearm against the wall next to the doorway; then step forward with the opposite foot to push their body through the doorway while keeping their forearm on the wall. This will stretch one side of their chest. They should hold the stretch for ten to fifteen seconds and repeat the routine on the other side. If individuals practice stretching regularly, their costochondritis should easily go away.

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Apply Hot Or Cold Compresses

Applying hot or cold compresses to the chest can greatly alleviate pain from costochondritis. Patients should make sure any hot compresses they use are not too hot. They can also use a heated blanket, but must keep it on low heat. If using a cold compress or an ice pack, individuals must make sure not to put it directly on their skin as this could cause frostbite. Patients can use hot or cold compresses multiple times a day for short periods. An easy way to make a hot compress is to soak a washcloth in hot water and then apply it to the chest where it hurts the most. Cold compresses can be made easily by soaking a cloth in ice water or by wrapping a cloth around an ice pack.

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Take Necessary Medication As Directed

If costochondritis pain becomes too severe for the patient to treat it on their own, pain medication may be necessary. In addition, if a bacterial chest infection is the cause of the costochondritis, antibiotics may be prescribed. Patients must make sure to take necessary medication as directed, and finish the entire course of antibiotics. If the chest pain becomes bad enough that over-the-counter pain medications do not work well enough to treat it, a doctor may administer anesthetics or steroids in the form of an injection. Sometimes a general practitioner can prescribe these; otherwise, patients may be referred to a rheumatologist.

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Surgical Intervention

In rare cases, surgical intervention may be necessary to treat costochondritis. Surgery for this condition involves cutting the affected cartilage out of the chest. This option should only be used if all other treatment methods fail to relieve the chest pain. Before recommending surgery, the doctor will likely want patients to try medication, stretching exercises, rest, physical therapy, or using a TENS unit. All surgeries have certain risks, and it is not guaranteed the pain will go away permanently after surgery. Due to these things and to the fact costochondritis can be treated with less invasive methods, doctors are hesitant to recommend surgical intervention for it.