Sternoclavicular chondritis- pain, pain and more pain!

[washoja]

Hello, hope someone reads, relates and replies..

the story begins, about 6 months ago when i started with a pain in my left side of the chest... to make things short, i been to 3 different doctors (1 sport medic and 2traumatologist) only to be let down everytime. they just cant simply help me.
i suffer from so sort of chondritis (which i attribute to my swimming practice). the problem is that i been told this is not a terrible afliction but is one that is chronic.. so my pain remains, i havent been back to the pool, and i am slowly going totally mad.
i have used all sorts of medications even had intraarticular kenacort injection administer and the pain just laughs and returns shortly after. what has worked best is artren 100mg(voltaren) but only for short periods and the pain always as ever returns.

i also was told that what i have is a degeneration of the cartilage (strange for my age 27) and that it can return with rest (i havent exercised in a month); and some treatment that consist of a medication (i wasnt told about) that helps regenerate the cartilage...
anyhow i am, as can be seen desperate and lost. i dont know what else to do. if any of you has a suggestion please comment.

[soccer4all]

Hi there the regeneration supplement is Glucosamine. You are young for such a condition but it is not unusual..... if you have done alot of swimming it can prematurely "age" your joint. You may be predisposd to this conditon and your stroke may need to be evaluated. There are some good swimming sites on the net and theraband exercises you can that may help. I am surprised the kenacort didn't help.

Hi,
I too have been dealing with this condition for over 2 years now and since than I have had several episods of pain. That is so intense I get shortness of breath. I am young too and I have read this cronic condition affect young people even as young as 10 yrs old. Now im in my late 20's and feel like im in my 50's. the scariest part of it all is having this pain and really not having a really test that shows my conditions its just like going through a proccess of eliminating other porblems like heart attack, or disease.
I still worry so much and have gone to so many doctors who just tell me take an anti-inflammatory pill. I am in the proccess of looking into holistic care and see if that will help. I just wonder if this problem is a stem into something bigger in the future. I hope not......

oddly enough i have had a strange story too. back in 2003 i suddenly became immobile from joint pains. they just came from no where. my current bf at the time was over seas with the army so the doctors first said it was due to extreme stress. i was in so much pain i couldnt even open my own pain medicine bottle, my dorm roomate had to. at the time the dorm was having issues with their air units and had us put dehumidifiers in the room which would fill up GALLONS of water a day...there was mold growing on the walls from the moisture, which i think has to do with the onset of my problem which started the same time as the air unit problems. i kept going to doctors and then they said i had allergies and that didnt work so they said i have inflammatory, like rhuematoid arthritis. was put on celebrex plaquinel and steroids. i now have bad bones for a 40 year old (density wise) from the steroids i guess they are bad for your bones. I broke my metatarsels in my foot just walking due to the bones beind bad...and then i had a really bad pain in my sternum ( the bone/cartilege that attaches your ribs int he middle of your chest) it was so bad i couldnt breath or laugh or talk without crying in pain....which led to more steroids and pain meds. the story goes on and on with other random "'flare ups" but then i was fine for a while after 3 years of hell. so i decided i should try to stop taking my meds and see what happens and i am fine. weird. so i went to the doctor and he tested me and id idn't have the inflammation whatever it is in my blood and i seemed
normal. so all has been well and i have been back to my athletic happy healthy self. i am in ballet and everything again. BUT now i have a weird flare up again. this time it is my NOSE. PLEASE tell me if this could help diagnose any of the other symptoms ive had in the past. the cartilidge in my nose hurts soooo bad and has been this way for 4 months now. i am going to the dr today but im sure i will find out nothing as usual. but it hought i would post cause eveything i read from you guys was so similar to mine in the past i thought someone might want to here my story. sorry about typos and if i didnt make sense. but let me know if i can help or if you can help me
Katie
22 yrs old
Georgia

I've been having the same problem! It's horrible... I have had constant pain for 5 months. I have had all kinds of tests done and been told that there is not much that can be done. Take anti-inflammatory medication if it is bothersome. I am and I'm still in pain. Very frustrating. Anyone try anything that relieves the pain?

I'm in the same boat as all of you. I have been diagnosed with pericarditis, inflammation of the "heart's sac" or pericardium. I spent 4 days in the hospital because of the stress that it put on my heart and the fact that my cardiac enzymes were high. (basically that just shows that I may have had a small heart attack) That was in early December, and now I'm still in pain. I went back to doctor mid-Feb. and he diagnosed me with costochondritis. He said that he looked over everything that was done to me in the hospital, which was literally everything you could think of, and everything looked fine. He reassured me that nothing was wrong with my heart and that the pericarditis should be going away within another week or so. He then said that the costochondritis would be around for 6-8 weeks and that I may be on the tail end of it. Well its March 1st and I'm still in pain. Its not horrible stabbing pain, but more like a nonstop migraine headache in my chest. This pain sometimes radiates up to my left shoulder and jaw. Oddly, I feel pain in the middle-right side of my back, just next to my spine. It is slightly crushing especially when I try to sleep. It feels like I have a small child standing on my chest when I lay in my bed. Like I said, not horrible gun shot pain, but on a scale of 1-10 its a 4. The problem is its all the time and thats what it feels like even though I take 800mg of ibuprofen three times a day! I can't wait till this pain is gone! By the way, I've also been a swimmer my whole life (I'm 27) and in great shape until this all happened.

[acuann]

Costrochondritis and pericarditis are both treated very effectively with acupuncture. Please look into this- it works great for the pain and helps promote healing. Visit www.acufinder.com to find a practitioner near you.

Best wishes.
DOM

Accupuncture was going to be my next plan of attack! I figured why not? I've tried everything else in the past 5 months! Thanks for the info.

[acuann]

I can't tell you how many patients I see who come to me as a "last resort"! They are most often full of joy when their pain subsides.
Good for you to give this a try and I hope it helps you
Best wishes.
DOM

Thanks DOM. I apologize for spelling acupuntcure correctly!