Any activity which places stress on your chest area such as strenuous exercise or repetitive movements aggravates costochondritis including lifting heavy objects, moving furniture etc.
Costochondritis does sometimes worsen at night and it can feel worse when you lay down to go to sleep as your body weight causes further straining onto your already stretched rib joints around your back.
To reduce the pain and worsening of costochondritis at night you should sleep in an elevated position to reduce the degree of pain with costochondritis.
You can test yourself for costochondritis by carefully pressing but also with some force on the painful spot near your sternum or rob.
If the pain gets much worse when you press on those areas then there is a good chance that you have costochondritis or you may also have another similar condition called Tietze.
The test for costochondritis is through a physical exam and possibly through an Xray to rule out other conditions.
Your doctor will test for costochondritis by feeling your ribs and chest and press on your chest to feel how sensitive you are and pinpoint where the pain is the most intense.
You should worry about costochondritis if you have a high fever, signs of infection such as swelling around your ribs, redness or pus or you have trouble breathing.
You should not ignore costochondritis although in most cases costochondritis goes away on it's own but you should still see a doctor.
Costochondritis is one of the most common causes of chest pain and the pain can be mild or severe and can be mistaken for a heart attack although costochondritis is usually harmless and goes away without treatment but it's good to see a doctor just to be sure it's not something else.
Costochondritis does go away on it's own in most cases within a couple of days to a few weeks or so.
In some cases it may take a few months for costochondritis to go away in some people.
Treatments for costochondritis focuses on relieving any pain and you can apply a hot or cold compress to help with costochondritis.
Costochondritis is not a lifetime condition and most often goes away even without treatment and can last for several months or a few days to a few weeks.
Most people with costochondritis start to gradually feel better as they take over the counter medication and rest.
The symptoms of costochondritis are less pain when you stop moving and breathe quietly, sharp pain at the front of your chest wall that may move to the back or stomach, tenderness when you press on the area where your rib joins the breastbone and increased pain when you cough or when you take a deep breath.
The costochondritis makes your chest feel tight or heavy. started with a shortness of breath, sweating, feeling sick or being sick.
Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage which connects your rib to your breastbone (sternum).
Pain caused by costochondritis can also mimic that of a heart attack or other heart conditions.
To check for and diagnose costochondritis your doctor will feel along your breastbone for tenderness or swelling.
The doctor might also move your rib cage or your arms in certain ways to try to trigger symptoms.
Tietze syndrome is very similar to costochondritis, another type of irritation in your costochondral joint.
The biggest difference between them is swelling and which ribs they usually affect.
Costochondritis can be made worse by any activity that places stress on your chest area, for example strenuous exercise or repetitive movements.
Any movement that makes the pain in your chest area worse should be modified until the inflammation in your ribs and cartilage has improved.
Costochondritis might feel worse when you lay down to sleep because your body weight causes further straining onto the already stretched rib joints around your back. Sleeping in an elevated position can help to reduce the degree of pain.
Giving your irritated costochondral joints time to heal is the best thing to do for costochondritis.
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications like NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or acetaminophen can relieve your pain.
Foods you should avoid with costochondritis include.
Acidic Foods. If you have Costochondritis, acidic foods such as tomatoes, orange and grapefruit juice, and tomato sauce must be avoided.
Fried Foods. One of the significant triggers for inflammation is fried food.
Dairy.
Processed Foods.
Alcohol.