***CAN WE STAND UP ‘GOING TO EXPLODE LINE? OR SOMETHING SIMILAR? <- How about couldn’t breathe because of the pain or something like that ****
If you’re a regular in the yoga studio, you’re no stranger to poses that have you contort your body and tie you up in pretzels.
And while yoga is a great form of exercise, some yogis report a stabbing pain in their chest after their workouts that can be so severe they’ve mistaken it for a heart attack and rushed to the hospital.
The sharp pain, which affects both men and women, could last minutes to hours after a strenuous workout, a period of heavy lifting or muscle straining.
But despite its resemblance to a heart attack, if other common symptoms aren’t present – radiating pain to the shoulders, neck, arms, and jaw; shortness of breath; sweating; nausea; and dizziness – you may actually have costochondritis,
This benign condition occurs when the cartilage connecting the rib to the sternum (breastbone) becomes inflamed.
The condition is common, with around 200,000 Americans experiencing it every year, though that is likely an undercount, as many people let the pain pass without reporting it.
Erin from New York City told DailyMail.com that she once experienced such severe pain for 14 hours that she felt she had to go to the hospital to rule out a heart attack or blood clot.
‘The pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t do anything. I had to crouch forward just to get air,’ she said.
Inflamed cartilage that connects the breastbone to the ribs causes costochondritis. The inflammation causes pain that radiates from the front of the chest to the back and up into the neck
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Costochondritis pain may increase when taking deep breaths as the chest wall expands and contracts, and people may also experience pain when coughing or pressing on the area where the ribs meet the sternum.
The pain is caused by inflammation of the protective tissue called cartilage that connects the ribs to the breast bone.
When that cartilage becomes inflamed due to overly strenuous physical exercise or excessive coughing, the regular movements of the rib cage can lead to pressure and pain in those areas.
From there, the pain can radiate backward, reaching the spine and moving down.
Costochondritis is a diagnosis of exclusion.
When people seek medical care believing they are in the early stages of a heart attack, doctors first try to rule out as many potentially severe conditions as possible, including heart attack, a blood clot in the lungs, broken ribs, pneumonia, and a collapsed lung, before arriving at a costochondritis diagnosis.
People with the condition describe it as a stabbing pain in the center of the chest, which can radiate backward and down into the torso.
A TikToker named Melissa described the radiating pain as ‘a horrible cycle.’
She said: ‘So you have the chest pain and it’s also in the back because your rib is always connected around.
‘I’ve seen a chiropracter before too and they thought maybe it was a rib issue and not costochondritis, which I had some adjustments, maybe it helped a little.
‘And because it’s attached here [gestures to her chest] and goes, you also get arm pain as well. I always have shoulder and neck pain so when this is flared up my arm gets really bad, it goes up here into my neck and everything.
‘Then when I feel all those things, my anxiety kicks in so I feel nauseous.’
A Reddit user with the condition said: ‘My case of Costo (or what I assume is Costo) manifests mainly as back pain/tightness that comes and goes but is all in all pretty persistent. No chest pain.
‘Sometimes it’s in my back right ribcage and I feel like I can’t breathe properly, right now it’s between my shoulder blades. The one constant symptom, though, is cracking/popping in my back and chest when breathing, and this is the one that bothers me the most. It happens all day with like every other deep breath I take.’
Another one described the pain as feeling ‘like someone was rubbing sandpaper on specific spots).
‘It was easier to bear while moving; the worst was lying at a 45-degree angle or just lying down – it felt like something would explode there.
‘It comes and goes, it’s not constant. When I breathe in, it feels like someone poured acid into my chest.’
Two women told DailyMail.com that they believe they suffered from the infliction because of their yoga practice.
Erin of New York attributed it to the chaturanga dandasana pose that requires the yogi to hover in a low plank, keeping their elbows at a 90-degree angle alongside the body.
It is a more advanced pose that requires the yogi to keep their body parallel to the ground while they lower down to their stomach and push their chest up and forward into a pose called an upward dog or cobra.
When the body is in a low plank position, the weight of the body presses down through the chest, putting strain on the ribcage and the costal cartilage.
The lowering motion in the pose can also exacerbate the painful condition because it compresses the ribcage, putting additional pressure on inflamed areas.
At this point, the yogi could injure themselves if they aren’t isolating the parts of their body to make sure that one muscle is not overcompensating for the others.
The chaturanga pose involves placing significant pressure on the chest and ribcage. It engages the upper body muscles, specifically the chest and shoulders and can strain the cartilage connecting the ribs to the breastbone
A New Jersey yoga instructor warned that while the workout is good for flexibility and strength, if you aren’t flowing from one posture to the next correctly, you can cause or inflame an injury.
‘What I see a lot of the times is when people lower down, their elbows pull out, and that puts too much pressure into the shoulders, so all the attention goes into stabilizing the shoulders and not the rest of the body,’ Cathy Narchese, a yoga instructor and owner of Thrive Yoga in Towaco, New Jersey told DailyMail.com.
She said that often, people think they need to just go through the motions or are working to mimic their neighbors so they push themselves through a posture they aren’t ready for, and this is when injuries happen.
In chaturanga, you need to engage your chest, core, glutes, thighs, shoulders and biceps, ‘because that chain of flow is what allows and chain of engagement allows you to pull up into your Up Dog or Cobra,’ Narchese said.
‘So if you’re not engaging that properly, if they’re not engaging their core, it can definitely 100 percent be that.’
Heavy lifting, workouts that use your body for resistance like yoga, and repetitive movements that use the chest, such as swimming, twisting, coughing, and sneezing, can also cause pain and may be confused for a broken rib.
Costochondritis is more common in females than males, and out of the 62 million people who visit the doctor each year, 18.5 million may have it.
A 2019 report from the American Rib Pain institute revealed that that of all the people diagnosed, 80 percent of those who have the injury are female and most do not receive the correct diagnosis or treatment.
Some people experience pain for only a short time following the strenuous movements, but some may experience pain for months on end, with the discomfort becoming so severe people have rushed to the emergency department for answers.
Those who suffer from costochondritis have described undergoing a bevy of tests only for them to come back negative for any problems, including X-rays, CT scans, and echocardiograms.
No laboratory or imaging test can spot inflamed cartilage.
Several other conditions can mimic costochondritis, including arthritis, nerve pain caused by fibromyalgia, neck or shoulder injuries, or a chest wall infection.
The treatment for costochondritis is focused on reducing inflammation of the connective cartilage in the chest.
It is recommended that people take over-the-counter pain medicine such as ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen. Holding a heating pad to the chest a few times a day can also help.
TikTok user Ezzy Ayala said she is in physical therapy to alleviate what doctors have diagnosed as acute costochondritis, but she is constantly recommended to take ibuprofen. Now she worries about the possible damage this has done to her liver.
In uncommon cases, a doctor might suggest lidocaine or corticosteroid injections to alleviate pain and inflammation.
Costochondritis generally resolves on its own within three to four weeks, but can recur several times after resolving for a period. When it strikes, it’s recommended to opt for an easier workout or more downtime.
