The good news is that (other than the pain) it is completely harmless.
The way it always felt to me is like someone wrapped a small wire around something tender in my chest, and if I tried to breathe or straighten my posture, they would yank on it. I’d get it anywhere from a couple times a week to once a month. Then one day in my mid-30s it just stopped.
From what I understand this is relatively common. I was so grateful for the person on reddit who dropped this nugget of wisdom several years ago. It was nice to know I wasn’t dying or whatever.
See, I am unfortunate in that I know exactly where my chest pain comes from and it is from 6 of my ribs being broken and fused together from falling off a cruise ship and breaking them on a railing on the way down.
The interesting part is I didnt know I broke them until years later when I was hit by a car and the hospital doctor was just like “oh yeah you just hurt your broken ribs again, put some frozen peas on it and wait for the pain to go down”
Anyways, dont break your ribs unless you want to know when the weather is changing by pain.
I had it when I was a teenager. When I stopped playing Trumpet it seemed to go away. Maybe the larger lung capacity caused it?
Oh good so it’s not just been me dealing with this random pain for the last 20 years…
Sounds kinda similar to costochondritis, it is central chest pain. I thought it was a heart attack when I had it and went to the ER. Fortunately it was just costochondritis.
So it’s not a tiny London man coming to check if I got my stabbing license in order?
Ah fuck I just assumed I had random muscle cramps in my chest from a fight I had in highschool. Always third rib from the bottom,on the left, about 45 degrees off center
Oh wow I’m glad I’m not alone in this. I turned 30 and it happens from time to time and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Granted I was a little too worried to look into it
This thing haunts me every few months since always. You can usually stop it by exhaling deeply and relaxing muscles in affected areas.
I haven’t had it in so many years, but I eventually got to the point where I’d just take a deep breath and it would seem to pop away. It would hurt, but then it would stop.
It’s more common in young adults and children, and I’m approaching middle age here unfortunately, but the upside is no more precordial catch.
Now look up Proctalgia Fugax
Oh, same, never had it since about 30.
So it doesn’t mean I’m low key having a heart attack?
Thank god.
heart attacks come in many different forms. even silent ones.
my dad had a major heart attack at 51. when they evaluated him he had had three previous heart attacks that he never knew about.
How are they able to tell how many you’ve had?
Hey, I know this one. I’ve had it since I was a small child but didn’t quite know the name.
Thanks for this revelation. It has a name! All my siblings got these and they told me “it’s a gas in your lung” which i ran with for years, haha. Once, still as a kid, i got it for 6 hours so we called a doctor. She diagnosed it as intercostal neuritis triggered by high and unusual physical excertion the previous day. Prescribed nothing
Know anything about a kinda dull pain in the sternum that comes and goes, which lasts a week or month, then is gone for a few weeks or months before it comes back. Has been going on for a few years at this point. Got all kinds of scans and tests done the first year but everything showed normal. I at least don’t think I’m gonna die anymore but it sucks.
Pleurisy, costochondritis, gerd, or referred pain from radiculopathy, maybe. Especially if you have a sedentary lifestyle or back trauma
I never know what people mean by sedentary lifestyle but I have been getting more exercise since it started and it hasn’t helped.
It means do you sit or lie around most of the day. Do you have an office job where you sit at a computer all day then go home and play on your phone or whatever until you go to bed? That’s sedentary. If you exercise that’s good but if it’s something like a radiculopathy you’d benefit from seeing a physical therapist who can target the section of the back that is impacted (though you may need to start with primary care or orthopedic and mri). If it’s the other stuff treatment is generally medications and varies from stuff like NSAIDs or proton pump inhibitors (though if it’s gerd and you treat with NSAIDs that may worsen things)
Basically go see a doctor
Holy fuck it has a name.
Of course it has a name … Of course I’m not the only one this happens to.
Ive had it since a teen when I got pneumonia, always assumed it was related to that, however it’s actually this and it’s a perfect description. It a bit of a mind blown moment
