Chest/Sternum Pain

DUG · Post by **DUG** » October 5th, 2008, 6:15 pm

Rangers, Docs, Etc.,

I've had this minor pain for about four days now, prior to this weekend it hasn't stopped me from doing my normal pt inlcuding running (it was't enough for me to even really consider on Thur and Fri). This weekend I had a 1-1-1 pt test at drill Saturday morning. That morning I noticed more pain than usual and after the test through today (Sunday) it has increased. The pain is on the left side of my chest only. I've tested a number of positions for pain. The only time it really "hurts" is coughing, sneezing, laying on my back with arms extended above my head. Push ups and sit ups hurt too. The rest of the time I only know it's there, not any pain. The puzzling thing is, I have no idea how this happened or where the pain came from. I haven't been hit in the chest and didn't notice anything during my workouts earlier last week. Thanks for any help or comments.

Sleepy Doc · Post by **Sleepy Doc** » October 5th, 2008, 11:30 pm

I was about to crack wise about this and then I went back and checked your intro to see how old you are.

All bullshitting aside, stop what you are doing and immediately call 911 and tell them you are having chest pain. You should have done this at the first sign of it. I know you are young and the chances of you having the mother of all heart attacks is slim, but there are other things that can go wrong. It is uncommon, but you may have something that just now decided to rear it's ugly head.

If the ER clears you (and chances are they will, given your age..) then follow up with your regular doctor. Until you are given a clean bill of health, I would suspend all PT activities. Again, it isn't common, but I have seen people your age with heart conditions that they didn't know about until it was too late. It isn't worth fucking around with the alternative.

True Story: My grandfather had an argument with my grandmother and started having chest pain from it. He was very proud, old school, and self reliant so he didn't mention it for two days. When the pain got unbearable, only then did he decide to go to the ER. Does he call 911? No, he calls a cab, because he didn't want to make a fuss and didn't want the neighbors in his business.. (again, very old school..)

Does he go to the closest hospital? No, because the closer one has "nothing but gypsies" that only want to steal your money, he goes to the one 20 minutes away as opposed to five. (did I mention he was "old school"?)

When he got to the hospital, did he tell them he was having chest pain? No, he said he just wanted to see a doctor. (to the hospital's credit this was 1980 and they did triage a little differently back then..)

By the time my grandmother noticed he was blue and very dead.

We had a kid in his 20s show up and discovered a heart condition once he started doing Batt style PT. He never had a problem in his life. We found him when he had a bout of unstable chest pain after a run. Turns out he never knew he had a heart defect that would put him out of the military.

IMHO, chest pain should not be fucked with at any age until proved otherwise.

Kilted Heathen · Post by **Kilted Heathen** » October 6th, 2008, 6:34 am

You! Doctor! Now!

Thanks, Sleepy.

Ranger Bill · Post by **Ranger Bill** » October 6th, 2008, 6:39 am

Follow Ranger The Sleepy Doc's advice and see if in fact this is heart related pain. I had a similar situation about five years ago and thought it was my heart. It turned out that it was from exercise, going too low on dips. In my case, the soft tissue connecting the chest muscles to the sternum were strained, causing me symptoms like you described. I learned that this is somewhat common when undertaing new chest exercises or starting an exercise program. Hopefully, that's all it is for you.

DUG · Post by **DUG** » October 6th, 2008, 6:50 am

Thanks Rangers. I just got back to my office and saw this. I'm going to go to the hospital. Thank you Ranger The Sleepy Doc, Ranger Kilted Heathen, and Ranger Bill. I'll update this post when I find something out. Hopefully it's something like Ranger Bill described.

PocketKings · Post by **PocketKings** » October 6th, 2008, 8:38 am

Ranger Bill wrote:Follow Ranger The Sleepy Doc's advice and see if in fact this is heart related pain. I had a similar situation about five years ago and thought it was my heart. It turned out that it was from exercise, going too low on dips. In my case, the soft tissue connecting the chest muscles to the sternum were strained, causing me symptoms like you described. I learned that this is somewhat common when undertaing new chest exercises or starting an exercise program. Hopefully, that's all it is for you.

I had the same. Still, go to the doctor.

Sleepy Doc · Post by **Sleepy Doc** » October 6th, 2008, 11:18 am

PocketKings wrote:
Ranger Bill wrote:Follow Ranger The Sleepy Doc's advice and see if in fact this is heart related pain. I had a similar situation about five years ago and thought it was my heart. It turned out that it was from exercise, going too low on dips. In my case, the soft tissue connecting the chest muscles to the sternum were strained, causing me symptoms like you described. I learned that this is somewhat common when undertaing new chest exercises or starting an exercise program. Hopefully, that's all it is for you.
I had the same. Still, go to the doctor.

Ditto. Turns out mine was a strain from lifting too many fat fucks, but I didn't find that out by sitting at home.

DUG · Post by **DUG** » October 6th, 2008, 11:42 am

Rangers,

First off, thanks for looking out for me. The problem is something similar to what Ranger Bill described. The doctor asked me a bunch of questions and did some poking/pushing on my chest and ribcage. I then had an EKG, blood work, chest and lung xrays. The doctor came back in with the news that everything looked good with a strong heart and "long/wide lungs" (he said that was a good thing). He prescribed me anti-inflammatory and pain medicine. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read this, your advice, and comments.

ChipOnShoulder · Post by **ChipOnShoulder** » October 6th, 2008, 2:54 pm

Go with the doctor. It could be any number of things from Pleuresis to pulled intercostal muscles. I know I am a little late in response, but I had a similar situation coming back from my third trip and after a regime of prednisone, it was healed. Keep us posted and see the doc if it gets worse despite the treatment.

DUG · Post by **DUG** » October 6th, 2008, 4:08 pm

Thanks Ranger Doc Cook. I just picked up my prescription of Oxaprozin (600 MG). Hopefully this will knock it out and I'll get back on my routine real soon. I never would have gone to the doctor on my own to get this fixed, so thanks again Rangers.

UNATAINABLE E5 · Post by **UNATAINABLE E5** » October 6th, 2008, 5:50 pm

it's chostrochondritis- I knew that right away reading your post. intermittant positional left sided muscle pain......heartattack? No.

DUG · Post by **DUG** » October 6th, 2008, 6:01 pm

UNATAINABLE E5 wrote:it's chostrochondritis- I knew that right away reading your post. intermittant positional left sided muscle pain......heartattack? No.

Thank you Ranger UNATAINABLE E5. I'm going to read up on that right now.