Fibromyalgia is a long-term chronic condition that causes widespread body pains and fatigue. See the separate leaflet called Fibromyalgia for more details. It can be very difficult to know if your pain is due to costochondritis or whether - and how urgently - to see a doctor.
With chest pain, it makes sense to err on the side of caution if you are unsure. If you have other symptoms in addition to the pain then consult a doctor. This would include if you have:. Also consult your doctor if the pain gets worse as you exert yourself for example, on walking up a hill rather than as you twist your chest around. Pain on exertion is more likely to be due to angina. See the separate leaflet called Chest Pain for more information about the different causes of chest pain.
Non-medicinal measures can be tried for relief of pain in costochondritis. Examples of such techniques include:. This involves injection of a local anaesthetic medicine around the painful ribs This blocks the nearby intercostal nerve and temporarily disrupts nerve impulses to stop the pain.
Nerve blocks can last several weeks or months. In repeated, severe cases of costochondritis, a series of these injections can be given to permanently destroy the nerve causing the pain. The outlook prognosis for costochondritis is generally very good.
Most cases are mild and settle reasonably quickly. This happens with or without simple medications. In nearly all cases, the condition has completely gone within a year. Occasionally, if you are unlucky, it lasts longer. Costochondritis may return; however, this is unlikely. To understand costochondritis, you need to know a bit about the way the rib cage is put together.
The rib cage is a bony structure that protects the lungs. Bones are hard and solid and they can't bend or move much. Your lungs, however, need to move, so that you can breathe. When you take a deep breath in, your rib cage expands. Try it! You will feel and see your rib cage moving. In order for the ribs to expand, they need something to allow movement. Cartilage allows this.
Cartilage is a softer, flexible but very strong material found in joints around the body. Cartilages attach the ribs to the breastbone sternum and the breastbone to the collarbones clavicles. The joints between the ribs and the cartilages are called the costochondral joints. Find out about common symptoms and the various ways lupus affects your body. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Complications Prevention Outlook Pleurisy also called pleuritis is an inflammation of the pleura, which is the tissue that protects and cushions the lungs.
How does pleurisy present? What causes pleurisy? How does pleurisy lead to a diagnosis? How is pleurisy treated? Complications after treatment. Can pleurisy be prevented? Long-term outlook. Read this next. Medically reviewed by Judith Marcin, M. Why Does It Hurt to Breathe? Chest X-Ray. Medically reviewed by Deborah Weatherspoon, Ph. Thoracentesis: What You Need to Know. Medically reviewed by Raj Dasgupta, MD. Pleural Fluid Culture.
Medically reviewed by Modern Weng, DO. Empyema An empyema is a condition in which pus collects in the pleural space, which is the area between your lungs and the inner surface of your chest wall. Bacterial Pericarditis. Medically reviewed by Gerhard Whitworth, R. Guide to Lupus Symptoms. But this type of chest pain can be caused by conditions that do not affect the pleura, such as chest muscle strain and costochondritis.
If a viral infection is causing your pleurisy, you may or may not have common viral symptoms, such as fever, headache, and muscle aches. The inflammation of the pleura sometimes causes fluid to build up in the pleural cavity pleural effusion.
You may have less pain after this happens, because the fluid prevents the two layers of the pleura from rubbing together. If there is a large amount of fluid, it may prevent the lung from expanding when you breathe in. This can make it hard to breathe. Other symptoms of pleural effusion include fever, chest pain, and a dry cough.
Pleural effusion may occur without pleurisy in other conditions, such as heart failure or liver or kidney disease. Many different health problems can lead to pleurisy, so your doctor will look for what is causing your inflammation.
He or she will do a physical exam and tests such as a chest X-ray , blood tests, or a CT scan to look for the cause of your symptoms. The conditions that may cause pleuritic chest pain include:. If your doctor thinks your pleurisy may be caused by an autoimmune disease such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis , he or she may do blood tests. If you have pleural effusion, your doctor may use a needle to remove some of the fluid from the pleura. This procedure is called thoracentesis. The fluid is then studied, to help your doctor find out the cause of the effusion.
See pictures of pleural effusion and thoracentesis. The treatment for pleurisy depends on the cause. For example, if a bacterial infection is the cause, you will probably need an antibiotic. If a pulmonary embolism is present, you may get medicine to dissolve the clot or to prevent future blood clots anticoagulants.
For most cases of pain caused by pleurisy, your doctor will suggest that you use aspirin, ibuprofen, or another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug NSAID. Do not give aspirin to anyone younger than 20 because of the risk of Reye syndrome. If you have severe pain, you may need prescription cough or pain medicine. You may also be able to relieve pain by lying on the painful side or pressing a pillow against it. If you have pleural effusion, you may need to have the fluid drained through a tube that the doctor inserts in your chest.
In some cases of pleural effusion, you may need pleurodesis. During this procedure, a medicine is put into your chest cavity, which triggers an inflammatory reaction over the surface of the lung and inside the chest cavity. This causes the surface of the lung to stick to the surface of the chest cavity, which prevents more fluid from building up or reduces the amount of fluid.
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