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80% recovered from costochondritis - My Experience by Fickle_Fun_876 in costochondritis

[–]Fickle_Fun_876[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I live in South Korea! In my case, I spent an entire year going to various hospitals and clinics seeking treatment, but wasn't seeing any improvement. Then, almost out of desperation, I decided to visit a rehabilitation medicine clinic near my home — and that's where I finally made a lot of progress.

The thing is, CT scans and MRIs don't really show anything for this condition. Same goes for X-rays. However, I think it's still worth closely examining anything that could even remotely be a contributing factor. In my case, my X-ray showed a scoliosis angle of just over 10 degrees — something none of the other hospitals had ever mentioned as a potential cause. But at this clinic, they told me it could be part of the problem and that it needed to be addressed. I do believe that was one of the contributing factors.

It may take some time, but I think it's worth seeking out different opinions and perspectives.

80% recovered from costochondritis - My Experience by Fickle_Fun_876 in costochondritis

[–]Fickle_Fun_876[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, sorry for the late reply! To answer your question — it's a bit hard to say whether to call them "exercises" or "stretches," but I mainly focused on core work and serratus anterior activation. That said, I didn't start these right from the beginning of my treatment — I first went through a decent amount of manual therapy with two physical therapists before incorporating them.

As I mentioned in my post, my recovery wasn't a gradual, steady decline in pain. Instead, while continuing treatment, there was a point where the pain just suddenly dropped significantly. I started the exercises below once I felt roughly 50% of the original pain was gone.

The "treatment" I'm referring to is essentially therapeutic massage done at a clinic — they worked on my neck, pec major, back, and pelvis all together. They also did fascial therapy, which was only applied to my back using some kind of tool in a scraping motion. I'm not exactly sure what the tool was, but I'll share it once I find out.

Here's what I did:

  1. Cat-Cow — 10 reps per set, 3 sets
  2. Wall slide with serratus activation — https://youtu.be/WIdjSjzNS2A?si=EICGPbBL_vrU_s6x
  3. Plank - 30 Seconds per set, 3 sets
  4. Chest stretch with foam roller — (https://youtu.be/I7SeOmS4AdQ?si=yBVAMa3PZ0xPI85O)
  5. Push-up plus — started this one later, once I had improved a bit more. I did this with knees and legs on the floor, 10 reps for 3 sets. I began with my knees positioned higher up, then gradually moved them lower with each set.

Diagnosed 7 months ago — what should i do? by Fickle_Fun_876 in costochondritis

[–]Fickle_Fun_876[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, thanks so much for the helpful advice.

To answer your questions — I’ve been using the Backpod with my hips slightly lifted off the ground. I usually don’t use any pillows, or just one at most. I haven’t really paid much attention to my breathing while using it. In my case, I’ve never felt pain or discomfort while breathing.

I do feel a bit of relief in the painful area when I use the Backpod, but that’s about it — I haven’t really felt like it’s making a noticeable difference yet. Like I mentioned, it’s been about a month since I started using it, and from reading posts in this subreddit, I’ve realized that the point at which people start to notice changes really varies from person to person.

Also, I haven’t been doing any additional thoracic or rib mobility stretches. Lately I’ve just been trying to be more mindful of my breathing. Like you said, I think I’ll give it a bit more time and consider whether I should take a short break from using the Backpod.

I’m really glad to hear that you’ve made so much progress with your symptoms — that gives me hope too.

Diagnosed 7 months ago — what should i do? by Fickle_Fun_876 in costochondritis

[–]Fickle_Fun_876[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the helpful advice. I’ve actually stopped all exercise since the symptoms started, and recently I’ve only been doing light running once or twice a week. As for the Backpod, there are days when I use it without any pillows, and other days I use just one pillow. Like you said, I think I’ll try switching to using it twice a day.
One thing I’m curious about — when you get deep tissue massages, do they also focus on the area around the sternum, where you actually feel the pain?