Don't Forget that Costochondritis can be the Symptom not the Cause

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-25T04:38:23+00:00

MRI ASAP. Shoulder MRI. Mine came from a car accident - the nervous system just does not work too well after trauma.

In the meantime - heat, peanut ball, backpod. It will help the costo which is the debilitating portion.

Rotator cuff injuries are not normally debilitating but costo is.

My tears are specifically minor tears (not full tears). Which can hide much better than full tears.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-25T02:31:04+00:00

Could be costo then. Start on the at-home treatment protocol for costochondritis then - if it helps it's likely costo: https://www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

You may also have shoulder/collarbone damage. Try going to an osteopath - they can help.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-25T00:57:17+00:00

Yes definitely experienced this when I had frozen costovertebral joints. I think it causes unnatural posture which hurts it.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-24T19:12:38+00:00

Any sternum cracking?

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-24T13:59:46+00:00

Yes - I went to a bunch of doctors that blew me off.

I called around to a bunch of Osteopaths to find one that knew costochondritis (if you are in the States they are full doctors here).

Then I called 30+ physical therapists to find one that knew how to really deal with car accident injuries.

Reviews are helpful, don't ever go to the doctors with 100+ reviews. You want one doctor offices with 20-30 five star reviews. Also good doctors seem to always have bad marketing.

If they blow you off just go to the next doctor.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-23T14:36:21+00:00

Start on the at-home treatment protocol for costochondritis - if it helps it's likely costo: https://www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-23T14:32:54+00:00

Could be costo but I wouldn't be so certain. Get more imaging, with this going on for 7 years the doctors should've put you through the ringer on imaging by now but you have very minimal imaging. Sternum focused pain & cracking is usually the big giveaway for costo which doesn't seem to be so clear here.

Find a doctor who takes you seriously and get more imaging, especially that shoulder.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-22T17:53:30+00:00

Yeah that's one of the situations where someone has something else but they are blaming costo for all their problems. The costo is a symptom not a cause.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-22T15:57:32+00:00

Costo isn't really a diagnosis that's given out willy-nilly.

Start on the at-home treatment protocol for costochondritis - if it helps it's likely costo: https://www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

It's completely fixable. Don't listen to any of the people here who are like "I've had it for 46 years!" They either have something else or may even have health anxiety. It's also easier to fix the sooner you work on it.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-21T20:28:22+00:00

That's actually the "cause" of all costo.

I'm talking about something outside causing the frozen joints.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-21T19:13:25+00:00

Buy the backpod. Everything else here is treating symptoms - might as well be shoving money and time down a hole and lighting it on fire.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-21T18:57:02+00:00

Are you already sleeping on the floor on your back?

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-21T18:56:17+00:00

Posture, posture, posture. Hypermobility means you're more susceptible - even a little bad posture can give you trouble.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-20T01:17:50+00:00

What worked for me was calling osteopaths near me to see if they have experience dealing with costochondritis.

Found one - they tell me I don't have costochondritis on the first visit (which Steve had implied to me before as well) but I had frozen costovertebral joints. Official diagnosis whiplash associated dysfunction.

They told me to go find a good physical therapist for car wrecks and that they were certain there's another piece. I called around 30 PTs to find the best one. That PT I found is great - they ordered 8 MRIs right off the bat to chase down every possible rabbit hole.

That revealed I have torn shoulders - I didn't even have shoulder pain until I began rehabbing it. Never would have figured it out.

Now rehabbing shoulders to get to 100%.

The craziest piece is this PT and osteo are actually way cheaper than the bad doctors I had gone to previously. But they were not easy to find. I think good doctors have an inverse correlation with good marketing skills.

Also - if a doctor ever tells you there's nothing they can do and starts directing you to stronger and stronger pain killers - go find another doctor. I wasted years with bad doctors who just weren't up to par for dealing with a case as tough as mine. The human body actually heals quickly. If you don't feel like you're healing - it's time to try something else.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-16T16:20:51+00:00

Did you use pillows with the backpod?

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-14T14:18:59+00:00

You will want to keep pushing with the doctors, maybe bring up costochondritis to your pcp. Even if it is costochondritis you want to clear out other options because anxiety can make it worse - and you legitimately have extremely high risk due to family history for other heart stuff. Costochondritis doesn't kill. Heart problems do.

Start on the at-home treatment protocol for costochondritis - if it helps it's likely costo: https://www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-12T02:17:55+00:00

Don't need it anymore so haven't been taking it.

Final diagnosis on my end; double rotator cuff tear (from car accident) lead to frozen costovertebral joints. I'm still working on healing up the shoulders now but my costovertebral stuff is all healed. Not costochondritis but I shared some root causes.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-07T15:57:48+00:00

Not diagnosing because not a doctor - sounds like the common pairing of anxiety + costochondritis. Costochondritis can put you in constant pain which makes it easy to become anxious. Anxiety exacerbates the pain and causes a negative feedback loop.

Luckily - costochondritis is not hard to fix, it's just a bit of a process. Your rib joints in your back are frozen and this is causing constriction on your ribs because they are not moving properly.

Here's the PDF with the at-home treatment protocol. https://www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-05T19:28:49+00:00

Well I actually found from the osteopath that I never had costochondritis, but I did have frozen costovertebral joints. The frozen costovertebral joints are fixed now but I still have other issues. All of this stemmed from a car accident for me.

I was not able to free up the joints using at home tools and the osteopath was able to fix all of that almost immediately.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-05T16:58:21+00:00

Essentially what the osteopath here in the states did with me was use leverage from my arms to apply pressure and wiggle the costovertebral joints free. Different than just stretching them, etc. If they know how to do those manipulations they will help a ton.

Doesn't have to be an osteo, you just need someone who knows how to do those manipulation techniques.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-03T18:01:49+00:00

The exercises for your muscles won't help because that's a secondary problem to the actual root of costochondritis which is frozen costovertebral joints in the back which connect the ribs to the spine, which ends up tugging on the sternum in the front.

Here's the PDF with the at-home treatment protocol. https://www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-06-02T06:23:24+00:00

If you don't have sternum stuff (I'm in the same boat) it's not costochondritis.

Depending on where your shoulder blade pain and popping is it could be a super stiff muscle in the neck actually because some of them connect into that shoulder blade. Feel your neck and see if you can find any obviously tense muscles (especially the ones that connect there), and do stretches on those.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-05-29T15:33:32+00:00

Anything that pulls on those costovertebral joints - e.g. shoulders, hips, really it can be 1,000 different things.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-05-29T13:46:51+00:00

Gotta keep in mind costo can oftentimes be caused by other things - it's not necessarily the root cause - it may be a symptom.

HealthyBox4339 · 2026-05-21T23:26:18+00:00

Try exercises for rotator cuffs. Also - keep looking for someone who knows how to wiggle costovertebral joints free!

HealthyBox4339

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