Thursday, October 1, 2009

Costochondritis- Scoliosis

I'm so curious how many of us also have scoliosis. I for shizzle do. It's only a 15 degree curvature, but it's there in the thoracic area. I definitely believe it contributes to my costo.

So my therapist just started working on my ribs where they attach to the spine.

After she worked on the rib heads and the muscles in my back, the my rib cage in the front was even. Pretty Cool (When we started, my left side on the front left side was pushed out a little more than the right side).

Just sharing all that so you all can keep it mind or discard it as you are on your journey to healing. Hugs to everyone.

27 comments:

  1. Hello Lucy, I've just found your blog and I love it! I am also a costo/Tietze's Syndrome sufferer with scoliosis! You're the first person I've found who also has scoliosis. I have not found a sufficient treatment method yet, so at the moment I'm just hanging in there :/ Is there anything you do that helps both your back and your costo? Thanks!

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  2. Glad to meet you!! Sorry for the reason though. -( For me, the medical massage therapy has been the only thing that has helped my back. (check out my Q & A post in September for more on it) Hope you get to feeling better!

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  3. Hey! You are so sweet! Thanks for writing such nice comments on my first blog post! As for my back/Tietze's, I will be seeing a pain specialist this Friday. I will probably end up going the physical therapy route...steroid injections do NOT sound like fun!

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  4. I have scoliosis too, thanks mom. I am now getting physical therapy and the mild adjustments of the rib heads combined with cold laser and heat therapy seem to be loosening up my windpipe and I'm breathing better. Today I went back to my chiropractor (who was the first doc who identified the costo, btw) and she adjusted the rib heads in my back to begin with. And even though it's raining cats & dogs right now, I'm not struggling to breathe. I'm still going to rest though, since I have already experienced the whole cycle of getting better/overdoing it. I know I overdid a little last night cooking dinner (it was way too ambitious!) so today it's an easy one.

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  5. Thanks for your comment! Sorry you have all these problems as well. ARRRG!!

    Cold and Light Therapy? Cool. How long have you been doing it? Would you keep me posted on how it's going?
    Thanks!
    Lucy

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  6. Hey Lucy, an update with hopefulness! Last week was my 4th week of therapy and after my Wednesday therapy session I felt I was breathing easier. For the past couple of months I have been feeling as if the costo was strangling my windpipe, and I was wheezing when I breathed. Last week I actually started to feel the costo turning loose of my windpipe. I have to be really careful not to overdo. We had a cold front come through and it really set me back. By Sunday it was awful. Therapy yesterday brought much relief. So many layers of inflammation. And I'll probably always have to fight this since it's a co-morbidity with fibromyalgia.

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  7. You have fibro too? Yikes, I'm so sorry to hear that.

    Thanks so much for sharing about your therapy! I'm so so happy for you that it went well, so so awesome.

    Please keep me posted, I'm so interested in how it goes! Oh...where do you get it done? A general practitioner? Physical therapist?

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  8. Scoliosis and Fibromyalgia here.
    Fairly severe scoliosis but not noticible.
    never thought of the connection. My next stop was going to be chiropracty and the above post has me convinced.
    Cathy(who still can't figure how to post.
    do I need a google account?)

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  9. Yes, Scoliosis can really affect us tons. Let me know what you find out at the chiro!

    I think to post with you name...it wants you to have a blog of your own. Silly Blogger.com!

    If you want to "follow" the blog...go to the top left hand corner of the blog and you will see in the blue bar and the word "follow." It will then take you through a quick process to get updates when I update the blog.

    So enjoying talking with you!!!!

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  10. Hi Lucy!
    I am so happy to find your blog. I've been thinking about it a while and never bothered researching it with others.
    I am a dancer with costochondritis and scoliosis. my scolio is also very mild but i definatly can see it in the different hight of my hips and my right ribs jut out in comparison to my left.
    I've been dealing with this costo for 2plus years now how about you?
    I go to pt for manual treatment. Im going to talk to him about treating the scoliosis as well
    -Gabriella

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  11. I also have scoliosis. I've had chest pain for 5 years now and just got diagnosed with costo 2 weeks ago after a really bad spell. Now that I know what it is, I realize that the chest pain started right after I had a bad back injury where my scoliosis is. Definitely think my costo is associated with the scoliosis. I'm 22, costo flared up when I was 17. I basically thought I was dying.

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  12. So, y'all make me feel like I'm not crazy - I'm trying to describe the crushing feeling around my windpipe and it's like, not always painful, just like there's not enough room for it in there!
    I have severe scoliosis (near 70* double curve), but have never had pain before. I now get tenderness around by breastbone and occaisional shoots of pain in various sides/areas of that area. Not sure if I actually have costo - but I can't think what else it would be. Had an EKG that came through fine, since the first episode sent me to the ER.
    I am going to a chiropractor - one who adjusted me with the gonstead technique made it SO much better, but then I moved... hopefully the one I just started today, although I feel awful tonight, will help it.
    Gabriella, I'm a dancer as well. Funny how so many dancers seem to have scolio. Or maybe we're just the ones that are most fired up about NOT going the traditional routes of treatment so we can keep DANCING!!!
    Anyway, thanks for being some community that understands. ~ CN( :

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  13. Im a Jamaican living with scoliosis and recently diagnosed with costochondritis and Im so happy I found your blog! :)
    blessings xoxo

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  14. I also have tiers and a scoliosis and fibromyalgia but I blame it all on my scoliosis!

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  15. I have severe scolosis and have had part of my ribs taken out for corrective surgery. i contacted punomia (cant spell that! ha) and MRSA post op and suffered very bad, one of my lungs nearly collapsed and i enarly died.. anyways 5 years on my back is still very bad, i still have a relatively notice curve nd my shoulders are uneven , i found a lump in my back recently causing serious pain even to touch slightly would trigger spasams , i can barely walk or move when it comes at me. This sharp shooting pain is agonising as it shoots for about half an hour at a time. nothing showed on a chest x-ray and today i was diaginosed with what seems to be costochondritis! is it because of my scolosis? ive been very stressed also lately (which seems to be making it worse) i got pain killers but im asmathic and cant take anti-inflamitorys :(

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  16. My co-worker and I both have costochondritis as well as scoliosis: we call it the "S.C. Club"! I am suprised that more doctors do not seem to be aware of the possible connection (i.e. the Mayo Clinic website does not discuss it).

    I have found that yoga is incredibly helpful for lengthening and strengthening the back muscles as well as stress relief. I also ice my chest as needed (heat therapy seems counter-productive as it feels as though my chest is on fire, but perhaps that is not the case for everyone?).

    Good luck to fellow patients and let's hope more research is done on this!
    -Megan M.

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  17. I have scoliosis was braced as a youth...I also have fibromyalgia, arthritis in my spine as well as other areas, bone spurs, dozens of lipomas, spinal degneneration, spinal stenosis, bone spurs, most significantly C4-C6. Neurosurgeon says to wait for any surgery; I'm just looking for day-to-day suggestions for relief. I haven't been diagnosed with costochondritis as of yet, but I currently don't have insurance and my doctor just keeps me on a chonic pain management regimen. Lots of sleepless nights lately. I wish there was somewhere around my small town, where I felt like I could get good treatment. That's not the case.

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  18. I was just sitting on my mam's couch and my costo is at me, so I'm looking up about it and I get an epiphany! I wonder if my costo is linked to my scoliosis! So I typed in costochondritis linked to scoliosis and this link was first! I guess there must be some link, or just coincidence? Cool I found this, is the blog still alive?

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  19. I just found out about having costo with pain in sternum area only and I have scoliosis. It's really bumming me out but I am so glad to have came across your site. I'm looking forward to trying some of the remedies here! Thanks :)

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    1. My orthopedic Dr. said that the scoliosis was definitely the cause of the costo.

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  20. Hi I am so amazed to have found this site,so many things are now making sense.
    Thank you!

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  21. Hi, I was diagnosed with costochondritis recently after my ribs kept moving out of place causing severe pain. I also have severe scoliosis with Harrington rod surgery 37 years ago. The rods are still wired to each side of my spine. I have horrible chronic pain throughout my entire spine and have dealt with it for decades. Now, this is one more issue and pain to endure. My therapist and PCP both think it is because of the scoliosis. So tired of the pain. Next steps are more injections. I've already had 10 spine injections in the past two months. I welcome any suggestions for relief.

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    1. I'm sorry to hear of your pain. This is new to me, I need to do more research. But I understand some of the pain you mentioned but cannot say I fully know of it. I pray for your healing in Jesus name. Take care.

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  22. Hi, I was just diagnosed today with Costochodritis. I was in pain since Saturday, hard to breathe and pressure around my ribs. I've known that I have Scoliosis since the 8th grade. The doctor suggested I see a chiropractor. I'm glad I went to the ER, thought it was gas or indigestion. But the pain is easing now. Thanks for the comments. It eases my mind.

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  23. I have both costochondritis and scoliosis/kyphosis. I also have Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder, so I'm not sure if that's also a cause. I have a chronic muscle spasm in my trapezius and my rhomboid muscles, and when my upper-back is really bad is also when my costochondritis tends to flare up.

    I take a muscle relaxer nightly. Since it's an inflammation problem, I wonder if a prescription-strength NSAID would also help.

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  24. The natural treatment of scoliosis with homeopathy should be one of the most efficient and least invasive types of treatment. inversion table for scoliosis

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