Costochondritis- Blame the Underwire Bra?

If you are having pain in your chest/ribs due to the underwire bra you wear and you're wondering if you have Costochondritis...check out the symptoms post for more info. But yes, pain from wearing a bra in your front ribs under the breasts is a road sign of Costo. However, if that's your only sign, that's great!! Get diagnosed, get a different bra and don't lift heavy objects for a while and you may be good to go soon!

For those already diagnosed....We all know that wearing a bra is no bueno. The following article is tedious and a bit wordy, but helpful in explaining the details of Costochondritis. It's written by David S. Klein. He claims the under wire bra is responsible for some cases of Costo. Are you still wearing one?

"In our well recognized spare time, it pays tremendous dividends for the practitioner to re-examine the anatomy of the skeletal chest wall. This anatomic review reveals a complicated matrix of joints, some are bone to bone, others are bone to cartilage, and some are cartilage to cartilage. Each of these joints can be jammed, jolted or otherwise damaged with physical activity, coughing or external trauma. Review of the anatomy demonstrates the predominance of bone-cartilage joints in the anterior thorax, in the area surrounding the heart. Cartilage-cartilage joints form the inferior costal margin, over the viscera. Injured with forced extension of the arm, these joints can be injured with blunt trauma to the chest, they are vulnerable with motor-vehicle mishaps, and they are vulnerable to injuries sustained with lifting, slips, and falls.

The joints of the rib cage are innervated by branches of the anterior cutaneous branches of the Intercostal Nerves, the lateral cutaneous branches of the Intercostal Nerves as well as through autonomic nerves that accompany the many vascular elements within the area.

Careful physical examination will nearly always demonstrate which of these joints in the anterior chest wall has become damaged or dysfunctional, resulting in the complaint of chest pain.

Symptoms of inflammation of the costochondral joints include pain in the anterior chest and arm, aching under the breast, feeling ‘as if it were a heart attack.’ This pain is autonomically modulated. The stabbing, intermittent, knife-like pain is usually somatically modulated. It is common for the patient to be unable to assist in the precise location of the pathology.

The precise symptoms will differ significantly due to the factors that impart physical stress or move the joint, and the symptoms are different due to the peculiar innervation of these joints. When these joints are damaged, they become inflamed, as expected in any joint present in the body. When damaged, the resulting pain is modulated partly through the Intercostal Nerves, but also through the Autonomic Nervous System, resulting in referred pain patterns that can be similar or identical to cardiogenic pathology. This is the obvious clinical challenge. Because the innervation of these joints is largely autonomic in nature, symptoms are most often vague, dull and aching in nature.

More and more common in clinical practice women are presenting with self-inflicted Costochondritis. Unwise clothing options can damage these delicate joints, as well as damage the nerve fibers that innervate the joints. Under-wire bras are often to blame. Once used chiefly by large women, this type of garment is now much more commonly encountered in the general female population." -David S. Klein

I know the bra didn't cause my costo. But it really ticks it off, so I abstain.

However, If you are looking for a bra to wear with Costochondritis due to the pain you feel in your chest- you can check out a few options HERE.