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My chest 'clicks'

Artificial Emotion

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
5,314
Location
UK (Kent)
About 6 months ago I started getting chest pains. Once, thinking I was having a heart attack, I called an ambulance and had two ECGs done - one in the ambulance and another in the hospital. Everything was fine as far as my heart was concerned. However, I soon realized that if I craned my neck back and pulled my arms apart as if I were about to do a bench press, my chest would 'click' and the pain would instantaneously go away. I wouldn't quite hear it but the clicking was definitely there and was unmistakable. It still happens but it's not quite as bad as it was at the start.

I'm thinking it's a problem with a muscle or muscles, but can't figure out what could be causing this. Any ideas?
 
Get an x-ray of your chest? Maybe you just have a pulled muscle in your chest and that is causing the chest pain. The 'clicking' sounds like it is probably a tendon or something. Rest your torso and don't exercise it for a few weeks and see if it goes away. I mentioned in this other thread about the body back buddy, which could be really helpful to you.... It's helped me a lot! Especially if the chest pain is kinda in your back/under your rib cage/shoulder blade area. That's where a lot of my chest pain is. There's nothing wrong with my heart, it's just from muscle tension/bad posture/not stretching. The massaging of trigger points actually made a huge difference for me, so maybe you can give that a try!
 
At the hospital they also said I probably pulled a muscle but I don't remember ever pulling a muscle. I didn't know you could pull a muscle without even being aware of it. I mean, is that even possible?
 
It's something like precordial catch syndrome/ costocondritis/ Tietze's Syndrome. I have it too-- It's usually brought on by smoking weed and hunching over. It doesn't happen to me too much anymore because I take it easier on the smoking and my abs and chest are stronger, but it still happens sometimes. Try taking smaller hits so the smoke doesn't irritate the walls of your lungs as much.

Be careful when doing the arm raising trick because you can aggravate the cartilage between the sternum and ribcage even more if you pull too hard. If you can't make it pop this way, try laying flat on your stomach and pushing your pecs into the ground.
 
I would echo everyone else's sentiments - see another Doctor. :)

Unfortunately it is very hard to diagnose conditions over the Internet as most of us are unqualified and can't examine you or your medical history.
 
Thanks mate, I appreciate that. It actually turned out to be costochondritis in the end. I went through a really bad patch but after taking a course of NSAIDs it seems to be settling down now. I really hope it doesn't get as bad as it was because I was so worried I thought I was going to die at one point!!

Has anyone had any experience with this condition before? If so do you have any tips on what helps besides rest and anti-inflammatory drugs?
 
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