By Robyn on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 05:40 pm:

I have a very painful point at the tip of the sternum. It varies in intesity, is painful to touch and often makes sitting uncomfortable. My doctor has been looking at
things like acid reflux, but I think it is muscular-skeletal. All of my joints are "double-jointed" and I have had problems with my shoulder in the past. Does this familiar
to anyone?

By Lucy on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 05:41 pm:

Hi Robyn,

I too have localized pain in my sternum. I went to see a geneticist when I was diagnosed with EDS, and she told me that the ribs are attached to the sternum by thick
cartilage. This cartilage has come loose due to the EDS and is causing my ribs to rub against the sternum (a bit like having a wobbly tooth). Unfortunately, since there
is as yet no bone "glue" not much can be done other than painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs when it gets sore. Take care - Lucy

By Gwen on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 05:41 pm:

Robin, you aren't alone in this. Most of last year I had a very sore sternum, with pain radiating along my ribs. I was also very sore in my sterno-clavicular joints
(where collar bones join sternum in front)and clicking and feelings of subluxation. I went to see a musculo-skeletal doctor who said it wasn't possible for these joints
to subluxate as they only have a very limited range of motion, chiefly involved in expanding the chest cavity during breathing. Sorry, but mine definitely subluxate and
are incredibly sore, as are the sterno-costal joints (where ribs join sternum) There are ribs coming off the lower part of your sternum and its tip is covered with
cartilage. I don't have any great suggestions to lower the pain except rest, heat and analgesics. I did find I was better lying on my back rather than side which position
seemed to squash my ribs. Best wishes, Gwen

By Angie on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 05:42 pm:

Your doctor sounds misinformed. Ribs and sternum can subluxate. My chiropractor checks my ribs for this when I see her, and my physical therapist has remarked
at times that one or more ribs were 'out.'

By Johanna on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 05:42 pm:

Hi Angie,

Do you know how one can get dislocated ribs back in line?

By Angie on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 05:42 pm:

Well, I suppose there might be different ways. I see a chiropractor who practices a branch of chiropractic called "applied kinesiology." That means she looks at how
the bones and muscles interact. She only adjusts joints that have become subluxated. (NOTE: I have seen concern expressed on this forum that chiropractic might
not be a good idea for people with hypermobile joints. This is something to keep in mind.)

I also am seeing a physical therapist to strengthen my whole back so that it will stabilize the joints. He can "fix" subluxations (or "positional faults," as he calls them)
using muscle tension and release. He's done this with vertebrae, but so far has not worked with any ribs. However, that's because we ran out of time the day he
noticed a rib was out. I believe the techniques he uses would be very safe. I'm not sure what other kinds of health practitioners would do this but I'm sure other kinds
do.

My ribs often go back "on their own." That's a bonus but it's also part of my problem: everything moves around too easily. When my chiropractor adjusts my ribs, all
she does is figure out if it is in too much (toward the spine) or pulling away from it too much. Then she nudges the rib slightly and that is enough. I've often tried to
diagnose myself between visits and poke myself to try to move the ribs, but honestly I am not trained enough to know which ribs to move where and I don't know
which spot to press on and so forth. I just don't like pain or discomfort, so when something is locked in an unpleasant position, I try to move it.

A long answer to a short question. I hope this gives you an idea of how to proceed.

By silvia on Friday, June 15, 2001 - 02:22 pm:

Hi,

I also suffer from localized sternum pain at times. I started prolotherapy and it helped the pain. I bought the book "prolo your back pain away" by Dr. Hauser and in it there's a picture of sternum pain that originates from the back. Anyway, I'm not sure if this is what you have but you might want to check into it. The first prolotherapy treatment I had to my back helped reduce the pain.

By Patty on Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 05:34 pm:

I started having sternum pain in 1995. It was strange - mid sternum, right side - and the doctors checked me first with an ECG and then x-rays and then a lung perfusion. They decided it was an esophogeal spasm. It was only in the last year that I started to realize that my pain was sternum.
I broke my left ninth rib just under my shoulder blade last October and it was sternum pain that got me to the doctor. I still have that pain and my rib is now mobile at the sternum. I can sometimes feel it rubbing. The doc says there is nothing they can do about it as it is cartilege damage and it's been so long.
We are in the US now from the RP and looking for confirmation of EDS. Wish us luck!

By Tanya on Friday, July 20, 2001 - 05:11 pm:

I've had a rough week. It seems that from the
time of my period last month up until the start
of my period this month I actually felt great.
However, this week has been horrible. I
almost went to the ER but I hate the wait. My
right hip is so sore that I couldn't drive or ride
in the car. The pain that's been in my left
shoulder for 3 months got worse and my back
and fingers were also hurting. I've never had
been soo bad that I felt nauseous (except
during childbirth).

I don't know what to do. My rheumy saw me 3
wks ago during my " feelin' good" period so I
don't think she understands how much pain
I've been enduring. She told me to take Motrin.
Well no amount of Motrin is going to relieve
this pain. Propoxy doesn't even help!! My sed
rate is OK. (they really should rely on that
because right before a flare of my ulcerative
colitis my sed rate can be ok & a few days
later I'm having symptoms of a bad flare.)

she's the 6th doc I've seen about my
problems. It's getting harder to go to work and
pretend nothings wrong. I don't feel like I'm
jusified to stay home since I've only been dx w/
carple tunnel in both hands&spondylolysis
(L5). My reconstructed congenital dislocated
hip appears to be ok however, recent bone
scan indicates a lesion that should be further
investigated.

I'm thinking that the spondylolysis is causing
the strange nerve irritation and lower body
numbness/weakness but no one has said
this to me.

I continue to do the stupid excercises that my
pt showed me 17 yrs ago to strengthen my
joints but sometimes the excercises make it
worse.

Sorry this is long but I'm trying not to cry about
this. Venting to you guys keeps me from
thinking about how hard it is for me to play
w/my 3 little boys. Thanks.

By Gwen on Saturday, July 21, 2001 - 02:30 pm:

Tanya, I'm right with you on the nerve irritation
and lower body weakness. I had a L4/5 disc
rupture going on 20 years ago which wasn't
diagnosed until 2 yrs down the track because my
hypermobility (also undiagnosed at that stage)
masked the symptoms that the doctor expected to
find with a herniated disc i.e limited movement,
limited leg raises etc.
It has taken 15 years for the pain from that to
subside sufficiently for me to take up full time
work again but what I have found since the pain
lessened is that I am very aware of the sensation
of muscle weakness and twitching when I am sitting
or lying down. I aslo get similar symptoms in both
arms, down into my hands and at one time it was
queried as carpal tunnel
I finally had my orthopaedic surgeon decide to
confer with a rheumatologist for a second opinion
as all my X-rays have come back as normal
(naturally! as every test comes back 'normal')
She confirmed the hypermobility and suggested I
have an MRI scan to check whether my nerve roots
are being pinched at cervical and lumbar/sacral
level. Hopefully something will show up.
I understand how you feel about wanting to play
with your children but being unable to. I had
several years of depression because of those sorts
of feelings and the guilt trip about being a
mother who couldn't bear to have her daughter sit
on her lap because it hurt too much. It wasn't
until I went to the pain clinic and started
putting in place some of their strategies that
life improved. I learnt to prioritise my life, to
be able to say to my daughter that I loved her but
that she wasn't to plonk herself on my knee
because it hurt too much. If she want a cuddle
she had to ask me and sit carefully. I also found
it helped our relationship if I said to her that I
was having a bad day and needed to go back to bed
or wouldn't be able to play with her. An
important thing I learned early on was to never
'promise' we'd do something. I'd always modify it
by saying, "As long as I feel well then....."
On a different tack, something for you to maybe
consider is, while the doctors say there's nothing
wrong, taking out income protection insurance
against the time you have to give up work. You
know you aren't well and that it's becoming harder
to work but you'll have doctor's reports saying
you were well at the time you took out the insurance.

By Tanya on Saturday, July 21, 2001 - 05:42 pm:

Gwen,
Thanks. Your comments mean a lot.
As for my kids, I think they are getting use to
not feeling a 100%. My oldest whose 8, told
me to sit down while he cleaned up his
younger brothers' mess today. He's been
great. He tries to get the little ones (4 & 3) to
understand that Mommy can't get around or
carry them sometimes. The little ones even
made up a game with my cane. All three have
asthma & allergies-which is very severe for
the younger ones-that's another forum! (LOL)
so I think they kind of understand. Thanks
again Gwen.

By Lincoln on Saturday, February 09, 2002 - 08:02 pm:

Trust Silvia......... look up prolotherapy. It sterngthens and repairs the loose ligaments. It can help hold your ribs in place. I have had this problem for 4 years and am starting prolotherapy soon.

By Sharon on Sunday, February 10, 2002 - 12:29 am:

There can be a second reason for localised sternum and rib pain and that is Costochronditis (an infalmmation in the ligaments etc of the ribs, it seems that us hypermobiles can be more prone to this because our ribs do move more than "normal" I am currently undergoin my 4th bout of this very painful condition since August last year. Hope this helps
Sharon

By Ann A. Reynolds on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 03:41 pm:

Dear Sharon, Thank you for spelling the word Costochronditis correctly!! (Who can ever read their doctor's handwriting?!) I have been looking for 2 days trying to understand what my doctor said was causing the pain. Now I can finally read about it!! I've had the sternum pain for quite some time, but just recently gave up & went to the doctor.

Bless you !!!