Wow! It is hard to believe that I am half way through my 2nd fitness challenge of the year. I hate to report that I have encountered my 1st injury in my life. I have been an athlete since 5 years old and I haven’t had any injuries until now. I didn’t even sustain this injury while working out or playing a sport. However, I blame it on OLD AGE!

I had a sharp pain in my chest after I reached in a diagonal direction for a pen. Is that ridiculous or what? The injury occurred 1 day before my 30-*something* birthday and I blame it on early preparation for my 40′s. Sure, I wish I could blame it on my super buff workouts, but honestly if a weight is too heavy for me, I quickly put it down and use what is just right to feel a burn without over-exerting myself.

Here is my official diagnosis:
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Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone (sternum). It causes sharp pain in the costosternal joint – where your ribs and breastbone are joined by rubbery cartilage. Pain caused by costochondritis may mimic that of a heart attack or other heart conditions.

Your doctor might refer to costochondritis by other names, including chest wall pain, costosternal syndrome and costosternal chondrodynia. When the pain of costochondritis is accompanied by swelling, it’s referred to as Tietze syndrome.

Most cases of costochondritis have no apparent cause. In these cases, treatment focuses on easing your pain while you wait for costochondritis to resolve on its own.

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The crazy thing is that I’ve talked to about 5 different people that have been diagnosed with this and there are different recovery time frames. My doctor said 2-3 weeks but most of my friends said 6 months and/or 18 months! Most of them said the anti-inflammatory meds didn’t work for them.

I did home physical therapy that included taking deep breaths with my mouth closed and breathing through my nose. This helps to heal the area. Another exercise that helps to ease the pain is to clasp your hands together behind your back and lift your arms up and down. These exercises along with the anti-inflammatory meds helped me to get back on track after about 2 weeks.

Thankfully those meds are helping me and I don’t feel that much pain. I took 1 week off from my workouts which was hard to do since I have been making so much progress. I was bummed that my chest hurt a bit after doing a light workout. Doesn’t my rib area know that I’m in a fitness challenge? Ha!

Oh well. I will listen to my body and see where these next 6 weeks take me. At least I don’t feel myself filling out my jeans which is always my 1st indicator to weight gain. I haven’t stepped on a scale in 6 weeks! I will probably do a weigh in this Friday just to see where I stand. These are just the ups and downs of life and I have to learn to adjust to obstacles. I feel a quote is appropriate to end this post.

“Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals – Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want” Marsha Sinetar

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
QuickMomWorkouts
Club FYM