Agonizing ‘silent’ condition suffered by millions of women that mimics a heart attack

It starts with a stabbing chest pain so severe you think you’re having a heart attack and rush to the hospital.

The sharp pain could last minutes to hours after a strenuous workout, a period of heavy lifting or muscle straining. Sometimes it occurs with no clear cause or injury.

But despite its resemblance to a heart attack, if you aren’t experiencing other common symptoms of the cardiovascular event – like radiating pain to the neck, jaw or arms – you may actually have costochondritis.

This condition occurs when the cartilage connecting the ribs to the sternum (breastbone) becomes inflamed, and while it is benign, the pain can be debilitating.

Inflamed cartilage that connects the breastbone to the ribs causes costochondritis. The inflammation causes pain that radiates from the front of the chest to the back and up into the neck

Erin from New York City told DailyMail.com she once experienced costochondritis with such severe pain for 14 hours she wondered if she should go to the hospital to rule out a heart attack or blood clot.

She said: ‘The pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t do anything. I had to crouch forward just to get air.’

There isn’t a known definitive number of people who experience costochondritis because it often goes unreported, misdiagnosed or undiagnosed altogether. 

However, in his 2019 book Costochondritis: A Forgotten Condition, Peter Askes, a physical therapist and founder of the American Rib Pain Institute, wrote that 1million to 2million people who visit the emergency room for chest pain every year may have costochondritis. 

And of the 62million who visit their doctor every year with chest pain, up to 18.5million may have costochondritis.

Additionally, about 80 percent of these patients are female and most do not receive the proper diagnosis or treatment.  

Costochondritis is caused by inflammation of the body’s protective tissue called cartilage that connects the ribs to the breast bone.

When that cartilage becomes inflamed due to overly strenuous activity, the movements of the rib cage can lead to pressure and pain, which can radiate to the spine.

It may increase when taking deep breaths as the chest wall expands and contracts, and people may also experience pain when pressing on the area where the ribs meet the sternum.

Costochondritis can be difficult to diagnose because it is a diagnosis of exclusion. No labs or imaging can detect inflamed cartilage.

When people seek medical care, doctors first try to rule out as many potentially severe conditions as possible, including heart attack, blood clots, broken ribs, pneumonia, and a collapsed lung before landing on costochondritis.

Some people experience pain for only a short time, but others may experience it for months. The condition generally resolves on its own within four weeks, but can reoccur.

A TikToker named Melissa described her costochondritis as a radiating pain and ‘a horrible cycle.’

She said: ‘So you have the chest pain and it’s also in the back because your rib is always connected around.

A common cause of costochondritis is strenuous exercise or heavy lifting 

Her video has been commented on by dozens detailing their similar experience.

Kelsey Sullivan said she has the condition and it feels like ‘I’m having a heart attack.’

Another said she experienced costochondritis and ‘thought it was a heart attack.’

A user named Haley added: ‘This just made me feel so validated!!! I have had all the same symptoms and finally went to the doctor today after a long cry [session] thinking I was having a heart attack at 27.’

There are many reasons someone may experience costochondritis, including excessive and powerful coughing, a viral infection, heavy lifting and an injury to the chest.

Sarah, also from New York, experienced costochondritis after lifting her 20-pound cat, Thurston. She wasn’t anticipating the 14-year-old feline to be that heavy, but when she began having chest pain soon after, she went to the doctor.

Concerned about the severity of her symptoms, her doctor told her to immediately go to the hospital, she told DailyMail.com. 

Doctors then performed a battery of tests on her out of concern she was experiencing a potentially deadly blood clot, including blood tests, a CT scan and an EKG. 

With no concerning results from her tests, doctors said she had ‘a ton of inflammation’ in her chest that could have come from strenuous physical activity – like heavy lifting. 

The only thing strenuous she could think of – carrying around her 20-pound pet.  

Sarah was told to rest for several days and take high doses of over-the-counter pain killers. 

Another common cause of costochondritis is exercise, which is what Erin told DailyMail.com she believes her pain stemmed from.  

Erin attributed her bout of costochondritis to her yoga practice and the advanced poses she was doing, specifically the chaturanga dandasana pose.

This requires yogis to hover in a low plank, keeping their elbows at a 90-degree angle alongside the body.

Erin attributed her bout of costochondritis to her yoga practice and the advanced poses she was doing, specifically the chaturanga dandasana pose (shown above)

It is a more advanced pose that requires people to keep their body parallel to the ground while they lower down to their stomach and then push their chest up and forward.

When in a low plank, the weight of the body presses down through the chest, putting strain on the ribcage and the costal cartilage – the tissue that connects the ribs to the sternum.

The lowering motion can also exacerbate the condition because it compresses the ribcage, putting additional pressure on inflamed areas.

New Jersey yoga instructor Cathy Narchese warned that while yoga is good for flexibility and strength, if you aren’t flowing from one posture to the next correctly or aren’t engaging supportive muscles, you can cause or inflame an injury, including costochondritis: ‘It can definitely 100 percent’ be because of that.

Ms Narchese, owner of Thrive Yoga, told DailyMail.com: ‘What I see a lot of the times is when people lower down, their elbows pull out, and that puts too much pressure into the shoulders, so all the attention goes into stabilizing the shoulders and not the rest of the body.’

She said often people think they need to just go through the motions or mimic their neighbors so they push themselves through a posture they aren’t ready for, and that is when injuries happen.

Treatment options for costochondritis are limited and it is recommended people take over-the-counter pain medicine such as ibuprofen, or apply a heating pad to the chest and rest for several days.

Physical therapy or chiropractics are also sometimes prescribed.