A Simple Guide to Costochondritis, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Costochondritis, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Costochondritis is a benign disorder causing chest pain in 30% patients.

Costochondritis is a mostly harmless disorder caused by inflammation of the costal cartilages or the area where the ribs meet the sternum, termed sternal articulations

Chest wall pain is the main symptom.

Most people mention the pain as sharp, achy, and pressure-like.

chest pain normally gets worse if the patient breathes deeply or moves the upper body.

When the patient presses on the chest, the inflamed area feels tender and painful.

The chest pain normally persists for a few weeks or months, but about 33% of those with costochondritis will have it for about a year.

As with any chest pain, the history of present illness, past medical history, social history, family history, and an evaluation of body systems is very important.

Many life threatening causes of chest pain (heart attack) should be excluded before establishing a diagnosis of costochondritis.

The chest pain history is a significant indicator of acute coronary syndrome, pulmonary embolism, aortic dissection, pneumonia, esophageal injury, pneumothorax, among others.

If there was recent trauma or fall, an occult rib fracture may have occurred.

Other causes of chest pain must be excluded with history, physical exam, and diagnostic testing before a diagnosis of costochondritis.

While costochondritis is a frequent cause of chest pain, other causes of chest pain are:
Injury,
Physical strain,
Respiratory infection,
Rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis,
Chest wall infections,
Tumors, or
Rare disorders like relapsing polychondritis

Normally, if chest wall pain is due to costochondritis, the patient will give a history of the pain which becomes worse with movement and certain positions.

The pain will also normally become worse when the patient takes a deep breath.

The pain quality is inconsistent, but it may be mentioned as sharp or dull pain.

If the patient has radiating pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, exertional chest pain, fever, productive cough, nausea, etc., these are more likely due to other causes of chest pain.

Other causes of chest pain should be excluded before making a costochondritis diagnosis.

If a patient's chest wall pain is caused by costochondritis, the pain can be normally reproduced by mild-to-moderate palpation.

Often, there is positional tenderness where one or two ribs meet the sternum.

If the patient is over 35, at risk for coronary artery disease, a blood clot, or the patient recently had a respiratory infection, the doctor may do additional tests like a chest X-ray and ECG to exclude more serious heart and lung disorders.

The purpose of the evaluation is to establish other causes of chest pain.

The doctor will focus on pain relief, and will probably treat with
Pain relievers like aspirin or ibuprofen
Hot compresses or a heating pad to the area
No physical activities that make the pain become worse

The doctor may advise the patient on how to improve the posture and fix any muscle imbalances.

If the pain does not go away, the doctor may give the patient an injection of corticosteroid in the area that is painful.

The treatment for costochondritis is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).

Physical therapy is a treatment method for refractory costochondritis

TENS therapy (nerve stimulation) may relieve the pain of costochondritis

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Costochondritis
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Myocardial Infarction
Chapter 8 Pulmonary Infarction
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Dec 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005842536

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

Costochondritis,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2021 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Costochondritis, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Costochondritis)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Costochondritis

What is Costochondritis?

Costochondritis is a benign disorder causing chest pain in 30% patients.

Costochondritis is a mostly harmless disorder caused by inflammation of the costal cartilages or the area where the ribs meet the sternum, termed sternal articulations

Costochondritis is a benign disorder causing chest pain.

Patients often manifest with the chief complaint of chest