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What Causes Sharp Pain In The Chest After A Fall?
Question: Hi, My daughter is 17 very athletic and on July 18th of this year fell in the bath tub really hitting hard the Left side if her chest right under the left breast. We were at a junior nationals volleyball tournament so she played for 3 days straight even tho it bothered her. The pain still comes and goes and can last for several days nothing seems to help. She plays volleyball and is now in practice for the basketball season which begins in a few weeks. She said it is a very sharp pain and sometimes hurts to breath. Then all of a sudden it will just go away. It was so severe a few weeks ago I took her to the local ER and they checked her heart by EKG, chest X-ray, and said everything checked out fine fine. She went to the school nurse before going home today and nurse reported to me that he O2 sats were great her BP was normal but her heart rate was 44 -55 BPM but she is very athletic so that could be the reason. We are all thinking it may be some kind of costalchondritis at this point but she is in so much pain right now. It will start on the left breast side and shoot to her back and up into her shoulder and neck and makes it hard to breath because it hurts to breath. So far it has hurt for 3 days straight with no let up could she have damaged something very deep internally that we are not seeing aortic superior/ inferior blood vessels. What do you think?? Thanks XXXXXXX McDevitt Mother of XXXXXXX XXXX
Brief Answer:
Inflammation of the musculoskeletal component of the ribcage
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to HCM. Thank you for your question. I understand your concern.
Well, it really looks like an inflammation to the musculoskeletal component of the ribcage. Any kind of other diagnoses that would have been related to the lungs, heart or breast tissue as a cause of this pain, are excluded with the normal electrocardiogram, chest X-ray and normal O2 saturations. People that conduct vigorous physical activities or are trained athletes tend to have slower resting heart rates, comparing to other people, threfore her heart rate is fine. Also, in these people, there are often found inflammations of the skeleton and/or the muscles of the area. I do not think that the traumatic component after falling in the bathroom, is really the underlying cause of this pain, since three months have passed until now. People with vigorous physical activity have intermittent inflammations of the muscles that are situated in-between the ribs, because of the laboured breathing required during sports. At this point, I would recommend withholding physical activity for at least a week, and a seven-day course of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (ibuprofen orally, or suppository indomethacin). My opinion is that this is going to be helpful. After this trial of drugs is finished, if the pain persists, it is recommended another chest X-ray, to further evaluate the ribs, cartilages and muscles of the area.
I hope my answer is helpful. I am happy to help, if you have follow-up questions.
Best regards,
Dr. Meriton
Inflammation of the musculoskeletal component of the ribcage
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to HCM. Thank you for your question. I understand your concern.
Well, it really looks like an inflammation to the musculoskeletal component of the ribcage. Any kind of other diagnoses that would have been related to the lungs, heart or breast tissue as a cause of this pain, are excluded with the normal electrocardiogram, chest X-ray and normal O2 saturations. People that conduct vigorous physical activities or are trained athletes tend to have slower resting heart rates, comparing to other people, threfore her heart rate is fine. Also, in these people, there are often found inflammations of the skeleton and/or the muscles of the area. I do not think that the traumatic component after falling in the bathroom, is really the underlying cause of this pain, since three months have passed until now. People with vigorous physical activity have intermittent inflammations of the muscles that are situated in-between the ribs, because of the laboured breathing required during sports. At this point, I would recommend withholding physical activity for at least a week, and a seven-day course of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (ibuprofen orally, or suppository indomethacin). My opinion is that this is going to be helpful. After this trial of drugs is finished, if the pain persists, it is recommended another chest X-ray, to further evaluate the ribs, cartilages and muscles of the area.
I hope my answer is helpful. I am happy to help, if you have follow-up questions.
Best regards,
Dr. Meriton
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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