I have pain in the xyphoid process. Most of the time it feels like an ache and appears to be predicated on stress. My chiropractor and doctor say that it is muscular skeletal pain but I am worried that it might be esophageal. This pain does respond well to herbal inflammatories and myo-tone but I want to be sure. It is not severe at all and is painful to the touch and sitting at a computer. I really do feel that If I could do away with the stress or anxiety that it really would go away. I just wonder how this pain could be related to muscle tension or tightness because there is really no muscle around the xyphoid region of the chest. Is it possible for such muscular skeletal pain to be triggered by swallowing. My chiropractor said that my muscles around the sternum and rib cage area were very weak: could this produce xyphoid process pain?