Chest and shoulder discomfort

[zero5]

Hey, I'm 19 and I broke my collar bone around the new year. About a week ago I started feeling strange sensations around that area and my left pectoral. It happens almost at random when I am moving about or wearing a seatbelt and I've noticed that smoking (which I don't do regularly) has increased effects on the sensation. My orthopedic assured me the bone should have healed by now so I think it might be panic/anxiety related. After reading up on the subject on the web I related to either heart problems, anxiety, or the chance that it didn't heal right. Any ideas or reassurances?

[Jade59]

It does sound like costochondritis.  I've been dealing with this condition since I took a serious fall on my chest quite a few yrs ago.   I've quit smoking a few times in the last 3yrs and the pain and there's a noticable improvement in the pain and tension.  I'm afraid there's not too much can be done about it, though.  I crack my chest a lot and this relieves the pressure somewhat.  

[zero5]

So I'm pretty sure that it turned out to be costochondritis and it does become more apparent when smoking but supposedly it can't become any more harmful in any situation. Doesn't seam to be viable cause or cures so I guess I just have to tough it out. Thanks for advice

[cj29]

Have you had any anxiety issues in the past regarding your health?  I think you did the right thing by going to get it rechecked.   In my experience, we sometimes tend to focus in on our percieved problem areas.  The good thing is that it is not heart or lung related; try to focus on the positive in this....let us know how things turn out!

[zero5]

My orthopedist did say it fully healed as far as he could tell and I've heard the same thing from a few other doctors. I just went to my campus med center at UCF and the doc couldn't really narrow it down. He didn't think it was heart or lung related but wasn't sure. And he brought up some rib/cartilage disorder and scar tissue so it could be one of those too. I'm not as worried after the visit but if I narrow it down more I'd feel better about it.

[mammo]

The first thing I would do is get your collar bone re-checked to verify that it did heal properly.  Did your Orthopaedist xray it to verify that it was healed?  Make sure it has healed correctly before moving on to anything else at this point, especially since your symptoms are in that same area.  You always want to rule out any other problems before thinking it may be anxiety.  If it turns out to be anxiety, please let us know, this is a great group who can offer support and advice as we have all endured or are still enduring problems with anxiety.  Let us know what you find out and take care.