Traumatic Myositis Ossificans

Hello,

After colliding with a tree while snowboarding last saturday (10 days ago) I incurred some blunt trauma including visible bruises on my left palm, left thigh.  I noticed some trauma in the chest/ribs area including some swelling, but there was not much pain associated especially after a few days.  After about a week had passed, the contusions on the palm and thigh had subsided.

Sunday (8 days later) I noticed the pain in my chest area had started to come back. By Monday the pain had increased enough to the point of concern.  The pain is associated with the chest/core muscle use and does not hurt while resting. The pain is concentrated along the surface (no deep internal pain) and is tender to the touch but not the same level of pain as when I use the associated muscle.

With some google searching on the symptoms, the most obvious condition is traumatic myositis ossificans.  This made sense to me as I had not done much to treat the trauma (Ice etc) and I had been using the muscles as normal by late that week as there was no pain and I didn't realize complications could arise.  Also other ways the condition could arise made sense as well as the trauma was to the chest and my ribcage is close to the surface so the sheath around the ribs could have been damaged as well.

I have been treating with ice and as much rest as possible with an injury to a torso muscle (its amazing how many movements involve these muscles) as well as NSAID's.

Does anyone have experience with this condiditon?  
Hopefully my logic is sound, and I'm mostly interested in the length of the associated pain and when I'll be able to return to light activity.

Thanks for any input and help!

Gabriel

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
Well yes, traumatic myositis ossificans can be a possibility, even though intercostals spaces (spaces between ribs) is a less common site of its presentation. A chest X-ray should be able to rule this out. Treatment is as you are following—rest, immobilization, ice pack and NSAID.
The other possibility is costochondritis, which causes pain and tenderness at points where your ribs attach to your breastbone.  The inflammation around the joint area gives sharp pain on taking a breath. This can also cause tenderness on pressing the area which pains. An orthopedic doctor can diagnose this for you. Generally there is no cause. However it can be due to infection, blow, injury, or fibromyalgia. It usually goes away on its own. Otherwise it can be treated with muscle relaxants, and non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs.
In either case, treatment is usually conservative and spans over weeks before there is proper relief. Take care!