I was diagnosed with costalchrondritis. I am 42 and have been hurting for the past few years. I occasionally vomit when the pain is severe or my menstral cycle begins. I am thinking about getting a hysterectomy. Is it normal to vomit every month. I never gain weight.
Has you daughter had any recent infections or bouts of coughing? How long has the pain been going on?
Are the ribs themselves tender? ?Find a picture of a real skeleton. You can see that the ribs meet with each other at the bottom of the chest in a sloping band downward from the front down to the side. When you press on those spots, does she especially hurt where each rib attaches via cartilage to the next one above it?
Is the swelling mostly over these areas where the ribs meet each other?
Is she especially tender beside the breast bone (sternum) where the ribs attatch?
If most of the answers to the above are yes, then she likely has "Tzeitze's Syndrome " which has swelling or acute "costochondritis" an inflammation of the cartilage (chrondro) where the ribs (costo) meet bone. This can be excrutiatingly painful especially with sudden jerks of the chest like coughing and sneezing, or in trying to take a deep breath or in twisting the torso.
This should be verified by her doctor. Treatment would be woith rest, ice, an antiinflammortory like ibuprofen. Sometimes in sever cases steroid injections are helpful. The conditio can follow trauma, such as bruises or fractures. Would not necessarily mean the injury healed poorly.
I hope this helps. Quix