external intercostal muscles? Extreme random pain

I have pains in random locations around my external intercostal muscles. These pains occur one after the other. One starts to go away and the next will piggyback in a different location. I doesn't seem particular to - top, bottom, front, sides, back(although mostly sides and mid-front) and has been happening for the past 10 months.Starts as a small pin ***** or a small dime size pain area and turns into a knife stab feeling within a couple of days, then it feels as if someone is ripping the skin from the rib bone milimeter by milimeter then pouring salt on it. After which it takes 4-8 weeks to leave(no pain meds can stop the pain) and it leaves almost as sudden as it arrived. I have been seeing a PCP and they keep trying to send me to an ortho MD. The ortho's keep saying they aren't the right type of MD for this particular problem. So I have searched to try and offer up something before this exhausts me totally from pain. I can't sleep in bed and have to sit up most of the time and any minute touch causes the area to go into throbbing pain. I am mainly trying to find out what type of specialist I should be trying to see?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Unexplained pains, sometimes the bones paining and sometimes the muscles can be due to a problem called ‘fibromyalgia’. This is associated with fatigue and a heightened and painful response to gentle touch (allodynia). Other symptoms include  needle-like tingling of the skin, nerve pain, muscle aches and spasms, weakness in the limbs, functional bowel disturbances, and chronic sleep disturbances. Although fibromyalgia usually presents with chronic widespread pain, pain may also be localized in areas such as the shoulders, neck, low back, hips, or other areas. Alternatively she should be tested for gout and rheumatoid arthritis.
The cause of fibromyalgia is often hereditary or due to a physical or emotional trauma or due to lingering infection in the body such as due to mono. The treatment is a mix and match of analgesics, anti depressants, anti seizure medications, physical therapy and counseling.
You can check this out at the Wikipedia. Consult an internal medicine specialist.
The other possibility is severe anemia putting strain on the sternum and ribs to produce more red blood cells. Get your PCP to run tests. If this is the case you would need to consult a hematologist.
There is a strong possibility it is costochondritis (inflammation of the joint between rib and sternum. The inflammation around the joint area gives sharp pain on taking a breath. This can also cause tenderness on pressing the area which pains. This is usually seen by an orthopedic specialist.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!