soreness in ribs

[naturesmitten]

I've noticed as I lay down to sleep at night (as a stomach/side sleeper) that over the last few month it has become increasingly more and more painful to lay on my right side rib area or on my stomach.  At 1st I kept thinking there was something wrong with my mattress and eventually flipped it.  Then the pain got worse and I grabbed my ribs and realized it was my body and not the bed (I know... a little slow on that one).  Now it has gotten so painful that I can't sleep in any position but on my back.   I have a little swelling too, but mostly just pain nearly everywhere I touch on my right rib area.  It has been getting worse and worse and now I am having trouble sleeping at all w/o taking sleeping pills.  

Thanks in advance.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
The main cause of rib pain with sensitive skin is musculoskeletal pain.
Another cause is Tietze's syndrome. It is a painful, nonsuppurative localized swelling of the costosternal or costochondral joints, most often involving the area of the second and third ribs.

Other possibilities are costochondritis(an inflammation of the joints in your chest.),Fibromyalgia(a chronic musculoskeletal pain syndrome, characterized by diffuse musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and tactile allodynia(pain even on touching)  and arthritis(rheumatoid, Ankylosing spondylitis and Psoriatic arthritis).

Pls apply warm compresses and some muscle relaxants on the chest and take some anti inflammatory pain relievers like ibuprofen.If the symptoms persist,local steroid injections may be needed.Pls consult an orthopedician in that case.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries.

[Skater103]

Are you coughing when you are asleep? I just got off of darned Lisinopril, and I figured out I had rib soreness because I was coughing while deep asleep!