Soreness

[MissFaye]

I've had a really bad cold for almost a month now. It got better, then it turned into tonsillitis. After taking antibiotics that has cleared but the sever coughing has continued. Here is the real mystery. I have noticed there's a bad tenderness, soreness to the skin under my left breast over the rib cage. Just on the one side. There's no redness so far, only really sore. What could be causing this?

[MissFaye]

Thanks for your response. I had no idea coughing could do that.  I'm 48 yrs old & it's never happened before. Weird.

[ed34]

Very likely cause by all the coughing. The cartiledge and muscles in the chest have a lot of force put through them when coughing. I had soreness to the touch under the skin covering my sternum for about a week after I finished coughing with the flu. If it's sore to the touch, it's nothing to do with your heart. Repetative coughing can also pull chest muscles, to the point where it's like a stabbing pain each time you inhale. As a safe measure, a chest x-ray is taken to ensure it isn't pneumonia or anything else serious.