left side of chest/ribs swelling (hard bumps) and painfull**no formal diagnosis

[micrazi]

(30 year old Female) I Noticed one paticular day last August as I was walking, that my chest area was hurting.  I placed my hand on the area and there was a noticible protrusion of what felt like my rib (hard not moving, close to sternum).  I asked my OB at my yearly and she suggested possible chostocondrtis, and told me to take some Ibprof 600mg.  That did nothing.  Then the beg. of Jan, I noticed I had another area that was protruding (lower than first).  This was most noticible at night when laying down and very tender with constant dull pain.  Went to my PCP and he said it probably was chostocondritis as well, though he thought it was strange that this was going on since Aug (5 mo), and there were multiple areas affected (3rd, 4th rib).  I got an x-ray.  Results=no abnormalities.  Went back to doc, asked for CT scan, results= tilting of sternum, not assoc with other osseous abnormalities of the sternum or adjacent soft tissue abnormalities, air in left sacroiliac joint, small amount od tissue density adjacent to ascending aortic arch in the anterior mediastinum (could represent residual thymus), mild prominence of spleen.  The pain is getting more noticible and I have another protrusion (below my left clavicle).  I have not gone back to PCP for fear of looking like a lunatic.

ANY IDEAS as to what this is?  Are there any other tests we should focus on to determine a correct diagnosis?  Is this a wierd form of chostocondritis that doesnt go away?  What does tilting of sternum mean in terms of my situation?  Thanks for the help, much appreciated!

[nalikinz]

i really dont like the first line in this comment the girl was just trying to say something .........i do agree

[Ladysky]

I have the exact same thing with the bruising and fatigue. But I also have several autoimmune disorders so it is hard for me to separate some of the symptoms. This is frusterating because my pain is now in my neck and back on the left and I can't turn my head very well without pain. I am tired of the doctor not knowing what this is.

[candyb2383]

Hi, am i am 29 year old woman now, I have had the same problem and first notice when i was 15-16 years old, A lump on my lower left rib cage that swells up and becomes brused and painful at times. And it deff. made a diffrence when i was in PE class when we had to run the mile within a curtain time, it would swell up and become even more painfull and even harder to breath . My mother at the time said that its just my rib. And still to this day the mass is still there and still swells, with the brusing. This lump when I was pregnant with my second child, got even worse, when i was grocrey shopping and in a hurry, it would literly put me in alot more pain that it looked like i was going in labor! I still havent had it looked at, due to no insurence. But now  am able too. so when I finally go get this checked out, i will let yu know of the out come. But untill then if someone or a doc reads this and knows whats wrong with me please feel free to comment!

[froman321]

hello i am 23 year old male with same protrusion and blamed on chrocrotitus  any news on cure or help pain and bumps sternums pushing tilting left side pain is constant and dimmers when i take vitamins i dont know whats going on. blood ekg xray all ok what do i need to diagnose

[smileyggak]

I'm 17 years old and I also have these so called "bumps" either beside or on the ribs, it seems like it's spreading because it started with just the upper right side of my rib, and now I have it on the bottom left side of my right rib, and I now have problems with my left ribs as well, when I drive I feel discomfort; just sitting down I can feel discomfort. I also played sports over the years and softball is the main sport, so I'm guessing from continuing strenuous exercise I'm making my ribs worse, and now it seems like all of my ribs hurt and when I lay down and press down on certain areas I'm in so much pain and I can definitely feel those "bumps". I've been taking ibuprofen since last June 29th when I fractured/sprained my ankle and you would be thinking that the pain would of gone away a really long time ago, but taking Iburprofen isn't doing any good. I'm really concerned..any thoughts about what it could be? and this has been going on for at least a year or two now...

[robg780]

montrealmoon,

I agree completely, everytime i visit a GP I do not tell them what I have self diagnosed from web based research for fear of throwing them off. But when you attempt to give them deatiled symptoms they look at you like your a drama queen who's taking their health too seriously and the unkown to them becomes quickly the unimportant.

Recently I even had to interject and provide a diagnosis for my amateur investigations and the doctor ( altough miffed) agreed that it was infact surely the right cause, no excusing themselves fro not having thought of it previously at all.

It boils down to  your point exactly, they dont feel like they OWN your problem, thats a mind set - they have training and access to resources to investigate difficult presentations but they prefer to shrug and move on. I have no confidence at all in any doctors as a rule of thumb.