From the organic cause which can be extremely serious (myocardial infarction) to simple muscle contracture, intercostal pain is intense and can have very varied origins. Different traumas, pregnancy, stress or a simple wrong movement sometimes cause these feelings of discomfort generally perceived as needles or burns.
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Whether they last from a few minutes to a few weeks, pains intercostales are expressed by stabbing at the level of the thoracic cage which generally follows the course of a rib. Once the organic causes (myocardial infarction, pneumothorax or digestive problems) or infectious (Covid-19, shingles) Ruled out, the causes leading to intercostal pain are very diverse and are often linked to neuromuscular problems.
The rib cage consists of 12 dorsal vertebrae at the back and 12 pairs of ribs connected at the front to a flat bone: the sternum. The whole plays a protective role for the vital respiratory organs (lungs, trachea), cardiac (heart and arterial and venous vessels) and digestive (esophagus). But the thorax also ensures a dynamic role to open and thus allow breathing. Thus, the intercostal space contains nerves and muscles that can be stretched, crumpled, torn, or squeezed.
Pain of nervous origin or intercostal neuralgia
Characterized by an increase in intensity during movement, of the cough orsneeze, intercostal neuralgia is amplified by the thoracic movements carried out during the breathing (inspiration, expiration). The pain is acute, it starts in the spine and diffuses along a rib.
THE’inflammation intercostal nerves that originate from the spinal cord and walk between two under and overlying ribs is responsible for these symptoms. Blockage of bone structures, herniated disc of vertebral origin, sprain costal are all responsible factors. Likewise, the pregnancy by inducing the increase in the size of the belly leads to a rise in diaphragm which decreases the volume thoracic. The intercostal spaces are reduced causing compression of the spinal nerves. In these different cases, rest, analgesics see anti-inflammatory are recommended.
Stress-related intercostal pain
Although trauma to the bones (rib fracture) or muscle (false movement) is often accompanied by stabbing in the rib cage, intercostal pain can be frequent during anxiety attacks acute or just in a state of anxiety. The psychological origin can be easily evoked insofar as an anxious state generates tensions at the level of the muscles of the back. When the pain is on the left side, felt as a needle stick, cramping or burning, the term of precordial pain is employed. If no organic cause is detected, the treatment is based on the removal of stimulants (coffee, alcohol, cocaine), theosteopathy and, depending on the case, the management of anxiety.
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