Complaints that the chest is crunching can be made by both an adult and a child. In both situations, the age factor will be of decisive importance in the differential diagnosis. Some diseases in which the chest hurts and crunches are unique to childhood and adolescence, while other pathologies, on the contrary, have an age-related degenerative etiology of development.
During the initial examination, the doctor tries to exclude all possible deformations; it is also necessary to promptly diagnose the consequences of traumatic exposure. In adulthood, the cartilaginous distal ends of the costal arches can calcify, which will create certain difficulties for mobility. But in general, the elasticity and mobility of the chest should be maintained throughout life. Longevity and sufficient vital capacity of the lungs depend on this factor.
If you experience any unpleasant sensations in the chest area, and even more so, extraneous sounds when turning your body, you should immediately consult a doctor. An orthopedist or vertebrologist will conduct an examination, make a preliminary diagnosis, and tell you how the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of the identified disease can be carried out.
You can make an appointment for a free appointment with a vertebrologist or orthopedist at our manual therapy clinic. The first consultation for each patient is provided completely free of charge.
Why does it crunch?
Degenerative-dystrophic lesions of the joints can appear in youth; they develop against the background of a sedentary lifestyle and curvature of the spinal column.
Calcium formations are deposited over time on the rib joints in front and behind the chest. They contribute to limited mobility, pain and crunching during movement.
In old age, a crunch in the chest appears against the background of such changes in the body:
- Osteochondrosis in a progressive stage.
- Spondylosis of the thoracic part of the spinal column.
- Compression fractures, which are typical for older people.
It is also possible to deposit bone osteophytes in the muscular-articular apparatus and in the ligaments of the musculoskeletal system. The crunching occurs due to impaired mobility of the ribs during inhalation, as the intercostal space is disrupted during the following actions:
- Filling the chest with air.
- During an increase in lung tissue volume.
As the disease develops, a crunch will be felt during movement, when turning the body or changing body position.
Spondyloarthrosis
A crunch in the ribs on the left appears as a result of a degenerative process at the costovertebral junction. Most often, spondyloarthrosis is found in older people, when the vertebrae can no longer perform their function due to the aging of the body.
At first, pain appears only when turning and bending, and as the disease develops, the pain bothers you even at complete rest. If left untreated, a disability develops in which the person is unable to move normally.
Why is it dangerous?
If the diet is irrational and does not contain protein, then over time degenerative changes and calcification occur in the joint tissue. As a result of active movements, damage to the cartilage tissue begins, in which calcium formations accumulate, leading to joint cracks.
The consequences that await a person who feels a crunch in the chest:
- If there are complaints of a crunch in the chest area, poor blood supply due to chondrosis or compression fractures of the spine should be excluded.
- Crunching or clicking sounds in the ribs may indicate rib fractures, dislocation or subluxation of the joints in the costal region. In this case, along with a crunching sound, you can hear complaints of severe pain in the affected area.
- Slipping rib syndrome carries its own dangers. When the joint space widens, the distal part of the rib bone falls out of the joint. As a result, injury and rupture of internal organs may occur, leading to internal bleeding.
- Of particular danger is the local inflammatory process of the articular surface in Titz syndrome. Firstly, the mobility of the joint is impaired, and secondly, the inflammation spreads to healthy tissue, and this can threaten the generalization of the process.
Snapping rib syndrome
A crunch at the level of the 8th, 9th or 10th rib most often develops as a result of subluxation of the cartilaginous joint. This is due to the great vulnerability of the lower half of the chest - even turning the body to the sides can cause the development of this syndrome.
Other manifestations include:
- A clicking sensation in the lower part of the chest.
- Shooting sensations that appear when you raise your arms up.
- Taking an uncomfortable position with a tilt in the opposite direction.
The phenomenon that was described above is a relatively rare condition, and therefore is most often diagnosed as another pathology.
Costosternal syndrome
With this syndrome, clicking and crunching are felt when the mobility of the ribs is impaired during breathing. When the lungs fill with air, the chest cavity expands. The intercostal spaces also widen. When calcium salts are deposited, mobility in the cartilage tissue is impaired.
Doctors cannot accurately name the cause of costosternal syndrome, but there is an assumption that it develops against the background of degenerative-dystrophic diseases of the spine. Most often they occur in women over 40 years of age.
The symptoms of this condition are as follows:
- Crunching in the chest during extension.
- Local pain in the area below the chest.
- Pain most often occurs during sudden movement or after prolonged sitting in one position.
- Crunching in the chest when inhaling.
- The pain intensifies with deep inspiration.
- Pain decreases after blockade with glucocorticosteroids.
How does the violation manifest itself?
The main symptom of the pathology is crunching or clicking. They are accompanied by pain. To avoid unpleasant sensations, the patient refuses physical activity that could provoke an attack. Sometimes a person cannot take a deep breath. During a medical examination, the following features of the crunch are considered:
- Location. The brisket may crisp in the front, middle, back, top or bottom.
- Frequency. Symptoms may appear occasionally or be present all the time.
- Intensity. The clicking or pain may be mild, moderate, or severe.
- Causes. Symptoms are triggered by physical activity and breathing.
Tietze syndrome
A rare disease diagnosed in children and young people. The pain accompanying the pathology can spread throughout the chest and radiate to the neck and shoulders. Main symptoms of the disorder:
- crunching and pain in the 2nd costosternal joint,
- unilateral lesion
- cartilage swelling,
- pain during palpation.
Swelling of cartilage tissue is associated with excessive physical activity and frequent colds.
Ankylosing spondylitis
Clicks in the sternum are manifestations of chronic ankylosing spondylitis. The pathology is autoimmune in nature and affects not only cartilage and bone tissue, but also the heart, kidneys, and eyes. More often the disease is diagnosed in men. The following symptoms are noted:
- back pain that gets worse at rest,
- decreased mobility of the spinal column,
- chest muscle tension,
- poor posture, stoop.
Snapping rib syndrome
The sternum may crunch against the background of subluxation of the cartilages of the 8th–10th rib. This area is considered the weakest part of the chest. The pathology manifests itself during extension and during rotation of the torso. If the cartilage becomes displaced, the intercostal nerve is damaged. This provokes severe pain and a feeling of numbness. The main symptoms of chest damage:
- a click in the area of the lower ribs,
- pain, lumbago, especially when moving your arms,
- the need to accept a forced position.
Costosternal chondrodynia
If a patient has a clicking sound in the chest, this may be a manifestation of a musculoskeletal pathology of a non-vertebrogenic nature, i.e., not related to the condition of the spine. Often diagnosed in women. In addition to clicking, there is pain in the area of the 2nd–5th rib. Pain can be triggered by coughing, breathing, or movement. A feature of the pathology is the presence of areas of high sensitivity in the muscle tissue that hurt on palpation.
Spondyloarthrosis
The disease affects the costovertebral joints. It is diagnosed in people over 50 years of age and is characterized by a degenerative nature. At the beginning of the development of pathology, the provoking factors for pain and crunching are bending and turning the body. Gradually, unpleasant sensations begin to appear at rest. There is a feeling of stiffness and fatigue in the affected area, including a decrease or loss of mobility of the thoracic segment of the spinal column.
Risk factors
The occurrence of a crunch in the chest in the middle can be affected by:
- Lifting heavy objects with limited spinal mobility.
- Deterioration of biochemical metabolic processes against the background of diseases such as gout, diabetes mellitus, phosphate diabetes, and other diseases associated with metabolic disorders.
- Curvature of the spinal column.
- Ankylosing spondylitis.
- Chondrosis.
- Intervertebral hernia.
- A diet that does not comply with the rules of healthy food, leading to a deterioration in metabolic processes.
All these diseases progress if the regime of limiting static vertical loads is not followed.
VSD is a myth!
Many doctors write off a crunch in the heart, clicks and other similar symptoms as VSD (vegetative-vascular dystonia), but the international health organization has long established that such a disease does not exist. The symptoms attributed to VSD are signs of other diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, but are not an independent disease.
In other words, if your doctor prescribes treatment for VSD during an examination, we advise you to contact another specialist and be checked for diseases of the cardiovascular system or for problems with nerves.
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Diagnosis and treatment
Diagnosis of pain and crunching in the chest involves an x-ray. This method can confirm or refute the destructive process in bone tissue and the formation of salts in it.
Treatment will depend on the cause of the chest crunch. Most often, anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs and symptomatic therapy are prescribed. To reduce pain, warming ointments are prescribed, and they also improve blood microcirculation at the site of the lesion. If a complication occurs, then treatment measures may take a long time.
Methods for treating crunching in the clavipectoral region
Rarely do one treatment method be used to eliminate diseases; most often, an integrated approach is used. Especially in cases where the pathology is associated with degenerative processes in cartilage and vertebrae.
Manual therapy
One of the effective means of combating pathology is manual therapy.
Massage and manual therapy in identifying diseases of the vertebrae and cartilage are often the most effective method of combating pathology. Manual therapy is carried out in several courses, each of which lasts from 10 to 20 procedures, depending on the identified disease.
Also, manual treatment is complemented by physiotherapy - kinesitherapy - a special type of exercise therapy, which is performed under the guidance of a trainer. An integrated approach is aimed at destroying osteophytes and calcium deposits, which is a condition for stopping even such severe pathologies as arthrosis.
Use of medications
Medicines are prescribed primarily for the treatment of inflammatory processes. For a crunch in the collarbone, they are used less frequently, since inflammation is most often associated with symptoms in the chest:
- use NSAIDs - Diclofenac, Nise, Ibuprofen, Indomethacin;
- drugs are prescribed to improve metabolism in cartilage - Rumalon, Artra, Teraflex;
- use prescription glucocorticosteroids if other methods have not helped.
The range of medications can be expanded if prescribed by a doctor. Some patients are prescribed dietary supplements and vitamins at the same time.
Acupuncture as the best physiotherapeutic method
Acupuncture is prescribed for neuromuscular pathologies of the thoracic region.
Acupuncture is prescribed for pathologies such as poor posture, vague pain in the cervical or thoracic spine, osteochondrosis, muscle strain or injury. The needles irritate biologically active points, which leads to certain reactions and improved blood circulation. However, acupuncture helps mainly in the stage of neuromuscular disorders without severe cartilage damage.
For cartilage pathologies, some other physiotherapeutic techniques are also effective: electrical myostimulation, laser therapy.
Proper nutrition
For diseases of the joints and cartilage, be it a crunch in the middle of the chest or a symptom in the collarbone, it is very important to follow a diet selected by a doctor. It should be balanced, without alcohol, coffee and excessive saltiness. It is important to consume proteins, fruits and vegetables.
Surgical intervention is a last resort in the treatment of syndromes and pathologies accompanied by a crunching of the chest or collarbone. They resort to operations infrequently. Otherwise, the success of treatment depends on the stage at which the pathology was detected.
General recommendations for spine crunching
Once the diagnosis is made, the doctor can give general recommendations to enhance the effect of treatment:
- Review your diet. Include more fruits and vegetables in your menu. This will reduce the process of salt deposition.
- Develop exercises from the exercise therapy complex for the back. This is necessary to strengthen the muscles that support the spine; in this case, a powerful muscle corset will prevent the vertebrae from moving from their places.
- Therapeutic massage can be no less effective. In addition, it will tone and strengthen the entire body.
With degenerative changes in the spinal column, a person’s entire lifestyle will have to be radically changed. During work, take breaks and rest more often, while doing simple physical exercises, walking more, women are advised to give up high heels.
Ankylosing spondylitis
Most often, ankylosing spondylitis affects young men, and not only the sacrum, but also the thoracic spine is affected. You should consult a doctor as soon as possible if you have the following symptoms:
- Back pain does not go away during rest, and even during sleep.
- The spine ceases to perform its function.
- The muscles of the thoracic region are tense and in constant tone, which leads to compression of the nerve endings, and this causes very severe pain.
This disease, like others from the category of degenerative-dystrophic, greatly affects the condition of the spine and without treatment often leads to disability.
Manual therapy
Manual therapy is an auxiliary treatment in a complex of rehabilitation measures. It mainly consists of kinesitherapy and exercise therapy.
Initially, the patient performs all exercises under the strict supervision of a doctor. When the doctor sees that everything is being done correctly, you can do therapeutic exercises at home.
To restore the affected parts of the spine, reflexology is used. Massage and osteopathy will strengthen muscle ligaments and eliminate calcium deposits.
Nutrition rules
To speed up the healing process and restore cartilage tissue, it is necessary to provide the body with nutrients. Plant and animal proteins play an important role. In second place in importance is plant food - fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs.
There are particularly harmful foods, the use of which is better to avoid or at least reduce their intake. This includes coffee, fried and fatty foods, alcoholic drinks and salty foods. Liquid plays an important role for cartilage tissue; you should drink up to two liters of water per day.
Preventive measures
Salt deposition in joints can be avoided by following the following preventive measures:
- Eat properly. Do fasting days from time to time. Don't neglect dairy products.
- Be physically active, exercise regularly, do gymnastic exercises. It would be a good idea to do yoga or Pilates.
- Take vitamins and microelements. But these drugs must be prescribed by a specialist.
- Give up bad habits, drink alcohol only in moderation and on holidays.
A crunch in the chest is a significant symptom that signals a problem in the human musculoskeletal system. Most often, the crunch occurs with curvature of the spine, chondrosis, ankylosing spondylitis, or intervertebral hernia. These diseases will progress if not treated promptly. Such pathologies cannot be neglected, because they threaten disability in the future. In this case, early diagnosis is very important, which will help prevent dangerous consequences. If therapy is started in a timely manner, the prognosis for recovery is favorable.