Sternum Pain Causes

Sternum, commonly known as breastbone or chest bone, is the flat bone that is situated in the central portion of the chest, underneath the collarbone. If you refer to human anatomy, you can easily identify the capital 'T' shaped sternum, which joins the rib bones on both sides via cartilage. Together with the rib bones, sternum protects the inner organs such as heart and lungs from physical injury or trauma.

Pain in sternum or sternal pain can be an acute or chronic condition. At times, it is associated with cracking or clicking sensations in the sternal bone. In order to understand better about this painful condition, let's take a look at sternum pain causes.

Sternum Pain Causes

Speaking about the causes of sternum pain, it is commonly listed as one of the associated symptoms for chest pain. Nevertheless, it is to be borne in mind that sternum pain is entirely different from heart related chest pain or angina. Read more on sharp chest pain. Following is a list of the probable sternum pain causes:

Costochondritis
An injury or inflammation to the rib cartilage (costochondritis) is one of the most common reasons associated with sternum pain. Even though, not many of us are aware about costochondritis, thousands of people seek medical attention every year for treatment of this medical condition. In majority of the cases, costochondritis due to inflammation and/or swelling of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum, results in sternum pain. Read more on costochondritis: causes, symptoms and treatment.

Injury to the Sternoclavicular Joint
Sternoclavicular (SC) joint is the anatomical structure that connects the sternum or breastbone to the collarbone (clavicle). Accidental trauma to this joint can cause mild to serious pain to the sternum, based on the severity of the injury. To be precise, dislocation of the SC joint, either anterior or posterior, may cause severe sternal pain.

Trauma to the Collarbone
Collarbone is located at the top portion of the chest (thorax), in between the sternum and the scapula (or shoulder blade). Collarbone fractures and injuries are quite common, which may occur at birth, during falls or accidents. Sternal pain resulted because of collarbone injury can be combated by proper fixing of the collarbone.

Fractures of the Sternum
Another rare cause of pain in sternum is fracture, which can be caused due to physical trauma. Injury to the sternum is possible, only when a hard object hits the sternum directly with a force. However, if a sternal fracture occurs, then it is usually a comminuted case, in which the sternum breaks into pieces. Read more on different types of bone fractures.

Other Sternum Pain Causes
Sternum pain is also a post surgical symptom of open heart operation that involves separation of the sternum from the adjacent muscles. Other possible causes of sternal pain are overstraining of the muscles in the sternal portion, overexercise, injured ribs, breast cancer and bone cancer.

Sternum Pain Diagnosis and Treatment

As already mentioned, pain in sternum is not actually related to heart problems. However, it is to be noted that sternum pain is also a serious condition that should be taken care, of as soon as possible. Similar to any health condition, early diagnosis and proper treatment of sternum pain is always advisable. In case, the pain in sternum is associated with a mass formation in the sternal area, there are chances of severe diseases like chondrosarcoma or lymphoma.

For diagnosis of pain in sternum, the physician examines medical history and conducts imaging tests. Depending upon whether pain in sternum is acute or chronic, the physician may recommend medications such as corticosteroids or non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for treatment of the condition. For mild sternal pain due to rigorous exercise, over-the-counter pain killers are effective for getting relief. Getting proper rest helps in quick healing of the injuries (if any) and recovery of the sternal pain.