What is that pain you feel under your left rib cage?
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008Back pain under the left rib cage is a dilemma for all patients suffering from it. Doctors view any constant pain seriously and treat it as a serious disorder or disease. The rib cage is a structure that is formed by the thoracic vertebrae and ribs, sternum-breastbone, and the costal cartilages that connect the ribs to the sternum. A common definition of the term cage is a large enclosure where animals are kept. The rib cage can be considered as a cage that houses or holds the largest animal heart and lung, also called a thoracic cage in medical terms.
In the thorax-chest, nerves exit from the spine and bifurcate into two parts. One part goes up to just under the skin and sends fibers to the surface and further travels around half way around the chest. This could be a probable reason for pain feeling in the back to the side of the chest. Second part travels deep under the bottom of the rib around to the sternum-chest bone, comes up to the skin and runs back toward the side on the same level as the other branch. Pain in the rib cage can include any pain or discomfort in the area of ribs.
Common causes could be – Cracked or fractured rib, Costochondritis (inflammation of cartilage near the breastbone, Osteoporosis, and Pleurisy. If you suffer from such problems of rib pain, it is advisable to get the area x-rayed so as to eliminate fractured ribs. In the event of fractured ribs an immediate surgery is warranted. If the pain is of longer duration more than 3 months it is also necessary to go for an MRI or CT Scan and consult health care professional to rule out the possibilities of any nerve damage, tumor or cancer.
Pain due to inflammation of cartilage between ribs and breastbone can radiate around the back and down the arms. Such type of pain could be enormous enough to give you a syndrome that you are having a heart attack or lung problems. Though this condition is benign but it is very painful and uncomfortable during the period it lasts.
There are times when you might visit a specialist in gastroenterology because of the constant back pain under your left rib cage since the problem starts with your stomach. You often feel hungry and feel that a big growl wants to come out, no mater how much you eat it still does not become better, but instead gives you heart burn and pain on the left side underneath the cage. To eliminate any infection of the intestine or pancreas routine blood pathology should be conducted. Disorders of the digestive, gastro and bowel systems should be ruled out after seeking medical advice. These symptoms might make you wonder this it is due to twisted bowel, so a checkup of the colon should be scheduled.
Constant pain under left rib cage could also be very much uncomfortable for pregnant women especially those who are in higher stage of pregnancy. They get terrible pain near the area where the breast meets ribcage. The trauma is sometimes pretty much and it becomes difficult to sleep.