What is costochondritis?
Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage in the rib cage. The condition usually affects the cartilage where the upper ribs attach to the breastbone, or sternum, an area known as the costosternal joint or costosternal junction.

Chest pain caused by costochondritis can range from mild to severe. Mild cases may only cause your chest to feel tender to touch or some pain when you push on the area of your chest cartilage.

Severe cases may cause shooting pains down your limbs or unbearable chest pain that interferes with your life and doesn’t seem to go away. The condition often goes away within a few weeks, but some cases may require treatment.

What are the symptoms of costochondritis?
People with costochondritis often experience chest pain in the upper and middle rib area on either side of the breastbone. The pain may radiate to the back or the abdomen. It may also get worse if you move, stretch, or breathe deeply.

These symptoms can indicate other conditions, including a heart attack. Seek immediate medical care if you experience persistent chest pain.

What causes costochondritis?
The exact cause of costochondritis in most people is unknown. But conditions that may cause it include:

trauma to the chest, such as blunt impact from a car accident or fall
physical strain from activities, such as heavy lifting and strenuous exercise
certain viruses or respiratory conditions, such as tuberculosis and syphilis, that can cause joint inflammation
certain types of arthritis
tumors in the costosternal joint region

Who is at risk for costochondritis?
Costochondritis occurs more often in women and people over age 40. You may also be at a higher risk for this condition if you:

participate in high-impact activities
perform manual labor
have allergies and are frequently exposed to irritants
Your risk increases if you have any of the following conditions:

rheumatoid arthritis
ankylosing spondylitis
reactive arthritis, previously known as Reiter’s syndrome
Improperly handling heavy loads can stress chest muscles. Younger people should lift heavy bags and backpacks with care. Adults should perform manual labor with caution.

What are emergency symptoms of costochondritis?
See your doctor right away if you have trouble breathing or are feeling intense chest pain.

Always seek immediate emergency care when you have abnormal and debilitating pain in your chest. It can indicate something serious, such as a heart attack. Getting care as soon as possible limits the possibility of complications, especially if an underlying issue is causing your costochondritis.

How is costochondritis treated?
Costochondritis can be treated in several ways.

Medications
Most cases of costochondritis are treated with over-the-counter medications. If your pain is mild to moderate, your doctor will probably recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve).

Your doctor may also prescribe:

prescription-strength NSAIDs
other painkillers, such as narcotics
antianxiety medications
tricyclic antidepressants, including amitriptyline
oral steroids or injection of a steroid into the area involved
Lifestyle changes
Your doctor may tell you to make permanent lifestyle changes if you have persistent or chronic costochondritis. Some types of exercise can aggravate this condition, including running and weightlifting. Manual labor can also have a negative effect.

Your doctor may also recommend:

bed rest
physical therapy
hot or cold therapy using a heating pad and ice
Your doctor may use pain levels to evaluate your response to treatment. Once you’ve finished treatment, you can gradually build up to your previous activity levels. Daily stretching can help relieve some pain. Your doctor can also perform a procedure called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), which uses small amounts of electricity to stop your nerves from sending signals of pain or aching to your brain.

Depression is a common but serious mood disorder that causes severe symptoms that affect how a person feels, thinks and handles daily activities such as sleeping, eating or working.

Symptoms must be present for two weeks in order to be diagnosed with depression. Current treatments predominantly focus on brain chemicals such as serotonin.

However, scientists now think inflammation throughout the entire body, triggered by an overactive immune system, may be the root cause of the problem.

In fact, it has been suggested that widespread inflammation could be what's causing and producing feelings of unhappiness, hopelessness and fatigue. If this be the case, then depression can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.

In the case of chronic depression, it's a possibility that the immune system may be failing to switch off after an illness or trauma, leading to persistent symptoms.

Furthermore, at the University of Cambridge, Head of the Department of Psychiatry Professor Ed Bullmore told The Telegraph that he thinks a new field of 'immuno-neurology' is coming soon.

In fact, he believes that it is pretty clear that inflammation can cause depression. He also states that “in relation to mood, beyond reasonable doubt, there is a very robust association between inflammation and depressive symptoms.

The question is does the inflammation drive the depression or vice versa or is it just a coincidence? In experimental medicine studies if you treat a healthy individual with an inflammatory drug, like interferon, a substantial percentage of those people will become depressed. So we think there is good enough evidence for a causal effect.”

As a result of this work, one important finding would be more effective treatments for depression, treatments that may not need to be lifelong.