Here is a long list of treatments that I have tried over the years to try and rid me of my chronic costochondritis:
Swimming: 2-3 times a week for 18 months. Got no worse over that period. Cannot say that it got better either.
Chiropractics: Saw I chiropractor once a week for 1 year. No effect.
Accupuncture: once a week for 4 months. No effect.
Tens machine: On loan from NHS for a 1 month trial. Did not find it helpful and found it very cumbersome difficult to carry around.
Diet: Have tried, wheat free, dairy free, sugar free. No noticeable link between diet and pain levels.
Supplements: Have tried a variety of different combinations of vitamins and supplements.
Physiotherapy: 1 a week for 6 months. made things worse rather than better as the exercises seem to exacerbate the pain.
Icing: icing the area repeadetly. Seemed to make it worse.
Yoga: Does seem to help a little, not in the short term but in the long term.
Medication; I have tried long courses of a variety of anti-inflammatory drugs, none of which help. The only thing that helps is paracetamol and cocodamol. I also seem to find voltarol beneficial.
Cortisone injections: I have had one series of cortisone injections straight into the rib joints. This was done at a time when the pain was particularly bad and had been for a number of weeks. it did seem to make it worse initially but eased once recovered.
Nerve ligation: I have had a procedure where they placed metal rods into the rib joints to burn off the nerve endings in the joints, followed by injections of steroids. I decided to do this after losing 2 stone in 6 weeks due to the constant pain and finding it very difficult to get to work. It was an incredibly painful procedure and the recovery was also painful, however the pain did ease significantly after that and stayed low for a number of months. I am not sure I would do it again though.
