chest myofascial pain

My ribs and chest area are very sensitive to touch and painful if pressure is applied. I also have the same on my legs. I think it's the myofascia. Does anyone have these symptoms?

oh, i get this, too!! (this was the first symptom i had, actually) some days i can't even stand wearing a bra it hurts so bad.

Hi Palyn,

Oh yes, my chest area is one of my biggest areas of pain.  My rheumy told me it was likely costochondritis but that usually clears in a matter of months.  I can only assume it is the intercostal muscles causing all the pain.  At times I can barely touch my sternum.  Now my major area is the second rib which is a determining fibro factor.

Hope you feel better.  Doesn't it help to realize you are not alone??

Patsie

What is MPS? My rheumy also said I had costocondritis and fibromylagia. I haven't been able to fly on long trips - anything longer than 3 hours is a killer on my hips, butt, and back. Do any of you have this problem and do you take anything to make you more comfortable?

marlee,

i have a question about the knots you talk about. do they feel like little bumps that are very tender to the touch? sort of like zits or cysts under the skin? i'm curious because i have those kind of little bumps all over my body but have never thought to talk to my dr. about them. i also feel really sick if i don't drink enough after a massage, but maybe that could just be fibro?

{{{hugs}}}
~danielle

I too have knots in my muscles in my arms and legs. I always just figured they were fiberous knots in the muscles. Is this the same as the mps? Some of them are tender to the touch but I have gotten use to them and they don't bother me anymore, they are just there.

Hugs, Karen

I'm confused. (Nothing new). I have these hard lumps or knots if you like, that can be reduced or resolved if pressure is appie directly to them. It's like the muscle has spasmed and formed a knot and this can be pretty painful to touch, but if someone doing massage can apply pressure, over a lengthy period of time, the knot will release. Is this the same thing?

This is how I feel also. I am really curious about the knots. Does anybody else have information on this?

Thank you so much and I hope everyones gets to feeling a bit better :)

I have these as well. My massage therapist and I refer to them as "crunchies". When she is working on me and applying pressure to them we can literally hear them "crunch" under my skin. In layman's terms she explained them to me like this:
When a "normal" person uses a muscle it gets called into action and contracts and does what it was asked to do and then goes back to it's normal resting state until asked to go into action again. If a "normal" person over does it on any given day the muscle that was overworked becomes sore, perhaps even tight and usually within a day or two the muscle has healed itself and the pain goes away.
For a person with fibro normal tasks that wouldn't bother anyone else put our muscles into overdrive. Doing dishes, laundry, walking in the grocery store, etc....are "normal" things yet our muscles think they are being asked to lift the Empire State building or do a triathlon! They "think" they are being overused and respond in kind by knotting up sometimes even tearing due to their never being able to repair (remember deep sleep anyone??).
They contract to do the job asked of them yet never learn to relax since they feel as if they are being overused, hence KNOTS ensue (crunchies) and once you develop one it's only natural for their friends and neighbors to get even more "overused" (so they think) and they start knotting up. It's a vicious cycle.

Add in to the equation that when we hurt... for whatever reason...we do STOP doing things. Those same muscles continue to grow weaker day after day, week after week. They say that fibro is not a progressive disease. I beg to differ especially when you take this aspect into account!

At least this was how it was explained to me!