Chest injury, possible over use..?

[monions]

Hi, for the last week or so I've been suffering with a pain in my chest, it's on the right side just beneath my collar bone. It's painful if I (lightly) press into the muscle & I can feel it through my body & into the bottom of my shoulder blade, it's also painful to take very deep breaths, sneezing, coughing etc... I wondered if it was possible that I'd somehow damaged my pectoralis major clavicular head, having used google (images) it looks like it's the closest muscle to where i'm hurting. It would also tie in with the way the muscle was damaged - too many press-ups! While on google I read that it wasn't a very common muscle to damage, although I couldn't find anything about recovery times, just a little section on surgery.

If anyone has any idea how long it's likely to need resting it & ways of speeding recovery it would be really appreciated, I'm not very good at not doing anything & can't wait to be able to exercise again - although I won't be doing quite so many press-ups in future, lesson learnt.

Also any tips on rehab would be welcome, I figured when I'm no longer feeling pain I'd use swimming to build the chest muscles back up. Would love to hear what anyone thinks.

Many thanks.

[Heidi]

Hi
It could be a pec injury although you are right to think that these are not common. Does it hurt when you stretch the muscles by taking the arm back behind you? Or when you contract those muscles - bringing your arm in front of you - try this against resistance or try a push up against a wall.
Other things to consider are that it is a referred pain from the scalene muscles or the cervical/thoracic spine.
If it is just muscle damage to the pec muscles then rest, stretching and massage will help.
If this doesn't help in the next week then I would definately advise you to see a professional to get an assessment.
Good luck!

[monions]

Hi Heidi,

Thanks for getting back to me. I've tried the motions you listed in your response & at the moment I'm not getting the pain which is good. I have been stretching as much as I can, I've noticed in the mornings the pain is there (although no where near as bad), particularly when lowering my arms from a locked/straight position above my head, bringing them back down to beside my thighs. There is also a twinge when I rotate my upper body & extend the leading arm out to a straigh/locked position going behind me. Possibly worse in the mornings because the muscle has been inactive for a number of hours during sleep.

Thinking about it more, I'm cow convinced it's a pulled pec which I've never had before & definitely don't want again.

Pretty sure it's just a case of sitting it out, stretching it & trying not to get carried away during recovery... I'd kick myself if I tried to do too much too soon & ended up back at square one.

Thanks again for your reply Heidi, it's appreciated.

Mik

[Columbus]

Hi All,
I am new in this forum and thought of asking about my chest problem.
I played football till last november. In my last practice match I was hit by football on my chest and I left the ground due to severe pain.
I still have that pain over the heart in my chest.
I have consulted with my doctor, he gave me some pain killers which works for few days.
Any advice from anyone will be highly appreciated.

[Heidi]

If the pain is still there you should return to your Doctor.