Hi Austin,
First of, thanks for all of the high quality material you guys put out!
I started feeling discomfort around my solar plexus a few months back. I practice karate, and was not longer able to withstand punches to the solar plexus as well as I usually could. In the gym, squats felt fine, but when the bar touches my chest during bench, I feel a light pain, deadlifting is at times painful at times just uncomfortable. At one point I laid off training for a couple of weeks, took 3200mg daily of ibuprofen for 5 days and it felt better although still tender to the touch. I resumed training but still laid off full contact sparring.
Last Friday I tried sparring again as the discomfort when touching was quite negligible, but after only a couple of (weak) punches to the area, it was really painful again. The next day I got through my deadlifts when I probably shouldn’t, it was really painful every time I put down the bar.
I am well aware that you are not able to diagnose this issue. But I think the most probable diagnose is costochondritis, it might also be an injury to the xyphoid, but then the pain is high, I can feel it up the sides of the sternum as well.
Do you have any suggestions on how to approach this issue? Everything I’ve read about costochondritis unfortunately all say that it takes a long time to heal. Should I be totally inactive during this whole time?
Yes, it can be quite frustrating to deal with, and often requires rest and NSAIDs to calm down.
With that said, I am unfortunately not too experienced dealing with this in the context of regularly getting punched in the chest, and it seems that may be the main precipitating factor for you.
I would not recommend being totally inactive, of course, and would try to continue training and conditioning work. But I would definitely avoid sustaining direct trauma to the area.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I guess I will just need to be more patient and hold off on sparring. But just a couple of follow-up questions, if I may:
What is the most effective dose of NSAIDs? As mentioned, I did 5 days of 3200mg having read that this is the longest period it is recommended to take such high doses. Would it be better with a lower dose for a longer period?
Squats and bench are ok, although mildly uncomfortable. Heavy deadlifts are painful and presses are also disproportionally painful because of the pressure on the rib cage, I guess. As a stubborn person used to pain (from my karate training), I can easily bite down and get through the session and I have a hard time differentiating between “good pain” and “bad pain”. It probably a silly question, but I take it that it’s a bad idea to push through pain like that? Meaning I will have to ease off the deadlifts in particular?
The maximum dose of ibuprofen is 3,200 mg/d (though there are other NSAIDs with other dose recommendations), as you noted, and I agree that I don’t like for people to take that dosage for much longer than a week.
Based on what you describe, I would continue squatting and benching, and press/pull more submaximal weights where the symptoms are more manageable.
Thanks a lot again! I will try another bout of vitamin I and slow down my training for a while.
I am trying to get ready for the Asian Championships in Shinkyokushin Karate in the fall, and not being able to spar is jeopardizing that. This is why I am extra anxious to get rid of this condition.
Thanks again, and all the best to you!