I went to the doc on Saturday because of pain on my left side. I thought maybe I had cracked a rib, but didn’t have any idea how it would have happened. There had been no acute pain during training, no coughing, no falls. It was tender to the touch, felt like it was on one particular rib, and all the normal things hurt it (breathing deeply, twisting, bending down, etc.). But when I would train with a belt, the pain was manageable. The pain had been going on for about a week and seemed worse on Friday so I made an appointment for the following day. I still trained that night and I squatted my 3x5 at 240lbs just fine. There was some pain after, but not worse than it had been during the day and it got better with 400mg of ibuprofen. I woke up Saturday with less pain, and it’s been mild since.
So I went to the doc Saturday and he diagnosed me with pleurisy. No x-ray, though he gave me an order for it and said to do it if the pain got worse. He also told me not to lift for a week. I’m not sure what caused it. I haven’t been sick, just had some mild seasonal allergies.
So my questions: Can the strain of lifting cause pleurisy? Should I listen to my doc and lay off training this week? I always have Austin’s voice in my head, “What’re you gonna do? Not train?”
Details: 40 years old, 6’, 192lbs, been doing SSLP for just under 3 months.