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- Pre-Medical
Here's a little brainteaser for all you pre-meds to cut your budding diagnostic teeth on. Anyone ever have a sharp pain in their xyphoid, the little nubbin at the base of your sternum, especially upon twisting your torso while supporting weight (e.g. rolling over in bed)? A close friend has had this pain for about 8 months. She says her doctor keeps foo-fooing it. She has no idea what caused it (i.e. she can not correlate it with any injury to the area or such). The only thing I have found is xyphoidalgia, an inflammation of the xyphoid process, but it is usually idiopathic and seems to be rare (and references are scant). Furthermore, I can't find any treatments. There is also a related inflammation of the intercostal cartilage called chostochondritis (a bit more common, I gather, and associated with strains, but also found little on this). Anyhow, I'd appreciate any ideas/experiences/suggestions. Perhaps she can throw some ideas at her doc to get some forward movement on it (her insurance is HMO and she does not want to go to trouble of switching).
P.S. I will suggest she talk to her doctor about any ideas, so hopefully you all feel your responses, if any, are ethical (i.e I'm not looking for a Frist diagnosis).
P.S. I will suggest she talk to her doctor about any ideas, so hopefully you all feel your responses, if any, are ethical (i.e I'm not looking for a Frist diagnosis).
