This is from the mayo clinic website.

Causes
Doctors don't know what causes most cases of costochondritis. Only some cases of costochondritis have a clear cause. Those causes include:

Injury. A blow to the chest could cause costochondritis.
Infection. Infection can develop in the costosternal joint, causing pain.
Fibromyalgia. Recurring costochondritis could be a symptom of fibromyalgia. People with fibromyalgia often have several tender spots. The upper part of the breastbone is a common tender spot.
Pain from other areas of your body. Pain signals can sometimes be misinterpreted by your brain, causing pain in places far away from where the problem occurs. Your doctor might refer to this as "referred pain." Pain in your chest can sometimes be caused by problems with the bones in your spine compressing the nerves.

Lupus Causes mine!

Lupus Causes mine!

I found out I had this on Oct 17th...mine the Dr said was probably due to a complication of a serious virus that I had just gotten over...there is no known cause

Fibro

Not real sure if my pain is costo. My general doctor thought maybe it was a possibilty but I went to the chiropractor and he doesn't think so. I have no idea, all I know is it drives me crazy. I have pain in the top of my chest above my breasts most of the time and also in my back, both upper and lower

This some info for web site called www.costotab.com
Costochondritis is a syndrome of chest wall pain that is due to inflammation of the cartilage and bones in the chest wall. Also called Tietze's Syndrome, costochondritis occurs when there is inflammation at the junction of the rib bone and breastbone (sternum). At this junction, there is cartilage joining these bones. This cartilage can become irritated and inflamed. Depending on the extent of the inflammation, this condition can be quite painful.
Most commonly the cause of costochondritis is classified as 'idiopathic,' or unknown. This means that there is no identifiable cause for the condition.

This does not imply that idiopathic costochondritis is any less painful of a condition than if the cause can be identified.


If anyone has tried it please tell us about it.

I think i was wrong about my cause, I have Addison's Disease and that will affect Costocondrial joints in your chest i read, interesting, ha?

i'm not positive how i ended up with it (probably my fibro?) but my constant rib dislocations from HEDS are probably what are making it stick around for so long so severely. hope everyone starts feeling okay soon! :)

Mine started from sitting in a bad chair at work for hours on end and end and end and thats all..just repetition at the same time i got carpal tunnel symptoms.

Mine seems to be bad when my undifferentiated autoimmune disorder flares up. I do have fibro but that is mostly under control atm... so my only conclusion is that what ever is causing my joint swelling is causing the costochondritis too, which I believe is my autoimmune disorder.

I wonder how many people who relate costochondritis to fibro have an underlying autoimmune disorder... or are just mistaking it for a tender spot. I think a lot of the "science" behind the studies they do for this type of thing are flawed just because so many people with Fibro also have some other disease (which they may or may not be diagnosed with at the time of the study) that the researchers don't take into consideration.

The Dr. seems to think mine started from mono complications. It lasted for over a year

Stress from my anxiety is the main cause for my costo.
I also have chronic cough which strains it even more.