Quote:
Originally Posted by warita
But anyways, a few days ago, I had this really massive caughing fit. I couldnt stop caughing for like 10 minutes and suddenly i started feeling hot pain around my ribcage.
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This was most likely the sensation of the muscles tiring out. Your respiratory muscles aren't any different than the muscles elsewhere in your body - if you've ever run for a long time and then felt your legs burning, it's the same mechanics at play.
Quote:
Originally Posted by warita
The interesting thing though is, that after this "injury" the first 2 days it seemed to be actually getting better, the pain was slowly getting less, but on day 3 it started returning and that despite the fact I havent been caughing much since the day of the injury (and believe me, I think twice whether I really want to caugh now). And it seems to be getting worse by the day instead of better.
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Was there anything special about that third day? Did you exercise, carry anything heavy, or do anything out of the ordinary?
One possibility is that you're having chain reactions with your muscles. Basically, your coughing fit temporarily wore out some muscles, forcing you to use secondary respiratory muscles more heavily. Because you were in discomfort, you haven't been able to rest well. Even as the primary muscles began to recover, your secondary muscles are experiencing discomfort, which is forcing you to compensate in weird ways that keep stressing the muscles.
In a worst-case scenario, it's possible that you fractured a rib during the coughing fit. I would not necessarily say that it is likely, though, unless you have some other confounding factors (poor bone density, for example, or a previous rib fracture that hasn't fully healed).
I can recommend cough drops, if you aren't using them already. Some cough drops have a numbing solution in them so that your throat will not feel irritation, which will suppress the urge to cough. Since you are not having mucus buildup in your throat it is safe to use. The packaging of the cough drops that I use advises against taking more than one cough drop every two hours. I would suggest taking them after meals, to prevent a possible choke hazard and to prevent the saliva and food from washing the medication out of your throat.
If the problem becomes severe or continues to worsen over the next 2-3 days, I'd strongly advise seeing your physician.