Or rather, from what I've been able to find on the internet, its actually my sternum that is bothering me.

About a month ago, during hockey, I managed to hit a rut in the ice, and go headfirst into the end boards, effectively knocking myself out. I got my neck X-rayed the next day, and there was nothing wrong, but about a week later, the sternum area in my chest REALLY started bothering me. When I would do something like tie the laces of my shoes/skates, or do dips it would hurt, but not when I did the bench press or pushups.

The pain went away for the most part after a while, but lately its been coming back again. I saw a massage therapist yesterday, and he tried to help me, but it didn't do much.

So, I booked a appointment with my doctor next tuesday to find out whats wrong. I assume he'll have to do an X-ray to find out if there is something fractured.

Question is, should I NOT be weight training? How serious could it potentially be? Obviously, I'm not doing any exercises or lifts that bother me, but should I refrain from lifting at all until I find out whats wrong?

Alot of people get sternum pain every now and then from training, and in particular from dips. I had it for awhile .... it is called costochondritis. It hurts, but it is pretty harmless for the most part, and will eventually cure itself.

In your case though, it sounds like yours is the result of actually injuring it playing hockey. If I were you, I would just skip the exercises that make it hurt for a few weeks and see how it feels. No sense aggravating it.

Yeah, turns out I actually have a fractured sternum.

Took X-rays today.

Doc says to just avoid the exercises that bother it. Can't really do much else besides to let it heal by itself.

Yeah, turns out I actually have a fractured sternum.

Took X-rays today.

Doc says to just avoid the exercises that bother it. Can't really do much else besides to let it heal by itself.

Ouch! Damn.....that is certainly worse than what I had! How long until it heals?

Ouch! Damn.....that is certainly worse than what I had! How long until it heals?

There is no specific time-frame.

Because of the limited blood-flow in the sternum area, it could take a while.

Take it day-by-day right now. At least I can still do most of my workouts though.

Strangely enough, dips are really the only thing that hurt. :confused:

I'd suggest you follow the advice exactly as given.

Give all of your old routine a try, if it causes pain, cross it off the list for now, and if it doesn't, keep doing it.

Try the exercises that you crossed off every 2-4 weeks and see if you have improved.

I recently had a partial rotator cuff tear, and was given the same advice of letting pain be my guide, and had the injury heal very quickly -- just about 5 weeks have passed, and the injury is 90% healed.

Also -- apply heat to the area to increase bloodflow. When heat is applied to an area, it causes vasodilation, which causes increased blood flow. This will also speed up healing. I was personally doing this for about 2-4 hours a day nearly every day.

Interesting.

I'll try the last part for sure. Thanks!

There is no specific time-frame.

Because of the limited blood-flow in the sternum area, it could take a while.

Yeah, avascular growth is a bitch.

I have a suggestion. Add cardio that does not involve the sternum. (OK it's even hard to think of cardio that is particularly sternal, but the point is leave the sternum out of it.) You want to do this cardio when you are not fasted, possibly after heavy lifting. The goal of this cardio is to elevate the circulation and blood pressure (which happens during exercise) at the same time you have protein synthesis "turned on".

And make sure you are not deficient in Vitamin C. You probably aren't, and there probably is no point to adding excess Vitamin C (your body closely regulates Vitamin C absorption) but Vitamin C is known to be critical for maintaining connective tissue for hundreds of years now.

Yeah, avascular growth is a bitch.

I have a suggestion. Add cardio that does not involve the sternum. (OK it's even hard to think of cardio that is particularly sternal, but the point is leave the sternum out of it.) You want to do this cardio when you are not fasted, possibly after heavy lifting. The goal of this cardio is to elevate the circulation and blood pressure (which happens during exercise) at the same time you have protein synthesis "turned on".

Actually, I am already doing that.

For the exact same reason. And I've been seeing small results that the pain seems to go away after some hard cardio.


And make sure you are not deficient in Vitamin C. You probably aren't, and there probably is no point to adding excess Vitamin C (your body closely regulates Vitamin C absorption) but Vitamin C is known to be critical for maintaining connective tissue for hundreds of years now.

I'll make sure.

:tu:

And make sure you are not deficient in Vitamin C. You probably aren't, and there probably is no point to adding excess Vitamin C (your body closely regulates Vitamin C absorption) but Vitamin C is known to be critical for maintaining connective tissue for hundreds of years now.

And probably a bit of extra vitamin D, too. :nod:

This is depressing.

I had to completely quit doing bench press, pullups, dips, bent over row, and pushups.....although I did give the pushups a whirl today, and the chest seemed fine.

When I do the other 4 exercises, it still hurts like hell.

Its now been 4+ months since it happened. Is it supposed to take this long?