Q I am 45 and work full time. Cardiology says my ECG and echocardiogram are both normal, but my chest still hurts. So where is the problem?
A If cardiac tests are normal and pain remains, the chest wall itself, including the ribs, cartilage, and back muscles, is a likely source. Normal test results do not mean there is no pain; they mean dangerous causes have been ruled out. From this point on, posture and musculoskeletal causes are worth examining.
Detailed Answer
Many people who visit a hospital for chest pain are found to have no cardiac abnormality. The pain is clearly real, so this outcome is often frustrating. What is easily overlooked at this stage is the chest wall itself: the ribs and their cartilage, the muscles between the ribs, and tension in the back and shoulders.
These structures often do not show up as clear abnormalities on imaging, so the cause is easily left unexplained. Yet checking by hand whether there is a tender point, whether the pain changes with posture, and whether a specific movement reproduces it frequently uncovers the thread.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
In a Korean medicine clinic we weight hands-on examination of the body more heavily than test numbers. We press along the back, shoulders, and around the ribs to find where the pain is reproduced, then release that area with acupuncture and observe the response. The longer pain has been left unaddressed because tests found nothing, the more widely the stiffness has usually spread, so we take a measured approach over time.
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