Sternum Pain in Rainy Weather

[Jim P]

Hi everyone,

I have been out of touch for awhile. My wife and I left on a wonderful 7-day Caribbean cruise on Sept 16, and then I returned to immediately do the AHA Heart Walk in Orlando and start a strenuous five days working 12-hours per day. The last two days have been devoted to R&R.

The summer had been relatively dry in Orlando up to this point. However, the last week has been unusually rainy and quite humid here (even by Florida standards). I have developed a pain in my sternum during this humid period that I have not had since the 4-month point after surgery. I am now 8 months post-op. Does anyone else have this pain in humid, rainy weather? I have heard of arthritis patients experiencing this, but not OHS survivors.

Anyway, best wishes to everyone.

 

[Susan BAV]

Yes, me too, in cold rainy weather anyway. We only got about three inches of rain here in sunny southern California last winter so I wasn't as aware of it as I was the year before. But I feel a creepy kind of ache in my sternum when it's cold and rainy.

Glad you had a nice vacation! Take care.

 

[WayneGM]

Yes, it seems to come and go with extreme changes in the weather, especially either very hot and humid or cold and damp. It's also not just my sternum, but my shoulders the neck as well....the areas that were really bothering me very after the surgery (from being twisted around like Gumby). I take arthritis formula tylonol when it gets bad. It used to happen more frequently and with more intensity during my 1st year post-op, by noticed its not as bad now (19 months post-op) but not gone completely. That said, the weather has been pretty moderate lately. I'll know better when our Canadian winter arrives.

 

[Jkm7]

I'm coming up on four years post op and I always have soreness in my sternum when it rains or snows. I can feel the weather change coming and hours before the rain, my sternum starts to ache. It sometimes stings.... like little needle pricks. I've spoken to my cardio and he says my sternum healed fine so it's just something I live with. It does get wearisome when it goes on for days.

 

[Jim P]

Susan, Wayne, and jkm7:

Thanks for the feedback. I'm feeling better after hearing from you. Interestingly, I had the stings and little needle pricks this morning that jkm7 mentioned.

 

[WayneGM]

Yep, I get the "stings and little pin pricks", too.

 

[pamela]

It's the wires that hold us all together. Cold dampness will have a stronger effect than heat since the metal contracts and can actually strain against the stressed sides of the holes through your sternum. Take heart, if it weren't for their strength, we wouldn't be as nearly as active as we can be postop.

 

[kbheart]

It's the wires that hold us all together. Cold dampness will have a stronger effect than heat since the metal contracts and can actually strain against the stressed sides of the holes through your sternum. Take heart, if it weren't for their strength, we wouldn't be as nearly as active as we can be postop.

I'm thankful for the strength of those wires, I just wish I couldn't feel them through my skin--it's kinda freaky! I think they should have filled in the cracks with some cement so that I had one nice flat sternum.

 

[Marguerite53]

We had a pretty long, dry-ish summer. So when the rain hit last week, it took a couple days, but the old sternum went.....hey, yeah! Remember me? But mine doesn't ache too badly unless I overdo some lifting or obvious activity.

I too feel the pin pricks and little stabbings (which was really comforting to hear other people describe it, btw!!). And not just when it is cold and damp. And Pamela....I'm afraid you cannot be correct about the wires causing it. I do not have wires. I have plastic thread. It is not affected by humidity or hot or cold, I don't think.

I figured it was just the sliced nerve endings complaining that they were mismatched when sewn back together or something. Mine sometimes just feels like skin pulling. Since my scar is hypertrophied and bumpy....I just thought it was that same hypertrophying on the inside, where I can't see it, getting pulled around or something.

A happy reminder that we are all basically in one piece, walking and breathing and proud of our scars!

Marguerite