Recovery report 2026 (80% healed)
Hi guys, I decided to share my recovery progress with you, since I know how difficult this condition is and how discouraging it can feel when healing seems impossible. I consider myself 80% healed.
My history: I've always worked out a lot, but in March 2022 I failed a bench press and immediately went to the dips machine afterwards. After this incident, my costo symptoms started.
I went through the classic symptoms in the beginning (pain in the sternum/rib joints):
- Extreme pain when sneezing
- Pain when breathing deeply
- Pain when having bad posture
- Pain when working out at the gym
After 2 years, the pain when sneezing and breathing went away, leaving me only with pain during workouts and in bad posture positions. During this time, I developed the habit of popping my sternum to get some relief.
I tried the "noob" healing protocol a few times, which includes stretching and yoga movements, but it didn't work.
So in 2026, after reading the Costo Treatment Plan PDF shared in this community, I put some things into action:
- Stopped doing any exercise involving the torso (back, chest and shoulders)
- Fixed my posture (avoiding iHunch positions)
- Cold pack on the sternum whenever I felt pain
- Massage on the sternum and rib joints (at the start, it was extremely painful)
- Lacrosse ball + rolled towel method on the back every single day, holding each position for around 60 seconds wherever I felt muscle tightness
- Stretching + thoracic mobility exercises (cat-cow, supine spinal twist, child's pose, scapular squeeze, quadruped rotations) → I only started these after 2 weeks of treatment. Starting stretching and mobility too early can aggravate the condition.
Conclusion: After only 2 weeks of this treatment, I no longer feel any pain in the sternum, my sternum no longer pops and I don't feel the need to pop it anymore. I'll wait another 2 weeks before starting gym exercises to strengthen the mid trapezius and rhomboids.