Strange injury in torso around ribcage

[James Walrad]

I'm 23, male, 5 ft 6, 190 lbs (up from 160 at program start) and squatting 210/deadlifting 235/pressing 90/bench pressing 125 (135/135/65/95). I continue to make 10 lb jumps on my deads so I haven't learned the power clean yet. I do not use a belt, in part because the injury I am going to describe sounds like it could be a popped rib, which I read on this forum can be aggravated by a too-wide belt. I know I am weak; I had to miss a bunch of workouts as my gym had issues with power outages.

At the top of a deadlift or sometimes when I come up from a 4th/5th-rep squat, I feel something around my left ribcage 'pop out of place'. There is a 'fizzing' or 'bubbling' sensation behind it. There is not significant pain - maybe a 1/10 at worst. The same thing also happens sometimes when I urinate or when I eat a big meal. Nonetheless this is disturbing. It has been happening for about 3 weeks, so I'm not sure what it is - a bruised costal cartilage would probably have healed. Thinking it didn't matter because it didn't really hurt, I have been training through it, but since it persisted I saw a doctor for X-rays this morning. No results yet. I trained again today using a self-adhesive sticky bandage to hold eveything in place, and it worked until the bandage got ruined towards the end of my last squat set by sweat and self-sticking. I had to stop my deads because I couldn't figure out how to do them without the popping.

At rest, the pain is worse. I feel it at the front bottom of my ribcage on my left and at a similar height on the back left next to the spine, south of the scapula. It is still at worst a 2/10.

There was no acute event that brought on this issue. I first noticed it while eating a meal, not while weightlifting.

What would this be? I am asking because I don't have a great doctor and he might not be able to give a diagnosis. It does not seem like one of the common rib issues as these are usually quite painful, I hear.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Get a 3-inch belt, and a velcro belt to wear above the other one until this heals. It has to be a costal cartilage. You gained too much weight for your strength increase, and that may have something to do with this.