Intercostal Neuralgia Quiz

Check your symptoms and
find possible causes with AI for free

Reviewed By:

Scott Nass

Scott Nass, MD, MPA, FAAFP, AAHIVS (GP / Family doctor)

Dr. Nass received dual medical degrees from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University in Medicine and Science. He completed Family Medicine residency at Ventura County Medical Center with subsequent fellowships at Ventura, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, George Washington University, and University of California-Irvine. He holds faculty appointments at Keck School of Medicine of USC, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and Western University of Health Sciences.

Tomohiro Hamahata

Tomohiro Hamahata, MD (Orthopedic surgery)

Dr. Hamahata graduated from the Jikei University of Medical Science. After working at Asanokawa General Hospital and Kosei Chuo Hospital, he joined the Department of Orthopedics at Asakusa Hospital in April 2021, specializing in general orthopedics and joint replacement surgery.

From our team of 50+ doctors

Please choose the symptom you are most concerned about.

It will help us optimise further questions for you.

By starting the symptom checker, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Find another symptom

How Ubie can help you

With an easy 3-min questionnaire, Ubie's AI-powered system will generate a free report on possible causes.

  • Over 1,000 medical centers, trained by over 50 doctors, and still improving.

  • Questions are customized to your situation and symptoms

  • Intercostal neuralgia as well as similar diseases can be checked at the same time.

Your symptoms

Input your symptoms

Our AI

Our AI checks your symptoms

Your report

You get your personalized report

Personalized Report

✔︎  When to see a doctor

✔︎  What causes your symptoms

✔︎  Treatment information etc.

People with these symptoms also use Ubie's symptom checker to find possible causes

  • There is a feeling of pressure in the chest

  • Pain in the very limited area of the chest (about the size of a fingertip)

  • Chest pain with a change in temperature, when you move to a colder place

  • Decreased effort tolerance with chest pain within the last few weeks

  • Pain radiating to the ears, chin or abdomen/tummy from the neck

  • Exacerbation of chest pain symptoms within the last 3 weeks

  • Chest pain gets worse when pressing on the affected area

Just 3 minutes.
Developed by doctors.

Learn more about Intercostal neuralgia

Content updated on Sep 20, 2022

What is intercostal neuralgia?

Nerve pain, caused by damage to the nerves that run along the ribs. It can be caused by many things including injury to the ribs and viral infections like Shingles.

Symptoms of intercostal neuralgia

  • Chest pain

  • Headache with sharp, electric shock-like pain

  • Tingling, numbing chest pain

  • Pain that runs along the side of one rib

  • Right sided chest pain

  • Back pain

Questions your doctor may ask to check for intercostal neuralgia

Your doctor may ask these questions to diagnose intercostal neuralgia

  • Do you have any chest pain?

  • Does your headache feel a sharp pain like an electric shock?

  • Does your chest pain feel like a numbing pain?

  • Do you have pain that runs along the side of one rib?

  • Do you have right sided chest pain?

Treatment for intercostal neuralgia

Treatment options include pain and nerve medicines. These can come in the form of cream, skin patches or pills. In severe cases, an injection or surgery can be done to block the nerve from sending pain signals.

View the symptoms of Intercostal neuralgia

References

  • Fazekas D, Doroshenko M, Horn DB. Intercostal Neuralgia. 2022 May 2. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan–. PMID: 32809700.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560865/

  • Wei J, Gao S, Li W, Zhang L, Cao C, Zhai J, Gao B. Percutaneous Endoscopic Intercostal Neurectomy for Refractory Intercostal Neuralgia. Pain Physician. 2021 Nov;24(7):E1147-E1153. PMID: 34704724.

    https://www.painphysicianjournal.com/linkout?issn=&vol=24&page=E1147

  • Chalian M, Hoang D, Rozen S, Chhabra A. Role of magnetic resonance neurography in intercostal neuralgia; diagnostic utility and efficacy. Br J Radiol. 2021 Jun 1;94(1122):20200603. doi: 10.1259/bjr.20200603. Epub 2021 May 7. PMID: 33960822; PMCID: PMC8173696.

    https://www.birpublications.org/doi/10.1259/bjr.20200603

Reviewed By:

Scott Nass

Scott Nass, MD, MPA, FAAFP, AAHIVS (GP / Family doctor)

Dr. Nass received dual medical degrees from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University in Medicine and Science. He completed Family Medicine residency at Ventura County Medical Center with subsequent fellowships at Ventura, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, George Washington University, and University of California-Irvine. He holds faculty appointments at Keck School of Medicine of USC, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and Western University of Health Sciences.

Tomohiro Hamahata

Tomohiro Hamahata, MD (Orthopedic surgery)

Dr. Hamahata graduated from the Jikei University of Medical Science. After working at Asanokawa General Hospital and Kosei Chuo Hospital, he joined the Department of Orthopedics at Asakusa Hospital in April 2021, specializing in general orthopedics and joint replacement surgery.

From our team of 50+ doctors

Just 3 minutes.
Developed by doctors.

Ubie is supervised by 50+ medical experts worldwide

Shohei Harase

Shohei Harase, MD

Neurology

Kameda Medical Center, Japan

Yu Shirai

Yu Shirai, MD

Psychiatry

Yotsuya Yui Clinic, Japan

Yoshinori Abe

Yoshinori Abe, MD

Internal medicine

Co-founder of Ubie, Inc.

Rohini R

Rohini R, MD

Ear, nose, throat (ENT)

Bayshore Health Centre, India

Seiji Kanazawa

Seiji Kanazawa, MD, PHD

Obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN)

National Center for Child Health and Development, Japan

View our medical experts