stabbing pain under left breast

by Wendy Harris
(Birmingham, AL, USA)

I have had a stabbing pain under my left breast that occasionally moves and feels like it's up underneath the edge of my ribcage and if I touch the area I get a sharp pain that runs up to my underarm on the same side. My C6 disc is protruding out on the left side and causes my shoulder, arm and occasionally part of my chest to be numb and/or have sharp pains. I wasn't sure if the pains under my breast and ribs might be related to the C6 problem that I have. I have only had numbness and pain above my breast and around my collarbone due to it. I recently went to the emergency room and all they did was an e.k.g. and since the results were normal they sent me home without doing further testing. I take my blood pressure measures at home and since I have started having this pain my diastolic number has jumped up to almost 100 while my systolic number remains 120 and below.

Is this problem possibly heart related or due to my injury?

I have had a c-section, a LOOP procedure done on my cervix, a tumor removed that was protruding out of the back of my pelvic bone on the right side and I recently had a tubal ligation done 3 months ago. I saw a cardiologist 4 months ago who informed me after doing an echo that my aortic valve is thickened.

No medications at present.

Do not smoke or drink.

Family history of cardiac problems.

I have been to a pulmonologist and was told that I was not asthmatic. The cardiologist stated that my aortic valve is thickened.

Stabbing Pain Under Left Breast - A Feature Of The Slipping Rib Syndrome

There are so many reasons for chest pain, but you have seen a cardiologist and a pulmonologist and they clearly don’t think there is an issue related to their respective specialities apart from the thickened aortic valve. Certainly valvular thickening can cause chest pain in the form of angina if significant thickening has occurred, but your cardiologist would have advised you about this.

A common problem, particularly in women, is a condition called slipping rib syndrome. This occurs when 2 ribs literally “slip” giving rise to a sharp, stabbing pain and can be easily diagnosed clinically by examination. To treat this requires a step wise approach. This is usually in the form of simple painkillers or antinflamatories initially. If this is ineffective, sometimes physiotherapy can help. If this is ineffective, injection therapy or nerve blocks can be employed. Discuss this with your doctor and get their thoughts on this. Good luck!




My name is Dr Peter Thatcher MBBS, MRCPI and I am a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in the UK. I have an interest in internet based medicine and administer this site in my spare time. I hope you find this site useful and informative. If you have any suggestions, please Contact Me or if you would like to comment on my site, please do so by Clicking Here. If you like the site and would like to make a donation to support what I am doing please do so by Clicking Here. Thank you for visiting and please drop by again!