Chest and Rib Pain and Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis can cause a range of symptoms, from your head down to your toes. One of the more alarming may be pain in your chest and ribs.

While chest pain sometimes indicates heart disease, it may also be related to the inflammation that causes psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Enthesitis, the term for inflammation that occurs where tendons and ligaments attach to bone, is a symptom of PsA, and costochondritis can happen when PsA involves the cartilage connecting the ribs to the breastbone (sternum).

While the kind of chest pain caused by PsA is not a heart attack, any chest pain should always be checked out by a medical professional.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Costochondritis

Doctors typically diagnose costochondritis with a physical exam, feeling (palpating) the areas where the ribs attach to the sternum. “While X-rays and bloodwork are often not necessary, they can be helpful in ruling out other and potentially more severe diagnoses, such as heart attack,” says Kreitenberg.