Sternum clicking and popping?

[Cameron]

I am 3 weeks and 4 days out from surgery and am doing nothing during the day to stress my sternum. I am sleeping on my sides at night and sometimes get the feeling that my sternum has popped or clicked a bit as I re-adjust my position. I have heard that this is normal, but I'd like to know how long into the healing process I should be feeling this - I understand that the sternum takes 4-6 weeks to heal completely so I am interested to know when you really feel that it is fused and how you know for sure?

 

[Herburban1]

I sleep on my side too and sometimes if I move the wrong way it hurts like hell so I try to keep my heart pillow between my arms so my chest won't bend in the middle.I have never heard any sounds though.

 

[Adrienne]

The sternum takes 12 weeks to heal 100%. I think that after 6 weeks it is something like 85% healed. I guess that last 15% just takes a while.

 

[Maryka]

Cameron, yours might have been my next question, except I am 8 weeks out from surgery and my sternum still hurts like crazy when I move "the wrong way"--especially when rolling over in bed. Sometimes, when I take a really deep breath I think I hear a pop deep within my chest. I think this is happening a little less frequently as time passes, however.

A friend's son (from the local Marfan group) had aortic root replacement and had some wires that came undone a couple of years after the original surgery. I hear that he had an in-and-out procedure to cut and deal with the wires. I like to tell myself that nothing is totally hopeless if the popping/clicking never goes away.

Maryka
------
AVR/Aortic Root replacement Dec. 23, 2008, Johns Hopkins, Dr. Duke Cameron

 

[hall]

I do remember that popping. That is weird. I asked the doc about it because I was really concerned. I guess it is normal. Better as you continue to heal.

 

[Bina]

I slept and rested flat on my back for 6 weeks.
After that I would sometimes rest halfway at a 45 degree angle with a pillow propping my back.
But I still slept flat on my back forever....it just creeped me out feeling my sternum "adjust".
As it is, the top of my sternum is a little bit mis-aligned and there is a sharp point. EWWW

 

[Freddie]

Don't worry about the popping sound, before you know it it will be gone and you'll almost miss it
But in the mean time try placing magnets on your chest - I was able to hold 3

 

[Bina]

Freddie has maggots on her chest....gross me out.

 

[JeffM]

Bina - I have a point at the very top of my sternum as well. I also have a little "hill" at the point where my incision peaks. It feels pretty hard and doesn't seem like it will ever go down. I don't like either of those features, but, hey, samll price to pay the way I sees it. I also slept on my back for six weeks for fear of interrupting my sternum's healing. I never got the clicking and popping. Was it because I slept on my back? I'll never know.

 

[Bina]

My little mis-alignment is permanent....it's been 3 years.

 

[abbanabba]

I had quite a peak/lump at the top of my incision at first and my cardio told me it could take up to 12 months to settle - fortunately for me it seems to have flattened right out, but it was very prominent to start with. It's weird how we all heal so differently.

 

[ctyguy]

I had a few clicks and pops but after about 8 or 10 weeks it stopped. I did my level best to avoid twisting, turning, putting pressure on my chest. Sleeping on your side might have to wait a few weeks more to finish letting your sternum completely heal. I doubt your doing anything that will harm you but I suppose it may mean your healing takes a bit longer. Either way I bet within a few weeks the clicking will stop as the sternum fully fuses.

 

[Buffy41]

I have popping once in a while. Cameron your lucky to be able to sleep on your side, I still can't. Tomorrow I'm going for an ultra sound and am wondering how that will be done when I can't be on my side??? Thinking about bringing my own pillow for some support...

 

[ChouDoufu]

can anyone else offer clicking/popping noise or sensation experiences?

i'm now at four months, and mine just started. has just happened a few times, usually
when i'm gargling with genuine antifreeze added mouthwash. raise my chin up, and
i hear a pop, sounds bony rather than meaty. how else can i describe it? no pain,
no soreness. feels like it's coming from mid- to lower-sternum.

x-ray yesterday shows the little metal worms are still in place.
if i'm fully fuzed, why am i still popping?

 

[pnwcoast]

I have the pop/click thing going on. Been there since I had my surgery.Very low in my sternum, off the the left a tad, almost feels like it pops near the lowest rib. I've no idea what it is and I always forget to ask my cardio about it. No pain and it doesnt happen all the time. I have to kinda bend/twist just right for it to happen. It feels like a little thump when I have my hand on the area when it pops. Seems like some kind of soft cartilage rather than bone.

 

[Hank]

Only the chosen few get the honor of popping and clicking.

I am 10 years out from my surgery, and while I don't actually pop and click anymore, it still feels different when I sneeze. Not painful in any way, but I can still tell it feels strange compared to my memories of sneezing before surgery. Kind of hard to explain, but it's not a bad thing.

I think I popped and clicked for most of the 1st year after surgery.

 

[mn2mx]

I'm still popping and clicking after 6 weeks, mostly in the evening after spending the day outside, walking around our land, over the river and through the woods. Not a lot, and it seems like it's mostly near the bottom of my incision, and sometimes a bit on the left side. It feels a bit uncomfortable, not painful...just bugs me.

 

[cldlhd]

It's been10 months for me and I feel a click at the very bottom of my sternum when I extend my torso and then come back down.

 

[dangerousmotto]

I had my wires removed at 14 weeks, and my sternum was "rock solid", but I still get popping with certain movements, and especially sneezing. There's a lot going on in there beyond bone - in particular fascia that was disrupted, scar tissue that's formed. Ribs are like leaf springs, and have a lot of motion naturally. Scar tissue and fascia can easily be disrupted and cause things to rub and pop that didn't used to. I also still have pain constantly, but its only been 3 weeks since surgery. A lot of people report their sternums never feel "the same" again, even while regaining full functionality and going about life.

 

[almost_hectic]

I had my wires removed at 14 weeks, and my sternum was "rock solid", but I still get popping with certain movements, and especially sneezing. There's a lot going on in there beyond bone - in particular fascia that was disrupted, scar tissue that's formed. Ribs are like leaf springs, and have a lot of motion naturally. Scar tissue and fascia can easily be disrupted and cause things to rub and pop that didn't used to. I also still have pain constantly, but its only been 3 weeks since surgery. A lot of people report their sternums never feel "the same" again, even while regaining full functionality and going about life.

I'm confused, you say you had wires removed at 14 weeks, but the you also say it's only been 3 weeks since your surgery...