Why is my rib cage deformed?

I keep getting pain in my left rib cage. Does anybody know why this could be happening?

• Every so often I will get sharp pain in my left rib cage. It keeps happening longer and more painful every time and i do not know why. Sometimes its a sharp pain and other times it feels like there is somebody holding their hand against my rib cage or there is something in my rib cage. It just dosnt feel right. The most recent time it happened it was this morning while i was getting ready for school and it lasted on and off for about 15-20 minutes. This is the longest I have ever got it for. Can anybody help me?

• Answer:

  Don't freak out. That sounds like heartburn or acid reflux. It's not dangerous, but it hurts. The stomach is right under the heart, and the similarities in the pains each can cause is the reason that the term 'heartburn' came into existence. Everyone kept mistaking the pain for heart problems. The two top causes are from diet and stress. School is a massive source of anxiety. If you go to a doctor, feel free to ask for a benzo. I recommend Valium. It's been around for awhile, so it's cheap and there are no surprise interactions with other medicines or certain things in your diet (no grapefruit). It can feel like pressure, burning, throbbing, stabbing pain, or nausea. Top foods that do that are spicy things, citrus, tomato based anything, chocolate, caffeine, carbonation, onions, garlic, lots of sugar, lots of grease, peppermint... That list is long. It usually causes pain through the chest, but it can go as low as the abdomen, into the neck, and even down your left arm. If you notice a food that does this all the time, try to avoid it, or at least eat less of it at one time. Never eat it on an empty stomach or a couple of hours before bed. Keep a diary of what you eat, when, and when you start feeling that problem. You'll find a pattern and then you'll know what to avoid. If everything seems to do it, go to a completely harmless diet like plain spagetti for a couple of days. It's not a balanced diet, but if it's only for a couple of days, that won't matter. After that, start adding things back in one at a time. Be careful with the experiment because some foods might not cause you problems if you only eat small amounts of them. When combined, those things can add up. I've been through it myself, so I know it takes awhile to get your diet just right. Until then, take a full vitamin with dinner every day. I say with dinner because those things can upset an empty stomach. Tums don't work. Use Gaviscon. There are prescriptions that can help. They vary in effectiveness from person to person, so you may have to try several before you find one that works for you.