the causes of costochondritis are not known and may involve several factors. possible causes include heredity (genetic predisposition) viruses and injury. costochondritis can be an independent condition by itself or sometimes be a feature of a more widespread disorder. examples of illnesses that can feature costochondritis include fibromyalgia psoriatic arthritis ankylosing spondylitis reiter's disease and inflammatory bowel disease. costochondritis can be aggravated by any activity that involves stressing the structures of the front of the chest cage. it is generally best to minimize these activities until the inflammation of the rib and cartilage areas has subsided. no particular diet is known to cause worsening of costochondritis. on the contrary it is known that fish oils can have a degree of anti-inflammatory effect. theoretically they could be of some benefit. this effect is probably minor however.
what causes costochondritis? is there anything that aggravates it (like exercise or diet) or is it possibly viral?