I have had asthmatic bronchitis for the last few weeks which has now tapered off to a mild cough. However, I had such a severe bout with it that it has affected the muscles on my right side around my rib cage. An X-ray didn t show any fluid but since the muscles in and around my rib cage are so sore should I have another X-ray or just consult my doctor?
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. In my opinion you should consult pulmonologist and get done PFT (pulmonary function test) to rule out residual bronchitis. You are still having cough, this suggests that you need more treatment. And excessive coughing cause more work to rib cage and rib muscles. So they can cause pain on coughing. So better to treat coughing first, so that your rib cage soreness will itself cured.PFT is needed to quantify severity of the bronchitis. So if you are still having bronchitis than inhaled bronchodilators are needed to suppress cough. And this can be measured only by PFT. So consult pulmonologist and first diagnose your cough and then start treatment accordingly.