[LordDragonfang]

For anyone reading these comments with growing anxiety who gets occasional, short duration stabbing pains when breathing in (lasting only a couple minutes at most), allow me to put your mind at ease by directing you to the Wikipedia page for precordial catch syndrome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precordial_catch_syndrome

Very similar symptoms, totally harmless, to the point where the recommended treatment is "reassurance". As long as the pain lasts for less than 3ish minutes, you have no reason to panic.

(I used to get very anxious every time I had these symptoms, after a friend of mine in high school described the same experience as the others in this thread, trying to sleep off the pain and ending up hospitalized for a collapsed lung. Learning about PCS really put my mind at ease)

[webmaven]

I get that every few months, though I'd describe it a bit differently:

First of all, it is usually brought on by sitting hunched over and breathing shallowly for a while (like, an hour). And the pain isn't exactly stabbing, unless you're counting being poked hard with a Popsicle stick.

It releases if I breath deeply enough, with an odd crunching sensation, sort of like popping really small bubble wrap, or cracking knuckles on a tiny hand.

[frogulis]

Wow, thanks for posting this. I've had exactly these symptoms for a long time and despite multiple doctors telling me I'm fine, it's still a pretty stressful experience when it occurs!