Daisy - I'm sorry you are in such pain. I'm not sure if it is the hug. It doesn't really sound like it from what I have experienced. Mine wraps around my left ribcage, mostly under the left breast area. It goes from slightly in my back all the way around to my stomach and sometimes crosses over to the edge of the right ribs. (The pattern of nerve pain follows along the dermatomes when they do the pinprick testing on my. ) But, when it is really bad I tense up the muscles in my shoulders which causes muscle tension and spasms in my shoulder blade area. Again, this is just my experience. Others may have experienced what you have. We are each different.

As far as what it feels like, I get ripping, sharp, stabbing pain on an off and then the muscle spasms start. Sometimes I get the spasms with out the nerve stuff. When things are bad, I have numb patches in that area where I can't feel anything. I also don't have abdominal reflexes on the left side. The muscles in between the ribs go in to spasms and it doesn't feel too good. I've been getting massages and they are helping to relax those muscles. The massage therapist has commented more than once how spastic or tight those muscles are. I, like others on here, have the hug everyday to varying degrees. Some days it's just an annoyance, others it is hard to sit and do normal things and even breathing is difficult (or at least that's how it feels as it feels like something is constricting the ribs). Most of the time, I can't wear a bra. I reserve that to when I have to be out in public. It hurts too much wearing it and it sets off all that nervy itchy feeling that msarkie is talking about. Of note, shingles can feel the same way but those with shingles have that distinctive rash along the path of the nerve. The hug doesn't do that.

Just my suggestion, put a call in to your dr. Start with your PCP as this may or may not be an MS thing. Then take it from there. In the meantime, heat and/or ice may help. I find that if the area is too "nervy" heat does NOT help and actually hurts. In this case, I only use ice which helps me the most whether nervy or not. If it is more muscular than nerve, low heat followed by ice helps. The hard part is that for you it is in an area that is hard to reach so something like Salonpas won't work unless you have someone who can put the patch on for you or rub some muscle rub cream on it.

Many gentle 's for you and let us know how you are doing.