Very good call, greedo. Certainly way painful, but they usually wouldn't hospitalize you for it. A quick WebMD descrip: "Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura, which is the moist, double-layered membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the rib cage. The condition can make breathing extremely painful. Sometimes it is associated with another condition called pleural effusion, in which excess fluid fills the area between the membrane's layers."
I've had it a few times. VERY painful.
Pleurisy - one of the worst things I ever had!
Ditto
I had horrid pains in different areas of my chest from mid teens to mid 20s.
Went to many doctors about it, both civilian and USAF. When the pains happened to be in the central chest, I thought I might be having a heart attack.
None of the doctors could find anything wrong with me.
Finally, one day at Hanscom Field, the pain was unbearable, and I walked to the clinic, which was very close to my dorm.
A young doctor listened to my chest for a few seconds while having me breathe hard.
He said, good, no problem, you have pleurisy.
In my case, the fluid in the pleura between my lungs and the ribcage moves around and becomes thin, allowing the layers to rasp together.
In fact, that's how he immediately diagnosed it.
He had me listen with the stethoscope while breathing deeply.
It sounded just like a wood rasp being rubbed across the edge of a piece of wood.
I asked him how he was able to diagnose it so quickly when many other doctors hadn't.
He said that's because he had it too, and was well read on the topic. It was one of the reasons he became a doctor, to find out what was wrong with himself.
Since then, I've found a way to quickly get rid of it and/or prevent it.
Get a small trampoline and bounce or run on it.
If you're having a bout of pleurisy, very shallow, gentle bouncing at first because of the pain.
Get a stethoscope and either listen yourself or have your husband listen in the pain area while breathing deeply.
If you have the type of pleurisy I have, it will sound as described.
Another reason to have your own stethoscope, is that Murphy's Law say there will be nothing for the doctors to hear when you see them.
The doctor told me what I have won't harm me, it just feels like you're croaking.
A while back I had the pains at work, so went to the nurse and asked her to listen to my chest. I wanted to be sure I wasn't having a heart attack.
When I asked her what it sounded like, and she described the rasping sound, I said, "good, it's just the pleurisy".
After seeing the doctor at Hanscom, I mentioned it to my 80ish grandmother.
She said she had it since she was a kid from time to time.
She made it to 94 in good shape until the very end.
Who knows if this is what you have.
Just another avenue to explore.