Diaphragm - cramps, soreness from coughing

I know the diaphragm (did I even spell it right?) isn't a muscle we talk about often here (is it even a muscle?) but I could use some advice about mine.

As some of you know, I'm recovering from pneumonia; it's in my right lung only. Getting over pneumonia means a *lot* of really vigorous coughing. (I've got crap in my lungs, it was even bloody for a few days, and it's got to get out.) Now I'm really sore in what I think is my diaphragm. The soreness feels like you just can't quite reach it from the outside via massage and is at the side and back, just where my rib cage stop or a little higher.

A few days ago I started getting cramps in the muscle - it hurt whenever I tried to relax it, i.e., exhaling while laying in bed. Now, I believe I'm past the cramping stage and at the sore stage, meaning it feels fine to exhale but it hurts, DOMS style, when I take a deep breath and it stings when I cough or when I even burp.

Have I understood this all correctly? And is there anything I ought to be doing differently? Right now I'm just trying to keep it relaxed as I deep breath (which I still have to do, nebulizer inhaled medications several times a day), and I try to put my hand on the sore are to brace it if I feel a cough coming on, which seems to help at least a little. I'm a little concerned that I may have actually torn something and don't really know how to tell, although I'm probably just being paranoid about that.

Thanks in advance, all.

Pleural effusion needs to be ruled out.

Lysis is correct.

He loves it when I agree with him. Makes him feel all warm and fuzzy.

Go back to your doctor and get a chest x-ray.

I've gotten that from coughing too hard, ect. I think it's called 'chest wall pain,' and has something to do with the intercostals. Look it up, I'm too lazy to, take some pain relievers.

yup, there it is

Pleurisy, according to this:

<http://webmd.lycos.com/content/healthwise/27/6803>

which is a link I found off the other webmd page, is something one, at best, takes NSAIDs for and that's it. It's often caused by pnuemonia, which we already know I have, and there doesn't seem to be anything else to do for it. While I will certainly mention it to my doctor, it doesn't seem to be anything that I can do anything about other than pop a few tylenol <sigh>. Am I missing anything important here?

Yes. Lysis didn't write 'pleurisy'. He wrote 'pleural effusion'.

If you have a pleural effusion, it will need to be aspirated because it may be purulent. Otherwise you might die from sepsis and/or ARDS. If you prefer to go by your WWW search about the wrong term, then chances are your genes are not worth the trouble. That's why I am not getting any money from you in case I save your life.

Care to explain the difference?

I did call my doctor, who was very concerned, and made an appointment with me for tomorrow morning. He also told me to take myself to the ER if the pain got too bad tonight. That it hurts when I even burp has me concerned.

This website lists possible sources of chest/lung pain -

He said it was the right lung only, so wouldn't that make it _singluar_ effusion?