I've had this too. Sometimes when I would stretch to crack my sternum, I would get this wave of heat and eventual pain in my chest. So it was a gamble every time I felt that I had to crack it. It's been a lot better in recent years but it never really went away completely.
Yes, same thing would happen to me! It was a risk trying to stretch it out because if it works the pain would go away but if it didn’t pop, then the pain would be worse than when I started. Sorry you’re still going through it. My doctor recommended NSAIDs for the pain but they didn’t help me too much. Eventually the problem went away and I luckily haven’t had it come back