I have a lot of patients that are extremely surprised to find out that ribs can be adjusted. This is so common that I find ribs out on half the patients that come in! And for some reason, most chiropractors don’t seem to address this issue.
The ribs are attached to the bones of the spine and wrap around to the sternum, so they can cause discomfort on either side of the rib cage when there is an issue. One of the most common presentations is a patient saying they have a stabbing pain in the chest or they can’t get a deep breath without pain. And you can probably guess what they think and where they go next.
So, they imagine with the pain that they are having a heart attack and off they go to the ER. Then they spend tons of money and time at the ER to be told they are just having a muscle spasm, which is only partially true. Unfortunately, these rib misalignments are subtle, so they typically don’t appear on an x-ray.
I can identify a rib subluxation quickly and just as quickly, correct the misalignment. The relief is pretty much instantaneous. There is often muscle spasm associated with the rib misalignment and that typically lets up quickly as well.
The only catch is if the rib has been out of position for a while, a muscle pattern can develop that will tend to pull the rib back out for a while. This is coupled with the ligaments that hold it in becoming stretched out. So, I will usually have to re-adjust the ribs several times in a row to get them to start holding the normal position again. This is very normal for this type of misalignment. There is always a pattern that develops, or a bad habit, that needs to be broken.
Then the patient also needs to figure out what they are doing to cause the rib misalignment and to avoid that. It is usually a postural issue or a movement issue where they are lifting and over rotating. I will work with you to figure out what is causing the issue in the first place so it can be avoided in the future.
Stop in to The Fix Chiropractic to see if any of your issues are due to rib subluxation. Don’t forget, this is a walk-in clinic so you never need an appointment, just stop by anytime.