Sharp pain in the ribs can be annoying and even debilitating at its worst. Broken, cracked or bruised ribs that cause knife-like pain with every breath is hard to forget if you’ve ever suffered with this. There are many patients who also suffer with pain in their sides without ever having an injury to their ribs. In fact, when examined medically, their ribs check out fine! When this is the case, the solution is often found in the spine. Keep reading to learn more about what causes this problem and the best thing you can do for it.
Get to the Cause
Non traumatic rib pain is most often caused by a pinched nerve in the spine. This is why many rib pain sufferers also suffer with upper back pain and stiffness or have a history of previous injury there. Some patients have rib pain that follows the entire length of the rib. In these cases, the rib pain can often be traced right back to the thoracic spine using simple palpation. This condition is called thoracic radiculitis and is easily corrected with conservative/nonsurgical treatment.
Action Step
The best way to treat thoracic neuritis rib pain is with chiropractic. Sometimes physical therapy and/or modalities can be helpful however often unnecessary if the primary focus is correcting the pinched nerve. Chiropractors specialize in finding and fixing pinched nerves in the spine and your fastest way to relief if you suffer with this problem.
Thoracic spine problems that cause radiculitis and rib pain become more complicated when they are chronic, arthritic, scoliotic or have compression fractures. These are reasons why choosing the right chiropractor are so important. Dr. Levesque, DC in Abingdon, VA has 26 years of experience in the Gonstead Method of chiropractic and a great track record with complex cases of upper back pain and thoracic spine problems.
