Do you suffer from chronic upper- or mid-back pain?

If you do, there is one common cause that actually tends to be over-looked by other healthcare professionals. Something that medical doctors might call a strain or sprain as a blanket diagnosis because they will generally be correct when they do so. However, from their perspective the only treatment for that would be rest and medications for the pain and inflammation.

What I’m talking about is a rib head subluxation. You have 24 ribs (12 per side) with some people who may have a few more or a few less as congenital anomalies which are typically asymptomatic. The ribs attach to the thoracic spine in the back and the sternum in the front. However, sometimes the ribs slip or get pulled out of their normal alignment, known as a subluxation.

Obviously the function of the rib cage is to protect your vital organs (heart, lungs, stomach, and liver), but that increased protection also substantially decreases the range of motion of the thoracic spine. Occasionally you may twist or bend too quickly and feel a “tweak” or “twinge” as many of my patients call it. This “tweak” tends to resolve fairly quickly, but then they notice that it starts to become a recurrent issue that causes them pain with activity. It may subside for weeks or months at a time, but it keeps occurring every so often when it gets re-aggravated.

So, why is that?

Well, each rib attaches to the thoracic spine at the head of the rib where a joint capsule surrounds each of the attachment sites. The joint capsules are made up of ligamentous tissues that protect and stabilize the joint, but whenever the capsule gets damaged, it can take a very long time to heal properly, if at all. That’s why pain meds and anti-inflammatories will only do so much. Correcting the alignment of the rib heads that have been pulled out of their normal position is the most important step in allowing the capsules to begin to heal around the damaged joint.

See a chiropractor if you are suffering with this type of issue and get it corrected. You’ve already been waiting too long, so don’t delay the attention to your health any longer. Get adjusted and let your body heal itself the way that it’s meant to!