Question
I have been recently told after several X-rays,that i have an extra rib.I have been suffering from numb hands in the middle of the night with moderate to severe headaches, pain in shoulder blades, back, neck, and loss of strength in my right arm. My question is can a person have an extra rib? what causes this,and what possible health problems can come from this? confused on where to get some answers.

Answer
Nadine,

The "extra rib" explanation for pain and loss of strength of the type you describe is a "red herring"; even if you have an extra rib (a genetic variation), that isn't the cause.

It's muscular tension in the neck and upper back, producing muscular soreness, nerve impingement, and reflexive headaches.

I've had clients who have received the "extra rib" diagnosis and who have even been advised to have surgery (don't; it's malpractice worthy of Halloween), who got relief as soon as they learned to control and relax their neck muscles.

You may see a practitioner of clinical somatic education or work with self-help exercises to gain that control.  I developed methods of working with neck tension, of the type you probably need and have trained a number of practitioners in the procedure.

You may read my article on headaches at somatics.com/page4b.htm, along with my articles on back pain.

Where are you?

with regard,
Lawrence Gold