Question
Hello. About 3 weeks ago I woke up with terrible thoracic pain (I have had this off and on over the years). The pain went all the way around my sides to my ribs and sternum. I saw my GP who gave me 800 mg ibuprofen. Told me it was bad posture sitting at the computer all day and poor sleeping position. After the second week of little sleep and waking up with terrible pain, went to the ER-all blood work and x-rays came back clear. Started some PT which helped the thoracic pain and sternum pain. It's not week 3 and still having some soreness in ribs. Someone mentioned intercostal strain? I also have kyphosis. Any tips for getting rid of the last of this rib strain? Thank you.

Answer
Hi Charlotte!
I am sorry that you have had to deal with this for so long now.  Typically non-traumatic intercostal strain (from severe coughing or sneezing) also has a tendency to cause the front or back rib heads to move out of place.  At some point over these past few weeks, my guess is that you also experienced a very sharp, stabbing pain in a very small area on your back when you take a deep breath.  This is very common.  

Many times with bad posture, sleeping soundly in one position (not moving at all) and coupled with severe coughing and sneezing you will twist the thoracic spine causing the ribs to be affected.  Being that your spine is already hyperkyphotic in nature you are more suseptible to mechanical dysfunction of the spine.

Make an appointment with a highly rated chiropractor.  (S)he should provide some muscle stimulation and moist heat to the back followed by a gentle manipulation of the spine and rib heads.  This really should finish it off.  For the future, if this happens again, see the chiropractor, my experience with this problem, will typically show significant improvement day one and gone by day 3 or 4 of treatment.

I hope that this helps.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kevin Kaldy
Chiropractic Physician
www.lasvegaschiro.com
[email protected]

**This post is for the purpose of providing medical information and is not a substitute for a face-to-face consultation with a doctor. This post is not intended to give or rule out a diagnosis, create a doctor-patient relationship or replace an existing one. I am not able to diagnose medical conditions online. Please consult with your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment options**