Question
I see a chiropractor mainly due to migraines/stiff neck.  I went last week, and he layed me flat on my stomach and pressed very hard from top of back all the week down, tons of popping.  Seems like since then, i have had sporadic chest pains (left, right and middle) mostly when I bend over.  Could he have "sprained" or "strained" my chest muscles.  Not sure if this is appropriate, but I am large chested, so maybe the pushing so hard on the hard surface hurt something?

Answer
Hi Dee,

Yes, it's quite possible you got strained from the procedure.  Pressing on the back when you are laying face down also presses on the ribs. The ribs attach to your spine, where the chiropractor has his hands, and they wrap around and connect to your sternum.   It's a common strain that occurs if the doctor's pressure is too great, if his hands are too much on the ribs and not enough on the spinal bones (vertebrae), or if you have predisposing factors such as osteoarthritis/degenerative changes to your bones (which will make you more stiff/less flexible);    If you have point tenderness right where the rib meets the sternum, then this joint likely got strained from the procedure.   I've always seen these get better, but if it's a significant sprain then it could take several weeks;    There is a chance of rib fracture with these procedures, and if it was a significant fracture it would really hurt to bend and you would have pain taking a deep breath.    It sounds to me like a minor sprain/strain.   You really should go back and simply tell your chiropractor about this and he surely would be happy to check it out.  He could do some simple procedures to make it feel better, including soft tissue massage, ultrasound or low level laser, or even heat applications.    Like any medical treatment, adverse effects are possible.  Thankfully in chiropractic they are almost always benign.    

'Hope this was helpful.

Dr. G'