Question
I've been to a chiropractor and he has popped my rib head back into place, but the rib head keeps popping back out and is extremely painful.  I play very competitive soccer, but I'm very young and hope to continue my soccer career, but I keep getting injuries. I have taken advil and played soccer, but after about 15-30 minutes of playing its extremely painful to take every deep breath, every time i tighten my stomach muscles, and every movement.  But, I continue to play through the pain and my muscle goes into spasms afterward. Will it do any harm to me to play soccer with a popped rib head? If so, what harm could occur? Is there any way to keep the rib head popped in (icing, stretching, and popping it back in are not working)? I just want to be able to enjoy soccer instead of being non-stop loaded up on advil just to get through every game with less pain.

Also, I get injuries easily.I think its because my mechanics are wrong.In the past year I've sprained my ankle, had a cyst in my knee, pulled muscles, had this unusual hip thing causing my hip to painfully pop, and no popped rib heads.  What can I do to prevent injuries so I can continue playing soccer?

Thank you!

Natasha

Answer
Hi Natasha,

I'm going to assume you are a teen, maybe 16 or so.  Keep in mind that your level of competition has increased over the years, running harder, being more physical, etc., but your bones, tendons, and ligaments are not as able to keep up as does a male athlete.  Males have testosterone kicking in, by females do not.  This means that the male athlete will have bigger and thicker and stronger bones, ligaments, tendons as compared to the female athlete.   Keeping this in mind, I will discuss the vexing problem of frequent injuries.  First, once injured, if you do not get the right treatment you can be left with a weak link at the injury zone.  Your ankle sprain, for example, if not properly tended to, can become a "weak ankle" that constantly gives out and sprains on you.   But with the combination of soft tissue treatment, joint manipulation to the ankle, and balance exercises on a wobbly board or pad, you can prevent that from happening.   The same goes for other injured areas.  Soft tissue treatment is important because it can toughen-up tendons and ligaments (see www.grastontechnique.com).   This has been demonstrated in research on rat tendons and ligaments (with one paper just published in JOSPT recently).    If the chiro thinks he can just pop in your rib head (if that's really what it is) over and over again and expect good results, then he is wrong.   He must look more globally at the soft tissues, including muscles and fascia.  Also, you must consider consulting with your primary care physician.  Do you have any underlying conditions?  Metabolic problems?  What is your vitamin-D status?   For example, women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE) also become osteoporotic and are subject to stress fractures.    So run this by your internal medicine doctor.   Lastly, assuming all is well, there is the issue of balancing strengthening/conditioning with rest.  If you do not have regular rest periods, your body will not be able to build.  It will break down instead.   Tap into web sites of pro trainers and you will see info on rest periods as a means to improve your fitness (see: www.trihard.com).   

'Hope this helps.

Dr. G
www.drgillman.com