Question
hi for about five years now i have had a serious problem with my back which spreads to my arm and neck... at first i did not know what to do and hoped it would go away but it got so bad i lost the power of my arm and was in serious pain most of the time...
i went to my GP who told me it was tennis elbow and injected my arm, where the greatest pain was but this did not help at all... i was told by a friend to go to a physo and they might help and was delighted to find that over a period of time they, by massage and various other treatments made the pain go away... but it keeps returning about three to four times and year....
the physo told me it was a trapped nerve in my spine and that only massage etc would help but as i am paying for the treatment i find it very expensive.
i find the pain starts at a point in my back just above the bottom of my shoulder blade and then moves into my arm this is when it becomes unbearable and i have bruises on my arm from holding or squeezing it...when it is at its worst it moves into my hand up to the forefinger and then to moves up into my neck below my ear....
my son bought me a massage chair and i find that if i catch it on time and use the chair i can stop its progress..
but this month i took it and used the chair but it didn't work and i had to go to a physo/ chiropractor... this was a new one who i thought was extermly good... he believes it is stemming from a slipped rib which is pressing on a nerve which travels down the arm and up the neck...
he was really good and i felt great relief when he was finished.....
on thinking over what he said i remembered hurting my back several years before when i had a cold and when i sneezed i felt something pop in my back... the pain at the time was sever and i went to the doctor who just gave me pills and told me to go home and rest.. i believe now this is where the problem started...
my new physo says that i pop the rib now doing simple things as it is unstable and will continue to do this
my question is
can i get treatment to stop this rib popping all the time?
and
as i get older will the rib pop more?


Answer
Dear Eileen,

It is very unlikely that your problem is coming from the rib.   You may think it's the rib because it is a painful zone, just like your arm is painful.  If it was the the rib, then simple pressure against it would either turn all your pain off or make it worse.   The doctor of chiropractic - not a physio - should perform a standard orthopedic and neurologic examination.   If bending your neck backwards and to one side or the other provokes any of your pain, then the problem is most likely from your neck.  The condition you describe sounds just like a cervical spine disc problem or a disc/bone-spur complex that is irritating the nerves.  This condition will refer pain in between the shoulder blades to one side as well as down the arm and into the hand.  The C6 nerve will go to the thumb and index finger as well as to the tennis elbow zone.   Doubtful it's a rib...   

'Pass this info on to the doctor.

Regards,

Dr. G