Do you suffer from a nagging, burning, painful spot near your shoulder blade on your back? Maybe it's hard for you to take deep breaths sometimes. Maybe you're experiencing some wrapping chest pain. What you might be feeling is an irritation of the ribs where they meet the spine. My name is Dr. Robin Armstrong, I'm a chiropractor at Willowbrook Chiropractic in Langley, and today we're going to talk all about rib irritation, what it looks like, what it might feel like, and what you can do to treat it.

In the video I talk about:

What Rib pain looks & feels like:

• The anatomy of the ribcage

• Ribcage joints can get irritated or inflamed and lead to muscle spasm, nerve irritation, and arm pain.

• Who we see this problem in: People who work in rounded or awkward postures, side sleepers, etc.

What can you do about it?

• Avoid that rounding posture as best as you can.

• Squeezing shoulder blades together will often give you a bit of relief.

• Think about your forward neck position - it naturally causes our shoulders to round as well.

• Watch out for an upcoming video all about specific exercises you can do for this problem - In the meantime extending over a foam roller or anything chest opening is usually helpful.

How we treat Rib/Shoulder Blade pain in our office:

• We work on those tight muscles between the shoulder blades, along the spine and maybe even work on the chest too.

• Either hands on or instrument adjustments to the rib joints and spine.

• Identify the contributing factors and give you the tools to change them - sleep position, workstation setup, exercise habits.

Some people think that there's nothing they can do, that they're just going to have this issue in pain for life, but we can help you. We can work on it.

If you have any questions about this video or need some help feeling better, feel free to reach out to us, Dr. Robin Armstrong or Dr. Jody Freedman. We’re always happy to help. You can book with us online or give us a call.