Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Side Spliting

Hope you all had a pain free christmas.

I however haven't

Woke up yesterday with a pain down my left side of my rib cage, its pretty wide spread. Just assummed I slept funny or something. But been up most of last night with it, just got worse. Anyone else had this? All my AS paisn have been pretty text book stuff up till now (SIJ, Neck and Lumber Spine).

Tried stretching it off, seems to help with other pains, but doesn't seem to do anything apart from bring tears to my eyes

Any ideas??

Hi Ricky...I have been having a similar issue in the left ribcage, it feels like it involves a pretty large area too, I can feel a little popping going on in there when I get loose enough to do side stretches but if I over stretch, it feels like pushing it any further than that will result in a pulled muscle, so I try not to aggravate it while I'm trying to get relief...it's a very delicate balancing act, I try to keep it in check though, hot baths, heating pad, etc. I've got it on my list of things that I want to ask my rheumy about at my next appointment, which is January 6th...I'll let you know what I find out...I'm not sure if we're having the same problem or not, but you might want to see your doctor, better safe than sorry, you could have pleurisy or something not related to AS at all, at any rate, welcome to KA and I hope you get some relief soon...

Thanks Michelle. You just described the same pain that I feel. be good to see what your rheumy says. Seeing mine at the end of Jan.

Pretty sure its not pleurisy or anything, used to work in thoracic surgery, so pretty good with that kinda stuff. Definitely a muscle/bone issue from how it feels.

You're more than welcome Ricky...how ironic that you worked in thoracic surgery, I have TOS(Thoracic Outlet Syndrome), I'm going to have to resist the urge to solicit advice from you!! ...on a more serious note, I really would have that checked out...

Hi Michelle,

I have been struggling with that type of pain for the last few months. And it keeps moving from one side of the rib to the other. I wonder if it has got to do with the bed i am using or staying excessively on one side.... The muscles around the rib get very sore, almost as if the blood flow there has been jammed.

A hot water bath with epsom salt seems to help to get on with the rest of the day, but in the evening its peaks again, soon as i lay down....

It improved a little with medicinal leech therapy i went through, which seems to suggest that improved blood flow does help the rib pain and stiffness...

Let me know if something works for you. Currently, my rib pain has subsided, atleast relative to the right hip pain and discomfort i am experiencing on weight bearing. It seems another hip surgery beckons....

Take care.

Ankush

Hi Ankush...I wondered about my bed too but no matter where I sleep, I still have trouble with it, ironically, the best night's sleep I've had in many years was my first night on the Miss Kaitlyn...I woke up pain free and felt well rested, I'm not sure if it was the constant motion of the water or the bed itself but it was amazing!! I have noticed that the side/ribcage pain increases and decreases with my stiffness levels, so if I'm having increased stiffness, I find that I have to work with it a lot more, constantly adjusting and trying to stretch it out...I will let you know what my rheumy thinks about it...I hope you don't have to go through another surgery, that seems so unfair!!! Big hugs, my friend...

I have that same pain off and on and it is something my physical therapist has been able to help me with. He even taught the technique to my hubby so he could do it at home for me more often.

Our cartilage around our rib cages can tighten. Think of it as pre-fusing. Many AS-ers here will tell you that our ribs can definitely fuse, causing us decreased lung capacity.

While I lie on my stomach, on a semi-hardish surface (bed doesn't work), my PT (or hubby) will push in my ribs. Normal ribs flex in/out a little. They can usually tell which area is hurting you before you tell them, they feel solid like concrete, or a solid mass, with no flexion. So they work up and down both sides several times, pushing with both palms, one on top of the other. At first it hurts like heck, but after the ribs get moving it feels so good. Then you can take a deeper breath too, when they are done. My PT also cracks my back, kind of like a Chiropractor would do, only more gentle with push/twist motion close to my spine up and down both sides. I KNOW chiro is not recommended for AS, but I tell you what, I feel like a rock star when I leave physical therapy. Whatever he does works for me.

In theory, the PT tells me my ribs are trying to harden to (fuse to) my spine. And this treatment is trying to keep me mobile as long as possible. The PT also had me buy a foam roller to roll up and down on my back on the floor with the foam roller perpendicular to my body. This is a tough exercise but does work to keep the ribs flexing.

Sue22 also knows a ton about how to solve pain in this area.

I hope this makes sense. I'm needing a NyQuil induced dilirium and some sleep at this moment.
Good luck to you!
Donette

my original problems i think were coming from triggerpoints. i tore my rhomboid muscle or tendons and triggerpoints resulted all throughout the upper left back. some of the pain i've felt in the rib area has been from triggerpoints. i know this because when a physiatrist did triggerpoint injections and successfully got the triggerpoint, the muscle would jump as the knot was released and then the pain was magically gone. but really those between ribs, in the intercostal muscles, should never be injected, because you can end up with a pneumothorax like i did. while the partially collapsed lung was not fun for the week that i had it, i'm 99% sure there was no other way to get rid of the misery that the triggerpoint was causing, so i'm glad we didn't realize how deep it was when the doctor went in to inject it, break it up. she was one of the best doctors i've ever had, so don't blame her at all. no other triggerpoint has been that bad.

more recently, my rib issues seem to be what donette has described already. and if she says i know a bunch about this, she's largely to give credit to. when i discovered this "restriction" was going on in my ribs and asked if anyone else had been experiencing it, she has been the most helpful in giving me good practical advice on how to get things flexible again. turns out it was a chiro that found the problem and has been working on it much as donette describes her PT working on it. but my chiro does soft tissue work and a bunch of modified (for me) techniques; i think PTs and chiros that are really good have a lot of crossover in what they do. i had a PT that realigned my spine and SI similar to what a chiro does through very gentle isometrics. and my chiro does it even more gently to my SI using wedges and gravity, just letting my body "fall" into proper alignment, can't be any more gentle than that. so if you can find a good PT or chiro that does manual soft tissue work similar to what donette described, you will feel blessed, IMHO. at least i do. my chiro has made it possible for me to keep working; i was staring down being out of work until i found him.

other things that help that i do for myself at home. stretching, yes, but that doesn't always do the trick as you've said. lots of ice and / or heat depending on the problem; kind of trial and error to see which gives more relief. i have a home ultrasound machine, settings very similar to what the PT used to use on me. ultrasound definitely helps problems that ice or heat can't seem to fix. but can't use it over bone but great for muscles and tendons.

while stretching may not always help when things are very messed up, movement does, walking seems to be about the best thing i can do for my ribs, walking, swinging arms gently, that seems to get the ribs moving as well. last fall before i found the chiro, some days that was the only thing that gave me any relief. swimming used to be even better for the ribs and upper back, but it seems to bother the SI joint too much these days, but if you can swim, that could really help as well, IMO.

and lastly, a nightly muscle relaxant (zanaflex) helps a lot. i'd take it in the day more often too, but it does lower my BP and thus make me sleepy for about an hour or two, so if i take it in the day, i have to time it just right. but usually its just once at bedtime.

i also take LDN and that also seems to help my body clear inflammation, doesn't exactly prevent the inflammation, but it does go away faster.

Thanks for all the tips Donette, but I'm not allowed to have chiro adjustments, my condition is too advanced for spinal manipulation of any kind, actually, I do all the stretching and swimming, when I'm not bedridden, I have a pool, so swimming is my main outlet but the weather doesn't always allow it...

I'm so sorry Michelle, I can only imagine the damage a good back cracking would do to a fused spine..**yikes**

I have lots of soft tissue/tendon/ligament plus joint pain and weirdness all over my body from AS, but the only fusing I have is in my wrists. I'm just trying to be original. lol

We have a pool too. In Idaho though, it only sees about 2.5 months of use. We installed (because of me) a solar heater for it. I wish I could build a roof over it and make it an indoor pool. The only way it would be viable cost-wise to heat it would be if we drilled and struck an area of geo-thermally heated water. Ahhhhhh, a girl can dream.

How long is your pool season?