My Back Hurts When I Take a Breath
May 15, 2008 by cmnacnudI’ve recently had a lot of patients present with rib problems. They didn’t know it was a rib problem. So I thought I’d put out a little bit of
information about it.
People come in complaining of back pain, and after an exam we determine that the source of pain is the rib head articulation. When I explain that to patients they ask me how their ribs could be hurting. The answer is not simple just like any medical explanation, but I’ll try to simplify. Your ribs attach to your spine with 2 joints per rib. Those joint complexes just like any other joint can be sprained, strained, inflamed, irritated, or just plain sad. As with other injuries these can happen a trauma, or over time with repetitive stress. The joint attachments are not the only thing that can be injured, but that’s what we’re talking about so we’re going to rule out fractures, tumors, and scary stuff like that.
How do you know if you have an injured rib joint complex? The most important way would be to come see me (www.drduncanchiropractic.com) or another qualified doctor and get it examined. If you are wondering, “is my back pain a rib problem?” then you already have back pain and should see a chiropractor anyway, but here are some common symptoms to indicate rib joints. Rib dysfunction pain is usually a sharp stabbing pain, that you just can’t get rid of. It can affect everything you do. It hurts to take a deep breath, raising your hands over your head reproduces the pain. The pain can go all the way around the chest or to the shoulder.
The good news is that rib dysfunction is usually a very quick easy fix. You can often get immediate and complete relief with just one adjustment. AND, it feels so good when it goes away. I love fixing patients with this problem, because it’s one of those easy times when patients walk in with pain and skip out with a smile. So, don’t delay see your chiropractor today. ![]()

The argument could be made that we are all breaking down and need regular maintenance care to improve our standard of living. I won’t argue that. I recommend to all of my patients some sort of regular care, but convincing an otherwise healthy patient to come and see me every week is not my style. Elite atheletes have proven this idea though. When Tiger Woods gets adjusted he’s not horribly out of sorts, he’s just looking for that extra 2 yards that having a finely tuned body is going to give him. Every one can be improved upon, but most of us aren’t looking for an extra 2 yards or that split second in a race.
They have not yet implemented this new method, saying that it still needs further research, though they say doing anything is often better than doing nothing. I’m not aware of any national organization that has adopted the new technique in their training.