Stop the Pain: Your Hands-On Manual for Neck and Back Relief by Dunham Schmidt Vienna

Author:Dunham Schmidt, Vienna [Dunham Schmidt, Vienna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Difference Press
Published: 2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You!

“Babies don’t breathe until the chest is born, because the ribs have to be able to expand for the lungs to expand.”

– Elizabeth Davis, Heart and Hands

My First Rib Is Where??

The first time I met with the concept that ribs could be somewhere other than where they belonged, I had pleurisy, which is an irritation to the lungs that makes breathing painful and involves a lot of coughing. In a particularly difficult coughing spell, I felt something shift in my back by my shoulder blade and suddenly, every already painful breath now included a stabbing pain in my back. I called my chiropractor, who was able to help me correct the situation, and I had immediate relief. Other circumstances where I have noted that shift ribs are falls, sports injuries, accidents (car and otherwise), falling off a horse, reaching, twisting, lifting (especially with arms extended), and upper back tension, especially along the spine.

Of course, I knew generally where my ribs were, but I was surprised to find out how high they go. The first rib attaches at the base of the neck and just under the collar bone. The middle portion of the first rib, out on the side of the body, can be felt deep in the arm pit. When it is being pulled out of position by tension in the muscles of the upper back, it can be felt as a hard knot across the top of the shoulder area halfway between the shoulder joint and the neck, in between the collar bone and the top of the shoulder blade that is quite tender. That shift in position starts a negative spiral, because now the muscles must stand guard to stabilize the ribs that are out of position (no one in that whole neighborhood gets to be at home in their comfy chair).

In my experience, chronic mid- and upper back pain and tension are nearly always related to one or more ribs lifted out of position. In fact, I have had only one client who reported chronic pain in that area who did not believe he had any ribs out of position. He had well-developed muscles in his mid-back, which made it difficult for me to feel rib positions in a quick check, and I suspect it was also difficult for him to be attuned to tenderness in that area.

Some other descriptions of pain that result when ribs are not at home are:

Numbness or tingling in fingers.

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