If you have rib pain, pain in the rib area or you have pain in your mid back region and don’t know why, this post is about what you can expect if you came to see us as a chiropractor in South Melbourne. 

This is the second part of a 2 part post about rib pain, for the first post click here so that there aren’t any spoilers. 

Ok, so you’re up to date on part one? Excellent. 

Let’s face it...as chiropractors, back pain really is our thing. You might have already guessed but along with neck pain and headaches, back pain including the mid back and rib regions makes up a large number of the people who come to visit us initially.

Unsurprisingly therefore, it is important for us to be able to efficiently find out what is happening in these cases and be able to determine their best course of action to move forward. 

Ordinarily we would make a video of our assessment procedures of a specific region, however as Martin and Kieran are remaining separate from each other due to social distancing measures within the practice to combat the coronavirus, we haven’t been able to film one like we have for back pain and neck pain.

Instead I am afraid you’ll have to come on this journey ‘old school’ and use your imagination while I explain our process. 

Please be aware, this description is for general purposes only and is not an exhaustive description of what you may personally experience. 

Each person is different and so are their injuries, so we treat every client individually depending on their presentation. 

For example, rib pain sufferers might require a neurological examination, for others we might require X-rays and for some, we may not be the ideal first place for their care at all! 

We take pride in our initial examination's ability to individually assess rib pain sufferers quickly and effectively to determine their needs and best course of action.

Please see this explanation of a potential first visit with us as a guide to understand our thinking. 

STEP ONE: HISTORY

To be begin, we need to make sure that you get to tell us all that you need to tell me about your rib pain, things like; 

  • When did it start?

  • How did it start?

  • What makes it better? 

  • When did it start? 

  • What makes it worse? 

  • What does it feel like? 

  • Does it change when you move/sit/stand/lie down?

However mostly we want to understand is; what does the pain mean to you? 

For a lot of people, the pain is only a part of the problem. 

A big part of it is the impact that it's having on your life. 

What are the things that the pain is stopping you from doing that you love to do or need to do in your life? 

It’s really important that you get to tell us all about your rib pain so that we know what's going on. 

STEP TWO: PALPATION

Next when you come to see us complaining of rib pain, is a palpatory assessment. 

What we’re looking for with that assessment are areas where the joints are restricted in the motion.

When they are out of balance, they are not able to move the same left and right. 

We also want to see if there are areas where there's increased muscle tension and/or the presence of tenderness.

We are looking for the areas where things are just not working how they should. 

Once we've done that palpatory assessment of the area that is giving you problems, we will often also extend the examination beyond that area of pain because your spine is linked with the way the whole body works and so we will often then extend up into assessing how your neck is working or in other related areas.

STEP THREE: SHOW US YOUR MOVES

When we are assessing somebody who's come to see us with rib pain is to assess how they bend, move and twist. 

Often when you have rib issues that will affect how far you can go one way compared to the other. The way we measure that is we use inclinometry, which is where we use an accurate measuring tool to see how far you can bend to the left comfortably and then compare the left side to how far you can move to the right. Simple as that.

STEP FOUR: ASSESS ALIGNMENT

The next step when we are assessing somebody who has come to see us with rib pain is we assess the alignment of their spine.

Posture is the window for us to be able to assess alignment.

To do this, we use specialised software where we can take a photo from the side and from the front. 

We then digitise those photos and then analyse them to see if there are indications of misalignment in the spine.

The way the software works is that we first take a photo and it uses the iPad to make sure that we have a photo that is absolutely vertical. 

The software then places a grid around exactly where straight up and down is and then we can compare landmarks on you that should also be aligned to see exactly how straight up and down or symmetrical your posture is.

So, you have looked at all that, what now? 

After going through the above and/or any other investigations that your issue demands, and determining that we ARE the right people to help you with your rib pain, we would get you underway as soon as possible. 

If you have any further questions or concerns about rib pain, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.