Under The Shoulder Blade and Rib Joint Pain Relief in Toronto

Pain under the shoulder blade or rib joint pain relief from “shifted” rib joints is a speciality of our Yorkville Chiropractic office like few other chiropractors in Toronto. 

That is why we have encountered and have helped so many patients get relief from pain under their shoulder blade / rib joint pain relief at our Yorkville Chiropractic Chiropractic office in Toronto.

Pain from a “shifted” rib joint between the rib and the spine can cause pain under the shoulder blade. It can also cause pain to travel to the chest or over a large and sometimes erratic area when very acute or very chronic.

Fixing Shifted Rib Joints And Getting Relief: Brian’s Case

I want you to imagine yourself sitting in the Emergency Room experiencing tremendous chest pain. But consider this, the only problem is that the doctors have run all their tests and have told you that there is nothing wrong with your heart.

You can likely imagine that, up to and including this point, you would be very confused about what the doctors are saying. They can’t find the cause and it still hurts! You might have pictured yourself as being older and “of that age” but you are actually young and relatively healthy.

That is okay, I would be too if I had not been the person to figure out the real cause of the chest pain.  Turns out, that their problem was coming from their spine. More specifically from the rib-spine joints and the surrounding muscles and nerves. That was their Core Problem!

This truly happened to one of our patients we will call Brian. I can also share that we were able to help our young and relatively healthy Brian, who thought his chest pain was a heart attack.  I am going to tell you how Brian’s story ended with almost immediate relief and a new appreciation for how a SHIFTED spine can create incredible pain.

Pretty crazy, eh?

Symptoms From The Rib Joints And Rib Cage Problem Can Be Intense

What is maybe more “crazy” is that there was a simple “quick fix” to this problem that I cautioned Brian against, and will do the same for you. Instead, I am going to recommend doing what Jordana and Gerry did to correct the underlying problem. We were able to provide pain for shoulder blade pain but also correct their spine so that it didn’t come back!

It turns out that Brian, Jordana and Gerry had the same problem but with very different symptoms. While Brian felt pain in his chest, Jordana and Gerry felt a sharp piercing pain under only their shoulder blade.  

Brian had never experienced this type of pain before.  Jordana and Gerry had experienced this condition many previous times before and had even consulted a massage therapist and “traditional” chiropractor for it. Both noted that both therapies helped in the short term, the pain would come back relatively soon. As a result, they were both interested in our NeuroStructura Examination to assess the underlying Core Problem.

Before our examination, Brian told us he still thought it was a heart attack while Jordana and Gerry thought it was a muscle strain.  The actual cause was neither: it was a SHIFTED (irritated) joint between a rib and the spine.

The Real Problem Behind Rib Joint Symptoms And How To Get Relief

Specifically, it was the costovertebral joint. This is the joint formed between the ribs and the thoracic spine’s vertebrae. If you have spent any time at an office job or are active in the gym, I can almost guarantee you have experienced this painful and frustrating condition too. 

We covered SHIFTED rib joints at length on this blog and I highly recommend you review it if you want to learn some of the more intimate anatomical and physiological features of the condition.

To save you time please just consider the following. 

These rib joints are relatively unstable joints owing to their shape and the relative weakness of muscles that stabilize them.

These joints are put under greater strain with more Anterior Spinal Shift and a more  SHIFTED and rounded mid-back.  a more forward SHIFTED structure and posture will bow the spine and the ribs out. The bowing of the ribs will put increased pressure on these costovertebral joints. If the muscles around the spine are not strong enough to protect the ribs, it can irritate and shift the rib joint.

Let’s take Jordana’s case for example. On our NeuroStructural Examination, it was found that Jordana had an Anterior Spinal Shift of 2.17 inches between the head and shoulders. Jordana also demonstrated some core weakness during our Neural Drive Muscle Testing as a result of stress on the nervous system impeding the

brain-body connection. Given what you have read so far about a SHIFTED structure and core muscle weakness causing shifted ribs, is it any surprise that she and many other people just like her have this chronic recurrent problem?

How To Fix Shoulder Blade Pain and Rib Joint Pain

Now here is where I am going to tell you about the quick fix being an option. But, it might not be the option that is most desirable in the long run in the same way that you would not want to buy a car that is going to break down three months from now. When it is written down, it does not even seem very ethical to just offer you the first option.

The quick fix is to simply “pop that rib back in”. Doing this and adjusting that rib joint “back into place” is what most traditional chiropractors would do for you. Ninety-nine percent of the time it is going to give you complete relief. In our experience, correcting a shifted rib is incredibly effective, safe and almost immediate in providing relief.  For instance, Jordana had this done many times by a traditional chiropractor and it almost always helped …

…..until the rib shifted again.

The problem is that until you correct the underlying Core Problems in the spine and nervous system that lead to a SHIFTED and curved spine that tends to have weakened core musculature, this problem is going to keep occurring frequently. Remember that the bowing of the spine and rib cage from the forward posture many of us have combined with weaker back muscles is why this condition happens in the first place!

It is incredibly effective to find temporary relief for these painful acute conditions with an adjustment. But now that you know that this issue is really collateral damage from a more pressing problem with the spine and nervous system, you can see why the “quick fix” might not be the right one for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Chiropractic Care For Shifted Rib Joints: A Corrective Approach

We want to help people be out of pain as much as anyone but knowing that a Core Problem in the spine and nervous system can contribute to health problems like these and some we are not even aware of, doesn’t it make sense to buy the car that won’t break down soon and correct the underlying issue.

This is where we get back to Brian,  Jordana, and Gerry

After reviewing their cases, and explaining to them what was explained to you, they all immediately understood how their incredible pain was being manifested in his chest and shoulders respectively, and that it was collateral damage from a problem with the spine.

Jordana and Gerry were proud to let us use their story for this blog because they had extraordinary results from their Corrective Care and as you can see, have “no shifted ribs” anymore. Jordana’s Core Problems were corrected and her Anterior Spinal Shift was reduced by 82% to 0.41 inches!

After Corrective Care, Gerry has NO Anterior Spinal Shift!

This is where the story takes a little twist though. Brian made the choice to get “temporary” care for his “condition” and told us he would “call us when he needed us”. Unfortunately, Brian needed us the very next day because he had spent the rest of his post-correction-pain-free day at a boardroom table for 10 hours. Owing to her desk-bound posture, the rib joint obviously became SHIFTED again from all the stress on the spine.

Later that week, and in more-or-less words, Brian told us that he wanted to invest in a car that wouldn’t break down the next day.

If you want to make the investment to stop the problem from coming back, let us know. Until that time comes, please take advantage of all the great Corrective Exercises being given away on Instagram for the next week or download our MOVE Curriculum.

We love to take on cases for people looking for rib joint pain relief in Toronto. Please don’t let yourself suffer any longer.

-Dr Alex