Front and Back of Ribs Hurt

I had chronic lower back pain after my 2 youngest boys were born. I tried going to a Chiropracter (sp?) and she actually made it worse. I asked my Family Dr. if physical therapy might be helpful since medication wasn't helping. She said maybe, so guess what!? PT worked wonders!! If nothing else is wrong medically it would be worth trying.

I realize that my experience is not what you are dealing with, but the chronic pain after such a long time sounds to me like it is possibly muscular. Good luck!!

Maybe try consulting a physical therapist or chiropracter. If it's muscular, it won't show up on xrays. I go to a massage therapist who does a lot of therapeutic work and she has helped me with the chronic shoulder pain I've had. I can give you referrals to both if you're interested.

This may sound completely off so just dismiss it if this does not apply. But I had post pardum galbladder surgery and I have heard it is actually pretty commen to have an infected gallbladder after the baby is born. It is kind of a strange pain that I thought was coming from my back or maybe even my heart(intense poke that left me pretty debilatated but after a few minutes it would go away). I threw up so much in that pregnancy that I lost alot of weight but I never had any weird pain. Then a month after my baby was born I was laying on my bed about 4 hours after eating a hamburger/frys and I started to experience gallbladder attacks. (Diseased GB don't do well with greasy food) We went to the ER shorty after and it was removed the next day. It was easy for them identify because I had just had a baby. You can see it pretty easily on an ultrasound. My Mom had slow attacks that happened for months before they figured out what was going on. The other clue I learned after the fact is that it is commen to happen within the family, all the women in my family have had to have theirs removed.
Like I said, just delete if this doesn't sound familair but if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.
Good Luck in getting to the bottom of it! It is so hard to be dealing with debilatating pain when you are trying to take of your kidos.
A.

I would ask around for a good chiropractor, (personal reference is the best way to choose one.) Some are reallly good, and a few are not, so if you go by recommendation, you should be able to find a good one. you may have thrown something out of wack with the heaving, or the baby could have thrown something slightly out of place. It won't cost that much to find out, and I would definitely do that before going further with an MRI etc. Always check for the simple solution before you look for the complicated one! best of luck

Sharon, I would also recommend the MRI and then I would get help from a chiropractor. A really good one is Dr. Schwab at Back Bone Chiropractic on Parmer Ln. It's near Cool River.
You could have some ribs or other bones out of place pressing on nerves causing discomfort.
Check out their website. They offer acupunture and massage as well. Good luck and so sorry you are in so much pain!
www.backbonechiropractic.com
Brandi

Get a second Dr. to have look. Pain is a way the body tells us there is something we need to take care of.

Have you been to a chiropractor? My ribs get out of place if i cough too much, etc.

My recent experience showed me that things WILL get worse instead of better as we get older (I'm 38). I had backpain when laying down for 3 mths before I went to the chiropractor and found that I have severe spinal arthritis and torn discs. An MRI showed the best way to treat me. I recommend finding the cause. Good luck.

Sharon:

I'm not a doctor so you may want to take this with a grain of salt. I had a similar problem with my pregnancy with my daughter. I had pulled the muscle away from the rib cage. If it isn't a constant pain and you can move in a way that you get more comfortable you may have experienced some serious muscle pulls disconnecting the muscle from the bone or with the connective tissue. I would recommend talking with your internist or Dr. of Osteopathic medicine about this. I think an MRI will show the muscle issues but I'm not sure who will help with the diagnosis. Lifting the baby may be causing you to reinjure yourself.

I think I would be doing the MRI if it is so bad, and the drcould not find anything.
Good luck and get it checked out. Just to be on the safe side.

I was miss treated with 3 different dr's and 2 ER dr's for 6 months (would not do a simple blood test, all said I had pneumonia, pleurasy, and walking pneumonia, final diagnosis (CML) Leukemia. I almost died because most Dr's think they know everything. Go for the MRI and ease your mind. Dr title does not mean they are right
A.

Sounds to me like it's time for an evaluation by a good chiropractor. The areas you're referring to are associated with the nerves that supply your gastrointestinal tract, and the problem would not have been associated by the typical medical practitioner. If the area of rib pain/back pain have been dysfunctional for a while, they would not only be responsible for your pain, but would aggrevate the GI functions during pregnancy. If so, the problem is fairly easy to correct. If you need info about someone in your area, let me know and I'll help you find someone.

You can ask to tha Doctor for Fibromialgia is pain in the muscle I have somthing similar after I have my last child pain fron and back of ribs.

Dear Sharon,
I would get an MRI for reassurance purposes. Than, once you know every thing is okay, I would suggest seeing someone who can re-align your ribs. I am not real big on chiropractors, but I do know of one who practices in Boerne and he does not do manipulation, but has his own technique. Honestly, I have never been to him, but I do hear great things. I don't think he takes insurance and you may have to file on your own. His name is Dr. Kevin Amen. Get it, "Amen!" Any how, blessings your way and be resourceful because their are many people out there that can help you with your problem, you just have to research and stay consistent.

I had the exact same thing--felt like a wooden stave going through my chest and out the back. Couldn't get rid of the pain. Went to emergency room once vomiting. I was pregnant at the time and couldn't be x-rayed. Turned out to be my gall bladder. I had like 73 gall stones plus a few smaller ones. Felt great after surgery. Now the surgery is very uncomplicated. Nothing like when I had it done. I hope this helps. Good luck!

This may have NOTHING to do with you...but I thought that I would mention it...just in case. My sister is VERY large chested...and didn't wear very supportive bras growing up. Anyways...over the years...all of the "bouncing around" has completely worn out all of the cartiledge between her ribs...so she has a lot of pain from the bones rubbing together. Maybe with all of the dry heaves and everything...you did something similar?? I don't know...just an idea to have checked out. Did they see anything like that on the x-ray???

I have had more than one client with shortness or breath, chest pain, etc who came to see me. It is usually some time after a bout with bronchitis, pneumonia or - as you mentioned - dry heaves.

My guess is the intercostal muscles (muscles between the ribs) have tightened and are severely restricted. Find a REALLY GOOD massage therapist who can work on the freeing up the rib cage, diaphragm and muscles of the chest. 10 to 1 your problem is severe myofascial restriction related more than anything else given your history. :-)

Blessings,
A. <><

I had the exact same thing... and I'm a trainer and asked the other trainers, chriro... I could barely breath and it hurt terribly. I know this answer is WAY after the original question, but I just had to input since mine was the same way... at the same time. Baby born in late 2006.

The lead trainer looked at me one day and told me I was rounding my hips forward. My 2nd baby was much bigger in 4 months than my 1st... like 3 times the size of my 1st by 4 months, and I was holding him in front of me and tilting my hips forward to help hold him. I started doing posture exercises for my lower back and constantly watching my holding position. (I was holding him like I 'had my tail between my legs' (dog analogy) or rounding my lower back. I practiced jutting my rear out and getting the curve back in my lower back and the pain started to go away immediately... all gone in 2 weeks. AMAZING no other trainer caught it. I worked in a gym. But she is very good and knew my posture and what had changed.

Hope this helps others. Mine was muscle/ ligament strain.
L.

I'm not meaning to give you a diagnosis but sounds something like costochondritis. You can google it to read more about it to see if it matches more of what you're experiencing. I hope you find an answer to your problem. Best to you.

I carried my son in my rib cage. I've still kind of had some pain up there afterwards, not to the degree you're experiencing. Makes me wonder if he like tore my diaphragm or something. If it's that bad, you might consider the MRI.

Hope it gets better!

Your lower ribs are cartilaginous (sp?) and a crack will not show up on xray. Also you can get a crack in the intercostal space between the ribs. Do you feel any bumps or lumps in the area of pain? Maybe the cartilige was displaced. I have injured both areas but they healed in less than 20 months! but if you keep re-injuring the area or the cartilige was displaced that could keep giving you pain. Are you experiencing nausea or vomiting? Especially after a high fat meal? A diseased gallbladder can cause right upper quadrant pain that radiates to the back. You don't have to have the nausea or vomitting to have gallstones, etc. It can be just pain.

Just a couple of thoughts. I hope that you feel better soon!!

M.

Has anyone mentioned costal chondritis? It's inflammation of the rib cartilage. I had it after my second child (but it was actually from picking up my oldest who was five at the time and too heavy to pick up.) I probably pulled the cartilage which is maybe what you did when you kept dry heaving. Anyway, it was awful for a while, and I didn't know what to do. It also radiated to my back (I could pinpoint the part of my back that it radiated to - very painful...I wore patches for the back part, but that didn't help the front) My GP diagnosed it right away though, without xrays or anything...just me describing the sypmtoms. He said it is very common, and it will probably bother me on and off indefinitely. He prescribed a low dose NSAID which I've never had refilled. It just helped during the acute inflammation. He also said to maybe go to massage therapy or such, and I did, and it helped a bit. I actually went to a holistic "body talk" therapist who really helped for a while.

Let me know if this sounds like what you have and how it goes. My prayers are with you!
B.

Hi Sharon
It sounds like Pleurisy.Inflamation of the lungs.I cant believe that the doctors did not suggest this to you?Of course I could be wrong.Simply put try an ant-inflamitory,Advil.If this works then that is probably what it is.I have had bouts of it before.You could take hydrocone until you overdose it wont help.Take a couple of Advils and see if that helps,it truly worked like magic for me.I had bruised a rib and was taking hydrocodone.Every time I took a breath it felt as if my lungs wouldnt fit in my rib cage,went back to the doctor and sure enough Pleurisy(he did not do any X-rays)I dont want to lead you in the wrong direction since this is medical.What makes me wonder is why the Doc's that you have seen didnt suggest that????If that doesnt work go for that MRI.
P.S. Tylenol wont work either
Best of luck to you
regards
S.
Let us know what happens

Have they checked your gall bladder for gall stones? They can be very very painful. They can take your breath away and make you feel like you are having a heart attack.

You've recieved a lot of great responses, but I'm also wondering if it is muscle, tendon or ligament realted. I'm not real familiar with anatomy and physiology, but I've had some muscle issues with my lower back, stomach and aroiund my rib cage. When I would have muscle spasms the pain in excruciating and I always had problems lying down.

Maybe a chiropractor or massage therapist could help. For your lower back try sleeping on your side with a pillow between your knees to help your alignment. I know that works for me. Also some simple stretching excercizes for your legs, hamstrings, calves and also your obliques (sides) can help too.

I hope it's not your gallbladder, but have they done other tests to rule out things like that?

I hope you feel better soon!