Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group knife-like pain in mid back? could be rib heads.

can't believe its been so many years of going to doctors and PTs and even a chiro complaining of it feeling like "someone is sticking a knife into my midback" and no one really being able to do much for it.

well, as you've been reading, i've finally found a chiro addressing the problem and getting relief like i wouldn't believe if it weren't happening to me.

so many here complain of that "knife stuck in the mid back" that i thought i'd share a few links i've found tonight.

i'm learning that at least for me, the rounded shoulders forward is putting undue stress on the "rib heads" where they are attached at the spine. and no wonder for years now i've had these knife like pains back there.

if anyone else has these pains, just another thing to consider. this is the first time i'm actually reading about something and its using the term "knife like pain" so i think i'm seeing a connection for me.

apparently working on my posture with someone doing soft tissue work on me may help.

http://gouldchiropractic.com/category/rib-head-pain/
http://www.chiropractic-help.com/chest-pain.html
http://themaskedblogger.wordpress.com/2007/06/05/how-did-i-pop-a-rib-head/
http://www.cascadewellnessclinic.com/articles/2000art/art0006.shtml

apparently this all can cause terrible sternum pain as well. thus far i only had that happen last fall.

and repositioning things can be done gently and carefully, doesn't have to be done aggressively and with force. i know that's a big concern for so many here.

Hi sue,
Just wanted to say that the pain you describe here is also the same as when your ribs and sternum are fusing.So although I appreciate this could be very useful for some people I would also say to people with AS be cautious and consult your Doctor before seeing a chiropractor although it can be useful provided they have a good understanding of AS it can also do a lot of harm.
Hope you don't mind me saying this sue.

Kevin

It is known that chiropractors are benefician for AS people in the early stages. Off course they are not beneficial for those who unfortunately are in the fusing process.
I support Kevin, fisrt consult a doctor. A loot of harm cand be avoided.

Also lots of good things can happend to you if you are fit for it. A month ago i visited someone with such skils. Helped alot - i have the same rib pains Sue described - specialy regarding my posture and that pain.

by all means kevin, i think its important to present all sides. glad you added that.

until this past week or two, i just assumed some of my rib pain was "costochondritis" or tendon/ligament enthesitis, as for me no signs of fusing. so this was all new to me.

and do think the word of caution so important. i first saw a chiro who always wanted to "align me with a quick thrust", wouldn't let him. i went there for my ultrasound because it was far less of a hassle than going for PT (no referrals, could get in right away, no justification to insurance when i'd need to go, etc). then last year when my physiatrist couldn't help me with my SI beyond recommending yet more SI cortisone injections 6 months after she injected them bilaterally and i didn't want them so frequently, she sent me to a chiro that she thought was the most successful for SI dysfunction. but i could tell he was really good because he wouldn't work on me, when he heard my history, he said my doctor should have never sent me there, that his method works well for mechanical issues of the SI joint (SI dysfunction) but was way too extreme for someone with inflammatory arthritis issues like i have. he gave me the name of a chiro that uses the activator method and since i know kat does that felt pretty confident in that. but he would have also done my c-spine (neck) and i was leery of that with the spondylosis there, so held off, though i might go for other parts of my spine but maybe not my neck. and now once again i feel like i've found someone good as he said he could "pop" my rib back into place but he won't do that to me, too extreme for me, and he won't do much more if anything to my neck other than traction because of the damage there. he's the only one who wouldn't work on me without xray / CT / MRI reports upfront.

so i agree with you, caution is very important. and i only ended up here because last year a GP, rheumatologist, 2 physiatrists, and a PT couldn't help me and couldn't even send me to someone who could. so like you said, i went to all my doctors that i thought should be able to help me and couldn't and this is how i ended up where i am currently. my way is to err on the side of caution, i just don't do something if i'm unsure, and in almost every case, when i finally agree to something, in hind sight its like, why did i wait so long.

but i agree, i would only see a chiro who takes our individual circumstances into account and proceeds with extreme caution. certainly don't want to make matters worse.

i think chiropractic is seen the way i always thought, the old fashioned straight "crack the back" treatments. and i'm slowly learning that it has evolved into a profession with various approaches, a lot of newer approaches that are not so extreme, everything from using an activator for adjustments to massage, triggerpoint therapy, active release technique, ultrasound, all kinds of gentler things.

but if one is fused or fusing, not sure how someone should approach it. and would hope that person's rheumatologist would be able and willing to advise.

also wanted to add, the main thing this chiro is focussing on is stretching and posture and getting the body to do things to the best of its ability, naturally. these all sound like good things to me

Sue, glad he is giving you some relief. I always had really good posture and fought to keep it during the yrs. that I was fusing. I fused pretty straight, although I was pulled forward a little, then I got thrown from the back of a lawn tractor and snapped my spine between C-6 and C7. The surgeon that put the halo on me had never seen me and lined it up where it looked like it would heal the best, my wife kept telling him I was angled way farther down than I had been, but he said that was the only position it would heal properly. Now I could be twins with Kevin. Apparently there was a lot of pent up stress in my spine and it went where it had been trying to for yrs.

Anyway to get back to the point, I had the sternum pain terribly while fusing, but not any rib pain to speak of, so I think posture has a lot to do with it.
J.R.