By Johanna on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 12:55 pm:

Hi,

Two of my lower ribs (the lowest one attached to the breastbone and the one just beneath) touch and scratch eachother when I move or breathe. Sometimes it seems
worse than othertimes (sometimes you can actually the lowest pop under the other), and the worse it gets the worse it hurts. Anyone recognises this, moreover,
anyone knows a solution?

thanks!
Johanna

By Johanna on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 12:55 pm:

Sorry, bad English,
I meant "Sometimes you can actually HEAR the lower one pop under the other"

By Gwen on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 12:56 pm:

Johanna, there is a condition called Twelth Rib Syndrome in which your floating rib, which is not attached to your sternum (at the front) can actually cross over the
eleventh rib and be incredibly painful. Coincidentally this came up in conversation whith my physiotherapist recently. He said that the majority of cases will settle
given time but stubborn ones may require surgical removal of the rib. I wonder whether strapping may be beneficial while there is pain?

By Johanna on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 12:56 pm:

Hi Gwen,

Has this got anything to do with the whole hypermobility thing or did I get myself just another abnormality?
And, how should I strap it, the twelft under the eleventh? I mean under as closer to my back, it is already closer to my feet ofcourse...

By Gwen on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 12:57 pm:

Hi Johanna. Thinking about it, I can see that trying to strap yourself could present some difficulty! The best way I can suggest is, if you have an accommodating
parent/sibling/friend to get them to bind you with really wide adhesive tape. I think it can be obtained in about 6" width, maybe even wider. I'd suggest putting a
layer of Tubegauz or similar on first to prevent the tape sticking to your skin. You'd need to stand really tall, maybe stretch up to hold onto a door frame or such to
give your body full extension before the tape is applied. The other thing to investigate is one of the old-fashioned boned corsets, which would also give you the
necessary support. I imagine a specialist corsetiere would stock these.
I would suspect that this is yet another manifestation of hypermobility as the twelfth rib is only attached at the spine. It could also be a posture thing. Does it occur
only on one side. If so I would suspect you may have some degree of scoliosis (spinal curvature) which is lessening the gap between 11th and 12th ribs. Have a
think about these possibilities. Cheers, Gwen

By Eve on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 12:57 pm:

When i was about 13 until i was about 17,i used to suffer with just this problem!On my right side my lower rib seemed to"pop"out, causing alot of pain and
discomfort.When i saw a docter about this he looked at me as if i was completely mad and just told me to ignore it!!!!!!!
However i am now 23,have 2 beautiful daughters and i have gained about 2 1/2 stone.Since the weight gain i have suffered no more with rib movement and
pain!!!!!But this was quickly replaced by knee,ankle,toe,hip,shoulder,hand,finger,thumb,neckand jaw pain!!!!!!!! Where is the fairness in that!!!!!!

By Debbe on Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 06:36 am:

Johanna,
When my daughter was 12 her lower rib on her right side would pop - it would really hurt her and it was so loud that people standing next to her could hear it. As time when on her rib began to actually dislocate many times a day. She ended up having that rib surgically removed. She was fine for a short time. However then her rib on the left side started doing the same thing. It got so bad over the next few years that by last December her rib would dislocate for up to twenty minutes. She had that rib surgically removed this past January. The surgeon said that her rib was actually getting stuck up underneath her other ribs. He did not think that her other ribs would give her any trouble as he checked them during surgery. I am sorry to say that about two months later her ribs just above the ones that were removed stated dislocating. They are not that bad yet and have not been troubling her the last two months. She can actually feel her rib cage shifting around. We have tried everything including a brace and taping her ribs. Nothing helps. She does not want to have nay more ribs removed and I don't blame her. WE have seen may doctors including a genetic specialist. They all say that she is hypermobile and the only thing they suggest is exercise to strengthen the connective tissues. She has had luck with exercising as far as her knees go but it's a different story with her ribs - it is hard to target that area of her body. She is 19 and only weighs 100 lbs. She also has problems with her hips and knees popping out and her jaw sometimes pops out. She is currently taking glucosamine sulphate and chrondroiton. She sometimes has chest pains that feel so bad that she can't breath and has to stop what she is doing. She says that it feels as if she is having a heart attack. The doctors say that there is nothing wrong with her heart and that this do is part of the hypemobility problem that she has.

She has recently gotten married and is wondering whether she will ever be physically able to have children because of her rib problem.

We are looking into whether wiring her ribs together might be a solution to the problem.

We understand what you are going through. Will post another message if we find anything that helps besides surgery.

Good Luck
Debbe

By Johanna on Thursday, October 19, 2000 - 12:53 pm:

Thanks for your supportive mail! Good luck to you and your daughter too!