By Debbe Rinaldi on Wednesday, June 07, 2000 - 09:54 am:

My 19 year old daughter has had a problem with her ribs dislocating since she was 12. At the age of 14her 9th rib was dislocating with almost every breath. She had it removed. Within 2 years, her 9th rib on the other side started to dislocte once in a while. By November of last year, it would dislocate and actually get stuck under her other ribs for sometimes as long as 20 minutes. The pain she was in was unbelievable. She had this rib removed in January. The surgeon at that time said that she would not have any more problems with her remaining ribs. Now it is almost 6 months later and she has two more ribs dislocating. She says she can also feel her rib cage moving around. We are at a loss as to what to do to help her. She certainly cannot have all of her ribs removed. Has anyone else ever heard of this particular problem?

By Sharon on Saturday, February 10, 2001 - 04:51 pm:

A couple of weeks ago I dislocated two ribs in my sleep, the pain was unbelievable and it hurt just to breath (something that you can't stop doing just because it hurts) my massgae therapist put the back for me. People have told me since that you can't dislocate ribs but I know from experience that this is wron. the massage therapist could see the as soon as took my t-shirt off (they were dislocated in the back near my spine).
I have sympathy for you daughter as this has only happened to me once and I hope never again.
Shaorn :-)

By Debbe on Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 10:17 am:

My daughter is now married and five months pregnant. She has been having problems with her kneess dislocating and her hips popping in and out. So far her ribs have not dislocated during her pregnancy, although she does have pain in her ribs quite often. We are concerned about how her ribs will hold up throughout the pregnangcy and during labor especially during the later stage when she has to push. Her doctor has had no previous experience with patients with hypermobility and sent us to the prenatal center in Syracuse. The doctors there seemed to think that she will not have any problems at all but we are still very concerned.

Good Luck with your ribs-
Debbe

By Pete on Wednesday, May 16, 2001 - 02:09 am:

Since childhood, I have had problems with most of my joints: My Left shoulder comes out of its socket when I raise my arm. My Left thumb is double-jointed as are several fingers and my Left wrist. For the past 20 years I have had a few ribs which ease out of sockets-used to need chiropractor to put them back. Some said that if ribs can dislocate, it is still impossible to diagnosis. I would tell them just run your finger down along my spine until you come to one that's protruding and you have now made the dx!! Now they are so loose all I have to do is put slight pressure on them and arch my head, neck, and back and they fall into place until the next time. I realized after a while that much of the problem is in muscle tension pulling them out so I focus on not tensing so much, and stretching gently. It helps, but they still are in and out many, many times a day. My Right hip also comes out of joint slightly on rare occasions.

My real problem now is my knees, especially the left one. That lower leg was badly broken and set incorrectly so it is quite deformed and hiking and biking put a lot of stress on knee. My knee gets very loose-almost flops around and pops a lot. So I rest it for a few weeks while I wait to get to orthopedist. By the time I do, it has tightened up again. Has anyone ever heard of or experienced this loosening followed by tightening up again?
The MD says it's impossible. I was dx'd with EDS a year ago-this guy doesn't even believe I have it. I don't know what to do. If I try to exercise a joint, it becomes loose, and the only thing that helps is doing nothing.

I am in San Francisco East Bay area. Does anyone know of an orthopedist knowledgable about EDS?
Am I nuts?

By Mei on Friday, June 01, 2001 - 06:43 am:

I have a solution for my shifting ribs! That is as far as my doctor is concerned. He took a good look at my shifting and permanently crossed ribs and decided there was nothing to do except prevent them from moving around any further. So he told me that if could just prevent that from happening it didn't really matter that they are crossed or loose. So I asked him if that meant that I am no longer alowed to breath deep, laugh, cough, cry, sigh or bend my spine, which he confirmed. First I laughed cause I thought he was joking then I found out he was serious and I sighed, I took a deep breath but I couldn't help crying so I bend forward hide my face. Crying usually makes me cough and so did it this time. Imagine my ribs by that time.
Well, actually I laughed nor cried, I shook his hand and left totally amazed by such lacking sense of reality.

By Debbe on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 07:46 am:

We have found no solution to my daughter's dislocating ribs. She has had two ribs removed which helped for a short time but then the ribs located just above the ones that were removed dislocate. Her rib cage also shifts around. Now she is in her last month of pregnancy. Her hips and ribs dislocate all the time and she is in a lot of pain. Her baby is due July 2 and she is terrified of labor. She does not see how she is going to push with everything dislocating. I have even asked doctors if wiring her ribs together would prevent them from dislocating but no one seems to know. A lot of themj ust act like we are nuts.

If anyone ever finds somethhing that helps their rib problem PLEASE let me know.

Debbe

By bubbles8886 on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 10:19 am:

hiya my names Adele im 16 with conjenital joint laxity(which i think may be the same as HMS??????) I take it ur ribs can dislocate then? I went 2 italy a few weeks ago and had a really bad pain in my chest around the ribs it was sooo painful i couldn't breath! The teachers on the trip didn't Know what to do,as i was finding it so hard to play my flute and i had to play solo's(as this was a school music tour) In the end they told me to take some painkillers! this took some of the pain away but i still found it hard to breath, i was so scared! In the end i had to take a very deep breath becausei thought i was going to collaps and i felt my Rib click, it was horrible and so painful! But after i felt alot better and i was able to breath properly again! The thing is this is not the 1st time its happend and mum says you can't dislocate your ribs,and stop being so stupid! As im getting older my pain and dislocations get worse but i have no support from anyone please can some one give me some tips? Any help would be most greatful!!!! Take care and painfree wishes! AdeleXxX

By Sharon on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 06:35 pm:

Adele,
Hypermobiles most definately CAN dislocate ribs (ribs are "held in" with cartliage, which is of course made of collagen) and most definately can dislocate, In the so called "normal" population this only occurs in severe trauma like car accidents when chests hit steering wheels etc. But in us it can occur from coughing, sneezing, moving wrong, sleeping and many many more ways (even just lifting your arms up. You should try to find out stuff on the net about dislocated ribs in Hypermobiles etc or print out this stuff and show your Mum, as when they (your ribs) are out they need to be put back in (by you or someone else) as you can puncture a lung from the rubbing on your lungs of the dislocated rib (not to mention the terrible terrible pain, this causes).Also try talking to your doctor if you have one that understands Hypermobility etc and see if he/she will explain to your mum that yes you can definately dislocate your ribs.
Hope this helps.
Bye the way i too have got worse as I got older (I am a 31 Year old female from Australia)

By adele on Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 12:54 pm:

hi sharon,
howa u? THanx for the help and advice!!!! i went 2 the docs the other day(finaly)who wasn't sure wat was wrong with me!he doesnt understand about HMS and has finaly said he will find and send me to a joint specialist to c if i can be diagnosed proper!!! The only reason for even saying he would is because my left shoulder is never in its socket, i move and it pops out!He asked 2 feel it, he touched it and it came out!!lol. he asked about the pain and finaly agreed 2 give me some better painkillers once he relised the mega pain i was experiancing!i'm just getting to the stage where im fed up, because no1 relly in my family does anything about my hms,my mum has FMS so she tells me that i should be lucky i dont have as many probs as her so she hardly helps!i have 2 deal with everything myself which can be hard!!! my friends dont understand either so cant understand y i cant go out shopping with them etc!its hard I just wish i new more people my age with the condition!noone around where i live has it let alone even heard of it! Anyway enough of my moaning its not fair on u!its just i dont no many people that will listen and understand!Thanks for listening! Hope you are well?!? Take care, painfree hugz and wishes! AdeleXxX