This video, I'm going to show you how to fix a rib that's out
of place. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to quickly
fix a rib that feels like it's popped, slipped, or just out of
place and to make it easy, I'm going to break the video up
into three separate parts and each part will focus on a
different cause. In the first part, we're going to do
stretching exercises to loosen up that soft tissue tightness
and hopefully give some quick rib pain relief. In the second
part, we're going to do a self-mobilization technique
that may end in a satisfying pop, crack, or release. In the
last part, we're going to try to get rid of rib pain for
good, keep everything where it needs to be with a great
strengthening exercise. All parts work just a little bit
differently. So, go through them all and use what works
best for you. As a bonus, all of the exercises can be done at
home and may give quick rib pain relief even in as little
as 30 seconds. So, let's get started and fix that rib pain
for good right now. A big reason why a rib might feel
like slipped, popped, or out of place is because of a strain or
sprain in the soft tissue that supports the ribs in the back,
around the rib cage, and also the chest. Here are some great
stretching exercises that may give quick rib pain relief and
may also end in a satisfying self-pop crack or release. This
first one is best done seated with very good upright posture.
So, take your arms, overlap them like this, kind of like a
genie position. Whatever side that you're having pain. Let's
say it's my left side right here. You're going to turn your
body in the opposite direction. So, I'm turning all the way
towards my right. The more that you go over, the more that
you're going to start to feel restriction, possibly
discomfort, starting to form. So, go to that point but not to
the point where it's agonizing. What I'm going to do is kind of
like a before and after at this point. This will be our before
because you're going to notice that this right here will
probably offer you a lot more range of motion, pain-free
range of motion at the end. So, once I can't go any further,
what I'm going to do is then tilt my body downward. So,
taking my right shoulder down towards the floor as much as I
can. You'll really feel a very deep intense stretch over the
back and the rib cage. Go as far as you can comfortably.
From there, we're going to try to expand the rib cage and also
activate the intercostal muscles by doing a deep breath
in and then letting letting it all out and do that about three
complete times just nice and slowly. From there, I'm going
to come back up. You're going to notice now that you
can just turn your body a little bit more and then I'm
just going to repeat that process nice and slow building
into each repetition. I just keep doing this over and over
again until I can't go any further and then afterwards, do
that before and after. You'll probably notice that you
started right here and now you can turn a lot further with
less pain or discomfort and when doing that motion, I tend
to also get a sudden pop or release in my back around that
rib if it does feel like it's locked up and it does release
quite quick but when you're done on one side, I do
recommend switching to the other to keep them both
in balance. So, here's a really easy stretching exercise that
you can do standing right in a doorway. What I'm going to do
is bend my elbows roughly at ninety degrees kind of like a
field goal position. Just put your forearms flush against the
door frame. From here, my feet are going to be together and
then I'm going to just lean my whole body forward as I can.
You want a nice, deep, comfortable stretch with this
one. You're going to feel the chest really open up ribs right
here over the sternum going into the sides into the rib
cage and then also towards the back kind of like almost the
shoulder blades in the back pinching together it usually
feels really really good and if you do have some spots that are
locked up you might get that sudden pop crack or release but
I try to hold this one comfortably for about 20
seconds doing nice slow deep breaths in and out to activate
the rib cage and those intercostal muscles. From there,
I'm just going to come back like this and relax and I try
to do this one three to five times. With each repetition,
really allow your body weight to go forward and stretch more
into it. From there, if it still feels like you need a
little bit more, you can experiment with different
movements and placements of the arms and hands. So, instead of
doing kind of like a field goal position right here, straighten
your arms up like this to do a Y position and lean forward.
You'll notice it hits the chest and the back just a little bit
differently. You can also create a W right here with your
elbows and give that one a try. If you have a lot more off to
one side. You can also just focus on one side by
stabilizing your shoulder right here with the other side's hand
and then leaning into it. So, if I have a lot of right-sided
pain, I'm just leaning forward into it as much as I can. It
usually offers a little bit more of a stretch but whatever
you do on one side, I do recommend switching to the
other to keep them both in balance. In this part, I'm
going to show an easy way to self mobilize, pop, crack,
release, whatever you want to call it, the upper back and
around the ribs. This one is going to require a foam roller.
If you don't have one, it's a worthwhile investment if you
have chronic upper back and rib pain. I'm going to be using a
twenty-four-inch high-density foam roller. You want one that
is going to be wide enough to cover your whole back. They're
very easy to get. You can get em at local sporting goods
departments online. I'll leave a link in this video's
description if you would like to get it on Amazon, but we're
going to start lying on our back. Put the foam roller right
at the bottom of the middle back. Do not do this over the
lower back because it jam up the joints causing discomfort
only over the middle to upper back but I'm going to take my
hands, place them on the back of my head just like this. I'm
going to then wing my elbows and allow gravity to take my
upper back and head down. You'll feel a gentle stretch.
It helps put the back into extension opening up those
joints. From there, I'm going to lift my butt up kind of like
a bridge exercise and then use my leg strength to roll up and
down any spot that you feel needs attention. Just go nice
and slowly over it up and down for about five to 10
repetitions. Do nice, slow control breathing also with
this one if there is a segment that is locked you might get
that sudden pop crack or release but from there if you
feel like you need a little bit more attention especially off
to one side, like let's say I have a little bit more on my
right side right here, you can tilt your body towards that
direction and then hit the ribs just a little bit more. I really
feel it over my right side, it feels really good, but just
repeat this over spot that just needs attention and if you need
to focus a little bit more off to one side, again, just tilt
your body a little bit more to hit those ribs. If that spot
just still feels very tight lock, doesn't want to release.
We can take this one to the next level by putting a little
bit more of a passive stretch in there to help open it up.
The thing with this, do not try to force it. This should be a
very deep, comfortable stretch but should not be painful. If
you experience pain, please discontinue immediately. So,
I'm going to center the foam roller right over that spot
that I'm focusing on. From there, I'm going to try to wing
my elbows and take my head down as much as I can. Building the
back into extension. This might be enough right here to finally
just get it to release and feel a lot better. If you feel like
you need a little bit more, you can then do a winging motion
with your elbows and bring your head down at the same time.
Kinda watch how I do this. Just a quick winging motion like
that. Puts a passive stretch of that area. Again, you might a
sudden pop. Don't try to force it though and you can do this
one for about three to five times. You can also experiment
by taking your hands right here, overlapping them, taking
them down, and then do a quick drop with the hands too. I
don't know if you actually heard it over the microphone
but I got a nice ooh right there. Nice little release with
that but you can repeat that over any spot. It's just as a
quick way to self mobilize the upper back and the ribs. So,
one of the best ways to make sure that your ribs stay in
place is to strengthen in the upper back and chest that helps
support the ribs. I'm going to go over a combination exercise
that you can do daily in bed or on a floor. The first movement
is a yoga pose called the cat camel. It really helps with
spine mobility and also building core strength. So,
what I'm going to do is start off on all force just like
this. The movement to begin with is rounding the back kind
of like arching it up like this as much as we can while tucking
the stomach inwards and engaging those core muscles. I
try to hold this one for a couple seconds and then from
there, I'm just going to relax by allowing my stomach to go
down towards the floor and I raise my head up very slightly.
You'll feel a little bit of a different stretch going into
the abdomen right here into the chest and also the upper back
but you want to do this one nice and slowly for about 10 to
15 repetitions with each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more and afterwards, if you feel like
you have a little bit more energy, you can throw in
another set or two. Next, we're going to focus a little bit
more on thoracic rotation. So, again, I'm going to start on
all fours. I'm going to take one hand, place it behind my
head just like this. Engage my core for support and then just
rotate by turning my upper body and elbow up towards the
ceiling. When you do this, you're going to feel a ton of
muscles fire in the chest and upper back. You want to hold
this position for about 5 seconds. You're going to slowly
come back down and then you're just going to repeat it on the
other side. I try to do this one for about 10 to 15
repetitions on both sides and again, if you feel like you
have a little bit more energy, you can throw in another set or
two. Next, we're going to do the classic push up because it
really just helps with chest strength and also with upper
back strength. A lot of people have difficulty with the push
ups. So, if that is you, start off by doing a kneeling push
up. So, I'm going to just place my body weight over my knees
like this crisscross my legs. From there, I can then do a
push up. I try to pull my arms off to the side and then just
control this motion just nice and slowly. What you want to do
is fight your body weight going down and then slowly come up
like this. Engaging both the back and the chest muscles at
the same time. Try to do this one for 10 to 15 repetitions.
If you want to make it more challenging, you can throw more
repetitions in and then do as many sets as you like. From
there, you progress into the full push up once you gain the
strength or already have it. If the exercises help, please
support the channel by giving this video a like and maybe
subscribing to the channel too. If you have any comments or
questions, please leave them below. I'll get back to you as
soon as I can. Thanks for watching!