Ribs. Yum!
Ok, not those kind of ribs. I’m talking about the kind in your chest. Went to the physical therapist for my first session today after the car wreck of a few weeks ago that screwed up my back. The pain meds the docs had been giving me weren’t working. The pain was still there so he sent me for physical therapy. I went through the whole questionaire and interview part where they ask about your pain and how it was caused. The therapist did a work up on me and poked and prodded my back and figured out where the pain was its greatest. He then moved to my chest and found a point on my left chest that hurt that I hadn’t noticed. He called over another therapist and told her he thought I had a ‘displaced rib’. She poked and prodded and agreed. He then had me lay on my back and give myself a big bear hug. He leaned on me twisted me to the side and had me take a deep breath and exhale. As I exhaled he leaned on me more and there were some loud cracks from my back. I instantly felt a bit better.
He then had me roll on my stomach and he hooked electrodes to my back and started stimulating the muscles. He put a big warm blanket on me and I promptly fell asleep. He then rolled me on my back again and pushed the rib around from the front. That hurt a bit but felt better once he finished. He gave me a few excersizes for home and I’ll see him 3 times a week for a couple weeks until my back gets back to normal.
I now believe totally in delayed injuries resulting from a car crash. The rib that was giving problems is right where the seatbelt rests on my left side as it crosses my body.