Is it possible that I could have Tietzes Syndrome (Slipping rib syndrome)?

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•♦J♦•

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For awhile now I have been to the doctors due to pain on my right hand side. It has been diagnosed as IBS and pulled muscle, but I have always felt it was more.

I don't have to eat for this pain to come on, so I always doubted IBS
I don't even have to move for the pain to come (I feel it at the moment, it is very dull but it is there!) so I very much doubt it is a pulled muscle.

Sooo, I decided to look in books and online to see what fits my symptoms exactly and I finally found one... Tietzes syndrome.

I suspected this when I read it is to do with the cartilage around your ribs, since that is where the pain is. When I get the pain it is swollen and tender, and I have noticed that when I laugh I get something which feels like a rib moving, and it feels horrible! I get that feeling higher up on another rib, but I don't get any pain.

This is probably related to, but when I was at college a few weeks back I suddenly got a pain all the way up the the side of my body so it hurt to turn to the right and walk downstairs. It went off after about 10 mins.

Anyway, could I be on the right track?

Here are my symptoms: (Truthfully, not in anyway modified to fit what the NHS have said on their site!!)
-Pain which comes on suddenly around my bottom rib
-Feeling that a rib shifts from time to time
-Swelling when pain is present.

And here is what it says on the NHS site:




Thanks for any help!! I am 18, and female if that is useful. :D
 
That sounds similar to what I am experiencing, except my pain is on the left side. I have had XRAY's, blood tests, and ultrasounds and everything came back normal. They tell me I have costochondritis.

My pain is pretty constant though. It started back in Oct then went away until Jan and then went away until about 2 weeks ago when it has been pretty constant. I just had the U/S Friday and it was normal.

Is your pain at the bottom rib more in the center or off to the side of your body?
 
Are you still dealing with this pain? I still am and it seems to be getting worse, but they keep telling me it is costochondritis. It hurts to wear tighter fitting pants when I am sitting down. How are you dealing?
 
I would definitely first get an x-ray to get things looked at, and go from there!

Stabevrian, what kind of treatment do they offer for your condition? Is there anything available to help with the pain?

This is an interesting post because I often feel my ribs feel that they "slip" and move around, yet there is no pain!
 
Last winter when I stretched and bent over to clean out a shower drain I felt a "pop" in my upper right back. I didn't think too much about it since it didn't cause a great deal of pain at that time. It seemed to go away for a month or so, then I started having hard muscle spasms all the way around my rib cage, almost like a python squeezing me in two. It was hard to breathe sometimes. I also had a tingling and cold feeling in the center of my upper back (about where a bra fastens.) When I wore my regular underwire bras it seemed worse, so I bought bras two sizes larger, without underwires. Still didn't help much. If I bent over at all, (even sitting down,) I had pain. This went on for 2 more months with little relief. I started exercising again thinking I needed to strengthen my back. Wow--don't do that!! It exacerbated the problem, making a lot of pain at the sternum. It got so sore, I could hardly touch it.

I began searching the web for like symptoms and found "slipping rib syndrome." I read a lot of blogs and found that Drs. did not seem to know what to do about it. After reading a lot of research, I began to put together a plan of action. Here's what I did, and it seems to be working for me:

I stopped doing any form of exercise. Stopped doing any lifting or twisting. I bought a corselette (type of slimmer) that reaches from under my bra to below the waist, with whale boning (an old term meaning it has stiff reinforcements (staves) located vertically in approx. 6 to seven locations around the corset.) I wear this all day and only take it off when I shower or go to bed. Since I have heavy breasts, I also wear a heavy duty sports bra that has lots of support.

I have found that the combination of these things has resulted in keeping the rib cage stabilized and the "loose slipping rib" in place. It also keeps me from doing a lot of twisting. I've been wearing it for about 6 weeks and the pain has reduced tremendously, the squeezing sensation and the numbness and tingling in my back has disappeared. When I take off the corset, I can feel the difference the support makes. The area where the rib displacement is, is more discernible now. I also have an occasional itching there that probably signifies healing.

Do not buy a "slimmer" without staves--it will not give the pressure the ribs need to hold them in place. Do not buy one that is too tight. It should be comfortably tight--you will not be able to stand one all day that squeezes you too much. Try on several sizes, wear it around the house (with the tags still on) to determine if it is too tight. (Exchange it for a bigger size if it pinches anywhere.) It will be uncomfortable for a while, but now I hardly notice mine. As a matter of fact, I put it on automatically because it makes me feel so much better.

Men could also do this--slimmers come in large sizes. But cessation of exercise is a must---It just makes it worse---even walking. I tried it.
 
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