Turned Rib Head and chostocondritis? | Arthritis Information

My dr increased my prednisone to 15 mg since I have been in a bad flare. As I started to feel better I realized that the pain in my shoulder I'd had for months and figured was RA was still there and was very painful. Turns out it is a rotated rib head: the end of the rib where it comes up to the vertebrae is turned so it is popping out my shoulder blade and wreaking havoc with the muscles. I read somewhere that this can happen related to chostocondritis (sorry about the sp!). Anyone know anything about this?

Laker

I don't know anything about this but it sounds scary.

Hopefully someone here will be able to answer your question.

Did you call your Dr?

OUCH, I've not heard of this but it sounds so painful and possibly dangerous. What are they prescribing for you - PT, meds, surgery, etc.? Are there any dmards or biologics that you can take? I'm so sorry that you've had this added to an already bad flare. LindyI have major issues with costochondritis. I have had so much inflammation in the rib/sternum/clavical area that the joints are obviious to the touch of the dr. and deformities show up on xray. I just had two more steriod injectons on either side of the sternum yesterday.

If you have severe pain and/or persistant costo there is stuff that can be done. For 99% of the world it is a discomfort for a few days/weeks but if it lingers and can really be debilitiating. I have had ultrasounds and PT for it on numerous occasions. Nerve blocks and steriod injects are what get me through now. At this point I have a slight loss in the range of motions of the ribcage.

Call you dr if you are still having problems. My posture was severely affected by the pain and it has taken us about 6 months for me to fully be able to roll my shoulders back and stand up straight. So many muscles attach to the ribs that you can have quite a bit of muscle atrophy. Point I am trying to make...catch this now if you can.

Sorry you are in pain-it is pretty rotten. Let us know if you call the doc.Thank you. I went to the dr and was sent for xrays and PT which is how I found out what is wrong. When I looked it up, I noticed the costo was connected to the rotated rib head problem. I had a lot of trouble with costo last winter, but no one seemed concerned about it or suggested I do anything about it. Sounds like I need to complain a lot more if I get it again.

Apparantly I have a lot of inflammation in the area. I am surprised the pred did not help more with that. I am scheduled for PT 3 x a week for a month - we will see how it goes. Kind of scares me that I have had so much pain in my joints that I didn't realize how bad the shoulder was. The PT said my posture is affected as well and is working on getting the muscles loosened up and things back in place. Also have developed weakness in my left arm and wrist - don't know if that's related.

Rebecca, I am sorry you have so much trouble with this, it has been only off and on for me and I thought it was terribly painful. I didn't know anything could be done about the costo. I won't let my dr. blow it off again. Thanks so much for the info.

Laker

Wow!
I'm so glad you made this post! For a few years I've been having problems with a rib on my right side. It has actually become a joke- when I laugh really hard this rib seems to 'pop'- SO PAINFUL! Everyone says, "It's gotta be funny when Audrey pops a rib!" Not so funny when I'm passing out from pain [QUOTE=Laker]