Patient’s Question: What causes Rib Cage Pain, Asymmetry or For Rib Cage To Look Deformed?

Dr. Spooner, DPT Answers: Sometimes a reason why this happens (that’s easy to see) would be from scoliosis - a sideways curvature of the spine. The picture below is how people are screened for scoliosis and you can easily see how their ribs change shape when they bend forward, looking at them from behind:

How We’re Built and What That means For Our Ribs

As shown in the picture below, our ribs attach to our spine on the backside, and to cartilage on the front. Imagine they’re like 12 separate bucket handles of different sizes on each side of your body. The way we’re built, when we breath in and our chest expands, the handles tilt up then tilt back down as we exhale. They’ll also move when we bend or twist any which direction.

What If It’s Not Scoliosis?

If it’s not scoliosis, sometimes one or two of your ribs may get “sticky” and not move very well or a vertebrae might rotate slightly due to a muscle cramp, imbalance or injury, and that imbalance can lead to some rib pain and discomfort. It’s usually not an emergency and can be easily fixed up.