How to actually fix (most) Costochondritis and Tietze's Syndrome Chest Pain - Part (1)
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- There is a sort of mad disconnect between how costochondritis is understood and fixed in manual physiotherapy in New Zealand, and how it is not understood and not fixed in most other places in the world. Of course it’s not a mystery and of course it’s fixable.
Most costochondritis is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” that nobody understands and which will settle down shortly. This standard medical view is NOT supported by the research evidence. The best evidence fully supports our New Zealand manual physiotherapy view that most costo is a straightforward rib joint locking problem, and as such is readily fixable.
WHAT CAUSES ALMOST ALL COSTOCHONDRITIS: This is easy to follow. Think of your ribs like bucket handles, hinged at the front (onto the breastbone) and at the back (onto your backbone). The ribs lift up and down as you breathe, and also move as you twist and move around.
Now, if the posterior rib joints (where the ribs hinge onto your spine) are frozen solid and not moving, then the more delicate joints where the ribs hinge onto your breastbone HAVE to work excessively, just to let you breathe. So they strain, get irritated, then get inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. If they’re inflamed enough to produce obvious swelling then it’s called Tietze’s Syndrome.
(The rib movement round the back can freeze up for a variety or reasons - strain, impact (including the percussive impact of much coughing), chronic asthma, scarring and strain after chest operations, scoliosis, and much hunching over computers and smartphones a.k.a. the iHunch.)
This means that EVERY treatment, medical or non-medical, which is just trying to heal just this "mysterious inflammation" on the breastbone, misses the point. That's why they don't help much if at all, don't last, and don't fix the problem.
PERSONAL HISTORY: I had costo myself for seven years after a climbing fall onto my rib cage - with all the sharp stabbing chest pain, the breathing difficulties and the fear I was having a heart attack that comes with it. I fixed it after coming through physio school in New Zealand, and haven’t had even a twinge in decades. I can do anything physical - it’s completely fixed.
HOW YOU FIX MOST COSTOCHONDRITIS: This is perfectly logical - you free up the tight rib machinery around your back and sides which is causing the overuse strain and pain of the rib joints on your breastbone. This is quite quick and not difficult. How to do it is explained in more detail in our RUclips video ‘How to fix (most) costochondritis and Tietze’s Syndrome chest pain; Part (2)’ - link is • How to fix (most) Cost...
This sensible New Zealand approach is validated by the best evidence on fixing costo, from Zaruba and Wilson (2017) in the US - link is www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... By comparison, there has NEVER been a clinical trial to test whether anti-inflammatory medications or steroid shots into the rib joints on the breastbone actually help.
OTHER TREATMENTS: Sure, medications or topical CBD cream such as Penetrex may help suppress the pain a bit, plus a healthier diet may help your body cope better. But they still miss the CAUSE of the problem and therefore cannot fix it. Anyway, you know this - most people with costo also have some pain and tightness round the back where the ribs are immobile, but this gets disregarded because the overuse pain on the breastbone is much worse.
MORE INFO: See the COSTOCHONDRITIS page on the Backpod's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costo... The Backpod with its home program was developed to treat the iHunch, but it is important for costo because it will also do a really effective stretch on tight rib joints, and this is the irreducible core of fixing almost all costo.
SERIOUS NOTE: Chest pain could be heart so emphatically get yourself checked out by a doctor first. Doctors are good at this - they're just not usually good at costo. But up to a half of patients presenting to a doctor or hospital Emergency Department with chest pain don’t have heart problems - so here’s the way to go if you’re one of them.
Think for yourself and good luck with the work.
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio. (New Zealand)).
I suffered for 3 years, and this video proved to be a breakthrough for me, and literally saw results in one week, just fantastic. I visited a local physio armed with this information and treatment and they followed your instructions. I wish more physio's and doctors knew about this, as I have visited 2 physios, x1 chiropractor , three doctors and had CT and xray, and this was the breakthrough I required. THNAKS Steve!!!
This video is a lifesaver! I’ve been dealing with this chest/sternum pain for YEARS. After seeing this video I saw a technique Bob and Brad used to mimic the Backpod until my shipment gets here. Literally in 15 minutes, like you said, 90% of the pain was gone! Our bodies are truly amazing and thank God for guys like you who go for the root of the problem and not just masking symptoms. Thank you, thank you, thank you 💕
HI Shakiyla. Good! Well done on thinking for yourself. Do go quietly to start with - you're staring to stretch joints that have been frozen for years, and costo will bite you if it can. It’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. Until the Backpod arrives, there's a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. You can use Bob and Brad's object until then - it'll start you off. The Backpod itself is the best - we built it specifically for this job from 30 years of New Zealand physio.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Is your Costco gone?
Thanks so much! Hitting those spots on the back made such a huge difference, and so quickly as well.
Thank you!!!!! After weeks of pain, I landed upon your video, purchased the back pod and was relieved in just a week. I was petrified that this was going to be something I just have to deal with. I’m so grateful
Hi Daniella. Well done on thinking for yourself. Of course costo is usually readily fixable. We're a bit gobsmacked that our sensible research-supported New Zealand manual physio understanding of costo and how you fix it isn't the usual approach in most other places in the world.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it'll take more time before it's all free enough to stay free. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19. At a minimum, you should both wear masks, hand sanitise, and when you get home take all your clothes off and put them straight into the washing machine and you straight into the shower, including washing your hair.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work. Well done.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
I cannot thank you enough for your research and efforts around Costochondritis and Tietze's Syndrome. I've personally been suffering from Costochondritis for close to seven years now, and I'm frustrated that I'm only stumbling across this information now. Whenever I feel I have a handle on things, I go back to the gym, and after a few months, the pain of Costochondritis comes back and in force. It's taken an incredible emotional toll on me because I'm constantly worried about injuring myself all the time. So thank you again, and I look forward to receiving the Backpod, doing all of your exercises, and getting this thing taken care of once and for all.
Thanks, Blake. I sympathise. I had costo for seven years myself, understood it after training as a physio in New Zealand, and fixed it completely. No pain whatsoever for over 30 years now. Of course it's not a mystery, and of course it's fixable.
Here's a long wordy PDF on the other bits you'll probably need after seven years of it, as well as the Backpod. It's more easily read on a computer not a phone.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
Dear DOCTOR AUGUST,
I would like to thank you for everything you have done for people suffering from costochondritis. I had seen many doctors, osteopaths and so on and none of them could identify the problem. I had even my gallbladder removed as had stones but the pain did not go. I guess I am ' a small sack' lighter now!LOL Getting back to the subject.......... I received my Backpod the other day from Germany. It's only two days now but I can already feel the difference. IT HAS BEEN GREAT AND I AM KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED! It is great to know that there are people like you out there who share their knowledge and experience to help others.
Mat God give you health and happiness for many years to come.
NOW I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS A FEW WORDS TO PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM COSTO. NEVER, EVER GIVE UP! LEARN AND EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT YOUR BODY AND HOW IT WORKS. YOU ARE THE BEST DOCTOR FOR YOURSELF. AND YOUR BODY HAS AMAZING HEALING POWERS BUT YOU NEED TO HELP IT AND BE PATIENT. AND LOOK AT IT HOLISTICALLY. NOBODY SHOULD SUFFER AND WE SHOULD HAVE A HAPPY LIFE.
I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND IF I SUGGEST WHAT ELSE CAN BE HELPFUL WITH YOUR BATTLE AGAINST COSTO.
FIRST, LOOK INTO SUPPLEMENTING YOURSELF WITH BORAX, MAGNESIUM, VITAMINS D3 AND K2. THAT WILL HELP YOUR MUSCLES AND BONES TO REGENERATE.
SECONDLY, AS HARD AS IT IS, TRY TO EAT HEALTHY. ALKALISE YOUR BODY.
THIRDLY, MOVE- STRETCH, WALK, DO YOGA, MEDITATE, ETC.
THERE IS SO MANY THINGS TO LEARN ABOUT HOW YOUR BODY WORKS AND ADJUSTS TO HELP YOU HAVE A HAPPY LIFE.
I DON'T WANT TO PREACH HERE BUT I HOPE IT HELPS AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT WITH THE JOURNEY TO YOUR HEALTH.
I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST HEALTH IN YOUR LIFE AND MANY HAPPY DAYS WITH THE ONES CLOSE TO YOUR HEARTS.
KEEP POSITIVE AND NEVER SURRENDER.
So, costo's a mystery they say,
And puts your body astray,
Steve August's logic is clear
For costo He has no fear,
The area is no longer grey.
I (unknowingly) had costo for 1.5 weeks. Was in the hospital for 3 days, they said my heart was fine. I had 24 hour pain and couldn’t breath in very deep. It was a miracle that I came across your video and even watched it. I had never heard of costochondritis I used a ball for 30 minutes and when I stood up the pain was completely gone. I couldn’t believe it!!! That was yesterday. I feel it very slightly right now so will repeat yesterday’s session. For sure God placed your video in front of me! (Because no doctor here would have figured it out and the constant stabbing pain was too much)
Doctor's don't know nothing it's sad you have to find out your own information
Praise God 🙌🏼
I've been pretty swamped with enquiries and comments since we put up this video. The comments are pretty much all thank Heavens someone finally made sense of costochondritis for us. The enquiries are for more detail about specific treatments and exercises we'd use to fix CC. I'm doing a further video specifically on that which we should have up on RUclips shortly. I'm still fairly blown away by how much CC is seen as a mysterious problem - in New Zealand manual physiotherapy we see it as logical and just not a big deal to sort out. Hang in there. Steve August, physio.
How often should I use the Backpod? It does relieve the pain every time I use it.. should I use it every day regardless if I'm having pain or not? Do I use the Backpod every day until I have several weeks or months with no pain?
@@hondaatc1987 Hi. What you're using the Backpod for, is to stretch free the tight rib and spinal machinery around the back which is causing the pain and strain at the front. This takes time. Do it daily until you don't need a pillow, then you can back off to a few times a week, then once a week for a few months.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred.
Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19. At a minimum, you should both wear masks, hand sanitise, and when you get home take all your clothes off and put them straight into the washing machine and you straight into the shower, including washing your hair.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch.
As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19. At a minimum, you should both wear masks, hand sanitise, and when you get home take all your clothes off and put them straight into the washing machine and you straight into the shower, including washing your hair.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Steve, thank you for the video. Question, you mentioned collagen being sticky and making the joints stiff. I’m currently taking a liquid collagen is this a bad idea? Also, does CC cause pain the neck as well? I’ve been having pain for over 6 months on both panels of my neck.
@Vape Girl Hi. Nothing planned. I do lecture on costochondritis to the doctors at various medical conferences and A&Es in New Zealand.
What I'm trying to find time to complete is a whole website on costo for doctors patients, physios, chiros, specialists, etc. I think it will be the main resource for detailed treatment and understanding of costo.
That's really not being arrogant - there just isn't anything much out there otherwise with accurate treatment detail based on the actual costo medical research. This still astounds me.
Keep watching the Backpod's New Zealand website - www.backpod.co.nz It'll go up on there when it's finished - I reckon it'll be a month or two yet, though.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Mr. Steve.. Thanks for the Backpod.. It really helps.. Just want to ask, it is normal to have back pain whenever I use the back pod? And how long to use it to achieve the feel free pain? It takes years or months? I am using it for almost 4 month.. Twice a day.Thanks
Thank you for this video! I rushed to the hospital on Saturday with sudden, stabbing chest pains on the left side. After getting checked out, poked, and prodded, the doctor told me I had tietze syndrome and prescribed antinflamitories. They have done absolutely nothing, but stretching seems to help some. The pain has been moving around a lot, going from the left to the sternum to the right and even the back. Lots of swelling all the way up to the shoulders and down into my belly. I ended up stumbling on your videos while trying to research this syndrome. After reading reviews and watching more than one of your videos,I decided you made more sense than my doctor, so I just ordered a backpod. I'll keep you updated when I get it and start using it. Thank you again!
Hi Rebecca. Well done on thinking for yourself and getting a Backpod. It's not the docs' fault - they're simply wrongly taught that costochondritis and tietze's are "mysterious inflammations."
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Did this help you? I was in the ER for hours today with the same problem. Cannot take a breath without excruciating pain
THANK YOU DOCTOR! Over 10 years of suffering from this, since childhood. I remember the first time i had a flare up when i was 10, and the muscle above my sternum constricted. since then i’ve had great cardiovascular health but have always had trouble breathing when doing sports in highschool, i always thought that was asthma but now i realize it’s most likely that was a misdiagnosis…i was trained from a very young age as a classical violinist and so my shoulder blades were often pulled in do to improper technique at times, forcing the front muscles to bear the load. i’ve always had either low mobility or constant cracking in my shoulder blades. now i realize my back muscles are crazy underdeveloped and the spine there is very compressed and tight, and what muscle is there is very tense. finally i found a way to be free of this and work and live in peace and painless. i thought i would have to live with this for the rest of my life
Good oh. Playing violin is madly asymmetrical. It produces more musicians' injuries than any other instrument, except for the viola - some thing only bigger. I once nearly wrote a book on care and maintenance of the violinist, but it got lost in the rush.
So, sure - completely unsurprising if your rib cage is now a bit twisted and hunched. Yes, this will cause breathing restriction - you can't breathe in fully if you can't expand your rib cage fully, and you can't do that if some of the rib joints round the back can't move.
Have a look at the Backpod's iHunch page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ You'll likely have a twist as well, but essentially you can use the Backpod and its little home programme for a basic ongoing freeing up of the tight joints and muscles. Good luck with the work.
I am so grateful to have found your videos and the Backpod. I have recently gotten rid of my Costochondritis after 3 months of pain. I followed all of your advice. The stretches, the backpod, etc. It all helped! Thank you!
The Costocondritis came back?
I have been suffering from costo for 8 months. I have seen the doctor and he prescribed prednisone. Today is my second day. After watching this video, I have ordered the back pod, and a posture brace. I can't wait to get the pod, do exercises, and hopefully get
relief. Excellent video. Thank you Steve!
Hi Patrick. Well done on thinking for yourself and giving things a go. Good luck with the work, and DO please follow the Backpod's instructions - it'll take a few weeks to free things up mostly. Cheers, Steve August.
This video has helped so many people. Thank you!!
After one year I have finally recovered from costochondritis, from a point where I would get immense pain from even taking deep breaths, to now, where I can do a full push-up workout without my chest giving me pain. I could have recovered far quicker, and not even got bad in the first place, if I knew how to treat it. For those interested, read the following:
1. Who my recovery plan will help:
This will only help people who experienced the same onset of costo symptoms as I: a GRADUAL build up of pain, rather than a sudden onset. When my pain first started, I was doing exercise with gymnastic rings and there was a reasonable (6/10) pain in my sternum. I continued to do the same exercise and the pain increased to 8/10, but still not so noticeable whilst not doing exercise. I then avoided chest exercises completely, but the pain remained largely the same and then began to get worse. I made a point to strictly avoid doing activities that could be annoying my chest, but the pain continued to get worse, and all activities became painful, even just deep breathing and twisting my torso. If this type of gradual pain onset sounds familiar, then I am almost entirely sure that you will recover in the same way that I did, as I describe below.
2. What I did to improve:
First note that I found all types of antiinflammatory medicine (turmeric etc) to be ineffective, my recovery was purely exercise based.
It appeared that the pain seemed to get worse as I did less exercise, but this did not seem likely since when I tried exercising and doing more for a few days, the pain would come on worse than ever. I went to a couple of physios, who both told me to rest till the pain had gone (I now see in hindsight that this is completely the wrong approach). So I rested for months and nothing changed. Desperate, I then went to a new physio who gave me the following advice, which is the rule that I have stuck to ever since and is all I needed to know to improve:
''Do as much movement/ exercise as you can, but staying below 4/10 on the pain scale''
When following this, the following are important:
- 'exercise' can be absolutely anything that gives you a small amount of pain (< 4/10) - aim for about a 2/10 pain. For the first two weeks, deep breathing was enough to give me pain and so every hour I would cause myself some discomfort forcing deep breaths. The following couple of weeks, I began doing light pec stretching, and pushing out my chest etc. In the following weeks and months, exercises would gradually become more intense as the pain allowed. Note that my pain only initially got worse when I was doing dips because these were v painful (ie. significantly more than a 4/10 pain), and I was not doing enough light exercise (< 4/10 pain) on the chest otherwise.
- the pain gets WORSE for a few days before it gets better: this is the tricky part, and the part that had stopped me from doing this kind of thing in the past. Once you do 'exercise' for one day, the chest is a lot more painful for following 2-3 days. During this time, it is fine to ease off with the 'exercise'. But after this flare up, resume with the 'exercise'. There is therefore a cycle of exercising and subsequent flare up. After 2-4 weeks however I found that on the days that I was exercising, I seemed able to do slightly more with my chest without as much pain. 1-2 months after, improvements were definitely apparent (albeit slow). It then took me about 5 months of this to doing my first pushup without more than a 4/10 pain. And a few more months more till I could do a pushup with no pain.
For those suffering with the same kind of pain as I had, I cannot emphasize how much I recommend following this plan, paying attention to the long time-scales involved. Don't expect immediate improvement.
Hi Ben. Well done on working through the pain. Pleased you've sorted it it. You did it the hard way. You kept pushing into the pain until eventually you'd worked the stuck rib hinges around your back free. That's great; however you could have got the same result much faster by lying on the Backpod. This specifically stretches the rib hinges where they need it - you got the same result by working your whole rib cage enough into the pain that the small bit of leverage that puts on the stuck posterior rib hinges was eventually enough to work them free. Well done, and thanks for your post. If there's still some problem (which I'd expect) the Backpod should clear the last bit fast. It's just providing enough application of force specifically where it's needed. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi. Love your RUclips name. Well done on working through the pain with the push-ups. I don't find it's the fastest way to fix costo, though. Costo's not like the usual muscle injury. The problem is that if you try to train through it, what happens is the frozen rib hinges around the back just stay tight, and what gives is the already strained, much more delicate rib hinges on the breastbone. So they strain more. The Backpod solves this problem because it can specifically stretch free the stuck rib hinges around the back, but without also straining the painful, strained rib hinges on the breastbone. As far as I can tell, the small peaked shape of the Backpod is the only thing around that can actually get enough specific leverage onto posterior rib hinges to stretch them free. A foam roller can't, because it's long cylindrical shape spreads the force too much. I'd add in a Backpod to what you're already doing. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi. Good luck with the work. All the Backpod's doing is providing enough specific leverage to actually stretch free frozen, immobile posterior rib hinges - which are the basis of the overuse costo pain at the rib joints on the breastbone. That's all, but I can't find anything else that'll do that, and it's the core of fixing costo. Take it quietly - the tough collagen around the frozen hinges takes a little while to stretch. The usual response is 90% better in three weeks, but an obvious clear improvement in the first week. It's the same timing you'd get with stretching a really tight hamstring muscle daily. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi FY. Good - you're well on the track. Sounds like you've been doing good stuff for your costo anyway, so it's just that the Backpod's adding in the specific strong leverage to free up the tight rib hinges that nobody can do on their own. It's just knowing where and how long and how hard to get the stretch, and we built the Backpod specifically for that. It's like a key - only a little bit of metal, but it's the difference between getting into your house or not.
I had costo for seven years myself - fixed it after coming through physio school in New Zealand, and haven't had a tinge for decades. My point is that none of my own movements over those seven years - including climbing, trampolining, yoga, gym, Scuba diving, running, and karate - were enough to free up my own specific stuck ribs at the back. If they're tight enough you cannot, repeat cannot, free them up with your own exercises. You have to use enough long, strong, specific force - and that's what the Backpod does. Pleased it's working. Cheers, Steve August.
One month in, how do you find it? I'm three weeks into my program now with it and i can honestly say i feeel about 70% better (if i was to put a number on it) Antiinflamitory gel seems to helping in conjuntion with the back pod.
I have had costochondritis for 5 years and had found nothing to help control or manage this condition. Like most people I have spent hours on the Internet and on forums looking for any information that may of helped but it is seen as a mystery in most countries. I then came across your video mid December and it made so much sense and although I had most of my pain in the sternum, I also had pain in the back ribs too. I purchased myself a Backpod from Germany as they are not available in the UK and have been using now for nearly 3 weeks. The improvement is unbelievable, my sternum pain has dramatically reduced and I can finally breathe again. Also my back is definately loosening and my quality of life is 95% better. I thought I was stuck with this condition after 5 years but thanks to the Backpod I actually have a great deal of hope. Thank you so much for doing the videos otherwise people like myself would never have known your views in NZ or about the Backpod. Thanks again.
I Karen. Thanks very much for that feedback. I'm very pleased the Backpod's helping. If your CC is because the rib hinges at the back are jammed, and I think most CC is for this reason, then of course freeing up the stuck rib hinges is the way to fix the problem. The Backpod's just something we built for another problem which is ideal for doing this. I'm still bemused at the general acceptance of CC as a mysterious inflammation that nobody has the answer for. Of course there's a reason for the pain, and therefore there's a solution based on that understanding. I'm very pleased that it's sorting out for you. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you so much Steve ! Will keep you updated !
I had ongoing dull, aching pain in my ribs and chest as well as sharp shooting pains for weeks. My doctor said it was asthma and gave me an inhaler. Obviously, the inhaler did nothing and the pain got worse. I researched my condition and figured it was Costochondritis. I found this video and bought the Backpod before the video even finished. After using the Backpod for only 1 week, ALL OF MY PAIN STOPPED!! I have been pain free since and continue to use my pod everyday. Thank you Steve for dedicating your life to this and making this device. It has changed countless lives for the better. Including mine!! Cheers!
Thank you very much, Britni - much appreciated. Cheers, Steve August.
I have just purchased one, I pray to God it works for me 🙏🏻
@@GarethYNWA If it is costo you have, and not something else, this will almost certainly cure you of your pain. I have not had anymore pain since I posted this comment 1 year ago!
Britni Okay I have had every test under the sun done on my heart, it’s definitely not that. The doctors just keep dismissing the pain, it only hurts with certain movements, on the bad days it hurts like hell to breathe. I’m so happy that this has worked for you and so many people, it has given me hope. My back pod arrives next week Friday. I can’t wait to start the process.
@@GarethYNWA do you have some good results already?
I never bought that back pod thing but he's words helped me so thank you
Steve - you are now my God! Thank thank thank you for solving this problem for me. My back pod arrives today and I can’t wait to start using it. Kathryn in USA
Nope he's my God, not yours
I woke up this morning with this intense pain just described, as soon as I started watching this video and understood a bit I put a vitamin bottle I had behind my back and laid on it while watching, I am not even done with the video and I already can breathe fully for the first time all day!!! I can feel the pain relief when I add the pressure on my back instantly! amazing mechanics! makes so much sense.. thank you so much for your help what a blessing!!
I did missionary training in NZ and always thought it was the most beautiful place on earth..
Hi Caris. Well done on thinking for yourself! What you did on the pill bottle was stretch somewhat free the frozen rib joints round your back. The more they can move, the less straining the ones on your breastbone have to do. You just demonstrated how the Backpod works, and why this approach fixes costo.
Have a look at the Part (2) version of this video as well. Also, there's a long wordy PDF on the other bits of treatment usually needed near the bottom of the Backpod's Costochondritis page - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work!
...and thanks for the nice comment about New Zealand. Yeah, pretty good.
Literally went to the ER at 26 in great health during this COVID outbreak because I thought I was having a heart attack. Found nothing. Saw a teledoc a few days later and he diagnosed it as costochondritis in less than 15 minutes based on simply explaining my issue.
Thank you so much for this video, you're truly a legend. Ordering a back pod now. Cheers!
Thank, Chiefy. Good, sensible thinking, all the way through. Oh, how I wish yours was the usual story with costo, rather than the exception. Well done on getting the chest pains seen immediately by the ER, and on the teledoc for concluding it's costo, and on you for thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what i was talking about, and gambling on a Backpod.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. Probably not until after lockdown, though.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 wow! thanks for all the additional info, much appreciated. I was curious if in the interim you would recommend a lacrosse ball to start stretching the cartridge? Cheers!
@@kevinpopowich7970 Sure. It'll start you along the path. Just use it like we'd use the Backpod - the user guide with instructions is near the bottom of the Backpod's Costochondritis page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ No ball (or roller) can be as good as the Backpod for stretching the spinal and rib joints, because all balls are unstable, so you muscles can't relax on them, and this opposes the stretch on the joints. But it'll help, and it's heading in the right direction. Good luck with the work.
Did this help you? I cracked a crib from coughing (possibly covid dec 2019) and I’ve had costo ever since, went to the Er today because I literally couldn’t breathe the pain was unbearable
@@stevenzphysio4203 Need to ask if costochondritis can be caused by covid? I started feeling these symptoms 5 days after getting covid and it’s with me for 13 months already. Doctors don’t see nothing wrong with my heart or lungs but still can’t breathe for over a year and have chest pain, most likely it’s costo but not diagnosed yet
This is incredibly helpful info, Steve - thank you so much for sharing. It sounds like I have Tietze Syndrome, caused by mild-medium bouts of coughing due to spring allergies and other air pollutants (I live in rural Hamilton where farmers seem to spray daily). I now have an inflamed right front/chest rib and presumably swelling of the intercostal muscles - feels like a type of 'tearing' sensation across my breast plate, also just tonight, dull pain near my shoulder blade (on the same side as the inflamed rib).
My recent Dr's visit produced a referral for an Allergy Panel test (which I didn't know existed until AFTER that appointment - thanks Mum and Dad! NOT!), so to identify what is triggering me at home, presuming it isn't just spring allergies and farm spray, e.g. am I reacting to my dogs fur, or milk, or both!!!
Hopefully I can eliminate the cough, thus relieve the pain in my chest/back, long enough until I see my chiro to free up my rib cage, and will order a pod as well.
Very scary googling 'chest pain cough' and variations like that - the Big C is a hard pill to swallow that's for sure!!
P.s - would you have any recommendations for Chiro's in Hamilton?
Chris
Hi Chris.
Yes - my sinuses are telling me it's Spring with a vengeance and you sound much worse! Coughing and sneezing are surprisingly strong percussive impacts on the rib cage. So if the back rib joints can't move to take the shock, then the front ones 'give' - a bit like spraining an ankle. So just having costo or Tietze's does say that the rib machinery around the back is tight or frozen - I don't think costo happens otherwise; not from just coughing in an otherwise okay moving rib cage.
Did you notice there's a Part (2) costo video - has more detail on treatment. Best price for a Backpod in NZ is from 0800 784 677.
Don't know any costo chiros in Hamilton; could find a physio but just off up country for a few days. Let me know if you'd like me to ask around.
I'm a bit wary of chiros for costo because they have a bias to manipulating the spinal joints and missing the rib joints, and theese are the crucial ones with costo. Also they do tend to use that body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-your-fist-in-his--back which really isn't sensible with costo - squashes and strains the already strained rib joints on the breastbone.
Better would be Backpod plus shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. Then if you're not clear or obviously mostly okay in a few weeks, add in hands-on treatment form a physio or chiro.
Hope that helps. Nice to talk to another Kiwi. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you for informing us on this!
About 2 months ago I started having pain and chest popping when I stretch. I also have pots and I’ve been having a flare at the same time than the pain started. I thought I was having a Heart Attack because I was getting dizziness, nausea anxiety related to my pots and chest pain that I didn’t know what it was related to before today. I got x rays, echocardiogram, stress test and my heart is very healthy.
I am grateful that I am alive and healthy!
Thank you again 🙏🏼
Hi Sabrina. The chest popping is a clear indicator that you've got what i've been describing. It's a mechanical problem, not an inflammatory one - inflammation is silent and constant. The popping and cracking is the rib joints on your breastbone giving and popping - that's what costochondritis is.
Have a good look over the Backpod's Costochondritis page - that explains what's going on and how we fix it. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work!
@@stevenzphysio4203 thank you for your reply! 🙏🏼
Thank you so very much for all your research and invention. I can't wait to get my back pod. I ordered it tonight. I'm so happy to know that I can possibly cure this pain once and for all. Thank you again so very much.
Thanks, Rose. Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what i’m talking about, and getting a Backpod.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. These are the best detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However do it safely with COVID-19 around. At a minimum, you should both wear masks and hand sanitise.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Steve, just wanted to let you know that the backpod has been a tremendous help already in relieving my symptoms. Started having pains in my chest area in January and even had quite a few bouts of hyperventilation because it scared me so much. Went through all the cardiac workups and turned out absolutely normal and fine (I'm only 21, but pain in this area does scare the crap out of practically everybody I presume). Still, my doctor couldn't tell me exactly what it was because he couldn't reproduce the pain in his office. Noticed instant improvement when I started using the pod, turns out that besides the sharper rib pains I've been getting the muscles in my chest area have also gotten ultra tight and the pod does an amazing job at relieving that. Working with a physio/manual therapist here as well to unlock the whole bloody thing (we heard it go *crack *click a couple times already with some massive relief afterwards so there definitely seems to be an issue). Again, thank you so much, definitely worth the money!
Hi Charlie. Thanks for the feedback, and well done n thinking for yourself and giving the Backpod a go. Working with the PT is the best combination. It's not your doc's fault that he or she isn't really up on costo - they get taught almost nothing useful about it. For example, most costo is simply not an inflammation. Yours isn't, or it wouldn't be responding so well to physical treatment. Sigh. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Steve August.
Will do Steve, it's a great device for sure. One quick question: I've heard some crackling near the sternum when I was using the pod (what I presume was the cartilage attached to it) which was painless, is that a positive sign? Or should I be careful that I don't proceed too quickly?
Hi Charlie. It's fine - it's just the already strained joints on the sternum giving a bit; like cracking your knuckles. It's not exactly desirable, but it's not a biggie either. It'll eventually settle down as the rib cage movement around the back settles back into full normal movement.
Those joints on the breastbone have been strained and stretched for over a year, so it can take months for them to slowly return to normal range of movement - a bit like an old repeatedly sprained ankle slowly settling. But they'll do that okay once the pressure's off them because the rest of the rib cage is moving okay again. Cheers, Steve August.
15 years and NO ONE has been able to fix this problem. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!! I do yoga for years and there's so relief. The sharp pain got worse today and found this video. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
Hi. That's awful. It's not just the pain, I found when I had it - it's that every time you get a stab you think the doctors are wrong and it is the heart after all. Well, I had CC for seven years, fixed it, and I haven't had a twinge now for over a couple of decades. You will almost certainly need all the bits of treatment I've talked about in the CC Part 2 video - after 15 years, the whole ought-to-be-moving rib and muscle patch will be thoroughly frozen and scarred. But they're only joints and muscles - just takes enough work and leverage to get them moving again. Good that you've been doing yoga; just needs more specific leverage than that can give on the frozen joints and tightened, scarred muscles. Good luck - it'll take a bit of work and time, but so what? It's got to be less scary than standing up in front of a live audience! Cheers, Steve August.
This is an excellent video filled with answers to this painful and chronic mystery for which evidently millions of us have been searching. Treating just the symptoms is ancient school in this age of the internet where answers/causes are available and you made a logical and informed presentation to this condition's cause. Thank you very much.
(It is difficult to hear much of what you said, perhaps the microphone was to distant because it was rectified in your following videos. Is is too much to request that you please remake this video as it appears to be the the lynch-pin to those that follow?)
Hi Marilyn. Fair comment. This is the first video I ever put on RUclips and it's not like I knew what I was doing!
There is a Part (2) which has more details of treatment, and better sound.
I so nearly didn't do the first video anyway. We just don't see costochondritis as a mystery or difficult to treat. I had assumed that was the case outside New Zealand manual physio as well, and that the video wouldn't get much interest.
This turned out not to be the case! I put up the Part (2) out of desperation as I was being swamped with requests for more details of costo treatment.
When I can find some time, I will put up a third video, with some perspectives and further details that I've found most asked for.
Thanks for your nice comments, and well done on spotting that what I've been propounding actually makes sense. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you for the very informative explanation - and for inventing the backpod ♥
Wow best video I've seen on this yet!
Thanks, Alvina. Hope it makes sense. We just don't see costo as mysterious or difficult to fix. That's not the Big Claim - I certainly don't get everything right. But costo is just logical and not difficult. Sorry. Re the video - I'm getting better, but do you know how nerve-wracking it is when someone sticks a lens in your face and asks to you act naturally? Cheers, Steve August.
I was telling my husband today on our way to the Dr that after seeing your 2 videos on Costo, I don't feel so hopeless anymore. I had EVERY heart test under the sun and they said NOTHING is wrong with my heart or arteries, and my blood pressure is PERFECT, it is better that "normal" even, optimal. But I still get these awful pains in my chest wall, middle of the chest and frequent upper left and right sides of my chest. I am seriously considering ordering that device and combine that with a good chiro visit to loosen the "hinges", do stretches and use this device ( when I can afford it ). My specialist told me there is literally NOTHING they can do but NSAIDs and hope it goes away because there is no cure for it and no one knows what causes it or how to stop it. Can you do more videos on this topic? This needs to be seen my everyone with this problem. Is there anything I can use before I can get the pod?
Hi Alvina. Yes, chest pain is scary stuff. The good news is they've checked out your heart and it's fine. So it'll be what I've been describing. Of course it's fixable. I had it for seven years myself after a climbing fall on my rib cage, sorted it out after I came through physio school and haven't had even a twinge in decades.
See my comments in the Part (2) video re chiropractic - the usual type of manipulation can stir up the chest pain. Anyway, manipulation's fine for banging stuck joints free, but it doesn't stretch the tough collagen around them, so they just freeze up again. The Backpod will stretch that stuff, so you get a permanent freeing up. Easiest way to order one is just to go to our website www.backpod.co.nz and onto the BUY page - details of online ordering there. I've just been informed they cost less than one chiro visit in the US.
Re other stuff - go to a good massage therapist once a week for 2-3 times. You're obviously fairly comprehensively glued up, and that will include the muscles between and around the ribs as well as the rib joints themselves. Cheers, Steve August.
Why when costo flares up i feel sick .. Nausea n it hurts when u breath.. What can i do dr?
Hi Steve,
I'm a 29 year old male and I've been dealing with Costo for about 1.5 years now. I injured myself doing dips and I went down too far and tore up my sternum a bit. I think I heard a pop. I continued to lift for another 2 weeks after because I didn't know the pain I was feeling, but it got worse. The pain is where the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ribs meet the sternum. Sneezing and coughing would make my sternum pop in the morning. I stopped lifting and saw a PT and at the time there was visible rib raising inflammation. After that died down a month later I continued to struggle even after doing exercises. Applying heat to the area and stretching seemed to help it a bit so that sneezing and coughing didn't hurt anymore throughout the day, but it just wasn't getting any better. Two PTs, a couple doctors, MRI and Xray, 2 chiros, and an acupuncturist later and I'm still struggling. I've tried it all. Cortizone shots, stretching, anti inflammatories, sleeping with pillows on my side at first and then trying to retrain myself to sleep on my back, focusing on diaphragm breathing and posture. I'm pretty desperate at this point. I should mention that I have a desk job and I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, even at home. I have stand up desks at work and at home to try and combat this but in the end it is a ton of sitting. If I were to diagnose myself I think the sitting and the sleeping are the largest culprits in preventing healing. Recently I have bought the backpod and I wanted to ask how long can it take for the pod to start working? I put it between my shoulder blades and spine and lie there on it for a minute or two and switch sides. I can do it without any pillows and it doesn't feel super uncomfortable and I don't really experience much pain from it. Should I do it in the morning and in the evening? Any advice would be lovely at this point. I want to dance and lift weights and be pain free again! Thanks so much.
Hi Matt. It's a shitty condition, isn't it? What happened was that you were getting tight on your posterior rib movement - probably as part of getting a bit hunched bending over computers. Then the dips set it off. I've seen so many cases of costo set off by dips - It's the main gym exercise that triggers costo.
When you do a dip, which requires the rib hinges at the back to move maximally under load, and they're stuck and they can't, what happens is that the rib hinge(s) on the breastbone give under the strain.
After that you're in trouble, because your ribs have hinges at both ends to let you breathe - like a bucket handle. If the hinges at the back are frozen, the ones at the front HAVE to move excessively with every breath you take. As you're not going to to stop breathing, as long as the rib hinges at the back are stuck, the already strained ones at the front keep being strained continually, so they get irritated, then inflamed - and there's your costo.
Use the Backpod more - you want to get that rib machinery around the back fully moving. Do it once daily, but spend 10-15 minutes total, staying in each position at least a minute. You can get some more oomph out of the Backpod by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightness and spend more time on it.
Also, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up.
Stick with it. If you've been using the Backpod only for a week or so, it's not long enough. The tight stuff is seriously tough and takes at least a few weeks to stretch mostly. Just keep going. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you so much for this explanation as I have just injured myself in the gym and tried to find some kind of answer.
I've suffered with this pain for 20 years after falling downstairs. My GP referred me to a Physio but they haven't helped whatsoever. Your video is really helpful, thanks.
Hi. Yep - it's a matter of specific leverage. The core of fixing costo is freeing up the frozen rib hinge movement at the back that's causing it. Your own movements including stretches and strengthening exercises simply haven't got enough leverage to do this. If they had, you wouldn't have been sore for 20 years. If the physio didn't get this, and just gave you exercises, it won't have helped.
My own ribs were jammed for seven years, giving me intermittent sharp (and scary!) chest pain and a background tightness and dull ache. The freed only when I got enough leverage into the stuck hinges to unlock them - from manipulation then specific collagen stretching. The Backpod's ideal for the latter. Go for it - they're only stuck joints. Cheers, Steve august.
Thank you for this eye opening video. I suffer from Tietze/costo-sternal syndrome since over 3 years. Only the physiotherapist in the pain clinic had known what I really have and how it must be treated. But unfortunately he was no doctor and I should keep it for myself what he told me. Every doctor I see gives me another diagnose (last time: fibromyalgia) and I'm so frustrated. Most of the time I hear from doctors "it's all in your head, psychologic, we cannot help you, our medicine is placebo for you".
Tietze = swelling dimished since I stopped allowing them to push onto my breastbone and ribs. Thankfully I have ONE doctor that supports me. He gave me low dose cortison what allows me to do the excercise with the backpod. Without the cortisone I'm permanently in tears and can't function, sleep, walk, move. A bad doctor said recently to me that I wouldn't have any inflammation and the cortisone would make me painfree because of its euphoric effect and I would have Fibromyalgia. He prescribed me Amitryptilin 25mg, but it helped nothing, besides it made me sleepy the first days (not anymore, build up tolerance I guess).
Tomorrow should the backpod be delivered. I really hope that my costo can be healed. I'm only 36 years old. All started when I did 3 years ago a 21-days-kettlebell-challenge (intervall training) and the 12kg kettlebell was too heavy for me obviously. I had to stop, but continued with floor excercises. But in the most doctors opinion this couldn't be the root of my costo but I know it's true. Kettlebell swings with a 12kg weight for a female beginner is very risky... I better would have done this with 5 or 6 kg.
One question I have: I'm about to translate your 2 "How to fix"-Videos into German (subtitles). Is it ok when I upload your videos with imprinted German subtitles and mention the link to your source videos? Or would you offer the possibility for translation in the settings of your youtube channel? It is also possible with amara: support.amara.org/support/solutions/articles/200447-the-basics-of-collaboration-on
Hi Lea. I really sympathise. What a horrible thing to be going through over three years. Well done for staying with it and not giving up.
You clearly have what I've been talking about; I'm sorry you haven't had any help from the doctors. Just to be clear - you are correct and they are not. Of course it started from your kettleball - costochondritis is NOT a mysterious inflammation. No, it's not in your head.
It's not really a condition for doctors to fix anyway - it's a problem for physiotherapeuten to fix. I have been lecturing to medical conferences in New Zealand about it, because the standard medical understanding of costo is not evidence-based and doesn't work.
Well done for thinking for yourself. Yes, please, feel free to upload my RUclips videos with German subtitles. I do think it's important to get the New Zealand physio understanding out there - it makes sense, it is supported by the evidence and it works. I think the better video is the Part (2) - it describes the treatments more. We are going to replace the Part (1) video fairly shortly with a much better version.
Let me know if I can help. Good luck with the Backpod. Please DO read the instructions carefully. It will take time to free up the tight ribs around the back causing the pain on the chest.
Also, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months (let alone three years!) the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
We've just put up the second costochondritis video, with detail on actual treatment. Just click on 'Steve NZ physio' above the red 'Subscribe' button and you'll see it. Still doing text for it. Steve August.
Would like to give an update. Been using the pod for about a month now. I'm feeling a lot better and I finally feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel. Thank to you and my Osteopath I'm actually about 80-85% better at the moment, now touch wood here haha. If you guys are doubting this, just look up case studies of costo, methods used to fix it involved spinal manipulation within the thoracic area. Each week it seems I'm getting better. I'm not planning on getting back to exercise for at least 6 more months because Im not 100% yet. I've also been battling tendinopathy in both my proximal hamstrings so life has been very sad lately. I'm now back at work, though not as frequently, it beats not working at all! In light of all this suffering, I am 100% on becoming a Manual Physio myself! Chronic pain is no joke and I'll be so happy if I can help fix people one day! Thank you Steve, you literally saved a life. :) I'll post more updates monthly, maybe even fortnightly.
Good one, Cookedaburra. Pleased it's so much better and stick with it. Re the manual physio - I sort of lucked into it 35 years ago; long story. I've really enjoyed treating patients and solving problems as a career, and I think it's been worthwhile. Mostly. Best wishes, Steve August.
As a PTA I have been trying to resolve my costochondritis based on other PT recommendations. I have been suffering with this for over a year, constantly reaggravating while working on patients. I've been using this backpod for a little over a week and am already significantly better with less thoracic tightness on rotation to the restricted side as well as significantly less sternum/SC joint symptoms. I plan on referencing you and your backpod during my companies next training session with all of our PTs and PTAs. Thankyou!
Hi. Well done on thinking for yourself. I do sympathise - I know how hard it is to care for patients when you're in pain yourself. As PTs, we should be treating and fixing costo - it's essentially a PT problem, not a medical one amenable to medications.
The standard PT strengthen and stretching exercise approach does not work with costochondritis - it's not like a muscle strain, say. Any mobility or stretching exercise will just strain further the already strained and straining rib joints on your sternum, way before you can get a benefit to the tight rib joints round the back. You have to specifically free up the frozen rib and thoracic joints around the back first.
The Backpod is ideal for that, because it'll actually do an effective stretch on the shortened collagen of the ligaments, fascia and joint capsules around the immobile joints at the back, but without flaring up the sternocostal joints around the front. A foam roller, for instance, can't, because its long cylindrical shape spreads the upper body weight too much to effectively stretch the rib joints; the small peaked shape of the Backpod is ideal.
Have a look at the video I made on the actual research on costochondritis - link is ruclips.net/video/t8k2LCLeR24/видео.html That will give you a clear idea on why the docs usually get costo wrong, and what actually does help. (The very best piece of published evidence is from two US PTs - Zaruba and Wilson.)
If you'd like to email me on bodystance@gmail.com, I'll flick you some further info for PTs and docs on costo and the practical treatment of it. Cheers, Steve August.
My Dr told me I had costochondritis, but said it would go away, so did the emergency room doctors. No one mentioned physio, I have had it for over 2 years now. (This is North Shore hospital - Auckland). After so much help from Bob and Brad, for my sciatic nerve problem, (Being on a benefit - generally physio is too expensive) I finally thought to look it up on their youtube channel and found you, I have just ordered a backpod. Fingers crossed. Looking forward to trying your exercises, thank you so much for putting these on youtube for those of us who cannot afford to see professionals.
Hi Tanya. That's a common story, unfortunately. We're trying to change it. I lecture on costo to the docs in medical conferences in New Zealand, but obviously I haven't got around everyone yet!
Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what I’m talking about, and getting a Backpod.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. These are the best detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However do it safely with COVID-19 around. At a minimum, you should both wear masks and hand sanitise.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Cuz I feel pain and tightening hard to breath sometimes and I checked my heart everything’s normal and lungs are good
That's good about the heart and lungs. Therefore if you find it hard to breathe it's almost certainly because your rib cage is too tight to let you get a full breath into your lungs - the lungs themselves are fine. That's also what cause the costochondritis pain round the front - when the rib joints round the back can't move, then the rib joints on your breastbone HAVE to move too much. So they strain, 'give' with cracking and popping, get irritated and painful - and there's your costochondritis.
Have a look at the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ There's a test there for the tight ribs causing costochondritis you can do yourself at home. Try that, and if you're tight, that's what the problem will be. The website page also tells you how to fix it.
Cheers, Steve August.
Does costochondritis have a tender hard like spot on chest when inflamed?
Usually, yes. See this page for a good overview of what it is and how to fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Steve NZ Physio does costochdristis make it uncomfortable when laying on your stomach. Also is it normal to feel uncomfortable when I take deep breaths?
@@goat_7033 Why didn't you simply read the page I sent you the link for? It's explained there. If you want to understand costochondritis, fix it and get on with your life then put the effort in yourself.
and i appreciate you for one of the best explanations for costochodritis and tietze syndrome....
Hi
Thank you, this is so helpful. From time to time I've been using a tennis ball for my back pain and hadn't done it for about a year. I think I'll order one of your BackPods. Thanks so much!
Hi Kathryn. Good oh - pleased it's helpful. have a look at the Part (2) version of the video - it's got more detailed treatments in it. This one was the first we did and we've learned a bit since. Yes, tennis balls will help, but you'll get lot more oomph from a Backpod - and with costo you do usually need that oomph. It's tough stuff you're stretching, and the Backpod's built for exactly that. Also, all balls are unstable, which means your body can't relax on them, and that muscle contraction opposes the stretch on the tight joints. It's why the Backpod has a flat base. Cheers, Steve August.
I have just been diagnosed with Tietze's Syndrome a matter of days ago, after suffering for a few months with it. I am on day 6 of reducing steroids, nothing seems to help! It feels like its getting worse. I have tried everything and its starting to affect my daily life, work and looking after my daughter. Just feel like i am in a time loop of total hell 😭
Hi Rachy. It is horrible but hang in there.
You say you've tried everything. Have you tried the Backpod and what I've been outlining as treatment in the videos? (There's a Part (2) with more treatment details.) Because if not, then almost certainly everything anyone has tried just misses the point.
Almost always with costo, the reason the breastbone pain is there is because the posterior rib joints are frozen sold. When they can't move, the more delicate rib joints on the breastbone HAVE to move excessively just to let you breathe. So they strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your costo. If it's bad enough to show observable swelling then it's called Tietze's Syndrome. This is not difficult to follow and it's also not difficult to treat.
I'm happy to talk you through it if you give me more details on your particular problem - how it came on, what investigations and treatments you've had, has anything helped, how old are you, etc. But almost all the standard medical approach to costo and Tietze's has almost no supporting evidence, and neither does the huge range of non-medical potions. No clinical trial has ever been done to test the efficacy of anti-inflammory medications, or steroid shots, for instance.
The only, repeat only, explanation of such specific pain just where the ribs hinge onto your breastbone and nowhere else in your body is the New Zealand one I've presented. That also makes it fixable in a sane, logical fashion - everything else is just dabbling. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio I have tried everything that has been recommended to me so far, massages, Vit D, steroids, pain relief, stretches but to no avail. I have not tried the backpod, i have been looking in to this as another option to try.
I am 30, assuming this condition was started when i had a chronic episode of Laryngitis accompanied with a chronic cough. I suffer with extreme pain in the right side of my chest, sternum and right back ribs. Coughing, moving, breathing are all chores. I swear at one point i thought i was having a cardiac arrest 😕
My GP practice dont really have much to offer me (or they can't be bothered to help).
Hi Rachy. Fine - get a Backpod and fix it. Nothing you've mentioned will free up the frozen rib joints around your back, and that's the essential thing you need. It's not a mystery. It's not even difficult.
Your coughing produced enough percussive impacts to strain and then freeze up your rib hinges. It's a really common mechanism for causing costo. After that, the rib hinges around your back can stay stuck until you free them up again - it's not a 'healing' problem. And as long as the back rib hinges are stuck, the front rib highs on your breastbone HAVE to work excessively just to let you breathe. So they strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your costo, or (with enough swelling to be noticeable) Tietze's.
I had costo for seven years myself after a climbing fall onto my left rib cage. Fixed it after coming through physio school in New Zealand and haven't had even a twinge in decades. I'm appalled at the lack of understanding of costo (and the version with optional swelling, Tietze's) outside my country. Your GP practice simply doesn't know. They're passing on what they got told as med students, that it's this mysterious inflammation that nobody understands, therefore try these meds to suppress it.
The massage was a good idea, but it's essentially not a muscle problem, but a joint problem. Stretches don't work with costo - the already strained rib joints on the breastbone just strain further, way before the stretches reach the stuck rib joints on your backbone. You simply have to free up these frozen rib joints around the back, and as far as we can tell, the Backpod is the only thing around that will do an effective stretch on these rib joints, for several technical reasons.
You're the one who's sore and you don't need anyone's permission - just get one and start using it. The usual response is obviously better in a week, and 90% better in three weeks. It does vary, and yours is worse than most since you have enough inflammation to show swelling also. (Like you have after spraining your ankle - it's not auto-immune swelling.) That's the sort of timing you'd expect to free up tight joints in the real world; the Backpod is a real treatment device, not a magic gimmick.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
So, costo’s a mystery, they say,
And, no, it won’t just go away;
The New Zealand view’s clear -
Free the ribs at the rear,
Then their front joints will settle okay.
Steve NZ Physio sir I'm Saif from India .firstly I want to tell u history of medical condition....I had cough and cold and sometime I feel itchy on chest area ...I started doing yoga and exercise ....but didn't help ...one day i ride by cycle for 1 hour ....when I wake up I'm the next morning ...I strectched my upper part of chest suddenly I felt pain continuously and it worse when I'm coughing ....I visited doctor he done chest x-ray blood test and ecg ..test was normal and he diagnosed for chest mascular skeltol pain .... whenever I take deep breaths it hurts me ....when I bend chest down it hurts ......I do go and exercise but not getting releif ....sir plz help me ....I
Hah! Love it! Great to hear from you, Steve. I've been recommending various UK patients to you - don't know how many are getting to you, and sorry if this is interfering with your retirement. You were planning on tapering off a couple of years ago so I wasn't sure you were still seeing patients. I have not forgotten the man who introduced me to sternalis.
It's been a trip. We're up to about 180,000 views of the two costo videos so far. I thought the first one would just get lost on RUclips; the Part(2) with more treatment details was in desperation after I got swamped with queries on the Part (1). The patient.info costo forum keeps removing any mention of the Backpod by patients who say it's helped or fixed their costo; this contrasts with the BMJ (Australian office) asking me to submit an article on reassessing costo. It's been a real education in attitudes and people, given an hour or two daily spent replying to contacts.
Do hope you're well, and very nice indeed to hear from you. Cheers, Steve August.
You New Zealanders are pretty smart about the body and not using chemicals and hormones in your meat. My Doctor uses only ingredients from NZ for his pharmacy when he cannot find clean ones here.
Hi Steve - please can you help mate - I appear to have all the signs n symptoms of costo - my pain is in right side of chest both close to sternum and away almost behind and down from my right chest muscle and it is worse at night or taking a deep breath in - it’s a sharp pain that is affecting being able to train and do BJJ - I think this is where I received the initial injury - could it be anything other than costo do you think? Many Thanks
@@bradleycannicott2348 Hi Bradley. Just spotted this - I don't always get RUclips notifications. Hope you're better, but if not go onto the Costochondriti page of the Backpod's website www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Do the simple home test for tight ribs causing costo there - that should clarify things.
It probably is what I've been talking about, unless it's a rib fracture. You definitely do need to see a doc about it.
If that's all clear, then a Backpod to free up the tight rib cage joints and keep them free, plus sports massage for the inevitable impact scarring you get with any form of jiu jitsu or judo should sort it. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve,
I recently bought your backpod and tried it for the first time a few days ago. I was super excited to try it since I've had this condition on and off for 7 years now. It all started with an injury while playing Tennis for the first time, and flares up whenever I lift anything remotely heavy (boxes of paper or full garbage bags at work). So far I've had my current flare-up for 5 months so I am past the acute stage in recovery.
I used two pillows under me with the backpod and held each position under my back for one minute. In most positions, I didn't feel much except light stretching. On my right side, under the most prominent troubled area, I experienced a lot of discomfort/borderline pain however. The next day my entire chest was SO sore! My mom tried to rub my back to ease the pain but she could barely put any pressure on my back. Along with the soreness, I had random sharp pain all over my chest that would last a few seconds each time. Before using the backpod, I was at a point in my recovery of not experiencing much sharp pain and only the dull ache once in awhile (for example when I lay on my side in bed for too long).
After a first experience like this I am scared to try the backpod again. I have a massage therapy appointment booked for November, 14th and I am hoping that after this appointment I can use the backpod peacefully and get tangible results. Am I doing something wrong? Is there any advice you can give me to understand why this may have happened? I am so happy to have stumbled across your videos because I truly wish to prevent this condition from returning to me in the future!
Thank you so much for giving us fellow Costochondritis-suffers hope!
Sincerely,
Sarah.
Hi Sarah. Yep - I've seen a few cases where costo started from tennis. I think the mechanism is that the ribs were a bit tight, then bringing the arm back for an overhand serve required the rib hinges to glide fully back. They couldn't, so sort of strained, jammed, inflamed, froze, and set off the costo pain around the front where the more delicate rib hinges on the breastbone had to work furiously on their own just to let you breathe. Hence the costo.
It has been like that for seven years. They stay stuck all that time - it's just that the amount of irritation/inflammation around the front hinges can settle a bit from time to time. But it comes back because the underlying frozen joints haven't changed - they're still stuck.
Sorry it stirred up. I bet you're right-handed and the sorest bit would be under the ribs which were strained when you were serving in tennis. It's just a matter of working that bit free. Things can flare up as they start moving again of the first time in seven years. I agree - go for the massage to sort out the stiffened muscle between and around the ribs. That'll make it easier for the Backpod next time - sounds like you were doing it right, it's just really stuck and the first time is when it will irritate a bit, if it's going to.
After the massage, try the Backpod again, just gently as you described. Use enough pillows so it's definitely not too sore to lie on, just a bit uncomfortable initially. If still sore after a few goes, see an osteopath - those ribs may need a bit of specific unlocking before the Backpod can easily stretch out the tough shortened collagen around the hinges.
Good luck - don't give up. It's still logical and fixable. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you! im here from Bob and Brad who cited you. Spot on I have this. 51 year old woman who uses a computer all day long. Bad posture has brought this on. Plus I cant help think a large bust does not help. Very annoying.
I completely agree. The only thing that really helps mine is when I wake up I turn a few times in bed and try to stretch out my back. Eventually I will get a big snap in my sternum and this makes the pain go away. So many ailments today are because people dont stretch!
Hi Mathias. Mm - it's not too bad at present, but you are getting tight in your rib joints around the back. That's why you get that snap - it's the rib joints on your sternum giving. However they only need to do that if the rib joints round the back of your rib cage are too tight. It's worse in the morning, incidentally, because you're lying on your rib cage all night long. When the rib machinery around the back is getting tight and can't move fully, then the load and strain goes to the more delicate rib joints on your sternum.
If you have a look at the Part (2) version of this video, there are some specific exercises and stretches there to keep things free, especially the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the video. It's ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Stretches have only limited leverage on any one bit, though. If they're sufficient, then that's fine. If you do need more specific leverage beyond just the stretches - and this is really common - then i would recommend the Backpod. It's exactly what we built it for. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 I bought one already, we will see :)
@@mathiashygen Good luck, Matthias. please DO follow the instructions accurately. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. This may not happen under lockdown, of course.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you for your replies, I'm overwhelmed you take so much time for replying on here.
As a note for you: I played a lot of video games in front of my computer last few years. With just one week of no computer I have little to no pain even before your backpod arrived. So perhaps it's an interesting note for your future patients to track their computer habits.
Thanks
@@mathiashygen All good, Matthias. I'll pass on your suggestion to the 2.4 billion gamers in the world. No wonder we're busy.. Good luck with the work! Cheers, Steve August.
genius mate, u are a fucking legend for sharing your knowledge. truly mean it.
Thankyou Steve, excellent video, very informative...it's certainly tough having costochondritis...I appreciate your insights. Thanks from Australia
Thank you, Elaine. Let me know if you're in Sydney. There's a really good physio for costochondritis I know there.
@@stevenzphysio4203 I really appreciate that, but I'm in Adelaide. Thankyou anyway.
I have been suffering for many years, cannot even remember how long.... but I think I have finally found what matches what is wrong...
I just had to comment...I have been living in pain for a month. I watched your video and it helped me within 1-2 days. I think everything you spoke of makes perfect sense - which helps too.
I've been using a ball that I lie down on for the back component of the pain. I worked on my back near my shoulder blade for about an hour the first time. It was painful but I kept at it.
The very next day I felt about 50% better. My chest pain diminished by 50%! Its only my 4th day now but I'm stretching my chest and back and now I'm using the ball again...more pain but it's working. So, from my opinion, this strategy is spot on. Work the back and the chest will correct as result. Thank you kindly.
Hi. Thanks. Good. Well done on thinking for yourself. Have a look at the Part(2) version of this video, which has more treatment details. Also the costochonsritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ There's a pdf of the user guide near the bottom of that page - you can use your ball as we'd use the Backpod.
With any luck that'll be sufficient. The Backpod does have stronger leverage again, though, and often you do need that with costo. Good luck with the work. Yes, OF COURSE it's not a "mysterious inflammation." Sigh. Cheers, Steve August.
How are you now :)?
@@michealdenman8222 feeling good.
Still rolling on the ball from time to time - weekly. Stretching daily. Low impact weights. Purchased a stand up desk for work. Hope it can work for you too.
Thx for asking!
Cheers
This is great thank you. My daughter is now 17 and has struggled with chest pain for at least 3 years. Doctors said that it could be costo but also maybe a psychological pain from anxiety. She has had lots of investigations, xrays, ecg etc and was told to take pain killers including naproxen. She's currently taking cbd oil 5%. But at the weekend she has a big flare up putting her out for at least 5 hours.
Hi Emma. I hope it made sense. CBD oil will damp the pain and a bit of the anxiety, but neither it nor naproxyn treat the cause of the costo, so they don't fix it and don't last. Have a look at the Backpod's website - on the costochondritis page there's a home test you can do with your daughter which is a pretty good indication of what I've been talking about in the video.
Also see the iHunch and perfect posture pages, as there's a good chance they'll apply as well. I think we're seeing a big increase in costo for these reasons, and your daughter would be right in the frame.
You do get lots of anxiety with costo, in a way I just do not see with neck and low back problems, say. Personally I think it's perfectly reasonable - who wouldn't be anxious about stabbing chest pain that seems to come out of nowhere for no reason? The pity is that if the docs don't have a clear understanding of costo, and they usually don't, then when all the tests come back negative (which is a good thing) they often dump the patient into the psychological pigeonhole, especially if they're female..
It's almost certainly what I've been describing, in which case shout her a couple of sports massages for the tight muscle component, get her a Backpod, and fix it. We just don't find it a mystery, or difficult. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve! Thank you so much for all of your videos they are very informative and helpful. I was recently diagnosed with costo but am not sure was an accurate diagnosis. First off I'm 27 and when I was in my mid teens was diagnosed with anklosing spondylitis (basically because I have one specific chromosome or genetic marker) and I have ready that people who have this are more prone to get costo. I also have a slight bit of scoliosis, in between my shoulder blades my spine slightly curves and then straightens back up at the top of my shoulder blades. I have no pain taking deep breaths or breathing. I lifted something a few months ago and felt something pop like a tendon right under my left pectoral muscle. I kept noticing it pop here and there. Then my collar bone started hurting. Throughout these two things occurring I would occasionally swim a few laps (just 3 or 4 laps) every other day and it did help. One day my collar bone starting hurting pretty bad and I took off swimming to rest for a week by the time the week was over my collar bone had a very clear bump/was swollen at the point right before it dips down to connect to the sternum, on the right side. The last thing the doctor did to determine of I had costo was push my ribs together and when I told him that made it hurt right under my left pectoral muscle. Do you think this is costochondritis or tietze syndrome? The bump on my collarbone is very hard and feels like a bone. I have since been swimming every day for 2 weeks only doing 3 or 4 laps and the pain has went completely away under my pectoral muscle and did go away on my collarbone but that has started swelling up again. Do you think the backpod will help me or do you think theres something else I'm missing? In addition I also have had bad allergies and have very bad sneezing fits and feel like that's how I injured whatever it is. I have pulled my back badly before from sneezing. I've since gotten. Some good allergy meds that have helped this. I am constantly having to look down and be slouched at my job. Lastly I did developed a bad habit of popping my neck by jerking my head fast and hard to one side. I've since quit that as well. Thanks so much for the help!
Hi Brandon. Obviously I can't be sure over RUclips but bits of what you're describing sound like costochondritis and bits don't. Certainly with your ank spon diagnosis and your scoliosis plus lots of bending forward at your job you're right in the frame for getting costo. My impression is there's a lot of costochondritis happening these days because of hunching over computers, especially laptops, tablets and smartphones. As well as the spine getting hunched and then freezing like that, the rib joints at the back also tighten up. When they get tight enough to freeze, the more delicate rib hinges on the breastbone then have to move more just to let you breathe. So they strain, get irritated, then inflamed - and there's your costo.
So I think all the lower stuff you're getting is probably costo, caused by the tightened ribs I've been describing. Have a look at the costo page on the Backpod's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ It's probably sitting on the usual slightly hunched back, so read the iHunch page to, and see if that's a fit with you. Also have a look at the Other Conditions page, in the Ankylosing Spondylitis and Scoliosis sections. I think, given everything, you're best off getting a Backpod and using it.
I'd expect it to sort out most of what you're getting, but probably not the collar bone problems, including the lump. I'm really not sure what that is - it's common with new bone forming after fracturing the collarbone but you'd know if there was enough of an impact to do that. I think you'll have to go back to your doctor for that bit. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve. Once again for your prompt reply. I can't thank you more. I might be a bit impatient as it's been only two weeks since I started using the Back pod. I take the Back pod to the gym every day with me and a lot of people ask me what it is. I believe some of them have already spoken to you via e-mails. I can't believe that this collagen is really so tough. Me spine has caused me a lot of trouble starting from pelvic tilt to kyphosis. I am really thankful for your invention which has taken away 70% of the pain from my sternum. As you said many times, it didn't happen it a few weeks so you have to be patient.
As a piece of advice to others (hope you don't mind), please look at your strong pelvis and muscles around it which is the base for a healthy spine. I can't stress it more how important it is. Plenty on you tube, just learn about how strong, even pelvis helps with your back problems. Thank you Steve.
Hi Thomas. Thanks. Yep, I know about the low back side as a physio. Just trying to keep it simple and limited - people get confused enough as it is.
I am so very grateful for the Back Pod and your simple, practical explanation of what's been causing my problem. Everywhere I looked, I kept coming up with "slipping rib syndrome," all followed by excercises attempting to do what the Back Pod actually does for me. My repeat bouts have all occurred after leaning over something (top loading washing machine, side of hot tub, side of a truck, etc... , creating pressure on my chest, followed by a loud pop or pops. Its like a traumatic chest injury. I also recognize that I have poor posture habits. Can a rib actually dislocate or would you say this is basically costochondritis? Either way, the Back Pod restores me and spares me much of the most severe pain. Thank you very, very much! Every time I use it, you're my hero!
Hi Teresa. Thanks very much! Well, it certainly sounds like what I've been describing, not least because freeing up the tight rib machinery round the back on the Backpod is clearly helping.
The ribs don't actually dislocate, but they can give as they move - like cracking your knuckles. If it's worse, it's more like spraining your ankle and you get that stabbing pain at the front.
Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what i’m talking about, and getting a Backpod.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. These are the best detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19. At a minimum, you should both wear masks, hand sanitise, and when you get home take all your clothes off and put them straight into the washing machine and you straight into the shower, including washing your hair.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but it sounds like it applies. The commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Still using my BackPod, twice daily and additional sessions if I feel the pain coming back. I also use Arnica Gel as my topical anti inflammatory. I'm working on educating my primary care physician too.
With breathing problems possibly due to covid-19 compounding adult exercise induced asthma and the pain and/or potential terrifying pain of a costochondritis flare [2 years ago the ER here actually put me thru a heart cath which came out negative ie my heart is fine]...
I am beyond grateful for my ballet physiology awareness, my opera singer breathing training, my personal bs meter & never give up attitude, and of course:
So thankful for you, your instruction and my BackPod!!!!!
Let's keep spreading this vital information.
Andrea W.
Baltimore, Maryland USA
Well done, Andrea. Keep on it.
Just a suggestion to get the maximum stretch out of your Backpod. I'm assuming you now you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod. You can get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Good luck with everything - scary times. Cheers, Steve August.
Great product really helped me, even my physio or tone after trying it
froM the bottom of my heart...THANK YOU!!!
Thank you Steve !! I have had this costocondritis now for many years almost went to the ER 2 times , checked for hernia , one doc said there was one the other said it wasn’t , then thought it was cardio , that was cleared ! Finally came upon you from Brad and Bob video and have the POD ! I actually used it during an attack and it worked ! Have been using for a short time but what a help ! And the science behind it really helped me underwent why the POD works! Your analogy’s if the hinge is really good too.
Brilliant! Have you written a book ? I couldn’t find one !
Hi. Thank you. Pleased the Backpod's helping; Bob and Brad are great!
No book - I'm too busy! However, here's a long wordy PDF on what costochondritis actually is and what we find works best to fix it. It is more easily read on a computer, not a phone.
The PDF covers using the Backpod for costo, and also the other bits that often need dealing to as well. Cheeringly, these can nearly all be done by yourself at home. It takes a bit of time and effort, but it's not that difficult.
Good luck with the work!
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
thank you .. I got bashed and bitten in chest 8 days ago Steve.. yet to X ray.. yet my Physio Bruce did help with lots of therapy where you suggest around the back.. makes so much sense.
Another update for you guys. I had an MRI done yesterday which has revealed no tearing or damage to my cartilage whatsoever which is the first good news I've had since i got this injury. I mentioned to the doc that after osteopath manipulations and using the back pod, that i beganto notice clicking in my thoracid spine within the corresponding posterior rib joints every time i breathe deeply. He said thats a sign that I have begun to free up that area. I'm actually thinking that this is a result of all the overhead activity ive ever done (swimming, cricket, karate, muay thai, boxing, gym workouts, calisthenics, as well as a nasty collarbone break, tendinopathy in both shoulders in 2015 and winged scalulae since I was born..the list goes on..), which pulled my posture forward, thus causing the referred pain from my posterior ribs. I feel like I can finally beat this f*cking evil problem.
Good! Very pleased that the doctor's had a look, isn't bothered by the clicking, and reckons it's just an indicator of things starting to move okay. That was always the likeliest explanation, but excellent to get it confirmed by someone who's actually examined you. You often get it as things start to loosen - like a rusty hinge graunching around a bit as it moves. It's not back to smooth, silent running yet, but it's better than being stuck solid and not moving at all.
Does sound as though your body has done a fair few miles on rough roads! Not too surprised you've been getting problems.. Cheers, Steve August.
Amazing advice. Thank you
I believe I've had this condition for over four years now. I played basketball in college and took several hits to the ribs. The memory that sticks out most is when I took a direct shot to my sternum. It hurt for weeks and would always "click" before I did any heavy lifting (squats, deadlift, bench, etc) my sternum has always been tender to the touch since and I've always thought I might have slightly cracked it. It still clicks to this day. It wasn't until recently (about 3 years out of school) that this condition got severely worse. I went to the doctor and they diagnosed me with Costo but like most of you said I was instructed to give it rest. I was confused because I've been resting since I've been out of college, and it's only gotten worse. From what I've read in these comments, I now see that I'm not alone and it all makes sense why things have gone south. I would try to work out (even simple cardio or air squats) and either after the workout or the next day I would get sharp, spasm-like symptoms in my ribs or sternum. It completely discouraged me to do any type of workouts whatsoever and I'm still dealing with this pain as of today. I'm going to try some of the workout routines listed below as well as trying out the back pod and see if that all helps. Continuing to workout through the pain sounds counterintuitive at first but hearing the science behind the condition clears things up and gives me encouragement to get back into things. One of the worst feelings after playing sports for so long is idea that you can't workout anymore!
Hi Eric. Yes, it's hugely frustrating as well as painful! I don't think you can train through costo, or fix it just by exercises, strengthening, stretching etc. It's not like a muscle strain, say.
The reason is that any exercise or stretch you do just strains the already strained rib joints on the breastbone further, way before it gets a benefit to the immobile rib joints on the spine.
The way around it is to free up the frozen rib joints around the back first, without straining the ones on the breastbone at the same time. The Backpod has the specificity to do that. My usual recommendation is stop training until you can lie on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and no pain - which means the joints are then moving pretty well. Then, and not before, ease back into training.
It usually takes about three weeks, but clearly better in the first week. It does vary, though. Have a look at Samantha Wayne's recent video on using the Backpod to fix her costo - link is ruclips.net/video/j3fqDIGYGw0/видео.html Best of luck. Cheers, Steve August.
Are u cured
Just ordered one can't wait. Doctor told me it was costo a few days ago and gave me a prescription anti inflammatory which has some pretty scary side effects about the heart which just worsens my health anxiety. I'll try this first.
Hi Tim. Good call. There are no, repeat no, clinical trials to see if anti-inflammatories help costo. Well done for thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Great stuff.
Confirms my understanding from recent researches
You've described in a few minutes what it would have probably taken the British NHS at least nine months of repeated testing to discover (Budgets and practitioner interest withstanding).
I'm now on my second bout of Costo in a year.
You're right, it catches you unexpectedly when you move and takes your breath away, the way an M.I. does. I've had an M.I. and subsequently B cell Lymphoma of the intestine, so that anything painful or twitchy in the central chest area (Particularly round the Thymus) sets me off on a double whammy of paranoia. Fortunately, all recent cardio and cancer tests show be A OK, or as well as can be expected.
My Costo started, 2 years post Chemotherapy, with a skin rash , on the upper right rib - a bit like shingles. It was painful to touch for a couple of days and then disappeared. A week later it manifested over the central chest area - again, two days and it was gone. A week later I wake up one morning with raging conjunctivitus in the left-eye only. Lasted an hour, then no more for a year. Now, a year later, its back in the central chest. Again, naturally, with my recent history, its straight into paranoia mode, and I'm thinking lymphatic cancer metasises.
However, my researches have identified a possible viral/bacterial element to Costo , which have been exacerebated by the decimation of my immune system by the Chemo . Also, i know from official sources that my chemo has further damaged a pre-existing degradation of the spinal disc cartlidge.
After much experimentation, I used to find that the most effective, and speedy treatment of previous spinal and neck degradation was achieved by taking one Diazepam (Valium).The full-effect of Its muscle relaxing properties came into play within 20 minutes of taking one, after which I was able to exercise the spine and relieve the pressure. Far quicker and long-lasting for me than TENS or physio .
I tried this the first time I got he Costo last year and it seem to work.
I wonder whether the repeat visitation this year is purely defective spinal mechanics or whether there's a repeat of the virus/bacterial thing which I had last year or something else more sinster.
Back to the GP again.
Hi Nicholas. Thanks for writing in. Mm - I can't fit your skin rashes into what I've been saying drives most costo. If it's the usual frozen rib movement around that back causing the overuse strain and pain on the chest, that won't cause any skin lesions. So I think what you're describing is not the mechanical problem I'm talking about.
Re an infection (bacterial or viral) causing costo - generally I think it doesn't exist; certainly not as a common cause of costo. I've been back through the published research and the only instances are case studies of one or two people who did get indeed an infection - but after chest surgery or chest trauma that broke the skin, so the bug was clearly introduced locally.
I don't think there's a bug out there causing costo generally - biopsy just doesn't show it, apart from the exceptions I've just noted. I cannot see why any general systemic infection would just hit the rib joints on the sternum and nowhere else.
Which is not to say that you haven't got something unusual! Or that you can't have two things going on - the usual tight rib bit plus whatever's causing the skin effects.
What you could try is the home test on the Backpod's costo page. It's not conclusive, but it's a pretty good indicator of whether or not you've got the tight rib driver of costo, which is the underlying cause of most of it. Cheers, Steve August.
This is such an encouraging, common sense and positive post. Thank you! I'm now going to see a physio/ osteo/ chiro expert in costchondritis to work on the mechanical side, while i get the inflammation down. Good call on the gels - i'll try those as anti inflammatories have been hurting my stomach. I've had costochondritis for 8 weeks following a severe case of adult chickenpox. I hope this can still be treated as mechanical in this case?
Hi Nat. Good - it does make sense. I'd really like to get across how straightforward, logical and fixable most costochondritis is. A completely specific pain just where the ribs hinge onto the breastbone and nowhere else in the body - of course it's not mysterious.
The New Zealand explanation I've given (of the stuck joints at the back ends of the ribs requiring the more delicate joints at the breastbone ends of the ribs to work excessively to allow breathing, and therefore getting irritated and inflamed) is the ONLY one that accounts for such a specific problem. General levels of Vitamin D, Omega-3, etc. just don't.
I think the same would apply to chicken pox - I can't see it producing the specific costo pain at the breastbone rib joints unless there's a specific mechanical basis, i.e. the relevant posterior rib joints stuck. Good luck with the work getting them moving again. Cheers,
Steve August.
Thank you for what you do
Thank you so much for the video. I have had this for years and was advised by my doctor to manage the pain as it comes. I do not like taking medication so I suffer in silence. I will be trying the back pod for sure. Kind regards Lesley
Hi Lesley. Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding what I've said sounds reasonable, and giving it a go. I'm starting to regard this as an intelligence test, and you just passed.. Good luck with the work, and please DO follow the instructions accurately. It does take time to stretch the tight rib machinery around the back. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 sir thank u so much for all these videos . You are an asset for the humans all over the world. Doctore like u are saints to us.
@@stevenzphysio4203 sir for how many days do I need to use the backpod ? How to use it ?
thank you very much. that was the most informed advice i have received in two years of dealing with this. i have bought the pod and have been using it based on the video instructions. pls give me just a few words on how to use related to my curvature of the spine.
thank you
Trip
Hi Trip. Need more data. I'm not sure what you mean by 'curvature of the spine.' Scoliosis (twist)? Kyphosis (hunch)? Cheers, Steve August.
I’m very lucky I had Costo for about a week, a few months ago I couldn’t take a full breath and it felt like I was having a heart attack.
That’s when I found out about costo and came across the back pod when I used it there were a few cracks and I felt relief instantly.
Used it a few more times in the week and it went completely, touch wood since then I’ve not had it again.
What did you in order to fixed it?
My 10 year old son has been diagnosed with Costo. He has been attending osteopath treatments and it began to get better. Now it has come on strong again and i feel helpless!!
Im going to your website now, thank you.
Hi Kat. That's pretty young, but I have seen costo that early. I'm assuming you've had him checked by the doctors for anything dire like his heart?
How did it come on? I think I've seen it that young from impact on the side or back of the rib cage or straining/twisting. Does he have any other medical conditions? Otherwise, is he an obssessive gamer spending very much time bent over computers, maybe? That's another route to the rib hinges seizing up.
So, he'll have a tight rib or ribs at the back where they join onto his spine. That causes the pain at the rib hinges on the breastbone because they have to move excessively just to let him breathe. So they strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your costo pain. The osteopath would have been freeing those posterior rib hinges up, so that's why it helped. But the improvement often doesn't last because the tough collagen around the hinges just tightens them up again. All you have to do is stretch that, and that's specifically what the Backpod's built for. Just follow the instructions - it's only about 10 minutes a day for a few weeks, and with enough pillows under his head initially so it's not sore when he's lying on the Backpod.
If it was an impact on his rib cage that started everything off, there'll be old muscle scarring there. that should clear readily with a bit of massage. You could do that yourself, or just take him to one sports massage session and get them to show you what to do as a follow-on.
Don't panic - it's logical and readily treatable; not a mystery. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio
Thanks Steve. It came on out of the blue, we have seen 4 drs, the osteo initially thought it was a torn peck. The drs did bloods and xray and say he is fine. The only thing we thought that could have done it was straining at school doing push ups? His pain is in several areas thats how the osteo decided it was not his peck. Yes he is a you tuber and lays on his side when watching. We have limited his time. The osteo also said he has alot of problems with his breathing. He is a cold induced asthmatic and has terrible sinus/nasal drip.
The problem we are having is him not wanting to partake in PE at school as it hurts. Of course Dad thinks he needs to toughen up and get some exercise to help his condition, however from what ive read PE would be very uncomfortable whilst having costo and it would aggrivate it?
Advice please xx Ps sorry he is nearly 12.
Hi Kat. Thanks for the additional info. That makes things much clearer. Okay, then the reason the costo came on is that he's been doing lots of hunching over the computer and also gets the asthma, which means he hunches a bit to suck in air. Both of those things can set up for the rib hinges around the back getting quietly tighter, until one day they lock. then the ones at the front HAVE to work excessively just to let him breathe. So they strain - and there's your costo.
You can't exercise through costo - it just makes it worse. it's not like having a simple muscle injury you can train through. Any general exercise or stretch just strains the already strained rib joints on the breastbone more, way before it starts to loosen up the stuck rib hinges around the back.
So what you do is loosen off the tight rib hinges around the back, without also stirring up the painful ones on the breastbone. Get a Backpod. It's ideal for doing this. However also the simple programme of strengthening, home massage and posture that comes with it is what he needs as well. You can do the massage on him yourself.
Sounds to me he's developing the common iHunch - hunched upper back driving most neck pain and headache - with the tight ribs driving the costo on top of that. (See the Wikipedia article on the iHunch.) We built the Backpod and its home programme for both problems. There are various suppliers of the Backpod, depending on where in the world you are. Have a look on the BUY page of our website www.backpod.co.nz Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve (apologies for the long post),
First off I just want to thank you for all your work on this subject. I'm really glad I discovered it so soon as I believe I have now been dealing with costo for a few months now. I am a 21-year old healthy male (as deemed by the doctors who have confirmed it's nothing to do with the heart) who exercises regularly and eats a good diet.
When I first was experiencing the chest discomfort, I thought it may have been Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). I went and got ultrasounds and x-rays done and it was confirmed to not be the issue. Everything seemed fine. This left me confused and worried; especially in this time of COVID-19. I got a COVID test and it came back negative. That gave me a bit more peace of mind, but my chest pain still persisted.
Then I stumbled across Bob & Brad's video(s) on costo and then yours after they mentioned the back pod. I then experimented with a softball and tennis ball with the towel and it has since provided relief. I have since ordered a back pod and patiently await its arrival.
Just a couple of questions out of curiosity:
I'm trying to pinpoint what may have caused this for myself. Once quarantine hit, my working out routine changed drastically and I began doing a high amount of pushups each week for the bulk of my chest training; could this have been it? I never really did many pushups when gyms were open.
Recently, I have stopped working out my upper body entirely to try to avoid discomfort and rest the area. As we return to the gym, would you recommend avoiding any specific exercises for a while while I am working with the back pod to try and fix the discomfort for good?
Thanks again for all the help! Very grateful!
Hi. Well done on thinking for yourself on getting a backpod. Sure, if stretching the rib and spinal joints around the back on the balls is reducing the strain at the rib joints on your breastbone, then the Backpod will help heaps more - it can just give a much stronger stretch, and that's usually what's needed.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. It's part of TOS. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Re getting back into the gym - don't hurry. You can't train through costo - it's different from a muscle strain, say. The reason is that any general exercise or stretch just strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib machinery around the back. There are RUclips videos around saying you can fix costo just by exercises - they don't understand the problem.
What works is first stopping anything that hurts. Every time it hurts you're simply straining more the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. It's like running on an acutely sprained ankle - it's going to make it worse not better.
What you have to do is free up the frozen rib machinery around the back, which is causing the rib joint strain and pain at the front, FIRST. We use the Backpod for that - to stretch free the tight and immobile rib and spinal joints. It usually takes only about three weeks - the same sort of time as stretching hamstrings that are so tight you can't reach your knees, until you can touch your toes. Of course this varies, but you usually have a clear, obvious improvement in the first week to let you know you're on the path.
After that, you can work back very cautiously, starting at about half of what you used to do. It's like cautiously starting to run again on a sprained ankle. Don't even think of dips for about a year - they're the single worst exercise for costo.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much for the detailed reply Steve! I really appreciate it! My backpod just arrived this morning and will be starting my treatment today :)
Thank you Dr August. Very informative information.
Thanks, Wesley. This was our first video on fixing costochondritis, and it's pretty clunky. There's a lot more info on the Part (2) video - link is ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you Dr August. Could anxiety or panic attacks have any relation to chostochondritis?
@@wesleygovindsamy4755 Sure - it's usual with costochondritis. The tight rib machinery round the back that causes the rib joints on your breastbone to strain, also means you can't take a full breath in - it's like wearing a tight corset. So that makes you breathe high and fast, and that hyperventilation pushes you towards panic attacks, and certainly anxiety. It's all classic costo.
It is completely sane and reasonable to be concerned about a mysterious debilitating chest pain which the docs (usually) clearly do not understand or know how to fix.
Also, you usually get reassured your costo will settle down soon. But it doesn't - statistically most lasts at least a year. So you think if the doc was wrong about that, then maybe he or she was also wrong about it not being the heart. Right?
Put the work in. Read and watch what I've suggested in my earlier reply. Then start fixing it. Good luck.
Hi Steve, I have been diagnosed with cc and have had it for 3 weeks so far. My main symptom is a burning sensation through my sternum which then leads to my body over heating. I like everyone else have had every test under the sun, with a simple comment rest and Panadol and I'll be right. I like many others have purchased your product in the hope it can help. Have you had any positive feedback from people with my symptoms? I also have h pylori and am curious to know the link as no doctors have aligned it at all. Keen to hear from you when you are able.
+Silvia Henderson Hi Silvia. Funnily enough I've just had an enquiry from someone else with exactly the same symptoms. Mm - I've certainly seen CC patients where there were no symptoms or pain around the back ribs at all, but all the sternal symptoms still cleared as soon as we freed up the jammed rib movement around the back. You can get heat from irritated joints (bit like rubbing your hands together) and the irritation can go onto chronic inflammation (which also involves heat). So I'd just try the Backpod for a few weeks and see - improvement should be clear, large and obvious if it's just the tight back rib hinges problem I've been describing in the videos.
The thing about H.pylori is that it can cause gastric and oesophageal ulcers. If you'd like to email me I can go into more detail than is easy on this RUclips comments page. Just use the contact email on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz Cheers, Steve August.
Hello. Thank you for the informative video. I had a few question about Tietze's syndrome witch I am suffering from. I use to have the sharp pain in my chest but after i recieved exercises from my physiotherapist and reduced the amount of time I was sitting it slowly went away. I thought it was cured but instead after a year or so I starting waking up with pains in my back. My physiotherapist did manipulate my back and gave me more excersizes witch helped a little but the pain did come back. It doesn't hurt when i'm walking. Only if i'm laying down or sitting. Doing pushups really helps to. My questions are: Is this normal? Ive only heard of people having chest pain and not back pain. Do you know any other exercises that could benefit me other than walking? I'm unemployed so I do sit alot during the day. Do you think this has contributed to my pain?
I'm thankful for any advice or help. I've had enough of this pain and I want to be able to sleep again. Thank you
Hi Neil. Basically when the ribs are jammed up enough at the back, then you'll get the pain around the front as those rib hinges then have to do all the work of breathing. So the physio exercises obviously freed up the back rib hinges enough to take the strain off the front rib hinges - that's why the pain there at the front went away. So that's good. But just exercises alone don't have enough leverage to free up the back rib hinges completely (usually).
That's why it's started to get sore round the back again - the rib hinges are tightening up again. If they get tight enough the Tietze's pain around the front will come back - so let's avoid that!
Get a Backpod - seriously. It'll let you stretch out at home the tough collagen material around the stiff rib hinges at the back. It's that stuff that didn't stretch fully with the physio exercises (it can't - it's too tough) and that's what's stiffened up the back rib hinge movement enough so that you're getting sore there again.
That's probably all you need. Pain just at the back means the hinges there aren't as stuck as they would be if you were getting pain around the front. The Backpod can stretch free the tight collagen around the joints so it'll stay free - manipulation can't do that (though it does have a role in unlocking hinges, but that's different). Also the Backpods are pretty indestructible so you've got it for the rest of your life if things ever get tight again. We drove a BMW over one to test it for Europe and a Jeep Cherokee to test if for the US. No problems.
Cheers, Steve August.
Best info on this so far
Thanks, Marianne. I got deluged by questions and contacts from all round the world after we put up this clunky, phone-shot video. I didn't think there'd be much interest in a problem we in manual physiotherapy in New Zealand regard as straightforward, fully mapped out, and readily fixable. That was when we discovered that most of the rest of the world (the Aussies are good on it too) erroneously saw it as a "mysterious inflammation" which you treat with an anti-inflammatory approach. It isn't and you don't.
Have a look at the Part 2 version of this video - much more practical detail. Also the video on the actual medical research on costochondritis - the evidence does NOT support the popular medical view: ruclips.net/video/t8k2LCLeR24/видео.html There's a good general overview of what costo actually is and what works to fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ I'm trying to find the time to flesh it out with much more specific detail.
Well done on thinking for yourself. Go for it - of course costo isn't a mystery and of course it's readily fixable. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
oh hey!! you haven't had videos for a long time! Thank you for your help and stuff. My physical therapist told me to use racquet balls kind of like what you do with the backpod! The racquet balls feel so good!=)
+powherpuffable Hi. Thanks - you noticed! I thought it was high time I put some more information on backs and necks out there. Your physical therapist is right about the racquet balls -they will help stretch a hunched thoracic spine out of its stoop. Same principle as the Backpod - it's completely logical. They can be pretty sore if you're really tight though; also the Backpod's better at stretching rib joints, and we find we can get little old ladies onto the Backpod but not onto racquet balls.. But definitely a help. Tennis balls get used too, but I find them too squashy to really stretch most tight thoracic spines.
Good to hear from you. You're obviously thinking and looking after yourself. If you haven't seen it, there's a great TED talk by Amy Cuddy: 'Your body language shapes who you are.' It's not just about pain - a hunched body position sends a message to others of lack of self-esteem, submission, etc. Not what you want.
Best wishes, Steve August.
Yes he showed me that I totally have upper and lower cross syndrome- your exercises have helped to explain them in different ways. :) Haha thank you for your response! :) and yes I agree with the body language statement, let alone I want my pain to go~!! I am fiiiiiiinally doing something about it and it seriously feels better when I do. Not good, but better. haha Someday I will get there. :) Thanks for your encouragement and information again. -Rachel
Hi Steve, I was lucky enough to come across someone mention the Backpod on a thread while researching CC. I was diagnosed about a month ago after having a horrible chest infection and a coughing bout that pretty much triggered it. My pain was initially in my chest just at the right breast/rib connection. It has now moved to my right side and worsened in sharp pains in the rib section just under my right breast area, sometimes around to the back completely. I've been put on anti-inflammatory Rxs as well but they don't seem to help much. I've noticed most people have symptoms more in the chest area, and often think it heart related. I never had that concern, as it is not located in that same region. Now I'm starting to wonder if it's still CC? I just want pain relief, especially having two boys, 10 and 3 years old to take care of! Your input is GREATLY APPRECIATED! I would travel to NZ if I had the money to do so! Sincerely and kind regards, Chanda Howald
+Chanda Howald Hi Chanda. Yes, coughing isn't necessarily mild. It's a really strong percussive impact on the rib cage. I've seen patients where just coughing cracked the ribs, and they weren't all elderly either. So it can certainly significantly jolt the rib joints - bit like a whiplash. It's probably CC.
You could have cracked the ribs but it's not so likely. Good that it's on the right side - if it's left people immediately think heart. I'm assuming your doctor's checked you out. If his or her feeling is that the ribs aren't actually cracked, then go for the Backpod. (Even if they are cracked, ribs heal better than just about anything, usually well inside 6 weeks.)
The Backpod's ideal because it's obviously a rib problem, and it's been there only a month so the hinges won't be concreted solid like they get after a year. Just stretching the movement back to normal on the Backpod is likely all it's going to need. Lovely to get one at this point - so commonly the hinges never got freed off when it was easy to do so in the early stages, with the chronic frustrating results you can read about in the comments. Jam a rib or spinal hinge sufficiently and it can just stay stuck. Cheers, Steve August.
I found you through Tgibbs post about costo. This is my second time having costo, the first was in November. I am in 3rd week of pain. I fully understand what you are talking about with the ribs and spine going out of whack. I have 3 sometimes 4 ribs that subluxate daily and daily (3 to 4 times or more per day) I have to manipulate and pop them back into place. My thoracic spine is to flexible so I have 3 vertebrae that are tipped on the edges and now have osteoarthritis. I am just past 40 and have been doing this popping my ribs back into place for 3 years. Now I know (thanks to you) the combination of the subluxations and my extremely active job has most likely contributed to this new level of pain. I should also mention that I have some type of neuromuscular disease that my doctors and I are still trying to figure out. If I am not active and do not do my regular stretching exercises I get very tight muscles and have difficulty moving. I have many tools that I use which include 2 foam rollers, tennis balls, moist heat, a chair(lean back on it to pop my ribs in place,leg stretches ect) and other tools. I suppose I should mention that I have been diagnosed with Autonomic small fiber neuropathy and MGUS.
I have been doing lower impact stretching and not working. I have been doing shoulder rolls to try and keep my spine and ribs in place,but it is not working. Now my thoracic spine is very angry with me along with the costo pain. The whole point of all this history is to ask you based on what I have told you should I go ahead with my subluxation exercises? My common sense tells me I should, but I am terrified of making my pain worse than it already is. Also in your opinion how do I determine when it is safe for me to go back to my very active job (walk min 10 miles, lift 50 pound regularly, scrub animal cages, carry and handle animals, and then some)?
The tool you have created looks like something I must add to my "therapy kit", but until I am able to order it and get it in my hands I only have the tools I mentioned.
Hi Amy. That sounds horrible. Here's my best call on it. I think what you're describing with the subluxing of the ribs you're doing is clicking the hinges in your middle/upper back and also the hinges where the ribs attach onto your back. (Let me know if I haven't got that right - I'm not sure if you're describing clicking the joints at the other ends of the ribs where they join onto your breastbone.) It's a bit like cracking your knuckles.
Okay - it will all keep on getting worse if you keep doing that. Sure you get some immediate relief, but it doesn't last, which is why you need to click them again after a short while. All the clicking is doing is temporarily unlocking and freeing up the sticking hinges. What it can't do is stretch out the tightened collagen of the ligaments and joint capsules which surround the hinges. This stuff is immensely strong and tough - it's what holds your spine and rib cage together; muscles just move them around. So although you're clicking the hinges free momentarily, the shortened collagen around them rapidly freezes them up again.
The way you get past it is to stretch this tightened collagen, so it doesn't keep freezing up the hinges, so they don't then need clicking free frequently.
Collagen can stretch okay, but it takes at least a few weeks, and you need a strong, specific, passive stretch sustained for at least a minute. It's like stretching a hamstring muscle that's so tight you can't touch your knees - it'll stretch okay, but it takes weeks of daily stretching before you can touch the floor.
Get a Backpod. It's the only, repeat only, thing I know of that can deliver a strong enough, specific enough, long enough stretch to be effective on rib hinges. A foam roller can't. They're useful for lots of things, but their cylindrical shape spreads your upper body weight along the roller's length, therefore it can't give the specific stretch pressure needed for a rib hinge; the peaked shape of the Backpod does.
So, you can free up the rib hinges so they don't need clicking and will stay free. However you're also hypermobile (really flexible) so you have to be careful you don't overdo it. The trick is to use the Backpod enough to free up the rib hinges so it all feels pretty good, but then just use it only if they start to feel a bit tight again sometime in the future. It's a balancing act, but a pretty sensible one.
The other thing you have to do is get enough support strength into the muscles around the rib cage and middle back to anchor your flexible joints. You can't really do this by straining intermittently on the job, even though you are lifting 50lbs. Best is a quiet build up; three times a week at the gym, say. I don't know if you can afford that, but it's best. Ideally, you'd get a good physio to oversee what you're doing.
That's likely to be the best route through it. It takes time, but it's pretty sensible. There isn't a magical one-hit cure. Best of luck. Steve August.
Thank you for replying so quickly! You got it right. My ribs are popping out next to my spine. The intercostal muscles spasim and when they go crazy twisting my ribs is when I got costo this time and last. What you are saying makes perfect sense. I need to stop the ribs from subluxating all together and that its good to get them back in place(all the time is bad), but I need to do the further exercises to make it stop happening all together. Regarding the slow focused stretch and finding the happy middle of not over stretching due to hypermobility and getting the stretch enough to free up the hard stuff. I have been doing that with my roller, but again that focused stretch on the thoraic with the dome will be my best bet. I had forgotten about the slow buildong of muscle to help support my joints and ligaments. My physio when I was seeing her had started working on the same thing when my insurance said I had reached my maximum visits. I will get a new referal from my primary and go back to physio to continue therapy and get the proper skills to build that muscle without injuring myself further. Seems to me I need to add that element of bulding steady strenght not the "brute strength" I use at work. I imagine the repetitive motion of scrubbing cages isn't doing me any good either.
I have to plan my budget to get the new tool, but will order it as soon as I have the funds.
Thank you so much for giving me a direction and focus to go in. Most Doctors, physio's, ect don't know what to do with me or how to help me. There have been a select few that are willing to take this journey with me and together slowly we are figuring it out.
Good oh, Amy - you've got it! From what you've been telling me, that really does look like the way to go. I've been doing this sort of stuff in New Zealand for the past 30 years - you do learn to recognise the patterns, and yours is one that crops up. Unfortunately most health professionals (not all) tend to have a single approach to problems like this, which doesn't get you very far when it's a simple collection of approaches that's needed. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for the video! Last week I purchased the backpod (using it daily), and found a good chiropractor. In only 1 week, he has freed up the hinges in my back. I am breathing better and moving better - there is less flare ups. However, I am not completely healed yet (there are still daily flare ups, and occasional pain). I am wondering, how long do you expect it would take to fully heal once this plan is in motion? I have had costo for about a year and a half.
Well, good - you're heading in the right direction. But you can't expect it to be gone for some or several weeks yet, at least. Those rib and spinal joints around the back have been frozen solid for at least 18 months. Manipulation can unlock them but it cannot, repeat cannot, instantly stretch out the tightened collagen material around them. This takes time - it's what we built the Backpod for. It's like stretching hamstrings that are so tight you can't touch your knees - it'll take weeks of daily stretching before you can reach your toes.
By the way, those joints DO NOT NEED continuously unlocking forever. Sounds like you may have a good chiro. But the US ones usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is usually a poor choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time.
Also, in my experience, they have a bias towards manipulating the spinal joints and (often) missing the rib joints - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing most costo. Hopefully yours is better than that.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then you’d better do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Steve, after starting the backpod, usually in how many weeks will costochondritis get cured totally? What are s the minimum no. if weeks to reduce & maximum?
Hi Sandeep. The usual response is about 90% better in three weeks. Then it can take months for the last bit to fully clear as things settle 100%. But of course it varies - not so much with how long you've had the problem, but more with how well you follow instructions and do the few other things that may be needed as well as the Backpod. Have a look at Karen Forrest's comments - she was 90% better in three weeks after five years of costo. That's pretty typical.
It's also exactly the timing I'd expect for freeing up a rib or spinal hinge that's been jammed for months or years. You can unlock it with a quick manipulation click, but it still takes those three weeks to mostly stretch the tightened collagen around the hinge. So the timing fits exactly with my New Zealand physio explanation of what causes costochondritis.
It also fits exactly with an effective treatment in the real world. There's no magic wand or silver bullet that's going to instantly disappear musculoskeletal problems that have been there for months or years. But you can still fix them, logically. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve,
Hope you are well. Can I just clarify a few things with you please? My back started clicking after using the back pod and it radiates up to my neck. Is it a good sign of freeing up tight muscles? It is not painful but just 'clicky'. Also, as you have said many times that CC is caused by the 'tight collagen' , should we avoid foods rich in collagen like bone broth etc. or it has no real influence on the worsening the condition? Sorry I asked an MD but he never gave a clear answer, not to mention he smiled at the idea of using the Back pod. Thank you in advance Steve.
Hi Thomas. If you get back to that MD ask him what exactly causes costo, and why hasn't he fixed yours? They generally stop smiling then.
The clicking round the back is okay. It's a halfway house. Perfectly okay joints slide silently - the cartilage lining the hinges is slipperier than an ice skate on ice. When they're stuck solid and can't move at all then they're also silent. As they start to free up they'll often click and bang and judder a bit - a lot like a rusty hinge would. So it means they're partway free now. Stick with it - they're freeing up fine and will stop clicking when they're back to full well-oiled movement.
I just have no idea if diet makes a significant change to tightened collagen of ligaments, etc. I know stretching does, slowly, and that's what you're doing. It's like stretching out a really tight hamstring, daily, until you can touch your toes again.
Cheers, Steve august.
I hope I haven't double posted...seems I lost the other one. However, I wanted to thank you for this thorough explanation. I think the Universe led me to this video! I have been suffering with this on and off for a couple of years now, (along with sciatica and knee pain) and other various inflammation issues. My Dr. tested me for R.A. which came back negative. But I knew the chest pain wasn't going to be dealt with properly just "going to the Dr." I've also been to several chiropractors in the past (and paid exorbitant out of pocket fees!) who proved to be quacks. Which brings up another issue---
I don't know how it is in New Zealand, but here in the states so many of us are struggling to afford adequate health care. Most low cost plans won't cover this type of treatment. However, I have been using my local health center (affordable and caring Drs!) so I need to look into whether they offer physiotherapist services. With the information you've given here, I can at least go to an appointment knowledgeable and with insight as to what they SHOULD be doing for the problem. I certainly wish you were nearby!!!
Thank you again for sharing.
Thanks, D.C. I'm always cheered when someone recognises the sense of my New Zealand physio explanation of costo. I'm not being snide - it wasn't until I put up the original video and started responding to all the comments and questions that I realised how much hype and marketing there is to do with the health industry on the net, and especially in the US. Not something I was used to! Good luck with the work.
The nice thing about costo is you can sort most or all of it yourself. The Backpod gives you enough leverage to free up the tight rib hinges at home, and the likeliest extra you'll need after two years is a good sports massage or two for the muscle scarring around the frozen hinges.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Great video, I’ve had this a few years, I got told I was suffering from just severe anxiety but I knew it was something physical causing the anxiety, I had all the relevant tests to rule out anything sinister and was amazed as i I thought I had a heart or lung problem but nothing, i was very fit and strong few years ago and then out of the blue had a Costco attack which set off anxiety but was only diagnosed with costochondritis recently, the pains vary sometimes I get spasms and sharp and dull pain here and there, sometimes it jams up and anxiety kicks in, I don’t freak out like I use too, but still sometimes a little scary and painful, I’ve just ordered backpod, I’m hoping it will improve coz I want to work out properly again eventually, I’m a singer and a musician and that even affects me, it’s made me quite low in mood, I constantly have a slight discomfort but now again the severe pain kicks in like spasms is that normal, would love some feedback, cheers
Hi. Well done on thinking for yourself, and go for it. That anxiety pigeonhole you got really irritates me - I think it's perfectly sane and reasonable to be worried about a mysterious chest pain that can hit anytime and that no-one seems to understand. I mean, I'd be worried if you were happy about it..
Have a look through the Part (2) costo video as well - it's got more specific treatments on it. I do recommend the Backpod - as far as I can tell it's the only thing around that will do a really good stretch on the tight rib machinery around the back that drives the costo pain on your front. This does take time - usually three weeks to stretch it all mostly free. Please DO follow the instructions accurately.
Also, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for years, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up.
If you're used to doing dips in the gym, do stop. They're the very worst exercise for costo.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio thank you so much for your info, really appreciate it, I watched part 2, amazing work. I’ve ordered my back pod should receive it within a week, I will take all your advice. Thanks again for taking your time to help me and others, God bless you 👍
Hi Steve, I have just been diagnosed with Costochondritis the other day in the urgent care. They did all the important tests and my heart and lungs are fine. Sent me home with a sheet explaining Costochondritis. Right now I am experiencing tightness in my upper back and slight pressure all around my ribs. Definite feeling of restricted breathing. For the most part the sternum pain is gone but I always fear if I move the wrong way it will come back. I just feel terribly stiff and confined in my ribs and breathing. It all started last Sunday about a week and a half ago. I was waking from sleep and raised my arms above me while still laying down and stretched. All of a sudden I felt a terrible twerk in my back and neck area. Ugh. Only I could hurt myself from stretching. It was sore for a few days but (I thought) went away. Then a week after (this Sunday) the chest pain started, achy and confining. I don't like taking ibuprofen but I have every other day. This kink or tightness in my upper back is constant. I feel hopeless. I just want my breathing to go back to normal. I was also prescribed prednisone but was told to wait a few days to see if it eventually goes away without having to use it. I don't want to take it as I'm not sure it would help my upper back much. Do you think I'm a good candidate for the backpod? I just feel helpless and hopeless and scared this won't go away.
Hi Ferndale Lane. Get a Backpod and fix it. No, that's not hype or delusion. Have a look at my Part (2) costo video which has more details of treatment.
Forget about most of the standard medical statements plus the gloom and doom on the costo sites. EVERY treatment, medical and non-medical, that just seeks to suppress the pain on the breastbone alone, and doesn't deal to the tight rib joints at the back causing it, misses the point. That's why they don't work much or at all, and why you then get the despair of the living with costo reports on the patient forums.
Have a look at Samantha Wayne's video - link is ruclips.net/video/j3fqDIGYGw0/видео.html Then go and start fixing yourself. Of course costo isn't a mystery and of course it's fixable. We think the rest of the world is mad.
Best wishes, Steve August.
I going to try this. I'm in so much pain, but really the anxiety is worse. One doctor said it's Tietze syndrome, the rheumatologist said, Tietze is just what they say , when they don't know. This is not good for the anxiety I already have, haha. I will order the jackpots, and find myself an osteheopath. physiotherapy did not do the job, though gave some relief. This post does give me some validation, it's hard to explain. Thank you from the Netherlands.
Hi Bee V.D. Good -- give it a go. Doctors are good at looking after chest pain from heart problems; they just usually aren't good on costo. There's a Part (2) costo video of mine with more treatment details. Also have a look at Samantha Wayne's recent video on using the Backpod to fix her own costo - link is ruclips.net/video/j3fqDIGYGw0/видео.html Best of luck. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you Steve. I really appreciate all your help. Really sorry for asking so many questions but I am just trying to figure out the optimal approach to fix my back. When you ask about the biomechanics of the spine nobody can give you a clear answer. Does fixing your thorasic area mean that your forward head will adjust as well (including some posture exercises). My pain has been moving around my back (now it is between shoulders) and I am trying to find the logic in all that puzzle )not being a professional). My kyphosis is pretty bad but no physio has mentioned it to me at all. And as you said before, 3 weeks and my back is clicking everywhere. I have watched your videos on kyphosis and scoliosis and I know they go together. I know I am a pain but can you please say what would be the best approach and how actually the spine works in regard to re-aligning itself when using the Back pod? Is working on thorasic area enough to to put the spine back on track?
Thank you Steve.
Hi Thomas. Generally , yes. Follow through all of the bits of the Backpod's program, including the Backpod, and everything lines up pretty well, and the extra load comes off the neck so that settles down. Any physio or health pro should not treat the neck in isolation - it sits on your thoracic spine, of course.
But also, specific spines can need specific treatment tailored to their articular layout. Generally, the Backpod's approach will touch all the bases. Best is simply to stick with it - it needs doing anyway. Then in a few weeks when everything's hopefully moving fine and is well supported by the muscles, then see if there's anything left then that needs specific tweaks.
Your kyphosis is the major driver of most neck problems. It does take time to stretch.
I just purchased this few days ago and I'm hoping this works. I started having my costo for about 3 weeks. Thank you for giving me hope ! I will update in a few weeks
Syaoran Li hows it going so far? Please give me updates I need hope
@@mirinda8169 I can say that I'm improving. In the beginning I feel like I can't take a deep breath , and that made me more panic. Ever since I use this backpod, I believe I'm getting better , first few days I'm using it my chest (or ribs) feels burning when I breathe almost constantly, but they are now only feel burning on some occasion. Especially if I breathe too hard (for example I play game that got me too excited) or talking too hard . So I'm still not 100% sure if the backpod help or everything else I did also help (I change my diet to have more anti inflammation stuff ) and I learn how to relax (still learning as I'm terrible at it) , but I've lso been watching other RUclips video that give me hope. So I'm not completely healed yet ,butn I can feel the difference compare to in the beginning. At this point I'm trying everything I can to get better. !!!
Syaoran Li ill come back next month. Good day
@@mirinda8169 stay strong !!!
Syaoran Li hello, are you 100% now?
+Steve NZ Physio
Hi Steve,
Thank you for sharing useful info regarding Costochondritis. Could you please comment on the optimal number of times per day and also the duration of each time when one uses backpod? Cheers, Farzan
It's thoroughly covered in the instructions in the user guide, Farzan. Cheers, Steve August.
Waking up in the middle of the night with this is the scariest thing ever thank you so much. Eating a clean and green diet from now on. I took in sugar last night and have inflammation and arthritis all over thank you thank you thank you. Did a little mild stretching which is helping actually. I can attest to the ulcer bit thing too which I discovered recently took myself off nsaids and oh boy do I feel the whole of my inflammatory disease. Worsened by severe use at one time of diet colas. I got thin but it has damaged my body. More broccoli and more bone broth soup and I will report back. Moving to care for my parents who rarely eat any green food has really affected me. No longer eating their diet.
Hi Marjorie. Sounds like what I was saying made sense - good! The diet thing will affect inflammation in your body generally - what some people regard as normal eating can be pretty appalling!
However you'll still have specific rib tightness around the back driving the specific costo pain on your front. There's a Part (2) version of this video (same title) with more explanation of the treatment approaches we use - link is ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html I hope you find it useful.
There's also a home test for the specific rib joint tightness causing most costo on the Costo page of the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz good luck! Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much. I did watch straight away last night. The high handed door stretch helped me immediatley. That I found elsewhere n what I did was stayed upright and stretched gently back for 20 seconds like your support tool was there just took some imagination. Helped so much. I felt I was dying this has been getting worse for 3 weeks. Last night I knew was the end. Been talking about moving to New Zealand for half a decade. 😊
Marjorie Reagan I just went thru a natural anti-type II diabetic diet whi RADICALLY changed my life ( lost 50 lbs on INTERMITTENT fasting
totally stabilized my blood sug in
1 Mon...see Jason Fung )Now I've
hd a recent fall & thi costo stuf seems 2 apply. Much pain 2 L side
( ❤ ribs chest ) U r RIGHT abt sugar & many grains...any imput wud b appreciated...thanx Thomas
Hey Steve , center of back is like a piercing stress point in like one area when I stretch on the pod . I def hace the three pillows behindMyNeck. Guess that feeling just means am really"stuck "?
Hi Shannon. Yep, that's definitely the likeliest answer. Now, you can have hinges that are so jammed the Backpod can't shift them. If your sharp sore bit doesn't just clear in another week, going to an osteopath would be the next step. They can check you over and click free any hinges that are really stuck. You'll still need the Backpod to stretch out the tough collagen around the hinges. Give it another week. It's all been jammed for years and it's just starting to free up. It'll take a few weeks yet. When you can lie on the Backpod with no pillows and no pain, then it's all moving fine. You're not there yet. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, really great video. Suffered with this quite a few months now, diagnosed by GP as costro. Not much advice given though. I do feel there's pain/stiffness in my back also (since a twin pregnancy 3 years ago). My costro pain is not really in the middle of my chest but on either side (more right) of my ribcage - if i press even gently then it really hurts - like a bad bruise (the muscle over my rib feels inflamed/bit sinewy if that makes sense). Then the pain goes - it is quite odd, it hurts when pressure is applied mostly. The pain is mostly along the bra area - i think rib 5,6,7? Is that normal for costro? One thing i do have is if i bend down towards my feet from a seated position I do get a sudden tightening/muscle pulling feeling in the sternum area in the centre of my chest and have to quickly stretch backwards as it feels like if i don't then i will pull the muscle badly. I guess my question is, does this seem 'typical' for costro and will the back pod help me? Thanks
Kelly, I give up. I've replied to your comment twice and it's disappeared twice. Sorry - you can try emailing me from the contact address at the Backpod's New Zealand website.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Ok thanks Steve, will do
Hi Steve, amazing video and thanks for the lucid explanation. I have the costochondritis, but partly due to a trauma I suffered at the center of the chest. Will a backpad help in this case as well?
Hi Subharthi. Probably, but I can't be sure over RUclips. I've seen a number of cases of costo after car crashes, where the sternum impacted on the seatbelt across the chest. Certainly, there was old tissue scarring on the sternum, which responded fine to massage. I'd certainly recommend you have at least one sports massage for the area, if you haven't already.
Old impact scarring is a bit like injecting glue into the area. You get a fibrotic repair of the damaged cells which can just stay there. It's like getting paint in your hair - the muscle and tendon cells fibres in the area get glued up together, instead of being able to slide easily past each other, like hair follicles. The glueing also binds down free nerve endings in the area. These carry pain signals, and get hypersensitive when they're stuck down with scarring.
Massage is ideal for freeing up tight, tethered old patches of scarring. it won't weaken the old repair, just get the area mobile and flexible again. So I'd go for massage first off. Best would be two sessions, with at least a week in between. They should have a look round the back and sides of your rib cage also, not just the impact site on the chest.
If that's not enough on its own, then definitely add in a Backpod. Sufficient impact on the chest is certainly enough to also jolt the rib hinges at the back of the rib cage, have them freeze up their movement, and cause the costo chest pain for that reason. I think that was the case in most of the car crash costo problems I mentioned. The Backpod is ideal for freeing up frozen rib hinges around the back. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio thank you so much for the kind reply! I'll definitely get a couple of sports massages first and see if there's any improvement.
Hi Steve,
I just wanted to share my experience here. I've been suffering with costochondritis for 1 year and I've been to the ER and Doctors multiple times thinking that I had a heart attack. . I got several tests done (Ultrasound, ECG, X-Ray, Blood test) and they all ruled out that my heart, lungs and breast is fine/normal. In the beginning, I seriously couldn't find any answers for this underlying cause. A lot of them would say it's nothing life threatening and it's just all "anxiety and stress".My GP actually referred me to go see a therapist because he thought I was paranoid. I was still so determined to find answers so I kept returning back to the doctors because this pain was debilitating every single thing I do. From work, studying, social life and exercise. I used to be so fit and active at the gym and now I'm pretty much sedentary. I was also diagnosed Anaemic so that would've contributed to the inflammation because I was fatigued, was sickly pale and could feel my heart pounding because I didn't have enough blood/Hemoglobin for it to properly function. My energy was always severely low and fatigued. A combination of all these symptoms made me feeling extremely depressed and I felt like my life was going to end in misery forever. I avoided so many social interactions because of this. I just didn't feel like myself anymore.
After few months of upping my iron intake.... my symptoms went down but I still experienced pain daily. Around February this year, that's when my GP finally diagnosed me with costochondritis and recommended me to go see a physio therapist. So I went to a clinic and he gave me a number of stretches to do daily. He also did not think I have costochondritis so at that point I didn't know what to believe. But he did give me some good advice in terms of the mind connection to the body/nerves. So I tried doing all these stretches, bought myself an expensive foam roller that's textured and did some meditation daily to manage my breathing and anxiety as recommended by my Physio. I'm from New-Zealand too. I incorporated yoga and went on a anti-inflammatory diet to help with inflammation. Bought all kinds of ointments and essential oils for massaging. Took Vitamin D, Omega 3, Iron, Zinc, Collagen powder, superfoods like Ashagwanda, Spirulina, turmeric. Bought myself an expensive Juicer online still thinking I had a heart problem and thought juicing would heal whatever "mysterious disease" I had. It was hard to manage this lifestyle while working and studying too so I did slack off at times. But I tried my best to be consistent and NONE of these has healed/cured it whatsoever.
I actually had a severe extreme flare up recently last week and was scared for my life because I couldn't breathe normally and my left pectoral/ breast was swollen, full of lumps, tight and numb. Followed by a panic attack. Went to the ER for the final last time and they also ran some test and same as usual. My heart is fine and told me it's all costochondritis. Been resting this whole time and only recently, did I come across your video and now I feel a huge huge sense of relief after months of trying everything. I haven't tried the back pod yet but I know they sell them at my physio clinic so I'm definitely buying one after watching your video. Thank you so much for raising awareness about this problem. I'm only 22 years old and suffering like this everyday is emotionally and physically draining because I can't live my life normally. I am really excited to try this out and hope for the best!!!!!!
I just have a question though, Is it safe to have caffeine like coffee or matcha/green tea? because I noticed that they trigger my inflammation/chest pain even though they're anti-inflammatory.
Hi. Thanks for sharing that. I do sympathise. What a waste of your time (and money) it's been. I hate to say it, but your story is a really common one - it's why I'm doing this. We're still flabbergasted that costochondritis is so poorly understood outside my New Zealand (and Aussie) area of manual physio. Where are you in the world yourself?
Have a look at the Part (2) costo video which has more treatment detail, and the one on the published medical research actually says about costo - it's conclusively NOT a "mysterious inflammation."
Correcting your iron levels was sensible and helped somewhat; I've noticed this is the case with any back or neck problem too. It'll remove some of the background ache, especially. But low iron does not cause costo per se, and correcting it will not fix costo, though it may certainly help.
Going down the whole anti-inflammatory diet/additive approach might have helped a bit - in your case it didn't - but again that whole area does not cause costo per se, and won't on its own fix it.
I share your frustration with that. That approach does have its worth, but you can get completely lost in the huge range of what you should eat and what you shouldn't - and it DOES often come through with a holier-than-thou flavour!
And again - general levels of inflammation or whatever in your system WILL NOT CAUSE the very specific pain of costo just at the rib joints on your chest. Duh.
I'd commend you to the Backpod. A foam roller cannot bring much stretch pressure to bear on the specific tight rib joints round your back that drive the costo strain and pain at the rib joints on your breastbone. Its long cylindrical shape spreads the upper body weight too much. The small peaked shape of the Backpod doesn't, so you get a much stronger stretch on the rib hinges - and they need that force. That's why it gets a mention in fixing costo - it's the only thing i know of that will do an effective stretch on rib joints - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo.
Re coffee - mm, coffee can make all your joints that bit more irritable. Hate to say it, but staying off that for a few weeks probably would help. But it's not a real biggie. A friend of mine gave up coffee for six months. She felt so much more alert, thought better, felt healthier, had more energy - but it wasn't worth it.
Good luck with the work. Also, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up.
As well, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
Cheers, Steve August.
Arleeluckystar Hey, this May be weird, but I’m also 22 and I’ve been really struggling with what may be costochondritis. I’ve had a lot of experiences similar to you and I’m curious to know more. My doctor just recommended a mammogram for me as a last resort and I don’t really want to do that if I don’t need to!! So I’m curious to talk more with you about some of the things doctors said and recommend for you and how you decided it was for sure Costo... especially the part about your breast getting lumpy. I’d love to talk more about it with you! If you’re okay with that, I can give my email or fb??
Hi, first of all, great video. I think I have cc but it hasn't been confirmed by a doctor, but I do feel a sharp pain in my chest. My question however is if I can use a foamroller with a hard polymer core to have the same effect as the backpod?
Hi. Unfortunately no. It's because of the cylindrical shape of the roller - it spreads the weight of your upper body over too wide an area. This means you can't get much leverage onto the rib hinges, which is where it's needed. Rollers are great for a lot of things, just not this particular thing. The stable peaked shape of the Backpod means you can get most of your upper body weight onto just one or two rib hinges. It takes this much oomph to actually stretch the tough collagen around them. That's why they can stay stuck indefinitely unless you get enough sustained force to actually unlock them. Do check the chest pain with your doctor though - have to be sure it is CC and not something else dire (usually it's not). Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I seem to strain that area sometimes when I'm.bent over for a while. Just under the ribcage. I'm 57 . Do you think this is costochondritis?
Many thanks . Tom. Yorkshire.
Hi Tom. Could be. I can't really tell with that little data over RUclips. have a thorough look over the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That should give you an idea; also there's a home test for the tight rib bit which should make it clearer again. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve.
I've been dealing with what seems to be costochondritis for over a year and just need some advice. Prior to this I was fit and healthy and would exercise daily. A month before developing it, I developed stomach inflammation/reflux issues from a week of eating before bed then sleeping on my stomach which I am still dealing with today along with the costo, and I was truly convinced that the acid might have caused the costochondritis somehow or I was just exercising way too aggressively. The burning sensation in my ribs has subsided but the big sensation that has persisted is the inability to take a deep sufficient breath which is almost constantly there, almost like my ribs wont expand to full capacity on the right side. If I run my finger over the area (right of my sternum but towards the bottom part) it feels almost numb and like it 'dips in', very light. If I sit slouched at all, the area almost feels hard or like my ribs won't sit on top of each other properly. I tried to get back into working out but when on the treadmill and I'm panting the area almost feels like my ribs wont move as quickly as they should and does cause some burning. I've had all serious tests ruled out and some doctors and a physiotherapist did suspect costochondritis especially given my CT scan/X-ray/EKG was clear and I have no swelling. Does this sound like costochondritis to you and do you have any further advice on what I should do? Really desperate to get back to normal as this massively brings my mood down at random points of my day. Thanks.
Hello, Alison. Sounds like costochondritis - partly because no tests you've had have shown anything. Not sure about the reflux (?) originally but the rib tightness and inability to take a full breath in is exactly what you get with costo.
There are other lung and heart conditions that will cause breathing difficulties also, but usually those are the first things the docs check out. And they're very good at that - you can usually trust them when they say the dire possibilities are all clear.
But they are really not good at thinking of the simple reason that costo causes chest tightness and difficulty in breathing. Which is this:
You can't breathe in fully unless you can expand your rib cage fully. You can't do that if some of the rib joints around the back are frozen up solid and can't move. It's like trying to inhale fully while wearing a tight corset - you can't do it. So you get air hunger and breathlessness.
The same tight rib machinery around the back also causes costo. Because rib joints round the back can't move, the more delicate joints at the other ends of the same ribs (where the ribs hinge onto your breastbone)MUST strain excessively - every breath you take. So they click, pop, strain, give and get painful - and welcome to costochondritis. It is not a "mysterious inflammation" arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason.
The frozen rib joint movement doesn't show on X-ray, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and cannot show if the joints are moving or not.
You can test this yourself. There's a home test for the tight ribs causing costo on the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Just get someone to do that on you accurately. It'd expect you to be markedly limited in twisting towards your right side.
The test is a simple physiotherapy assessment of rib cage and thoracic spine movement. If you're obviously way more restricted twisting towards your painful costo side, that's because the rib machinery round the back can't move to help with that twisting movement - and that's what's causing your costo.
Logically, we fix it by freeing up the source of the problem - the frozen rib machinery around the back. We use the Backpod for that. Sure, you may need other bits dealt to as well, e.g. massage for the tight muscles overlying the tight joints. But the irreducible core of fixing costo is getting the rib cage machinery around the back moving okay again, so that the extra strain comes off the painful rib joints around the front.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, Thanks for all the useful info. The back pod is arriving tomorrow. Just a question on how to use it. One of the ribs in the upper back left side is usually very painful mostly when I stand to do things for too long. Can I position the backpod over this painful area as well or should I avoid it? Many Thanks!!Martina, London.
Hi Martina. Sorry - I missed your question. Just follow the instructions in the user guide and work the Backpod all over your thoracic spine and ribs. However concentrate more on the sorest bits, which will the higher ribs on your left round the back. Basically, the sore bits are the tight bits. When a hinge is moving fine, it doesn't hurt. What you're working towards is being able to lie back on the Backpod with no pillow under your head and no soreness - just a satisfying stretch. That means all the machinery is moving pretty well. It can take a few weeks to get to, though, and yes, you can be a bit tender for the first few days as things start to stretch.
Also Steve, I forgot to ask if you read my post please. Is the collagen in the spine the same 'material' that is involved in formation of bone spurs or osteophytes? I would really appreciate your answer explaining what kind of material it is around the spine hinges. Thank you once again for what you have done for costo sufferers.
Hi Thomas. Thanks for your enthusiastic post. I agree with all of it. All I'm saying re costo is that there's a specific mechanical problem driving most of it - just like having the hand brake jammed on in the car. I completely agree that looking after the car and using good fuel is the correct way to go, but also you need to free off the handbrake.
Sounds like you're getting there on the Backpod. Hang in there - it will take time. Usually a few weeks to free the hinges mostly, though this varies. What you're stretching on the Backpod is the very tough collagen material making up the ligaments, joint capsules and fascia that surround the spinal and rib joints. This stuff will have contracted down around the immobile joints. It's stronger by weight than steel wire, and has to be - it's what holds your skeleton together. Muscles just move it around.
You can stretch it, but it takes a long, strong, specific, sustained stretch - exactly what we built the Backpod for. You cannot, repeat cannot, stretch it with a split second manipulation from a chiropractor, say. That's why people go back again and again to get the same joints banged free repeatedly - the tight collagen just stiffens them up again. We think this is expensive folly.
It's not the same as bone spurs or osteophytes. Those are essentially areas where the muscle tendons anchoring onto the bone, or the bony surfaces themselves, have been stressed and loaded enough that new bone is laid down to sort of reinforce the area. That extra bone can interfere with the workings, e.g. osteophytes in the neck pressing onto the nerves running out of the neck and causing referred pain down the arm.
Cheers, Steve August.
thank you for your series of videos.
i have suffered form chosto for two years. it is gradually getting worse. the pain is extremely specific which i can identify precisely with both pinky fingers to the left and right of my typhoid. the spot of the pain is actually smaller than the tips of my pinky. no sternum pain. i also have had curvature of the spine for 30 years but never any pain until the chosto.
is this a specific location you have dealt with before?
i train very hard for competitive swimming and am 58 years old. do you think it is possible to heal the condition without backing off training?
any other advice you can give specific to the conditions i have described will be greatly appreciated.
thank you
Trip
Hi Trip. I think where you're probably describing the specific pain is on the lowest sternocostal joints. Ribs 7,8,9 and 10 join together and all hinge onto the lowest part of the sternum but also partly onto the xiphoid process coming off the lowest part of the sternum. Have a look on Google image. I think you're probably jammed on one or more of the posterior rib hinges 7-10 where the other ends of the ribs hinge onto the spine.
Because you're a swimmer, requiring a lot of movement of the rib cage to swim and breathe, the sternocostal joints on both sides are getting overworked, irritated and painful. It'll get worse unless you free up the tight rib movement around the back. The bonus you get with doing that is that you'll take in a fuller breath, because the rib cage can expand just that bit more when the tight hinges are loosened up.
Sure - don't stop training. It's just a hinge problem. Get a Backpod and start loosening up the tight stuff around the back. After your two years of pain you'll need to stretch the tightened collagen around the tight hinges, and the Backpod's the only device I know of that will do that effectively, or at all.
By curvature of the spine, I assume you mean a scoliosis twist in the spine. If so, this predisposes towards costochondritis, because the rib hinges on one side are already overloaded somewhat because of the twist. You can use the Backpod to oppose the direction of the scoliosis twist - directions in the user guide. It won't straighten you up completely, but will unwind the twist a bit and free up the hinge movement. No problems so long as the spinal and rib machinery's freely moving. I have a mild scoliosis myself. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve,
Hope you are doing well! I have been using the backpod for about 3 months now and while the pain has reduced greatly, I still seem to have flare-ups when I walk for too long or lift anything heavy.
I have also noticed that my left side is a bit stiffer than my right so I started incorporating pec stretches to free things up. Is there anything else that you would recommend to eliminate the pain completely?
Once again, thank you so much for creating the backpod and sharing your knowledge with us. If you ever come to NYC, beers are on me haha.
Thanks,
JG
Hello, JG. Good - sounds like you're most of the way there. Yes, you might need extra bits dealt to as well. The pec stretches are one bit of those.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Just checking - do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. These are the best detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However do it safely with COVID-19 around. At a minimum, you should both wear masks and hand sanitise.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Steve you are an angel. I’ve been stretching my back the past 2 weeks and have noticed a huge improvement both in the state of my back generally and the Costo. Skipped a day yesterday because I was hunched up binging a tv show and oh my god I’m paying for it today. For anyone else reading - consistency is absolutely key. And don’t hunch. Or sneeze or cough or overstretch your pecs. Definitely don’t have the hiccups 🙄😂
Do you find costo is common after head injuries? Particularly people with post concussion syndrome from holding themselves differently.
Hi Tash. Great - pleased the Backpod's helping.
Yes, I do find costo is common after head injuries. I think it's because the impact that causes the head injury is certainly enough to whiplash the neck, plus whatever other bits of the body are involved in the trauma. Car crashes and whiplash often leave costo in their wake, because of the impact of your chest on the seatbelt, airbag or steering wheel. Any front chest bruising usually heals, but the impact also goes through to the rib joints round the back. So these can scar and freeze afterwards, and that's what sets off the compensatory excessive movement and strain at the front rib joints, often months after the injury itself.
Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. These are the best detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod.
We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes.
When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ RUclips video - ruclips.net/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/видео.html This is to work the joints now they’re reasonably unlocked - like working a rusty hinge back and forth after you put some oil on it.
Also, ideally, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. However NOT until it’s safe with COVID-19. At a minimum, you should both wear masks, hand sanitise, and when you get home take all your clothes off and put them straight into the washing machine and you straight into the shower, including washing your hair.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on RUclips - link is ruclips.net/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/видео.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason. This would fit with your costo flaring after being hunched binging on a TV show.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then do all the bits in the Backpod’s home program - we designed it specifically to counter the iHunch and pull you back towards perfect posture. It’s worth looking at the Perfect Posture page also.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 wow thank you Steve that is so much useful information! I've always had trouble with hunching since I was a kid as I have lordosis which has definitely contributed and so much sitting with all these lockdowns where I am in the uk! Also good shout on the massage safety and a good reminder for anyone reading! I'm really diligent with hygiene from all this but honestly most people around here seem to have decided the pandemic is over and are walking around like everything's normal which is insane and why we have such high rates - even in A&E a few weeks ago when I got my diagnosis the waiting room was overcrowded with people bringing in half their family and all sitting around with masks under their noses. Of all places you'd think people would be a wee bit more conscientious but no. You guys defo have the right idea in Aus & Nz! Thanks so much again for taking the time to give such an amazing reply and I hope it gives other post-concussion people reading this wondering why it feels like their entire body is falling apart from a simple bang on the head some light in the dark. Ive basically been left to figure all this out on my own because our healthcare system is so overstretched the only time i got to see a doctor in person since my accident was 3 months later in a&e for costo. I know self-diagnosis is not the steadiest ground to walk on but sometimes it's all you have when you're left to connect the dots yourself. Thank god for people you and your kindness and generosity. Stay safe!