Hey Steve, you may remember me.. I was in such a bad place with my costo. I just want to thank you because you're the reason why I'm still here today. Yup, it was that bad. I'm completely symptom free, my chest clicks at my sternum now and I'm okay with that, I can do any chest exercise I want, and I just can't thank you enough. Freaking amazing. :)
Great! I'm so pleased. Well done. The clicking will slowly happen less and less - it's just a measure of how chronically strained those rib joints on your sternum have been. Think of it like a bit of piston slap! It could take several months for it to finally go, now that you've taken off the pressure causing it. I do mean well done. You thought for yourself, decided I might make some sense, got a Backpod and used it. And then stuck with it until it worked. I do get some contact from people who've had costo for years and give up on the Backpod because it hasn't fixed it in two days. It's this modern expectation of instant results - and the costo doesn't care. If you do feel like telling your story on any of the costo sites like the patient.info costo forum, Reddit's costo page, reviews, etc. I think it would be worthwhile. Most costo patients are still out there suffering because they've been told costo is a "mysterious inflammation" that nobody understands. Sigh. Best of luck with everything, and I appreciate the thank-you. Cheers, Steve August.
Everyone suffering from costo. Please, listen to Steve! He is the only one who can fix your costo. Sometimes it takes longer than you expect but nothing else can fix it. FOLLOW STEVE'S ADVICE AND STOP HUNCHING. As Steve mentions, it is one of the main reasons for costo.I have bone spurs which probably stops me from releasing it quickly. But I am using the backpod and work on it every day. Huge, huge admiration for Steve for replying to all those comments and enquiries to explain what might be happening with your costo. TRUE LEGEND YET STILL SO HUMBLE AND APPROACHABLE.
@@stephaniehamlet2474 Not fully. But 80%-90% better. Only because I am not consistent lol. I also have other issues to the spine but it did not stop me from getting back to sports again :). Stick to backpod. It will be painful at the beginning but it will get better and better. :) Follow Steve's advice, be ready to get through some pains. The spine is not only about flexion but those rotation exercise are also important. Turn and breath into your belly (diaphragm). And be consistent (and that's me saying this lol). Stay positive. You will be fine. Drink water with lemon. Helps with reducing inflammation. Omega 3 oils would be good as well. ;) It's a biomechanical problem which can cause different symptoms in the body. Steve is the deal. Follow his advice. Be patient.
Hey everyone I had this condition right now for 3 years and ive using the backpod doing stretches and also using a triggerpoint foam roller after 3 to 4 months from using all of this stuf my pain from the costo that was from 1 to 10 everyday an 8 or 9 now is just a 1 or 2 but somedays I have 0 pain. Now im getting to lifting again and im feeling great trust in the backpod and dont give up it takes time to get better :) thanks to steve I got my life back.
Hi Nicogh. Thanks! Well done on thinking for yourself and giving the Backpod a go. Sounds like you've pretty much fixed yourself. To get the last bit clear, try really pushing things. 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 tightest bits and stay a few or several minutes on them. It's all just to stretch the last bit. If you feel like putting a review on Amazon or patient.info costochondritis forum or our Facebook page, that would be great. I'm really trying to get the idea out there that usually costo is NOT a "mysterious inflammation" but a straightforward tight rib problem that's not difficult to fix. You actually have more street cred as someone who's done that than I do as a physio who's spent 30 years fixing the things! Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, thank you for your practical and effective recommendations for Costochondritis. I was being woken up every morning by severe back and rib pain, which stretching and non-specific physical therapies could not resolve. I am a nurse myself and was frustrated by the ‘mystery’ of my year+ of pain, often quite severe in AM and with respiration. I also have a 7.5 month old son that sleeps like a dream yet my sleep was interrupted every day by pain! I believe the condition was caused by or exacerbated during the pregnancy. Finally focusing on the joint hinges and intercostal spaces has brought relief. I believed it was more than the tight erector spinae and need for more stretching that my GP and others suggested. Anyway I am very grateful to have found this information and wish you all the best in your work helping others. -Stephanie
Hi Stephanie. Thank you very much. Your story is unfortunately quite a common one. If your rib cage is tight enough before you get pregnant, then the growing baby starts to lever it apart a bit. The joint strain can happen around the back (pain under your scapulae) or on your front (called costochondritis though it just isn't a "mysterious inflammation"). I find just exercises on their own tend to flare it, because they just strain further the already strained rib joints on your sternum, way before you get a benefit to the tight and immobile rib joints on your spine. We get past this by using the Backpod to specifically stretch free the posterior rib hinges, without stirring up the strained ones on the front. Good luck with the work, and well done on thinking for yourself. You have to with costo.. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Pete! I’m 25 years old and have been suffering from mysterious sharp chest pins for nearly 2 years now. Doctor diagnosed it as chosto. I have tried everything so far with no significant improvement in my condition - then I found you! Decided right away I’ll try the back pod. At this point I’m desperate to improve. 🙏 Looking forward to this journey. I’m a person who loves being active and working out, so this condition is purely disabling for me.. always struggling for a breath and in pain nearly everyday.
Hi Liv. Well done on thinking for yourself, gambling 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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. Re working out: don't. Sorry. You'll hate it. 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 UA-cam 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. Re struggling for breath - this is a normal symptom with costo. Those same tight or immobile ribs round the back that cause the costo strain and pain at the front also mean that you can't breathe in fully. You can't fill your lungs fully if you can't expand your rib cage fully, and you can't do that if some of the hinges round the back can't move. So, sure you'll get breathless with costo, even though your lungs themselves are fine. Incidentally, this won't show on X-ray, or CAT or MRI scans, which are all still photos and simply can't show if the rib joints round the back can move fine or are completely frozen solid - which they will be with costo. The reason the Backpod gets a valid mention with costo is that it's the only thing around I know of which will do an effective stretch on the tight rib joints around the back, and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hey Steve. Firstly I think it’s amazing how you’re helping people with these videos and the backpod. I purchased a backpod around 6 weeks ago, and I’ve been using it around 5 days a week. Usually I will use it for around 3 days straight, then stop for a couple of days, and then use it for some days consecutively again. I’ve worked my way from 2 pillows to none, and had it pop my back many times. The trouble is, I’m not positive if my condition is costochondritis. For one, although I am feeling better in some ways now than I did before starting, it seems most people are much better after a few weeks. I have a lot of typical costo symptoms such as tightness in the chest that initially came with a fast heart beat. I went to the hospital and had normal blood tests, EKG, and x ray. I have also had pain in my right arm and wrist on the side where my ribs are sore for over a month. However I also have symptoms that seem to suggest gerd/acid reflux. Whenever I eat or drink anything (even water) I feel like there is gas building in my chest and that I need to burp to relieve it. I was prescribed a PPI (pantoprazole) but it didn’t help. I saw on the Amazon reviews that someone mentioned the backpod cured many of their GI issues, so I was wondering if that could be the case here. To add some more back story: I’ve been having the constant chest discomfort for around 3 months, but for at least a year before that I had some tightness when doing push ups, and extreme tightness when attempting to do dips, which is part of the reason I think costochondritis is at play. I also could feel my chest moving when I would walk up/down stairs (I’m skinny so that is definitely not normal for me). Now my chest feels tight and it’s hard to breathe even when laugh hard or walk for more than a few minutes, and I used to play sports for hours a couple years ago. While I feel my back has been freed up, I still have soreness/tightness/feeling of gas in the chest, as well as soreness on the right side of my ribs. In fact much of my right side is sore: neck, foot/Achilles heel, hip, but not of those bother me to the degree that my chest does by not allowing me to freely breathe and sleep at night. Another thing is that a sneeze oftentimes will make something in my chest pop, and that happens a few times a week. I’ve also seen an ENT since I’ve had minor sinus issues for the past few years but they were somewhat dismissive about it. Sorry for the longwinded comment. I guess I’m asking for your advice on what to do next. I also tried a foam roller, and prior to the backpod I saw a chiropractor a few times who also thought my problem was my ribs. Also, I have mainly been using the backpod both vertically and horizontal slightly off to the right and left off my spine on both the middle and upper back. Should I also position it around my shoulder blade area? It seems a lot of my tightness is at my right side upper back near the top of the shoulder blade. Thanks
Hi. It certainly sounds like the tight rib costo I've been talking about, including it firing up on dips (worst exercise for costo). I'd keep using the Backpod, but really push it now. To get more oomph, lift your buttocks off the ground, and/or move your arms down to your waist and up over your head slowly. Find the tightest bits and stay 1-3 minutes on them. Chase the tightest bits. Also, have a sports massage or two. The muscles round the whole rib cage, including the pecs, also get tight and scarred. However you may also have some GI or reflux problems too - unfortunately nothing says you can't have both. Cheers, Steve August.
I have pain around the sternum for 2 years, I can barley sleep and Doctors have no idea what I have… After reading articles and watching UA-cam videos, I finally realized that I have Costochondritis. I hope I will manage to fix it. I would even fly to New Zealand 🇳🇿 just to meet this person and get help.
Hi. Shouldn't be needed - costo is just not that difficult to sort out, if you actually understand what it is and treat it correctly. 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
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 Hi Steve, thank you for all of the information you provide through your videos. I noticed pain in the left side of my sternum one morning after doing bench dips the night before. I didn’t think anything of it and it eventually went away. However, i believe tight undergarments and my posture at work as well as lifting moderately heavy things sets it off once in a while. It gets slightly better, goes away, and then gets triggered again. I notice more pain as I take deep breaths, but not every deep breath hurts me. Also, I don’t feel much pain when i push on my ribs, but certain twists and back-bending will aggravate it, or sometimes laying down on my stomach will produce a soreness in my chest, almost like bruise pain. In addition, the pain is not isolated to one area. I can feel it in my spine sometimes, under the breast bone, or sometimes tension in my shoulders and upper back. Are these normal signs of Costochondritis?
Steve I just want to say thank you for posting videos on this condition. I have been suffering with chronic rib pain for just over 5 years and it's been really hard to live with. It's only after watching this video I knew it was costo. This lead me to Michael Durtnell at the Sayer Clinic in London where I am currently being treated. He's the only person I have come across who treats costo the same way as yourself. I hope he will be able to help and I will no longer need to take morphine as advised by the nhs!
Hi Sunita. Pleased you found the videos useful. I would unreservedly recommend Michael - please say hello from me. You're in excellent hands (ho ho) and I'm sure it'll work out. Bottom line: (1) Costo is a straightforward mechanical problem and not difficult to sort out if you know what you're doing. (2) Most docs think it's a "mysterious inflammation" and it isn't - as conclusively shown by the existing research. Therefore, (3) most costo does not get fixed unless you're industrious or lucky enough to find the correct explanation and help. Well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you Steve. I appreciate it a lot. And, yes I have been terribly hunched. But I am so much better now! There were other issues around my costo that I had to address as well (which I was not aware of). I could NOT have done it without you! The BACKPOD helped me so much with my Ihunch that one of the physios I saw actually doubted that the original scan of the back was mine!:) And the amount of ridiculous explanations for my pain that I was getting was just overwhelming. Basically I should not be walking by now! Steve, not only did you help me to understand what it was and how to deal with this but also you got me hooked on the whole biomechanics of the human spine. I salute to your knowledge and gratuitous help you have been providing to everyone. To many, including myself, YOU ARE A LIFE SAVIOUR. Thank you. On a different note, is there any chance to get in touch with you directly via e-mail or FACEBOOK? Kindest regards, Thomas
I’ve only had this condition for the last two months and I’ve had the worst anxiety, insomnia and sense of helplessness because everyone just thinks I was tripping out… I even stopped surfing as I had fears I was going to have a heart attack in the water. I just bought one of these back pods, thanks for all the information as every symptom you’ve mentioned I have, just glad I’ve started taking action on this now! Thank you 🙏
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 strong but also tight on your pecs as part of it all, and also from surfing, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@jakobbecker6435starting eating carnivore, that regulated my nervous system and stretching more along with using the back pod which helped tremendously. All happy days here man 🙏🙌
Yes, well we were up the top of a mountain. Hope you found the information useful. There's a clear explanation of costochondritis and how you fix it at www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Hi Steve, Hope you are doing well. My costo is getting better although I got a bit lazy on it as it was painful so my 'hinges' are not free yet. Just a small reflection. I have seen so many different people being sceptical about the BACKPOD, including physios and chiropractors. Let me tell you folks. Most of them have got no clue what a COSTO is. I have been to 10 and told them about costo. None of them followed it up. The amount of nonse explanation for my pain was just ridiculous. I got myself the BACKPOD and I finally see improvement. You just have to be consistent (which I am not lol). You will see improvement in a matter of a couple of weeks. Just get on it. It gets painful but you need to be tough. It can get really sore. STEVE, YOU ARE SUCH A GREAT PERSON. I HAVE BEEN THROUGH SO MANY WEBSITES WHERE YOU ACTUALLY EXPLAIN PATIENTLY EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO. EVEN THE ONES WHO UNDERMINE YOUR VIABLE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. WELL, OBVIOUSLY THEY THINK THEY KNOW IT BETTER. UNFORTUNATELY THEY CAN'T HELP BUT ARE MORE FOCUSED ON EMPTYING YOUR WALLET. Such a pity that COSTO is still not fully recognised in Europe. Have you ever thought about coming to the continent to lecture about COSTO? I have already suggested the BACKPOD to some of my friends (for different) spinal conditions and they love it. No more expensive visits to chiropractors or physios. THANK YOU STEVE. FOR MANY (including myself) YOU ARE A LIFE- SAVING HERO.
Thanks, Thomas. Much appreciated. Actually I was lecturing in Germany over a year ago - barely survived the German hospitality which was amazing. My life is a bit like swimming in an avalanche so no concrete plans to get back that way soon, though intend to eventually. Sort of ridiculously, I can reach more people on UA-cam. It is academic suicide, and very much looked down on by the pure academics. But people are using it, and there should be good information on it, otherwise it gets captured by the hype and the well-meaning idiots. It's a different environment, for sure! You actually have more street cred on it yourself, than I do as a physio with 30 years' experience treating patients - which is sort of salutary! I'm just trying to put reasonable information out there - people can assess that and take it or leave it. It does surprise me that all people using it aren't better at assessing hype - there's so much of it around that you'd think they would be. It does take time - to read the website, read some of the 100 five star reviews for the Backpod on Amazon.com, watch a video or two and follow the reasoning. Yet you've got vast amounts of people who'd prefer to watch 'The miracle 10-second stretch that will fix your sciatica - doctors don't want you to know this!' utter crap. Oh well - I find it constantly surprising. Anyway, hang in there! Keep up the good work. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you so much Dr. Steve !! I appreciate your video so much you don't even understand. I've been struggling with what I finally now seem to think might be Costochondritis for roughly over a year. I'm a 25 yr old healthy male (good weight, good diet, good cardio exercise and occasional weight training). To my recollection I think I injured myself around a year ago in the gym doing Tricep/Chest Dips (but I did it incorrectly and at that time I was overweight and out of shape). With a history of 6 years+ working behind a computer and playing computer games for hours on end along with having bad posture (forward slouching) while sitting/driving I think this has caused my Costochondritis. I've been to the ER 3 times thinking it's a heart attack... ECG's, Blood Tests and X-rays were done on all 3 occasions. NO ISSUES AT ALL... I was so frustrated and mentally "drained" because of this constant worry that it might be my heart or something vital, I went into a depression and started suffering from Insomnia because of this constant worry about "I'm going to die" and no one knows what the problem is... Now I finally feel like I have the answer and this explains it really well along with a solution. The pain gets worse the day after doing chest training with weights in the gym, however jogging or walking actually seems to "help" the pain go away. After a day of work I'd always want to crack my back and stretch my chest because it feels like I struggle to breathe deeply, after the crack it would feel like I can breathe normally again. I will need to go see a Doctor soon and explain to them that it might be this but I don't want to go on pain meds or any of those stuff. I'm a very health conscious person (I take my vitamins daily) and get my exercise. Depending on what the Doctor says I really want to try and get this product to help me. I'm from South-Africa so I don't know if it can be shipped, we do actually have family in New-Zealand as well. Thanks again so much for this video!!
Hi Kodi Kodi. Well done on thinking for yourself and thanks for the nice comments. I always like that "Well, that makes sense!" response. The New Zealand physio explanation of costo I'm giving makes MUCH more sense than this 'mysterious inflammation' idea - which is NOT supported by research; it's a bit jaw-dropping. Sure - dips are the single gym exercise most likely to set off costo; bench press is the next worst, sorry. Have a look at another UA-cam costo video of mine - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html There's some stretch and exercises there that will help - but only once you've freed up the tight rib machinery round the back first. I'd recommend the Backpod - as far as I can tell, it's the only thing around around that will do a really effective stretch on tight rib joints, and that's the core of fixing most costo. Your sordid gamer history would fit also! I think we're seeing a big upsurge in costo for this reason - people getting really tight and hunched, then the costo coming in on top when the rib joints have also tightened. So what you've probably got is the iHunch, with costo on top. The iHunch is what we built the Backpod and its home program for, originally. Have a look on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz at the iHunch and costo pages - you should see a fit. 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. Yes, I don't you can get Backpods in South Africa yet - we get quite a few requests. Best is for your family in New Zealand to send you one. They can get them from ringing 0800 784 677. Or try NZ Health Delivery on the Buy page of the Backpod's website - I think they send them all over. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
I'm going through this exact same thing now Kodi - I have had Costo for about 7 months now - a very scary and debilitating condition to have - as an avid gym rat and drummer, I am very physically active and I'm wondering now through all my activity that maybe this is howI developed this condition. Been to the ER three times in as many months thinking it's a heart thing when everything comes back fine - the last doctor basically told me this is a MSK issue as a result of stress and anxiety - well yes, dealing with daily chest pain is scary so my anxiety level went right up - to top it off I went through a divorce last year then got laid off from my job - so that definitely did not help my situation. I just got the back pod a few days ago and diligently working with it. Let's hope after some time I will get relief from this horrible condition! Steve is so good at explaining exactly what's going on and he had this 7 years! Holy smokes!!
Another great video Steve! I spoke to you a few years back about my Costo and unfortunately still haven't been able to fully recover (Ive had Costo for about four and a half years total) Firstly I would like to tell anyone that is skeptical about buying the backpod that you should ABSOLUTELY get one. I have spent every dollar to my name on various weird treatments, doctors, chiropractors and everything under the sun. Nothing has come close to the amount of relief that the backpod has given me. I use the backpod every single day, three times a day. I would say the backpod gave me a solid 30% recovery. Which may not sound like much but it has given me my life back. Before I couldn't drive, take out the trash, do dishes etc, without having a moderate to severe flare up. So that being said the backpod is a great investment. Secondly I have some questions for you Steve. So I've been seeing a Rolfer that goes in very deep into the tissue in my armpits, pec minor, neck the area right above my collar bone. After each session I have almost complete relief for a few hours including a much larger range of motion without pain, particularly bending backwards. But then the normal Costo pain comes back. Same goes for when I do posture exercises that put emphasis on contracting my rhomboid muscles. The pain is again almost completely gone until my muscle pump subsides. I feel like I am getting closer and closer to finding the missing piece of the puzzle that will help me fully recover. That being said I was wondering if you might know what is going on here or if you have any input on this. Thanks again Steve.
Thanks! Pleased the Backpod's helped. Hmm - sounds like you're doing all the right stuff - it just needs more of it to get it better again and to have it last. Re the Backpod: 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 tightest bits, and stay on them for at least a few minutes. Re Rolfing: It's really strong deep soft tissue massage, and is obviously freeing up any scarred muscle in the area. To get it to stay free, start stretching as well - several times a day. Do pec stretches. There’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html Also, do the twist mobe and stratech i showed 12.40 minutes into the Part (2) UA-cam video on fixing most costo - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html As well, check that your Rolfing person is working all round the back and sides of your rib cage, plus the pecs. Re the rhomboid and mid -back muscle strengthening: Do more. If you can use the strengthening exercise in the Backpod's user guide then that's a good home one; sometimes it's sore with costo though; often okay doing it on a bed. If no go, then any gym exercises to really work that whole mid-back support muscle complex - mid- and lower-traps, rhomboids, lats, levator scapulae, etc. If we can get it reasonably better then we should be able to clear it completely. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you for the reply Steve. Re: Re: the Backpod: Yes, so I use the Backpod regularly along with a peanut (2 lacrosse balls fused together) and I lift my pelvis to get better leverage. Im wondering if holding maybe a 10-25 pound weight would be safe to get a deeper stretch on my frozen up spine. Don't want to get too carried away and cause another injury Re: Re: Rolfing: Yea I do both of those stretches maybe 3 to 4 times a day sometimes more depending on the day. They work pretty well for minor relief. Coupled with the Backpod, Peanut and an additional front of the neck stretch I do, this makes up my morning routine. Re: Re: the Rhomboid and mid back: I currently have been doing extremely light weight as to not get carried away and cause a flare up. However the other day I increased the weight by a little bit and saw positive results. I will continue to increase weight until I can no longer have perfect form on all my exercises (Rhomboids, lats, levator scapulae and lower back). It seems to me that when my back muscles are working correctly and I have a good muscle pump about 90% of the pain is gone. This seems promising. The only issue I will have to face is not getting to carried away and taking this gradual increase in baby steps. Thank you again Steve. I will let you know if I see any more improvement with the increase in back exercises. Cheers.
S W II M sounds like we are in the same boat. I’m pushing 2 1/2 years now. I can do basically everything in the gym pain free (depending on my posture) minus pec flies. I’ve done some research and an issue could very well be the cartilage which connects to your sternum at the front is what is misaligned and needs to be manipulated back into place. I’m currently waiting on an MRI scan to see the state of my cartilage and its alignment. I’m hoping I can pinpoint the problem on screen and have it adjusted from there. Maybe something for you to consider if all else fails.
Yea man. Definitely not the most fun condition to have. That's awesome that you can lift again. My first 6 months I could still somewhat train, surf and do light specific lifting. But the continual use of my body and being completely lost as to why I had costo really led to the exacerbation of it The 6 month to 2 years mark was suuuuper rough for me. But like I said before the Backpod got me back to a semi-normal life. I have been regularly seeing a chiropractor for almost a year now and she kinda knocks my neck and spine back into place but I'm not sure how much she is actually doing haha. As far as MRI's go I had one maybe 3 years ago and the results were unremarkable. But then again almost every doc. I have been to has absolutely no idea what Costo even is. I also think that the amount of muscle loss I have experienced has also made my condition worse. You should also check out the costochondritis subreddit. There are some good little routines and stretches people have come up with there that work decently well. I think a massive part of recovery from this hellish condition is having near perfect posture pretty much 100% of the time, including sleep. At this point I have posture support on ever chair/ seat I use in my life lol. I think my next plan of attack if this upgraded workout/ posture routine doesn't do the trick is a super strict anti-inflammatory diet. Maybe try keto. Not sure yet. I'll never give up though :) Best of luck to you my friend. Respect.
S W II M nothing showed up on your MRI? That’s strange. It’s infuriating explaining this condition to doctors and they’re looking at you like you have three heads. And yes, posture is huge of course. Have you seen a massage therapist yet? That along with the Backpod gave me great results. I’ve been on Reddit and up and down the internet researching this condition. It’s alarming the small number of people who have ever gotten over this 100%. Not to discourage you, but I’ve done the diet thing plus even anti depressants for 3 months to reset my central nervous system and I still couldn’t fully get over it. Everyone is different tho. Check this clip out, around the 4 minute mark is what I meant about the cartilage being misaligned. This to me makes the most logical sense if you’re continuously feeling the pain in one isolated area. ua-cam.com/video/6wWM1xHwpkM/v-deo.html I’m going to call around this week and hope there’s a Chiro out there that shares this view. As opposed to just attacking the spine every session and ignoring the joints and articulations at the front.
Just use it as you'd use the Backpod. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If 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. Yes, the Backpod's likely to be better - we designed and built it specifically for this job. But your McGyver version will start you off fine.
Thank you Steve ! I have had so many tests and have been so very scared that I might not ever have a pain free day again and after 9 months of uncertainty they finally just said you have inflammation in the chest . And I was like ok... but what is causing it??? So I have been looking into chiropractic care thinking that it might be mechanical and the more I read and watched it made more sense! I live in the US and I’m finding it hard to find someone like you that can help me.
Hi Brittany. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that. Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. I find most US chiros are not good on costo. (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is usually a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) 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. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Steve NZ Physio , Thank you for the reply and your feedback! I ordered a backpod, after watching and reading all the research. I’m beyond thankful for this information and finally a explanation on this issue. I’m hopeful and excited to start getting better. Thank you again for your time!
Hi Steve, I've been dealing with Costo for a good 6-7 months now, I discovered your youtube channel and solutions for it around 3 weeks ago, and while I couldn't afford the backpod itself I did the stretches and made a makeshift backpod with socks. The day to day pain dropped significantly, I became a lot more mobile, I couldn't get my body to be perpendicular to my thighs as you showed in one of your previous videos, but now I got no issues with that. I do all the stretches three times a day and use the makeshift backpod twice, as well as an anti-inflammation cream rubbing it in twice a day on the right side of my chest. My back cracks a lot when I do the stretches after I wake up and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. While the pain has almost vanished from day to day life, I still experience it when I try to exercise, after a couple of push-ups the pain in my right side becomes acute and it forces me to stop. I didn't start trying to exercise until my third week of recovery. Could it be a case of still having leftover inflammation or have I just not recovered from Costochondritis? Any input would be helpful, thank you.
Hi Nikolay. Well done - I'd say you've freed up the rib and spinal joints around the back about 80 percent. So things have improved lots, but you're still not fully free, which is why the extra load of exercise is enough to flare up the costo. It's not really a healing or inflammation problem now; more like the rib cage machinery round your back and sides is no longer seized, but still isn't up to 100 per cent perfect full movement. You could try a sports massage - after so long with costo, the muscles between and overlying your ribs, plus your pecs, will be a bit tight and scarred also. If that's not enough to clear the last of it for you, then I'd bite the bullet and get a Backpod. Your rolled socks have helped a lot, but nothing gives as much leverage as the Backpod, and you may need that leverage to free up the last bit of movement. The Backpod's core is polycarbonate, as used in jet windshields, and the design is such as to give a maximum stretch on rib joints, which are the crucial bits with fixing costo. Your rolled socks will have enough leverage to stretch lesser joint stiffness, but sounds like they gone as far as they can go. Well done on thinking for yourself and deciding I was making some sense. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hey Steve. Decided to buy the backpod around the time you replied and I must say it's made a difference, initially just laying on it caused me pain, but now I experience no symptoms while using it and day to day life. I decided to try and get back into working out and after around 10 push ups my chest does start hurting again. What I've been thinking of doing is continue to use the backpod and slowly try and progress back to my previous numbers( around 50 per set prior to the injury). All the info I can find online of lifting and costochondritis is slowly work up on push-ups until moving back to free weights. Can I have your input on this?
@@nikolaypenev6032 Hi Nicolay. Good - you'd done lots anyway; the Backpod just gave you the leverage needed to free the tight joints further again. Now that they're that good, go for the very last bits. 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 tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Re getting back into training - it's soo easy to flare costo. Remember that for several months the rib joints on your breastbone have been straining and giving - like spraining your ankle. So there is a vulnerability there that stays for quite a while, say another several months. You can work back into training, but you can't start at the same level you were at before it all blew up. Actually, I really wouldn't use push-ups for some time - big load on the chest. The best way back into things I know of is starting with a cross trainer (elliptical machine). That gives a good cardiac workout plus a reasonable torso reciprocal workout. When you can do a half-hour on that, then I find cables best to go onto, working especially for the muscles down the back of your back and rib cage, not so much the chest. Dips and bench presses should be about the last to get back to, if at all, and press-ups are quite a lot like bench press. I know this is vague, but I don't know exactly where you're at or what facilities you can access. General principles are treat it like going back running again on a (nicely) recovering sprained ankle - don't start with a marathon. Build in gently, having a day off in between sessions to start with. You do need to feel your way, and if it's hurting then it's straining, so back off for a bit. You could also simply use the Backpod first, so that the hinges are good and free before you start a session. So there's still a vulnerability, but you're getting there fine. Well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi I’ve now purchased the back pod wish me luck 😮 I’ve had this for two years now, my pain is more a burning sensation or when I bend forward, if I stay still with perfect posture I receive no pain. I’ve been doing your stretching they seem to be helping, there’s popping should the pod help me? Thanks
Can the back still be the problem/cause of costochondritis even if it was a hard hit to my ribs/chest that activated the pain? Fell and landed on a metalbar 4,5 months ago. Have been through horrible pain since. dont have pain in my back. Dont struggle with with breathing anymore but all impact, movement and flexing my upperbody gives me a lot of pain that will take many days to get better. Got an x-ray and my ribs and lungs was fine. But it dosen’t seem like its going away by itself, its been so long and still the smallest jumps triggers it and I have to lay still for several days afterwards. My ribs/chest,shoulders and albows has started clicking all the time with movement, was never a problem before. Im a pro athlete and im completely powerless, any movement will set me back in an invalid situation. In my situation can it still be the back that is the problem and could working on the back to open it up still be What could fix my problem/pain even if it was a hit to the sideribs/right chest and not feeling affected in the back but the pain is most located in my right chest/sideribs and under. Please hope to get answer im super desperate. Thanks in advance
Hi Elias. Yep - front (or side or back) impact is a common route to starting off costo. A front impact doesn't stop at the ribs and muscles at the front - the jolt goes through to the rib joints at the back as well. The chest impact damage will mostly heal and repair, as you'd expect. BUT the rib joints round the back can seize up also - from normal repair scarring such as you get with a sprained ankle, say. (It's called adhesive fibrosis.) When the frozen up, immobile rib joints around the back can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on the breastbone HAVE to move excessively to compensate, every breath you take. So they 'give' (usually with clicking and popping and often with a sharp, stabbing, scary pain), strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your ongoing costochondritis. The frozen rib joint movement where the ribs hinge onto your spine cannot show on X-rays, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and simply can't show whether the rib and spinal joints can move fine, or are frozen solid and completely immobile. So it's nearly always missed. You have to free up this frozen rib movement around the back to fix costo. Any treatment purely for the painful front of your chest is not treating the ongoing cause of the strain and pain. Have a look at the Costo page of the Backpod's website, including the videos, for more info on costo and how we fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That's the main answer. You can also have remaining scarring on the front of your chest, especially if you hit hard enough to get bruising or swelling here originally. All it is is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints - there’s no auto-immune component. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing. So you often get some hardened swelling remaining there on the sternum, pec muscles, and where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. It's not a matter of waiting for it to somehow "heal' - it's like hardened glue, so after a month or more it's become a tethering problem, not a healing one. Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself. Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best is a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves. Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards. You’re also 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html It takes time - probably a few or several weeks. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving the ongoing strain at the rib joints on your breastbone. Good luck with the work. You are not alone. This is very common after a car crash onto the steering wheel, seat belt or airbag, or after any other sort of front impact, and usually not accurately treated at all. Just treating the front pain isn't enough. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve. Just bought a backpod just waiting on it arriving! I have had what i now believe to be chosto for years just never had any serious flare ups. Started very physical job and a new gym..since a chest infection oct18’ the pain has been constant tried to work through it - continued gym bench press, pull downs and dips.. main pain from working out was the seated row the pad pushing against lower sternum was very painful eventually leading going up to ER thinking it was a heart attack ,checked out fine ecg etc. symptoms randomly happen or can be perpetual - lightning bolt pain under left pec radiating out to armpit, upper sternum pain left side like a toothache, random clicking lowest left rib area with certain movements and which led me to you - rear rib hinge pain like a knot in between shoulder blades left side! Cannot get a diagnosis in the uk just get told to rest! Took ur info to local physio and he manipulated rib hinges just with thumb pressure , felt like a good sort of pain like rubbing a bruise .. kinda sore in that area now after manipulation is that normal? Also had dry needling done too.. would all this fit into the chosto diagnosis. Physio also noticed slight frozen shoulder possible rotator cuff injury summised that wouldn’t be helping Chest pain. Sorry for long post but you are the only person that seems to recognise this as a mechanical issue!
Hi Paul. Sure - that's exactly what I've been describing. Have a look at another video of mine in How to fix most costo and Tietze's Part (2) - it has more treatment details. You can't train through costo - it's not like a muscle injury, say. Any exercise or stretch just strains the already strained rib joints on your sternum, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round the back. Stick with the Backpod - usually takes three weeks to free the tight stuff up mostly. Get the physio to watch that Part (2) video as well - he sounds good. Have a sports massage or two as well - there'll be tight and scarred muscle over the tight rib cage, plus your pecs. Stretch your pecs as well. Stick with it - it's perfectly logical, which the "mysterious inflammation" idea is not. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I've been dealing with costochondritis now for 3 years and has stopped me from rock climbing permanently. I'm from Canada, and I've seen 3 different specialists now and they all say the same thing. It's an inflammation or "maybe there's a cyst in there causing irritation." My physio now is saying he wants to give me a really strong topical anti-inflammatory (I don't agree with him that it'll permanently fix my problem). I told my last chiropractor that I need my back loosened up to fix my chest, he was using a technique to adjust my middle-upper spine where I would lay on my back/side and he'd twist me and press down with a lot of force and couldn't ever get it to adjust after several visits. Now I'm seeing someone else.. a "specialist" and I told him about the adjustments of my back and he never even recommended we try it again and that that's what needed to fix this issue. He said well no, costochondritis can also effect only the ribs in the front... and he sent me for an ultrasound to look for cysts and wants to put me on a topical anti-inflammatory. No one seems to understand here. Do you have recommendations as to how I should approach this issue with my specialist? No one seems to believe that it could have anything to do with my back. I keep telling them I'm a very tense person, and I've always worked jobs that cause a lot of stress on my back and spine. Do I just need to fly to New Zealand?
Hi Amber. Actually had a rock climber from Slovenia come and see me - she's fine now. Look, I'm too tired to be polite. Forget the physios and specialists. If they want to hit it with anti-inflammatories then they don't understand the problem. (By the way, there has never been a clinical trial to see if those or steroid shots help costo.) Forget the chiros, for three reasons: (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a really poor choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) 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. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. Actually that chiro twist technique you described sounds like a low back technique - not likely to be useful with costo. Fix it yourself. Have a look at the Part (2) costo video - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html Get a Backpod and start using it - at least you'll know that it's doing the right thing. 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html Stick with it and give it a few weeks - it takes time to stretch the hinges free. If you then think they still need manipulation to unlock them, try an osteopath. Say hi from me, tell them the sitting rib manipulation technique from Stoddard is the best for costo (NOT the crush-the-patient one). Have a look at the costo , iHunch and Perfect Posture pages on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz If you think the iHunch bit applies, then add in the specific strengthening exercises in the Backpod's user guide, even though you're already strong mostly. Hope all that makes sense. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much for your detailed reply. I actually have the backpod now but haven't tried it yet. I'm going to give it a real go and stay committed and be patient with it. Thanks for all the advice and tips, you give me a lot of hope.
There is no doubt the backpod helped during the worst part of my costco. Suchnas nerve pain and spasms in the tummy. I still have some symptoms. Physiotherapy exercises did not help at all but made the pain worse. I did see an oesteopath who treated my area back area four times, this is where your advice was key, to seek a therapist to,free up the adhesions. I Still have some mild muscle spasms in the front of my ribs but this could be caused by an other issue. But as l have an impinged shoulder l could not continue yet so close to resolving the tightness but not quite. 9 months so far to try too be free of my costco. I would love for you Steve to write a book on other chronic or acute issues and how to treat them. Your wealth of knowledge and experience could continue to,help humanity and boy is it needed. As you know steve costco is apainful and debilitaing illness. It causes rib injury and stress. I still have away to,go and once l,can resolve my shoulder impingement that last measure of treatment for the ribs l can continue.
Thank you, Colin. Pity about your shoulder - that will make it harder to fully free up your rib cage, but that's the real world. Costo does usually need all its aspects treated. Sounds like you've done a good job with the Backpod on the tight rib and spinal machinery around your back, apart from the shoulder limitation. With the joints moving better, you'll move more and freely, and sit straighter. This can mean you get more movement pulling on the still tight and scarred pec and soft tissue around the front. It's pretty common. Just needs dealing to as well. 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. See Sections (3) and (4) on massage and pec stretches. Good luck with the work! www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf (Yes, there are other physio conditions i could write about - but I'm not getting past the costo at present! Had no idea it was such a problem worldwide.)
Mr. August I am incredibly grateful for this video and the backpod! I've had the backpod for 6 days and I am already feeling improvement! Over 30 years ago I suffered a great deal of soft tissue injuries in a bad car accident that almost killed me. The car was crushed around me and my body had impacted all the glass windows and windshield in the car - my seatbelt had broken (old car) and I crushed the hard center console with my hips and legs - my legs hit the metal dash and doors - it was a horrible mess. Amazing that I did not break a single bone. There was very little "after-care" as the person who caused the wreck had no insurance to cover my medical needs and I had to get back to work. The damage to my spine, chest, hips, legs, arms, head was all internal. I had very serious bruising and lacerations on the outside but the worst of the damage was internal like severe concussion to the point I had memory loss, trouble organizing my thoughts (which I'd never had a problem with before the accident), hot spots from nerve damage, etc........ but because of the concussion there were many things I was not really aware were happening and I suffered for years with my back going out - leaving me disabled for days or weeks, unable to move. I also noticed a tenderness and pain to the touch in my chest - especially on the left side where a lot of the brunt of the accident affected me - but for some reason I didn't relate it to the car accident and really had NO IDEA what to do about it - it seemed minor in comparison to all the other physical challenges I lived with. Over the years I have suffered extreme headaches, upper back, shoulder, neck, arms, chest pain so severe that I cannot even describe it. I always remain positive and try to put a smile on my face "stiff upper lip" throughout, but at times this has truly been impossible! This wasn't constant but when it would hit me it was unbearable. I am actually very strong and though pain has become a daily companion - on the days when it is not excruciating I can accomplish a lot and I simply ignore the ever-present pain and discomfort. It is only when it is extremely horrible that I am unable to do daily things. Costochondritis landed me in the hospital in 2018. I know I had exerted quite a bit as we have a little heirloom farm here and I enjoy pruning our trees and bushes and working in the garden but apparently I overdid it and next thing I know I couldn't take deep breaths, could barely move my upper body, could not roll over, lift anything, reach, bend down - if I was sitting it took all my strength to lift myself up without the use of my upper body - for to even use my arms was excruciating! I could not sleep. I am writing all of this in hopes that somebody reading will see that they are not alone and will not grow discouraged and give up! I was hospitalized, having not known about this condition, then diagnosed with costochondritis after a couple days in hospital and it took months to get back to "normal" though the pain was just muted - it never went away entirely. Then it returned with a vengeance a few months ago and doctor again said "no cure" - only "no exertion, take ibuprofen and use ice" and "you're not in your 20s anymore". I left that visit feeling very frustrated and sad! I do not want to keep taking pharmaceuticals that don't heal anything! And this pain is so severe that I cannot imagine living like this til I die! I am definitely not one to ever consider suicide but I imagine that there may be some people out there that have considered that as an option - that is how bad this pain can be! Please don't give up - there is hope - I prayed fervently for answers - for help - for days and months and I trusted my God to answer my pleas for help and He is faithful - He led me here to this youtube video!!! It is with a great deal of gratitude that I write this THANK YOU for I believe after watching your video that you have solved the big mystery for me in this regard and that there IS A SOLUTION!!!!! Those of us who suffer this debilitating condition do not have to resign ourselves to a lifetime of suffering and loss of income, too! I am self-employed and so when I have been unable to work it is also a very stressful financial situation! Somebody said "well that backpod looks kind of expensive" Whaaaaat? It's not expensive! The financial impact of going to doctors, hospitals, losing work, being unable to function in daily life - not to mention the unbearable unrelenting pain that lasts forever and the stress put on loved ones who feel helpless - there is NO PRICE you could possibly put on that! I am ever grateful for you sharing this video and designing the backpod. Thank you for your determination to not have to live with this condition yourself after your injuries! Thank you for taking the time to share with the world what you discovered!!!! I can feel things starting to "move around" and the pain is lessening! I pray that it completely heals up - that I never have to go through such an ordeal as this costochondritis again. I pray that I can once again do the things that I love in nature that I had to put on the "backburner". I pray that I will be able to tend to all the things in my home that my poor husband has had to do for me (he is super helpful but it really is too much for him to do all of his chores in the house and little farm plus mine!). I pray I will be able to hug my loved ones without pain! I pray these very same things for others, too! I will be using this backpod for the rest of my life and sharing it with others! Thank you and may YaHuWaH El Shaddai bless you richly for your kindness !
Hi Cassandra. Thank you so much for the long comment. These keep me going. It's why I became a physiotherapist and what we built the Backpod for - to help. Costochondritis remaining after a car crash involving a seat belt or front airbag or the front column is really common. Everyone concentrates on the impact on your chest. What they miss is that the jolt also goes through to your rib cage joints around the back, where your ribs hinge onto your spine. The chest impact damage will mostly heal and repair, as you'd expect. BUT the rib joints round the back can seize up also - from normal repair scarring such as you get with a sprained ankle, say. (It's called adhesive fibrosis.) When the frozen up, immobile rub joints around the back can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on the breastbone HAVE to move excessively to compensate, every breath you take. So they 'give' (usually with clicking and popping and often with a sharp, stabbing, scary pain), strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your ongoing costochondritis. The frozen rib joint movement where the ribs hinge onto your spine cannot show on X-rays, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and simply can't show whether the rib and spinal joints can move fine, or are frozen solid and completely immobile. So it's nearly always missed. Unfortunately your long haul with no useful understanding or treatment from the health pros is pretty common. You have to free up this frozen rib movement around the back to fix costo. Any treatment purely for the painful front of your chest is not treating the ongoing cause of the strain and pain. Have a look at the Costo page of the Backpod's website, including the videos, for more info on costo and how we fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 a minimum, you and the massage person should both wear masks, hand sanitise; plus take all your clothes off when you get home and put them straight into the washing machine, and yourself 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. That's the main answer. You can also have remaining scarring on the front of your chest, especially if you hit hard enough to get bruising or swelling here originally. All it is is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints - there’s no auto-immune component. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing. So you often get some hardened swelling remaining there on the sternum, pec muscles, and where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. It's not a matter of waiting for it to somehow "heal' - it's like hardened glue, so after a month or more it's become a tethering problem, not a healing one. Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself. Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best is a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves. Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards. You’re also 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html It takes time. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving the ongoing strain at the rib joints on your breastbone. Good luck with the work. You are not alone. I think this is very common after a crash, and usually not accurately treated at all. Well done on thinking for yourself, and getting a Backpod. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hello again, Mr. August. How could I ever thank you enough?! You are literally a lifesaver. If you had any idea how much I've prayed for answers and then right after the most painful crisis recently - then I found your video and ordered the backpod...... well, suffice to say, I am IMMENSELY GRATEFUL! I am copying what you wrote and I am dedicating myself to your advice every day. There is progress already and I am patient and determined to keep going until I am back to full strength and ability! I will continue to share your wonderful videos and the additional helpful instructions with others as well because it is true that the main "resources" on the web are very misleading about this condition and leave the sufferer without hope (completely needlessly!). Thank you ever so much for taking the time to write here because I know that your words are a big part of my healing process and that of others who suffer from this. You have a huge heart to help others! And I am so looking forward to getting back to all the activities I love that I have missed for too long. Yahushua bless you richly for your kindness :) Cassie Conroy
@@rebeccatumilty7271 I followed the instructions that came with the backpod and started slowly and worked my way up over time to more minutes. Also I watched every youtube I could find and followed the recommendations. incidentally it took about 3 years before doctors finally figured out I have SAPHO syndrome which is why I was having such serious issues. With that said the back pod has been a help to me so I would recommend it!! if you get one just focus on following the instructions that accompany it, take your time !
Hi Steve! I was diagnosed 8 months ago after my 2nd trip to the emergency room. The night home from the emergency room, I bought the backpod. After a week, I was virtually symptom free. I feel like I had my life back for 4 months. My primary doctor recommended I go see a physical therapist to ensure that what I was doing was working -especially because so little is known about the disease (or so she said). I was hesitant, but thought that I might learn something new. After my first appointment of constant stretching of just my ripcage and strength exercises for my chest, I had the worst costochondritis flare up I’ve ever had. It induced a panic attack due to me being unable to breathe without pain. I am reverting back to the backpod. BUT I NEED YOUR HELP and advice… my husband and I are trying to get pregnant next year, but I have seen absolutely nothing about pregnancy and pre-existing costochondritis. Do you have any insight on this particular issue?
Hi Kelsey. Relax. Costo partway through pregnancy is quite common - for very obvious, logical reasons. You won't have a problem, though, because you can sort it out okay beforehand. How costo in pregnancy happens - as the baby bulge gets bigger, the rib cage is forced apart a bit. If the rib joints round the back are too tight to move, then the ones on your breastbone get strained out more, often with popping and cracking and sharp stabbing pain - a lot like spraining your ankle slowly. That’s what the pain is - it’s not a “mysterious inflammation”, no matter what you may have been told. This can continue even after your baby is born, because the tight rib machinery around the back stays frozen, so the joints on your breastbone have to keep moving too much to compensate. So they click, pop, ‘give’, get sore - and welcome to costo. So you only get the problem if you're tight in your rib cage before your pregnancy. 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 what we built the Backpod for primarily. Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ The reason your PT flared it all up is that you were still too tight in the rib machinery around the back. When that's the case, 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 UA-cam videos around saying you can fix costo just by exercises - they don't understand the problem. 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. Just go back onto the Backpod. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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. Get your husband doing this - going all the way down onto your low back will be excellent when you're pregnant, also. 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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. Hope that makes sense. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Good luck, Nicolle. Well done on thinking for yourself and gambling I just might know what I'm talking about. Do please follow the instructions accurately. It takes time to stretch the tight bits, and yes, you can feel a bit of treatment tenderness over the first few days as they start to free up. This is normal - just like you'd get after stretching really tight hamstrings for the first time. Stick with it. Cheers, Steve August.
Got diagnosed with costo in very early 2016 and with it the rather big changes to my lifestyle to put it mildly. When I got the diagnoses I did extensive & pro-active internet researching and even joined a costo support group to help in my research, but generally all the info about costochondritis was either very vague or so PC correct that it was useless to be of any help at all. I've been a very physically active person all my life and with it the injuries over the years from being such a person. So when I found "Steve NZ Physio" video about costochondritis on UA-cam, the terminology used in the video made matter of fact perfect sense and was clearly understandable to someone who has had various treatment styles from physiotherapists trained around the world. With the info in hand to make a worthwhile & viable treatment solution not just to control my costo but to get rid of it completely. I went looking for a local practicing physiotherapist of New Zealand training in advanced manipulation techniques, found one in my home town and the results have been totally worth it !! He uses the same terminology as "Steve" does in the video - the bucket handle example - to describe what costochondritis does to the spinal joints. From having costo so chronic that it caused two hospital emergency visits by ambulance & months off work and lots of anti-inflammatory pills to control the effects of costo, too not having to touch any pills at all and no time off work at all except for the occasional spinal tune up from my physiotherapist while I retrain the cartilage in the problem spinal joints. Be it your physiotherapist/chiropractor or osteopath just make sure that they are open minded to look at the other fields of study regarding the cause of costochondritis, my costo was purely posture related (work place induced) and the Backpod does the job very nicely indeed when combined with the techniques given to me by my physiotherapist. I don't have a costochondritis problem anymore just a temporary back problem that is been sorted out in a natural way, no anti-inflammatory painkillers needed at all. Oh yeah the costo support group that I joined, kicked me out of the group for the politely pointed language I used to describe the administrators of that said group, their PC correct lack of pro-active approach attitude to the problem that is costochondritis is sadly very lacking indeed, considering how many suffers on that support site were needlessly suffering while a viable treatment was been shot down in flames.
Hi Lyell. Well done on thinking for yourself - you've done a really good job of fixing your costochondritis. Pleased the Backpod has helped as part of that. I do think it's an important part - I simply can't find anything else out there that will actually do an effective job of stretching the tough shortened collagen around rib joints - and that's the irreducible basis of fixing most costo. Interesting you got kicked out of a costo group. Me too - I'd naively thought that passing on some Kiwi physio info about how we fix most costo would be appreciated. You know - if the problem is a tight nut, wouldn't you want to know someone's invented the spanner? I wonder if it was the same group.. Cheers, Steve August.
The same group sadly to say, that bunch of administrators have got their heads so firmly suck in the sand that they can't see a good thing at all, if I tried that sort of attitude at work I would be out of a job in a week flat and blacklisted as not suitable for the industry total !!!! While I was doing the researching, I got a deeper understanding and appreciation of just how good & innovative as a bunch New Zealanders are in the medical field, definitely punches above the weight class so to speak. Some of the medical innovations have become so mainstream around the world, that they are taken for granted in everyday life. The Backpod deserves the recognition as a medical product it got from the New Zealand Innovation awards & the German Red Dot awards, yes I did do a more than a fair bit of researching while I was off work with costo!
Thanks, Lyell. There are some things we've got a handle on. I so nearly didn't put up that first video on cotochondritis - didn't think there'd be much interest in a condition we regard as well sorted out and not difficult to fix. This turned out not to be the case.. Thanks for the nice comments. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Lyell, Glad you are feeling better!! Quick question for you. How did you find a physiotherapist with training from New Zealand? My chiropractor and others I have worked with are unfamiliar with the New Zealand way of treatment for this. Generally it seems a lot of practices in the US do the fist behind the back method of adjustment which Steve has pointed out is pretty useless for this. I am in Wash DC so pretty far from New Zealand. Anyhow looking to find a good physiotherapist, chiropractor, or other doctor that has this New Zealand training locally. Thanks in advance for your reply. All the best, Ben
Hi Ben, got busy by going around all the physiotherapists in town and asking questions in person or by phone, luckily finding a New Zealand trained physiotherapist with the proper advanced manipulation training and the most important part, the word of mouth reputation for getting problem backs sorted out pronto for long term results. (the percentage amount of UK trained physiotherapists living and working in my area is very high indeed and not even in the UK!) Nearly ended up going to a very good osteopath who had treated me before, very successfully for a lower back injury that was oh so close to putting me in a wheelchair for life. It doesn't have to be a good physiotherapist - chiropractor or osteopath from New Zealand, it's the training in advanced manipulation with a good word of mouth reputation to go with it that, and is open to new techniques that is the key. The use of the fist behind the back comes down to the practitioners prefered method of working with the patient's body type & injury problem. For me the shear cost & appointment scheduling of going to a chiropractor or osteopath would of been to prohibitive of getting a successful treatment done, while the physiotherapist route has made it possible, faster and cheaper (but don't get me wrong, it has taken a lot of dedicated effort on my part and my wallet has definitley been hit hard big time by costochondritis!!). My physiotherapist's basic all round training was done at the University of Otago's school of physiotherapy (including the basic manipulation training), then completed at the University of Auckland school of physiotherapy for the advanced manipulation training as his practise speciality with refresher training sessions over the years as new techniques have been incorporated (he could of done that level of training at either the Otago or Auckland schools, as it is a certified practise standard in New Zealand physiotherapy). The University of Otago's school of physiotherapy was established in 1913 and was the main physiotherapy school for New Zealand for about 60 years before the school in Auckland started up, so the know how level is up there.
Hello Steve Thanks for the help I just have some questions, I been dealing with Costo 4 months now. I didn’t have swelling but now I have it on the left of my sternum. And I have back pain too. I been to a chiropractor for almost a month and it gave me just a little relief. I been using the backpod for about a month now and it’s like the titeze syndrome and backpain don’t wanna leave. It’s better than when I first had it, but it’s taking long . I know you said 3 weeks but is it supposed to take this long . I’m using the pod the best as you explained it. I’m thinking about going to physical therapy for some stretching. I can’t afford a sports massage . But I really wanna stick with the backpod cause I have faith in it. But this tietze syndrome aggravating 😢 and this On and off backpain nd I have been to the hospital for everything checked multiple times. I did housekeeping lifting a lot of heavy bags. I think that’s how I got it. Any advice Steve especially for the swelling in the front. Do you think physical therapy would be good for it, especially since swelling is involved. And do you think they can help with the backpain? And do it have to be a sports massage? Can it be a regular massage?
Hi Steve, Hope all is well. Wrote a while back and I could use your advice. So just to get caught up I was using the backpod and things had gotten better and was exercising and it really was fantastic to be able to run and lift light weights again! Then unfortunately got reinjured just jogging and have only seen minor improvements since for about a year using the backpod and doing physical therapy. I already have done the thing where I lift my butt to get more leverage and everything per your guidace, but it hasnt freed things up. I think the rib that is most out of place is just too high up. I went to a chiropractor and she was helpful in terms of physical therapy exercises (which I think have helped some) but she really only knows the fist behind the back method of adjustment. She tried doing the knee in the back adjustment per your guidance, but really had no training in it so she had a lot of trouble getting any leverage and really wasnt able to do it for the most part. Long story short, I am looking for Osteopath or someone trained in the New Zealand method of treatment. I dont think many chiropactors in the US use the same techniques at least from my experience. And my chiropractor had trouble doing the knee behind the back method as she just has very little practice in it. I am trying to avoid hoping to doctor to doctor (I have already tried a few) as it expensive here. Do you know of anyone in Washington DC. trained in the New Zealand school? Or how I would go about finding someone with that training? I am writing for your recommendation from you as I really do believe your product has been helpful and helped me in the past get almost fully better (I mean I could run and I cant tell you how freeing it is to be able to do that after not being able to for years). Anyhow any recommondations would be helpful and if your not sure of course that is understandable (I realize New Zealand is quite far away).
Hi Ben. Yes, the stretch leverage on the Backpod drops off as you get high up the ribs and back. Try an osteopath. That knee-in-the-back technique is an old Stoddard technique - osteopath who wrote a textbook way back in the 1960s. I'm not tribal about chiros. We're all treating backs and all trying to get the patient better and do ourselves out of a job - or should be. There are really good practitioners of every stripe. Having said that I have been getting a little dismayed at so many of the stories about what they do in the US; a lot does not seem well thought through from my New Zealand physio viewpoint. I don't know anyone in the US to recommend, sorry. Good luck. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks Steve! Is this essentially the technique your referring to. I was trying to find a video with it being done on someone to refer osteopath/chiropractors to. This seemed like the one (though a bit blurry): ua-cam.com/video/rWZA8w9tYrE/v-deo.html
Hi Ben. Yes, that's it. Well done - I had a look and couldn't find it. "Knee-in-the-back" pretty much gets the idea across - it does have different names in different countries and disciplines, I think. HVLA just stands for high Velocity Low Amplitude Thrust. You can use it for the ribs or spinal joints. It's particularly good for costo not just because you don't squash the rib joints round the front, but also it's a technique to improve extension at the rib joints, which is exactly what they need. I use a foam rubber pad between me and the patient - easier on both of us. You can use it just as a strong stretch - doesn't have to include the quick jerk for the manipulation. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for the confirmation and your help! Appreciate you taking the time and being so responsive. Its great to a have someone on here that is knowledgeable and easy to reach for questions. I will follow your advice in looking for an osteopath. Your right finding a good doc does feel like a bit of a lottery. I think I need to try more of them though and find one that can do the knee behind the back manipulation. That manipulation just makes sense to me. The video I found should be helpful as well when I point out what I am looking for to the potential doc. Thanks again for all your help, Ben
I just supplement collagen by buying some sort of gym supplements and it improved a lot for me within a week, also took some painkillers prescribed by a doctor but it didn't give good results, so I found collagen to work well. I have a sedentary job so also started having chest pains without having any heart problems, so some yoga plus collagen did improve it more than pills.
Hi Mesaj. Good to hear. We'd see most costochondritis as a specific musculoskeletal problem, so not at all surprised that painkillers didn't help. All they do is try and dampen the pain - they don't treat the problem causing the pain. The yoga stretches will have freed up some of the rib cage tightness causing the overuse strain at your rib joints on your breastbone. If that's enough (plus the collagen supplements) to fix you fully, then great. I do find it's a matter of leverage. Any yoga-type stretch will loosen things, but for joints you do often need more than just that. If you're not coming completely clear, then I would recommend the Backpod - it's got way more leverage again for the tight rib joints around the back that are the cause of most costo pain at the front. Often they do need that leverage to stretch free fully. Interesting for me to hear about your collagen supplements. I just don't know what to think about those. Frozen joints do get tightened collagen around them. This is the material that makes up your ligaments, joint capsules and fascia. It's seriously tough - stronger by weight than steel wire. You can unlock a frozen joint with manipulation but you cannot stretch out the shortened collagen around it in the same split second click - it's impossible. That's why you get people going to the chiro repeatedly to get the same joints unlocked - they just tighten up again fast because of the tight collagen around them. We reckon this is nuts and a racket. We get past the problem for the thoracic spines and ribs by stretching out the collagen on the Backpod - that's exactly what it's built to do. So I'm really not sure what collagen supplements actually do, since we'd see it mostly as a collagen stretching problem, but I do hear you about them. Still learning - it's not like I know it all. Thank you. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, Does Costo get worst at night…. I don’t get too much pain during the day but when i sit down in the bed at night i feel tingly pain in my neck and in my head sometimes. I get pain in chest too when trying to sleep. Thank you
Hi steve, You may never see this although Im hoping you can! So around a month-and-a-half ago I suffered from an acute anxiety panic attack very acute and very chronic and from there I felt a huge blow to my chest something I've never felt in my entire life. on that day September 3rd at 9:18 p.m. exactly following my panic attack was closed Airways. I realized and noticed that my breathing felt very different very shallow very very traumatizing as I did believe I was going to pass on. From that day it has been 7 weeks. every day with a grain of salt is getting better however the pains I'm feeling are underneath my breast as well as over top of my breast that wrap around to my mid and upper back and I also have weird Sensations that I feel in my upper body from it it also gives me headaches and weird, jaw and neck pain so sad because it has changed my life. I've been to er 19 times in 7 weeks and everything is clear they are saying. Recently I purchased your item last night and it actually arrived today I still have tenderness and pain in my back and I'm just hoping that this will not make things worse sir I'm praying that it will only get better from using this as there are great reviews it has (your back pod)! hope that my symptoms of costochondritis are similar to what you have talked about in this video clip. I'd be happy to hear back from you, Arielle
Hi Arielle. Well done on thinking for yourself and getting a Backpod. Relax - the docs are very good at checking for dire possibilities like your heart, and you're all clear on those. They're not usually good at costochondritis. What you're describing sounds like costo. Stick with the Backpod - 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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 o wow thank you so much for the information and responding)! today was my first day trying the pod and it hurt.. so bad. I am very very sore back there for some reason.there are a couple of spots that are just way too sensitive even to touch and idk y. Would you suggest a ease" way of using thee pod? Easing myself in ? I could only lye down on it (with pillow on top of it) 4 about 10 seconds before i realised i think i might be doing somthing wrong because I am making it feel worse. probably using the pod incorrectly because I kno its specifics specifically to aid in relieving frozen muscles ( although i dont know if thy are frozon , just hurt and very sore and sensitive) so yes im convinced I've got to be doing something wrong? & With such amazing ratings! yes i think im outing myself. thank you steve for any help that you may be able to provide to this very sad feeling that is restricting my air and making me feel faint somtims whch is so much mor scary feeling to wak up to evry single morning living wth it. Best and thank you Arielle
@@arhead12 As I said in my earlier reply, 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.
Yes - use the contact email on the Backpod's website. I'm pretty swamped, so may not respond immediately. If you've a question about costo, give me lots of detail so I've a clear picture to make sense of. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I started using the Backpod a month ago after developing chest pains and sternum sensitivity in January. Wow, what a difference! I’ve gone from feeling the sharp pains at least 20 times a day to maybe 1x a day! Thank you so much for your invention. I have been feeling pain inside my left armpit. Is this normal due to the Backpod? I’m wondering if it is due to the stretch with the arms behind the neck when using the Backpod?
Hi Krista. Yep - you're freeing up your rib cage fine, so you're now running into some surrounding muscle restriction - because the joints are moving so much better. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Hey Steve, first of all, thank you so much for all this helpful information. I've been dealing with costo the past 5 or 6 months, its been tough. It's hard for me to stay out of the gym, and I do notice lifting weights re-aggravates it, do I need to stop doing all weight lifting exercises or just certain ones? Also, I am asking for a back pod for christmas! My next question, in the meantime before I get the back pod, do you think its okay to use a baseball in a similar way? Laying down on my back, starting with the lower ribs and slowly repositioning the baseball up by a few inches at a time to hit all those frozen ribs.
Hi Ryan. Sorry, but 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 UA-cam 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. Until the Backpod arrives, you can use some tightly rolled up socks taped up into a ball about 90mm across. Use that as we'd use the Backpod. The instructions are in the user guide - there's a pdf of it near the bottom of the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That'll start you stretching the tight ribs. Yes, the Backpod is hugely better - it's got much more specific leverage because of its unyielding core, and usually the joints need that oomph. But the socks will start you off okay. If you get to where the socks don't feel like they're stretching enough, then shift to the baseball. The Backpod is better again, for several technical reasons outlined on the website. When you get one, 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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 hey Steve this was so helpful. By the way I ended up just buying the back pod that day I commented, and it’s been great. I’ve been using it for about a week now and already feeling some relief. I will slowly start to get more intense with it, have been taking it easy so far and it feels great. Even after the first time I used it there was instant pain relief! I’m starting to have less and less sharp pains. I’ve also been going to a chiropractor twice a week and his adjustments and manipulations have also made some of tightness go away. I definitely think I have a case of the “iHunch.” Ive always played lots of video games, and the last couple years I’ve had desk jobs. So lots of bad posture and hunching over I think resulted in this. I’m so happy with my back pod and your videos had been very helpful. I’m going to continue to work on it. Thanks Steve 🙏
Hi Steve, Hope you are well. I have a question please. My pain in the sternum area is pretty much gone. However l a experiencing more pain in my back now. I can still feel the tightness and my back is clicking. Does it mean it is still realigning itself? I have some herniation in T6,T7,T8. Thank you Steve. Thomas
Hi Thomas. That's odd. I'm sure I've already answered this. Maybe it was to someone else.. Or UA-cam hiccuped again.. Okay, good that the sternum pain is gone. That means you've freed up the tight rib machinery around the back enough that the excessive load's now off the rib joints on the breastbone. Good work. Keep going. The disc herniation at T6/7/8 should reduce. It'll likely just be disc bulging, which you get from much hunching and bending in the thoracic spine. (It's part of what we call the iHunch.) The more the thoracic bends forwards, the more the discs bulge backwards - and that's where the nerves are. So what helps it is stretching the spine back the other way, which redices the bulging. This takes time. The fact that you've got the disc bulging showing at all tells me you've been pretty damn hunched and tight there for a long time. It'll take time to stretch fully back to normal. The clicking round the back will be just that - with the frozen hinges starting to move again, but juddering and clicking as they do, like rusty gate hinges. It's a half-way house - they're no longer stuck immobile and painful. but they're not back to full silent well-oiled movement yet. So stay with it. As I've said, 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, because of the discs, when you get that good start adding in a slack push-up. This is like the cobra pose in yoga - you can find it on UA-cam. Just use it as a slack push-up, so long as it's not stirring up the costo. Do 20 slow ones, letting everything relax except your arms; hold the stretch for a second or so up the top. It's not for strengthening, just to do a slow pumping effect on the disc bulge. It's part of the McKenzie approach to treating bulging discs - also from New Zealand physio. Do a set of 20 4-5 times a day. So, yes, it's all still just getting back to normal free full movement. It's not there yet.
Dear Steve, I have bought the BackPod 2 months ago. It helped a bit but since 1 month whenever I use it I get bad muscle tension from the back to my chest muscle (like the pain is following à rib). Then I have to stop with the BackPod for 1 week until I am Not in pain anymore. Strangely, I am very careful when I use it (I take 3 pillows and dont stay to long on the backpod) So I dont understand where the problem is... I really want to fix my costochondritis though
Dear Chooby. I don't think you're doing enough to free up the tight ribs fully and fix the problem. If all the rib and spinal joints round your back were moving fully and freely, then you could like back on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and just feel a satisfying stretch - no soreness. That's normal, and it's what you used to have before things got so tight. 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. But you have to go hard enough to actually stretch the frozen joints. If you don't, it's like pushing a brick with a pillow - doesn't matter how much you do it, it's not going to move. I think - go harder and longer. You do have to feel something or you're not getting a worthwhile stretch. It's just like doing a hamstring stretch - you do have to feel the stretch or it's not doing anything useful.. If it gets a bit sore, too bad. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
I’m not sure if I have costochondritis, but I keep getting this clicking/popping sound near my sternum when breathing in. On some days I get a lot of pain on my chest region, like sharp stabbing pain. On other days it’s gone. When I sleep on my sides, my chest pains a little and I get these random chest spasms which last 2 seconds. This has been happening for 6 months now, doctors can’t find out what’s wrong, and they refuse to do an X-ray scan. I’m only 21, and very worried about this.
Hi. It certainly sounds like what I've been describing. The clicking/popping on your sternum is your rib joints there giving and straining, a lot like cracking your knuckles. They do that because the joints at the other end of the same ribs where they hinge onto your spine are frozen and can't move. You'll probably have some lesser pain back round there as well. Have a look at the Costochondritis page on our website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ There's a home test there for the tight rib joints. (Incidentally rib joint tightness won't show on X-ray, CAT or MRI scan, which are all still photos so can't show whether they hinges can move okay or not.) You get it with costo when you sleep on your side because you're lying on your rib cage. So that pushes on it and it tends to strain and give more at the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. It's like stretching an acutely sprained ankle - it'll hurt. The docs are the ones to check out your heart and anything else dire. They're good at that - they're just usually not much good at costo. They've cleare you for anything dire, so the next bit's up to you. Read the page, see if that seems like a fit with what you've been experiencing, do the test - and if it's all a fit then start fixing it yourself. You don't need permission. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I had an injury while doing pull-ups last year. I suffered for few days and it healed up by itself. But I'm experiencing the same pain since few days back. In my case I have no problem in breathing, I don't experience any pain while sneezing or coughing and no problem in sleeping, except that I cannot move my body freely especially the side stretching which you did recommend in one of ur videos. I need your advice🙏
Mm - the odds are good that you've just become tight in the rib and spinal joints round your back, sort of between your shoulder blades. If they're tight, then with any big load on the rib cage (such as pull-ups or dips) the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone will give. It's a lot like spraining your ankle, only at those joints. They settle after a while, like a sprained ankle would. But it'll keep happening unless the tight rib machinery around the back is freed up back to normal. So, what you're feeling is that tightness around the back and probably side of your rib cage. That's why you can't move your body freely - some of the moving hinges can't move. So, it's not a muscle problem. You won't fix it with more training. It's more like the hand brake is jammed on in the car. The easiest way is to simply get a Backpod and stretch the frozen joints free. Have a look at the Costochondritis page on our website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for the video. I was recently told casually by a chiropractor I may have this based on my symptoms. I've had it for maybe 8-9 years now and there is a hard lump on my right side where the rib joins the sternum, and it's getting bigger and bigger slowly over time. It often pops very violently, like a tectonic plate grinding and slipping, and yeah it hurts quite a bit when it pops like this. Is this normal for costochondritis or possibly another issue altogether? I'll look into this back pod.
Yup - it is normal for costo. The swelling is not an auto-immune or systemic swelling. It's just the sort you get when you sprain your ankle and it swells up. Over time, it'll go hard, though you can still have fresh fluid forming on top. Costo is usually called Tietze's Syndrome when there's obvious swelling with it. 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
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you for the reply and link, I appreciate it! The lump is completely hard, there is no soft swelling, it actually feels just like a big lumpy bone sticking up, that's what made me unsure if it was costo or not because there is no soft tissue swelling.
Does anyone else's sternum pop when using the backpod? My sternum has been Popping for a while now but this is the first time my sternum has popped while i've been putting pressure on my back. Let me emphasize that no pain comes for my sternum when I'm using the backpod but it does pop and I get this relaxation feeling even when it pops. My theory has been maybe things are loosening up? I could really use some advice Steve, thank you so much!
Sounds like the tight rib and spinal joints around the back are freeing up okay. They'll often crack and pop a bit as the joints shift from no movement back towards free silent running movement, plus the ones on your sternum are already moving too much so they can crack and pop a bit too. It should all settle down once the movement around the back and sides gets back to normal. Can takes months, though - it's not instant. Here's a long wordy PDF on the other bits that usually need treating with costo and Tietze's Syndrome. It's not just the Backpod alone, though that is the core of it. The PDF is easier read on a computer, not a phone. Good luck with the work. www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much Steve for replying back. Not everyone is attentive in that way. Costo has been a hell of journey and I just want to feel normal again. I will look into the link, thanks again!
Hi Steve. Thank you for your common sense approach and advice. I have scoliosis and am wondering if the Backpod will affect that. I’m seeing a chiro and osteo who are trying to manipulate my ribs back in place and mobilize them. So I don’t want to undo any good they do. Can you please help? I’m so ready to get my life back. Can you recommend anyone in the U.S. who adopts your philosophy?
Hi. Not really. Look, it's not really a philosophy. It's supported by the actual published medical research, which also does not support the "mysterious inflammation" idea, but mostly it's just the bog standard understanding and approach from New Zealand manual physiotherapy, plus my own experience on patients and myself. It's not radical or a biggie - we were astounded to find that most the rest of the world sees costo incorrectly and doesn't fix it. I have a mild scoliosis myself. I don't get any problems because I simply keep it free moving by occasional use of the Backpod - see a video I made for the Backpod on scoliosis; link is ua-cam.com/video/gAm82WWyyYU/v-deo.html If your osteo and chiro are helping, then fine. If they're not, then why keep going? I've no idea what your chiro's doing. The good ones are very good, but I don't have a high opinion of the trad US ones for treating costo generally. (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) 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. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive. Rule of thumb (ho ho) - if you're getting a temporary improvement with chiro (so it is a joint problem) then you should get a permanent freeing up on the Backpod. It’s particularly relevant to costo - the Backpod is the only thing we can find that will actually do an effective stretch on tight rib joints, and this is the crucial thing in fixing costo. If you haven't got one, I'd get 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Hello Steve ! I have been diagnosed with tietz syndrom 2 months ago. I don't feel huge pain but more a discomfort time to time. I'm doing stretchs and exercises you recommand. What do you recommand for people who workout regularly ? Is it bad with tietz syndrom ? I don't want to make it worse. Thanks you for all your amazing advices !
Hi Alexandre. (1) Don't do dips - they're the gym exercise that causes most costo. (2) Get a Backpod. The problem with all exercise with costochondritis and Tietze's Syndrome is that it just strains the already strained rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round the back. You have to free these up first, specifically, without also straining the joints on your chest. We use the Backpod for that. Have a look at the Backpod's costochondritis and Tietze's page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, Have had costo for over a year now. Got the backpod 6-7 weeks ago and been using it 2-3 times a day for 5-7 minutes each time. It is helping, my rib joints feel stretched and freed, my sternum is cracking much less. However, the pain in the sternum doesn't want to fully go away. There were some days when I thought the pain almost went away, but then had sudden flareups. It seems like there's something I am missing. I tried muscle stretching as you showed in your videos, pecs stretching, omega3, sternum & rib massage with voltaren, therapeutic massage, got rid of alcohol, but still no final result. Would be grateful if you help me figure this out. Thanks!
Hi Maxim. I think I've just replied to you on Reddit costochondritis. If not, have a look over this long wordy PDF on treating costo: www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf It is wordy - best read on a computer not a phone. It covers the bits often needing dealt to as well as the Backpod itself. Also ways to get the maximal stretch from the Backpod. Best to go over it carefully and see if there's anything there you haven't covered yourself yet.
Steve, I have been dealing with what drs assume to be Costo for 3 months now. I only feel the pain in the center of my sternum or the left side (where the ribs attach to the sternum). I have been to chiropractors, used stretching techniques, and eventually ordered the back pod. I use it for about 10-15 mins a day and haven’t seen much improvement. How long does it take for results?
Hello Sharmeen. Depends. I don't know how tight the rib machinery round the back is, whether you have any other medical conditions, if you're doing anything to keep stirring the costo up such as the gym or regular chiro, how long you've been using the Backpod for, and if you're using it correctly. 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. The usual result is the rib joints freeing up mostly in three weeks, but with a clear improvement in your costo pain after the first week. Of course this varies. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Hello ! I hope dr Steve will see my message :( i am using the back pod ( i m on day 7 of using it ) and i feel i need to push my spine in the place where is my pain , when i push i feel a bit better , my costo is 6 months old .In my town , i didn t found any phyziotherapist that could treat my costo , is so frustrating 🤦♀️ i want to be sure that i understood what i have to do , at first i have to use only the pod until i free up the tight rib machinerry and only after that to do stretching ? Thank you very much , by the way many dr should teach from you and people from your country are so lucky to have dr like you .All the best
Hi Andreea. Yes, that's right. It seems frustrating, but that's the quickest way to fix costo. Free up the tight rib and spinal joints first - then start doing the stretches as well. The exception is that you can start stretching your pecs now - there’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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. 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.).
@@andreeagta5486 Hi Andreea. Yes, sure. It's exactly the same problem, no matter how the rib machinery round the back gets tight. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. So you treat it the same way, regardless of why the rib machinery around the back gets tight in the first place. Coughing is a classic trigger of costochondritis - from pneumonia, the flu, just a bad cold - and now COVID-19. It is not the infection itself that brings on the costo, but the coughing. Coughing is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. I’ve seen cracked ribs from it, and not just in little old ladies. If the rib cage joints around the back are frozen solid and can’t move a little to absorb that shock, then the whole jolt hits the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone. So they strain and give - with every cough. It’s a lot like repeatedly hitting a sprained ankle with a hammer. And welcome to costochondritis. So you treat it all the same way - free up the tight rib machinery around the back causing the strain at the rib joints round the front. Hang in there - good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you very much again , i can t wait to fix it and then to tell everyone who is suffering from this to buy a backpod and to fix their problem , you are such a good man 🤝everyone who suffer from this condition , please listen what dr Steve teach us .
You can use some tightly rolled up socks taped up into a ball about 90mm across. Use that as we'd use the Backpod. The instructions are in the user guide - there's a pdf of it near the bottom of the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That'll start you stretching the tight ribs. Yes, the Backpod is hugely better - it's got much more specific leverage because of its unyielding core, and usually the joints need that oomph. But the socks will start you off okay.
Hi Steve….further thinking…..is it still “classic” costo without the sternum palpitation pain? I have mainly tightness across my pecs and inflammation in the cartilage that attaches the upper ribs in the front. Not so much huge breathing issues or real lower rib problems. It’s more from hunching as you say, I suspect. It’s mostly upper back, neck and shoulders, shoulder blades it seems.
Well, it's close to being classic costo. It gets tighter and tighter around the back and sides of the rib cage, as you've described, until the joints where the ribs hinge onto your sternum MUST strain and give, just to let you keep breathing. So what you've got is costo starting on top of the usual iHunch. Have a look over the links I put in my earlier reply - they should make it clear.
!!!!! I’m SO sorry to keep bothering you but no one seems to get it here in North Carolina. Do you recommend or have heard of Sayer Clinic in London? They are listed with you on a costo expert site. I just would like to have an ally walk with me thru this who can see me regularly in person. So I’m indeed doing the Backpod. I’m just concerned about my scoliosis and whether that’s a complication. What kind of chiro adjustments do I need? I feel like the ones I’ve gotten so far made things worse. Maybe that’s part of the settling of the ribs process(?) I did watch your videos. Chiro wants to dry needle my upper back to loosen things up. Will that help with following up with the Backpod too? Thanks for your patience.
@@asmith5010 I give up. I don't know why a few of my replies disappear from UA-cam. Michael Durtnall at the Sayer Clinic is superb on costo. In my experience most US chiros are crap on it. Dry needling is just fluffing around. See the video I made on scoliosis and the Backpod.
Hi Steve, I've been to a&e twice in a week and have lost 7 nights sleep. I have since been given vimovo to reduce the swelling of costo and tietze. I had two good nights sleep then last night a full 10 hours lying awake hearing my own pulse and feeling the symptoms come back. I'm losing my nerve. Do you have any advice? The lack of sleep is destroying me mentally and my heavy pulse in my chest. I've had costo on and off for 10 years. Please help.
Hi Siobhan. So, nothing that's been tried in 10 years has fixed your costo. Therefore you're either incurable or everything that's been tried is wrong. It'll be the latter. This is the usual story. Have a thorough look over the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website, including all the videos. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Then get a Backpod and start fixing it. It's not particularly difficult if you actually treat the cause of the problem, instead of dabbling about on the pain on the chest. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 hi Steve I've ordered the backpod thank you. I'm really very anxious at night time as the tietzes swelling is worse at night and seems to be spreading to a few ribs. I'm losing a lot of sleep over this. No amount of meditation can distract from this sensation 😔 any advice hugely appreciated. I've had two emergency room visits with xrays, bloods, ekg etc. My mind is just running away with me with the swelling at night.
@@MrShivBoom Hi Siobhan. Good - well done on thinking for yourself. When it arrives, DO read the instructions in the user guide carefully. 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. Pain sleeping is common with costo, and in your case it's worse than normal, because you've got swelling as well. (Tietze's is just costo bad enough to show actual swelling at the rib joints on your breastbone - same as a sprained ankle swells up. that's all it is.) Since the back rib joints can't move, when you lie on the rib cage jn any position the strain goes onto the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. So they get sore(r) and wake you up. Then everything gets worse when you're behind on sleep. I haven't any tricks for that. The only way i know of to help is is to free up the rib cage machinery around the back - which is what the Backpod's for. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve - Very inspiring content. I just started using my Backpod this week, and look forward to progressing. I had a question on exercise. For the last 10+ years, i've been working out with heavy weights. Crossfit, Olympic style lifting. I suspect this has a lot to do with the genesis of my costo issues. Is there any type of exercise I can still do while working with the Backpod? For example, cardio, spin, light weights, etc.? Additionally, I have pain in my shoulder, seemingly rotator cuff. Can the two be related and if so treated the same? Thanks, Pete
Hi Pete. I just don't think you can train through costo. It's not like a muscle problem, say. You'll hate that. The reason is that any exercise or stretch just strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round your back. I usually use as an indicator the patient able to lie on the Backpod without needing a pillow under their head. When the joints are moving well enough for that not to hurt, then start back into exercise - carefully! It usually takes about three weeks, though does vary. The cross trainer (elliptical) is a good way back in - going quietly. Then muscle work for your support muscles around your middle back. Good luck - you do have to feel your way. But Backpod first. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you for the quick reply! Lastly, I'm about 3 days into using the Backpod and experiencing some additional soreness as a result - mainly in my back and ribcage. Is this a normal initial result during the first week of use?
Yes. Stick with it. DO follow the instructions accurately for the first week especially. The Backpod is a real treatment device, not a magic wand, and you're stretching stuff that hasn't moved for some time. You will feel it a bit, like after going for a run for the first time in a year. Shout yourself a sports massage too, for the tight and scarred muscle that will be surrounding the tight rib cage, including the pecs. That'll also reduce the muscle soreness round the back. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 So far so good, Steve. My last question is on sleep, which seems to aggravate the condition. Any tips on position, etc. Is this a relatively common symptom?
@@stratplyr810 Hi Peter. Unfortunately any position puts pressure on your rib cage, so that pushes on the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. I don't really have an answer for that, except freeing up the tight bits round the back of the rib cage so that they can move a bit and the joints on your breastbone don't have to so much. It is common with costo.
I don’t know if you’re still active on this account, but I’ve recently been burdened with costo and I have a hard rubber ball that I’ve been using in place of a back pod, do you think that will work effectively?
It'll help but not as much. I do not know of anything else out there that will do a really effective stretch on tight posterior rib joints except the Backpod. This isn't marketing hype. A foam roller cannot produce as much leverage because your upper body weight is spread along the length of the roller; the peaked shape of the Backpod focuses it all on a much smaller area. Also rollers, all balls, etc. are unstable, so your muscles can't relax, so you get less of a stretch on the joint collagen. All other spinal curvy things I've seen have such wide curves that again you don't get much leverage from them. Tennis balls and rolled towels are too squashy to give much of a stretch. Two lacrosse balls making up a peanut halve the stretch you can get on any one side of rib joints, and again they're unstable. That’s just how it is. We built the Backpod because I didn't think there was anything available that was doing a really good job on the shortened collagen around the joints. Collagen is stronger by weight than stainless steel - you can stretch it but you HAVE to have enough specific leverage to do so. Hence the Backpod. The unyielding core is made of polycarbonate, the same material used in jet fighter windshields; 6mm will stop a bullet. It's flat bottomed, hence stable when you lie on it, and shaped and sized exactly to fit between your spine and the inside edge of your shoulder blade to stretch the rib joints. If you're not too tight on the ribs, then the lesser things can probably stretch them free. But by the time you've got costo, the ribs round the back are really frozen - which is why you've got the costo strain and pain at the front. The Backpod's just got more leverage than anything else, and you nearly always do need that leverage. Otherwise it's like trying to push a brick with a feather. If the problem is a tight nut, then you do want a spanner. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve can the covid vaccine cause cosco? December is about to be 5 months for me and I don’t know how I got cosco. I did lift a lot of heavy trash. But I been using the backpod for a month and a half and my tietze syndrome is stubborn. I have mid and upper back pain on and off randomly. And mild flare ups. Any other suggestions Steve? Is it normal for some patients to not see clear results from the backpod after a month? And the backpain is that from the frozen ribs around the back? My pain on each side of my spine, I always use my backpod everyday
Re costo after Covid-19 vaccinations: I don't think that can happen unless you were already tight on the rib joints and machinery around the back, and usually had already had costo. I don't think the vaccinations can create costo on a freely moving rib cage out of a clear blue sky. There's no logical basis for why a general systemic injection would create such specific pain at just some of the rib joints on your breastbone. But, if you were already tight round the back of your rib cage - and that would be the case if you've had costo before - then the boost in inflammation in your body generally after the vaccination could be enough to flare up what was already some strain at the rib joints around the front into symptoms. You do get a bodily response to the vaccination, which is normal and intended, but can include a bit of inflammation generally. I've seen this happen many times with patients catching a cold while I was treating a back or neck problem, say. Usually things are progressing well (usually!) and all the tight stuff is freeing up and they're getting less sore. Then they get a cold, and everything flares up again. It's not like they're going backwards, just that the general body inflammation from the cold or 'flu adds to the specific local inflammation at the problem areas in the back or neck, and these flare up and get painful again. It settles down again as they throw off the cold or flu. It's not like the cold or flu created their back or neck problem - just flared it up a bit. I think that's all that's going on with costo after the Covid vaccination. It can be enough to push the costo into flaring up for a bit, but I don't think it can create it. Because it's costo though, it can stay on after the vaccination flare until the tight ribs round the back which are driving the strain at the front are sorted out. So, the usual answer as far as treatment goes - free up the underlying tight rib machinery round the back that's driving the strain and pain at the rib joints on your breastbone in the first place. Yes, you may need other bits dealt to as well, but that's the core. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 ok awesome !! So I can get the booster shot. But I need to make sure my cosco is sorted out before I get the booster shot? And thanks Steve!
Steve, I don't have pain in the front/sternum area. I do feel tightness but most of my restrictions are experienced in upper/mid back, shoulders and neck. Just wondering if costo has an extensive involvement like this? I have been struggling with this for the last 3 years. I went thru a whole spectrum of tests MRI, x rays, etc. I thought I had MS but those tests came back negative. Thank you.
Hi. What you've probably got is how costo starts out. It's very common. When the tight rib and spinal joints around the back get even tighter then they are now, then the rib joints on your breastbone start straining. They have to do this to give your rib cage enough movement to take a breath in - if the joints round the back of the rib cage can't move, then the ones on the front have to move excessively to compensate. So they strain, 'give' (usually with popping and clicking), get irritated and inflamed - and that's what costo is. Cheeringly, you're not that bad - yet. The odds are extremely good you've got the usual upper/mid back, shoulders and neck we call the iHunch. This is the commonest reason these days for costo starting - getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever. 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 your best home treatment and ongoing care approach is to do all the bits in the Backpod’s home programme, including a Backpod - we designed it all 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 I have been dealing with off and on chest pain for about a year now, ive had pretty much every cardiology test done and they have reassured me that it is not my heart and its due to costo. Sometimes the pain can be more annoying and at other points it can be quite severe and debilitating, Ive been to the emergency department many times. The pain mimics a heart issue as it radiates into my neck and arms when it is severe. I have experienced the pain on both sides of the breastbone before. Do you think the Backpod could help me?
Probably yes. Nothing else has helped in a year, so you're either incurable or they're doing the wrong things. Relax - it'll be the latter. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem. Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that. Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Kyle. Treat it like any sports medicine overuse injury. A certain amount of rest; Voltaren diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel worked into the wrist a couple of times a day; massage every four days or so through the whole forearm; and forearms stretches. I can't be more precise over UA-cam. Essentially it happens because of the amount of typing or whatever that you're doing, with the muscles and tendons working the wrist too tight to handle that load. So you try and settle the stirred up tissue, but the long term answer is getting all of the forearm muscles (not just at the wrist itself) fully flexible and stretchy again. You need massage, because you've got only limited leverage on wrist stretches - the muscles aren't like a hamstring where the more you lean forward, the better the stretch. So you need the pushing-toothpaste-down-a-tube effect that massage has on tight, scarred muscles.
Is smoking very bad for this ? Thank for video also I have worst posture I game all day and never leave my home due to very bad health anxiety and I get tight chest pain with it leading to my ribs and shoulder blades I been to hospitals doctors they just can never find nothing wrong with me hence why they say I have health anxiety I also have mild cerebral palsy also
Hi Conner. Smoking's bad for you anyway - but you know this. It won't affect costo. The core question is whether you think you're worth not filling your lungs with that crap. I can't answer that for you - you have to answer it for yourself. So, you've got costo on top of the iHunch. It's hugely common with gamers. When the thoracic spine gets hunched and tight enough, then the rib joints round the back also freeze up. When they can't move, then the more delicate joints at the other ends of the same ribs where they hinge onto your breastbone MUST move excessively - every breath you take. So they strain, click and pop, get irritated, painful - and there's your costo. It's NOT a "mysterious inflammation." Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ It's what we built the Backpod and its home programme for. It'll also stretch tight rib joints, which nothing much else will, and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo. Yeah, I think you should get one. Everybody's worth it. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio I’ll have a look yes and thanks for replying could this cause little wheezing in my right rib or seams to be by my rib like I said I been to hospitals doctors they said I’m not weezing but I can feel it when I take a deep breath sometimes I get no excerise nothing, I’ve had cameras down my stomach all sorts a few years back nothing ever came of it the doctors look at me like I’m stupid but I’m feeling all of these symptoms with no help just game I don’t feel comfortable leaving my home it’s been an on going problem for years now
Hi Conner. The tight and immobile rib machinery around your back causes the costochondritis pain and strain at the rib joints on your front. It’ll also cause breathing difficulties, because 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 can’t move. This gets missed by well-meaning docs all the time. The frozen joints cannot show on X-ray, MRI or CAT scan, since these are all still photos and can’t show whether the joints can move or not. As far as I can tell, the Backpod is the only thing around that will do a really effective stretch on tight rib joints.
Hi Giselle. Nope - it's purely a rib cage problem. Though if you're getting hunched in the thoracic spine (upper and middle back) from much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones, then your low back does tend to develop an excessive hollow. That will cause pain on standing, as the load is all going onto your spinal joints, like leaning back in your chair would load the back two legs.
Hello, I have had costochondritis for 2 years, generally no breathing pain, but constant pain. I have a very hypermobile spine and a connective tissue disorder which effects my collagen. My body dislocates in places and I get loads of ligament and tendon issues. The way you describe it seems to suggest people have strong collagen but for me it isn't the case. Stretching pulls my ligaments really really far leading to pain, so I'm not sure what is the best approach for me. Do you have a clip focusing on people with conditions that reduces the collagen and causes hypermobility? Advice would be great. Vitamin d is find. Xray OK. All physios are at a loss.
Hi Ness. Sounds horrible - my sympathies. I really don't know for sure. What connective tissue disorder do you have? I am suspicious of one thing, though. I've seen so many patients over the years who've been diagnosed as hypermobile. And they are, generally - BUT their problem is coming from the specific bit(s) that's tight or frozen and stuck. So the surface answer is no hypermobile (excessively moving) joint should be mobilised further, with the Backpod or anything else. But if by 'hypermobile ribs' they mean the rib joints on your breastbone are moving too much, then sure. That's the commonest reason for costo - the rib joints on the breastbone are moving way too much and straining, getting irritated and inflamed and painful. But almost always (but it may not be your case) the reason they're moving too much is because the joints at the back end of those same ribs where they hinge onto your spine are frozen solid and not moving at all. (You can get that, even though generally you're hypermobile.) That's where absolutely the Backpod is your device of choice to stretch the tight ribs around the back free. That's how we fix (most) costo. Also, I'm pretty wary of that 'hypermobile ribs' diagnosis even when it's referring to the rib joints round the back. It's common that you can have someone who's hypermobile - all the joints in their body naturally really flexible - and still have specific joints stuck; and they need freeing up. Generally, if you're naturally hypermobile, keeping up the support strength for your flexible joints is a good idea - Pilates is very good at that. But you can still have specific joints sticking which can need specifically freeing up. The Backpod is good at that because you can just place it under the sore tight rib joints and stretch just those, cautiously. Best I can do over Facebook! Hope it makes sense. I simply can't tell if that's your case or not. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio hello it's hypermobility EDS but I appear to have heart and organ issues with it too. It causes very regular subluxation and dislocation.
Hi Ness. Thought it probably was - my sympathies. My comments still apply then, but i just can't tell over Facebook whether you're specifically tight inside the hypermobility or not. You could try using a Backpod to stretch the ribs cautiously and see how it goes. Lying back on the Backpod requires the joints to move fully. If yours are already doing that then it just feels like a satisfying very specific stretch. If they're tight, they'll complain and get sore. In that case just keep using it until they free up - then stop. In almost all costo, doing that takes the load off the straining rib joints on the breastbone and the costo can then settle down. It would be trial and error, but completely under your control and not at all difficult to do. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, My sternum has the pain but also “cracks” or “pops” usually in the same spots. That usually helps the pain somewhat but it is also uncomfortable. I’m going to try this out! Do you think it could solve the cracking issue as well?
Hello, Brett. Yep. Cracking and popping of the rib joints on your sternum are not, repeat NOT, inflammatory symptoms. Inflammation is silent and constant. So no matter who has told you you have a "mysterious inflammation' - they are wrong. Have a thorough look over the Backpod's Costochondritis page, including the videos - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That should give you a good idea of what's going on and what it needs.
@@mahmoudsaleh8019 Hello Mahmoud. Almost certainly, yes. There just isn't anything else that commonly causes cracking and popping as the rib joints "give' on your sternum - like cracking your knuckles, or spraining your ankle. It's NOT a "mysterious inflammation" - inflammation is constant and silent. See the costochondritis page on the Backpod's website for more details - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Steve is a nice guy and has replied to my questions in the past, its worth trying the back pod to see if it helps as it seems to be helping some people. It didn't help me sadly however after using it for 4 years, had costo for 7, so just be wary that it isn't a magic item that will fix it.
Hi Adam. Completely agree, and thanks. I'm actually saying only two things: (1) most (not all) costo is caused by tight rib machinery around the back, and (2) as far as I can tell, the Backpod is the only thing around that will do a really good stretch on tight posterior rib joints. The Part (2) How to fix most costo and Tietze's UA-cam video of mine (link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html) gives a better coverage of the treatment approaches. It's still never as good as a specific hands-on personal assessment and treatment tailored to the particular patient from a health pro who understands the condition. But it's a pretty good first approximation, given the usual nonsense of costo as a "mysterious inflammation". I'm considerably bemused that we do as well as we do, as judged by the Amazon.com Backpod reviews, for example. Sorry you still have your costo. You're welcome to email me about it and we can have another go. I've learned a bit more over these last few years, including of some effective health pros in a few places. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve, finally got my backpod in the mail today and used it as instructed. Been dealing with costochondritis for about a year now due to excess lifting in my job. Is it normal to have a more intense flare up after using it for the first time? Also my upper back is really sore now to the touch. Will keep powering through, just would love your feedback. You sir, are amazing.
Hi Nick. Well done on thinking for yourself and giving it a go. Almost the only problems we get with the Backpod are people using it enthusiastically too much, especially the first time, and getting a bit sore afterwards. This won't do any harm anyway. Think of it like going for a run for the first time in a year - sure, you're going to feel things a bit afterwards. Please DO follow the instructions accurately, as written. You're starting to stretch rib and spinal joints that haven't moved for a year. Sure, you can get a bit of treatment tenderness afterwards - it's in the real world. That's why you use enough pillows under your head to start with, to grade the stretch so it's only mild to start with. When the hinges are moving fine, you just get a satisfying stretch on the Backpod, even without a pillow. It usually takes three weeks of daily stretching to reach that, though this can vary. Hang in there, and stick with it. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey nick ..did the flare ups settle down? Just used my backpod for the first time . Flared up an our or so after use along with back tenderness and just generally sore.
Hi Paul. Welcome to the real world. You're starting to stretch very tight stuff, it'll take a few weeks, and you will feel it afterwards for the first few days - just like you would after going for a run for the first time in a year. DO ollow the Backpod's instructions accurately to minimise this. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for reply . I did think that, having checked I didn’t have my legs bent so maybe put too much force on ribs for first go. I had a physio do manual work yesterday as per your videos + dry needling work probably just overdone it! Just desperation to get rid of this Costo . Should u work thru discomfort or play it by ear if its too sore leave it a day or too. I mean it makes sense if you are working on the rear ribs it will cause pain in the chest as they are still angry and inflamed.
Paul Howes love the fact Steve is always willing to respond! The backpod is my saving grace. My costo is literally almost a 100% gone. Haven’t even been thinking of that word till I saw this reply. Just keep pushing through and stay dedicated, it will work it out.
Hi Scott. Sorry about that. Thanks for pointing it out; I'll redo the link. The video is still up on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html I hope you find it useful.
Hey Steve, so I have been following your videos for about a year now. I asked you about training through Costo/tietze syndrome about 8 months ago. I took your advice and used the back pod a few times day for 3 months. It was feeling better, but not significantly and for three months it did not heal. At this point I have no idea what to do. Exercising makes my symptoms feel better or reduce them, along with pec stretches. But inflammation occurs in my shoulders arms and neck. Please please please help me out, I’m doing physical therapy as well, but nothing is working at all.
I have tried physical therapy, resting, pain killers. I’ve had this for almost two years and I’m just 19 years old. I just want it to go away! I’m willing to do anything necessary to cure this
HI Steve, got this problem recently (weeks back) consulted a doctor and been taking anti inflammatory medication along with calcium and vitamin D and I can say I’ve zero improvement, next step doc recommended was X-RAY, but came across your video and others knowing that most of the people suffering from this are suffering from long term. I am gonna try what you suggested in the video, just wanted to ask if I can continue weight lifting which doesn’t induce pain ?
Hi Abhishek. I don't think so. You'll hate that, but the costo doesn't care. Even if you're doing weights which don't hurt, you'll still be straining the rib joints at the front. 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 UA-cam 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. I don't know of anything else out there that actually does an effective stretch on the frozen rib joints round the back, and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo. Anything else is just dabbling. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@Abhishekkumar-kk3xw No Idea. I thought they were on Amazon in India. You could try BuyBackpod.com on the Buy page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/buy-now Otherwise get a friend outside India to send you one?
Steve NZ Physio No, it’s not on amazon.in, I have to check about someone sending cause you know convid has hit international travels and logistics pretty hard. Anyways, thanks for the quick tips and help.
I’ve been using the back pod for about 6 months now, gone to a chiropractor, tried acupuncture and sports massages. However the pain under my scapula and popping sternum is worse that its ever been. Thinking maybe it has something to do with the subscapular bursa or something else under the shoulder blade. Any advice on what I could try next? Cheers.
Hi Reuben. More data, please. How did it all come on, how long have you had it, where exactly is the pain, how much have you seen the chiro and how often, did they do the usual body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique, are you still seeing them, can you lie on the Backpod without pain and without a pillow under your head, how exactly have you been using the Backpod and how often, what treatments and investigations have you had, how old are you, where are you, any other medical conditions, what's yer quest and what's yer favourite colour? That sort of thing. Draw me a detailed picture so i can work out what's going on. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio Haha. Hi Steve. I’m 27, the pain is under my left shoulder blade and it came on gradually about 7 years ago. It’s epicenter is a few inches left of the spine right under the blade, but the pain radiates through the entire shoulder blade area, up the spin into the neck and down the left arm. The sternum pain and popping started about 2 years ago and both have been getting gradually worse since. I’ve always done yoga, Qi gong and been very active so laying on the backpod for 30mins to an hour a day without a pillow has not been a problem. I’ve also been using a lacrosseball to work on it. Only went to the chiro once but was not impressed, the adjustments were very light it seemed almost like a reiki treatment. Thinking I should try again perhaps with a sports medicine physio. I’m in Toronto Canada. As far as other medical conditions I have a inguinal hernia on my right side, meeting with a surgeon next week but I hope to avoid surgery. I’ve also had weird pain in my lumbar spine for 7 months since diving off a pier in thailand. Had an X-ray for it that came back normal. But somethings definitely going on, the pain is right in between each vertebrae of the lumbar spine and bending backwards is very painful. It radiates this hot pins and needles sort of sensation that wraps around the lower back into the oblique muscles, torso and also down my right hip at the back. That sensation comes on immediately if I sit or lay down. Not sure what quest I’m on but I write and produce music. My favorite colour is slime green. Cheers.
@@rubo27 Hi Reuben. Hmm - well, on the odds, and without having seen you as a patient, it's most likely to be what I've been describing - some of the rib joints round your back frozen solid, and the ones on your breastbone straining to compensate. Hence the popping sound as the ones on your chest give - like cracking your knuckles. I would have thought it's be better by now on the Backpod, though. Are you using it just on your spine? It does need to be used out to the left of midline a bit, to get your rib joints. Push it a bit over the next two weeks. Now 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. If still no improvement after 2-3 weeks with that, it may just be that the joints are simply too tight for the Backpod to shift. In which case manipulation would be needed, just to unlock them. I'd avoid a chiro - they tend to do a body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply 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. You're better with a manipulating physiotherapist or osteopath. As well and in any case, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had the hinges jammed up for so long, 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. Also, talking someone into doing the two massages shown in the Backpod's user guide, working especially hard around the shoulder blades, should also loosen things. Re your low back - sorry, too many possibilities to be sure over UA-cam. The thoracic spine is much easier. Physio or osteopath would be your best bet, I think. All the above is my best guess. Good luck. Cheers, Steve August.
I coughed for a year thanks to tuberculosis. Now doctors dont get that i have this pain when my lesion is on the other side of the lung. I can manage it with minimum movement but it does not go away. I am a occupational therapy student my institution will give me free physiotherapy. Just waiting for corona to end
Hi Stweie. Good - if you're an OT student then you're learning about the body. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. What the docs are doing is focussing on the TB lesion. What they're missing is that the coughing on an already tight rib cage has strained the rib joints on your sternum - like spraining your ankle. Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that. Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. Good luck with the work. It's up to you. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Deborah. Sure. I am assuming that you've been checked out by the doctors or your heart, gastric reflux, etc. and you're clear on anything like that. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem. When there's a burning character to the pain it's called a wound up or fired up nervous pathway. It's not just from costo. You can get it from any chronic problem with pain. The nervous pathways essentially get really good at firing pain impulses, so they can keep doing that, even when the original problem is much better or completely fixed. It's a bit like learning a skill - the pathways get well established in your nerves and brain. This is the same thing, only with pain. It's why often just light touch is still painful, and you often get a burning quality to the pain. Okay, so what to do about it? The standard medical approach is a very low dose tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline 10mg before going to sleep - NOT because you're depressed, but in very low doses they slowly desensitise the fired up nervous pathways. Usually takes about three months. Those would come from your doctor. I find they work slowly but well once the mechanical reasons for the pain being there have been sorted out - they will not work unless these have been, which is what pain specialists usually miss. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Dr. August, I have had this pain for the better part of 3 months. Doctors told me it would heal after some time, which clearly hasn’t been the case. I just ordered the Backpod today. My question is how long will it take to start noticing results? Also, how long until I can start weightlifting again? As of now, even a simple dumbell curl hurts to the point where moving and breathing is hard. Thank you so much for sharing this information with us!
Hi Jimmy. Yes, costo usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem. 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 UA-cam 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. Well done on thinking for yourself 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Dr. August, I have one more question. Is it normal for the pain in the sternum to worsen before it gets better after one day of the backpod?
@@jimmywarden6495 It's fairly common, temporary, and not a biggie. You are starting to stretch tight bits that haven't moved for months or years. Sure, if you stretch anything too much in one go it'll hurt. So READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and just start with as much as they recommend, including the pillows if needed. As well, as you free up the back and ribs on the Backpod, and sit straighter, that can pull on the chest - and costo is pretty irritable anyway. Just do the bits I suggested in my earlier reply, including the pec stretches.
Hi Steve! I am 29 years old. I had surgery for gynocomastia ( male breast reduction) in 2018. After the recovery from surgery I started having a pain in my upper chest when I bent or put a strain on my knees through my arms or you can say upon standing up when I bent down I feel a sharp pain in upper ribs and sometimes upper back. I want to take a handful of advice is it costocondritis, and did gyno surgery (fat removal) could cause this? Any advice for treatment, it's pain is unbearable.
Hi Abdul. Firstly, I'm assuming the doctors have checked you out for the heart and other dire possibilities, and that you're fine on all those. They're good at that. They tend not to be good at costo. With those out of the way - yes, is does sound like what I've been talking about. It's clearly mechanical because the pain comes on when you move in certain ways, and anyway I've seen it before. There will be two things going on: (1) Your rib machinery around the back will be tight. This is pretty common anyway - see the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ So that's sets off the costo strain and pain at the rib joints on your sternum, as I've explained in this video. So, yes, get a Backpod and start freeing it up. It's not particularly difficult. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 during 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html They'll stretch much better after some massage. (2) What you can get with costo and especially Tietze’s Syndrome is swelling where the ribs join onto your breastbone. You'll also have had that after the operation. All it is initially is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints or surgical cutting. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing. So you often get some hardened swelling there where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. After any sort of thoracic surgery, especially a spinal split, but including the breast reduction you had, you’ll have surgical scarring tying things down even more. Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself. Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best seems to be a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves. Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards. It takes time - probably a few or several weeks. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving it - which you also need to do. Hope that all makes sense. It's a standard physio problem left over after the op. The surgeons are good at the op, they tend not to be good at the logical aftercare. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks Steve! Firstly all heart problems are ruled out by doctors. I am taking your all instructions seriously. Steve should I take some help from local physiotherapist? Would this condition resolve or it would be paiful for lifetime? Thanks
@@AQadeer_ME Hi Abdul. Physiotherapists vary, the same as doctors and hairdressers. It can be hard to find a good one. You should be able to do pretty much by yourself and a Backpod, with massage as well, as I've outlined. Yes, it can just stay painful forever. People always think pain means you have to wait longer to allow the problem to heal. Scarring is no longer a healing problem, but a tethering problem. It can just stay tight, pulling on the nerves and causing pain, and keeping the rib joints frozen up, until you work it free yourself. You've been sore since 2018. No, it's not just going to go away unless you make it go away.
Hi. Re stretches and exercises - have a look at my UA-cam video 'How to fix most costo and Tietze's' Part (2) - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html Re the water bottle - no. Look, I'm a New Zealander. I've become aware how much marketing hype and nonsense there is on the net, including UA-cam. As far as we can tell there is nothing available that will do as good a job as the Backpod on stretching a tight, hunched thoracic spine, and nothing at all that will do a good job stretching tight rib joints, other than the Backpod. Of course there isn't - we built it specifically for the job from 30 years of NZ physio expertise, and we're good at this. To be accurate - we're one helluva lot better than the average US doctor who thinks costochondritis is a "mysterious inflammation". To us that seems like the Dark Ages. Have a look at the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz for a discussion of why the Backpod works and other things don't - it's not rocket science. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve! I got what I believe is costochondritis a week ago when doing dips for the first time in ages. In the last dip I suddenly felt a very sudden and scary pain in the middle of my chest, as if the chest tore apart right in the middle. My chest is now very tense and I feel a sharp pain when I take a deep breath or make certain movements. Sneezing is also horrible. Is this likely to be costo or could it be something else? If costo, is it too soon to start the backpod exercises? Should I let the inflammation go down a bit first? All the best, Jonas
Hi Jonas. Your rib cage was tight before you did the dips. Dips are way the worst exercise in the gym for triggering costo; bench press is next. Because the rib machinery around the back couldn’t move a bit to take the strain, the more delicate rib joints on your sternum strained and ‘gave’ - it’s a lot like spraining your ankle, only at those joints. So, since then, you have frozen movement at the rib joints on your spine, and excessive giving movement at the rib joints on your sternum. Stop exercising. You’ll hate it. 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 UA-cam 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. I know you want to exercise. The costo doesn’t care. 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. Sure, go straight into it. There's no point in hanging off - the tight rib joints round the back are not going to free up on their own. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html You can start the pec stretches now. I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for thew dips to trigger costo is if you’re getting a bit tight and 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 under enough load such as dips or bench press, 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. I’ve attached some bits. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much for your very quick answer! I appreciate it tremendously!! :) I went to a physiotherapist here in Sweden some days back and he concluded that I had overstressed the tendon(s) connecting the breast muscles to the sternum. He believed it would take six weeks to heal completely and he didn't think it was costochondritis (which I had asked him about). From your experience, do you also think it could be possible that it could be something like that (something "less serious" than costo) that will heal by itself? Have you had patients who, like me, got a sudden really sharp pain and tearing feeling when doing dips and then got better quickly? All the best and thanks again, Jonas
@@jonasvonessen9008 Hi Jonas. Well, one of us is wrong. Your physiotherapist has seen and examined you in person, which I haven't. On the other hand, realistically I'm likely to know a lot more about costo than he does. Your description of the sharp pain while doing dips is classic for a rib joint or more giving under load - like spraining your ankle. Also, dips are the single worst exercise in the gym for doing that. Also, they don't really load the pecs much, but they sure do the whole rib cage. Plus, the sharp pain on breathing in fits exactly with a load on the sprained rib joint(s) on your sternum, whereas just breathing in doesn't stress the pecs at all. I'm a physiotherapist myself. Often, with costo, you'll get a physio or doc who doesn't understand it explaining it to the patient as a muscle strain. Anyone can say anything - the science is in the tests that support that. So, did your physio actually test the pec, by stretching it and getting you to contract it? Pain on either or both is what indicates a muscle strain. Did he test your thoracic and rib rotation? There's a simple test for this - sitting you down and twisting your torso. If not, then I don't see he can say it's not the ribs. Do the test yourself - it's explained on the Costo page of the Backpd's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Do it carefully and accurately. If you're obviously restricted and /or painful on the twist towards the side of your pain, then it's rib and not pec. In which case, no - I don't think it's just going to settle in a few weeks.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Steve. Thank you so much again for taking your time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it! Supposing you are correct and one or more of my rib joints gave under the load of the dips, will it then be enough to use the backpod? I realize that the backpod will release the tension on the rib joints, which will make it easier for them to heal, but it will still likely take some time for them to heal up either way, right? All the best, Jonas
@@jonasvonessen9008 In my experience, once it's happened from dips, it'll keep on happening until the frozen rib machinery round the back is freed up. As long as that stays tight, the strained rib joints round the front cannot heal, because they're keeping on being strained every breath you take. You can test this out. Just ignore everything I've said, and see if you're still in pain six months from now.
Hi Steve, I've had costo for about five years and I just received my Backpod from Amazon. I followed the instructions and did about 10 minutes of the recommended stretches. It felt good, however when I got up off the floor, my left arm and left hand were both tingling and slightly numb. It's been about an hour and it hasn't gone away. Is this normal or did I do something wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Flores. No worries about the numbness - it’s just that you’ll have been tight through the muscles where your nerves are running through your shoulder girdle and down your arm. These are getting stretched when you lie on the Backpod - which is a good thing. The tingling and numbness is just from the nerves being pulled on a bit as they stretch. You can put a pillow under each elbow when you’re lying on the Backpod. Or simply drop your arms by your sides. (You won’t need to when it’s a bit looser.) That’ll mean there isn’t as much stretch on the muscles and nerves down the arm. Go and see a good massage therapist and get them to work all round the chest, shoulder girdle and the muscles down the arms. That’ll loosen the muscles the nerves are running through. As well, you can start stretching the nerves and muscles gently. Lie on your back on a table, knees bent up, with your left shoulder just off the edge of the table. Hold your palm upwards, then bend your hand and fingers back, then drop the straight arm gently down towards the floor (arm out at 90˚ to your body) until you feel a good stretch and even some tingling down the arm. That’s stretching it all. Hold for several seconds, then lift up the arm to take the stretch off, then do again, several times gently. It’s just a stretch. It’ll all disappear when things are loose enough. That you have the tingles/numbness at all does tell me you were pretty tight to begin with - and for five years. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine, but it will take time. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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. 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might make sense, and gambling on a Backpod. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much for taking the time to write your reply. I've been using the Backpod for a week now and I can definitely tell that it is loosening me up. I've had less chest pains and as soon as I feel them, I notice they're gone after using the Backpod. I will begin using these additional techniques that you suggested. Thanks for all you've done to help people like me find a solution to this huge problem.
Hi Steve, I hope you are doing well. New Zealand is a beautiful place. I'm researching how to get some relief from this nightmare. I might consider getting one of the backpod as I kept coming back to this channel when I seek a piece of advice. Is there any group or Telegram that I can follow to keep myself updated on this?
Hello, Danny. Not that I know of. It's not usually difficult to fix, if you understand what it is and what it needs. Your best overview is the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's NZ website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
@@dannysimsks Good oh, Danny. Well done on thinking for yourself, gambling I might know what iIm 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much, Steve. The only thing I use at the moment is the back stretcher, with 3 levels of curve if you've seen this before. These target the lower back and help expand the chest but are probably not targeted. Let's see, and I'm sure the backpod will surely target in between the shoulder blades and expand the chest.
@@dannysimsks Yep - they're useful for stretching a hunched thoracic spine, but they can't really get the ribs - and those are the crucial things to free up to fix costo.. That's why the Backpod has a small peak - it'll sit on the curve of the ribs between the spine and the inside edge of your shoulder blade. You have to free up those frozen rib joints to take the strain off the rib joints at the front.
I have these symptoms. I had a pain in my chest Dec 10-2019 now today 18.1.2020..i visited heart hospital and take a ecg but fit. I get mbbs doctor and take medicine of stomach .and pain killer tablet but. Chest pain normal but feel some rib pain upper side of left side all time and some time feel right side and back side rib. Now I am sure it's rib pain. I am not in good in English but normal. Please give me some suggestions.
Hi Chohdary. Well, the doctors have checked your heart and lungs and all the serious nasty stuff, and you're clear. They are good at that. They are not so good at costochondritis. It sounds like you have exactly what i have been describing. Probably your rib joints around the back are frozen and cannot move. So that makes the pain at the other ends of the ribs where they join onto your breastbone (sternum). You fix the problem by freeing up the tight ribs around the back. The Backpod does this really well. When you lie on it it stretches the tight rib joints around the back. Have a look at the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ I think that is your best answer. Good luck. Cheers, Steve August.
@@chohdaryimransohail3 Thanks, Chohdary. You're right, I'm not a doctor, I'm a New Zealand physiotherapist - and this is a physiotherapy problem. That's why I know about it.
Can intense exercise cause it? Heavy breathing, jumping, heavy pulling? Wearing sports bras that compress breast area. This is my second time experiencing unexplained chest discomfort and pain. So far each time it happens I have been training pretty intense. Is this a cause
Mm - not usually heavy exercise just on its own, but heavy exercise if you’re already a bit tight in the rib cage - sure. It’s common with the iHunch - much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones. So you get tight in the rib joints round the back. Then enough exercise, especially twisting to full range or dips in the gym, and since the rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your sternum do instead. So they strain, often click and pop, ‘give’, get sore - and there’s your costo. Easy enough to fix - just free up the tight rib machinery around the back causing it all. Sports massage for the muscles and a Backpod for the joints will usually do that fine.
Hi Steve, I've been experiencing this chest discomfort for about a month now. Havent had this before. Im 25 this year. Been to the clinic twice. The first, i was diagnose with GERD. The second i was diagnose with costochondritis. It is actually making me feel very lost and I can't seem to lead my life happily ever since I got this. The pain is a burning pain on both side of the middle top of my chest but mostly from the right. I just recovered from a 3 months chronic cough. Does cough contributes to costochondritis? I can't bear this discomfort any longer. I'm so worried. I'm currently awaiting the arrival of the backpod. Does this burning tenderness pain ever go away? Thanks!
Hi Elvan. I'm assuming you're the same Elvan Lim who emailed me yesterday as well. Here's the email reply I wrote, in case you didn't get it. Relax. Of course I can’t be 100% certain over email, but it really does sound like a straightforward musculoskeletal problem that will sort out logically. It’s good that you went to the hospital - the docs are good at checking out your heart and anything else dire, and they’ve said you’re clear for anything like that. Good! The GERD diagnosis was obviously wrong - the meds didn’t help. The costochondritis diagnosis is probably right, but wrong when you were told it would just go away, and wrong with the anti-inflammatory medications to treat it. This is commonly the case! Jogging doesn’t strain the ribs much, and it’s good in that the blood pumping through will help most strains. So, I’m not surprised that it’s okay doing that. Lifting and twisting will usually be painful with costochondritis. Coughing can certainly bring on costochondritis - coughing is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. What happens is, if the rib joints around the back are too tight to move, then the whole jolting impact of the cough just hits the more delicate ribs joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone. They strain, a lot like spraining our ankle. They can keep spraining if the rib machinery around the back stays tight, with every breath you take. It sounds like your past strain in the area round your middle back from the exercising with pack episode four years ago could have left a tight patch of rib and spinal joints back there. Then the coughing set off the strain at the front. Also, if you’re like most young people, you may be getting a bit hunched and tighter anyway, from lots of bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones. So if so, that would mean more tightness around the back as well. (I’ve attached some information on the iHunch to this email - it’s what we built the Backpod for primarily. Feel free to pass it on.) Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what I was talking about, and getting a Backpod. It sounds like exactly the right thing for you. 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, 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html Also, go and see Jordan Benjamin at City Osteopathy and Physiotherapy, A T Robinson Road, Singapore 068898; phone +65 622 22451. Jordan’s another New Zealander, uses the Backpod, and is really good on costochondritis driven by tight rib and spinal joints around the back, which is exactly what it sounds like you have. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
hi! i’m 19 and i’m experiencing the exact same thing as you. i was coughing for 3 whole months and after a week of recovery, my chest started hurting. I was diagnosed with GERD, i even took the medication for a whole month and it didn’t get better. Then again i was diagnosed with costochondritis. If i may ask you, how is your condition right now after two years?
@@wetookachonce6931 Hi. I kept doing back stretches. I think the approach is to slowly eliminate the triggers. So for example we were both diagnose as GERD. Maybe try stopping some foods that will cause GERD. Did it help? If no, then its likely the same as me. Just remember do lots of stretches. It will go away!
@@elvanlim1801 i’ve been eating healthy (including eliminating food that triggers GERD) since my cough didn’t recover for weeks which was months before i was diagnosed with GERD and as i said before, food and medicines didn’t help. How about the backpod? Does it help? About the stretch, have you ever gone to physiotherapy? I’m thinking of going there for the back stretches because i don’t wanna cause any harm if i do anything wrong.
@@wetookachonce6931 you can always do stretches. Stretches in general is not a bad thing. Its always good to gain more mobility around the back and chest area.
Well, too much certainly makes me twitchy.. I don't think there is much. Caffeine is a stimulant, so if you're already sore with costo then it's likely to be that much more irritable with sufficient coffee. But it doesn't by itself cause costo. Friend of mine gave up coffee of six months and felt much healthier, slept better, thought more clearly - but it wasn't worth it. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks Steve. I love coffee, so I'd rather not give it up. I just read in places that caffeine affects it more, so wanted to check with your experience on that. Another question, if I may. I would like to reduce my time/money in experimenting and finding the right massage therapist. Is there a particular school of study which may be most in alignment with the New Zealand understandings? I am looking at a neuromuscular therapist. Is that in alignment? Also, which would be more supportive, a good massage therapist or a physiotherapist? I know nothing about physiotherapy, and so it'd probably be harder to find a good one, but if you think its a better course of action I'd give it a try. Thanks again!
@@ChadAvalonFilm Hi Chad. All health professionals are a bit of a lottery, unfortunately; there are good ones in all areas. What sorts out most costo is the Backpod plus a couple of sports massages if you've had the costo for longer than a few months. That's your best first hit at it. Mm - neuromuscular therapists tend in my experience to be a bit precious and not listen so much to anything outside their perceived tight approach to treatment. Sorry. You can get rib and spinal joints around the back that are so concreted solid that even the Backpod can't stretch them; these do need unlocking with manipulation so it then can. They're way in the minority, though. Easiest approach is a few weeks on the Backpod plus or minus massage, then add in manips only if the improvement stops short of total. Re massage, what you want is a sports massage a.k.a. deep tissue 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. The trick is to find the sweet spot between a gorilla who'll bruise and fluttery stroking and poking by someone with dolphin music in the background and crystals on the windowsill.. Re manips - I find osteopaths best, generally. Their techniques are gentler and more precise than chirps. Chiros have a bit of tendency to focus just on the spinal joints and miss the rib joints, which are the crucial things in costo. Physios (PTs) tend to just give exercises, which will stir up costo on their own. It is a bit of a journey, but you get to choose - it's your body. You could ask whoever you see to watch this video or the Part (2) How to fix most costo one - if they won't, then they're not learning, and in my experience tend not to be very good at what they do because of that. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 thanks again Steve! Another question, if it's not too much. I made the mistake to power through my costo when I had my largest flare up about a month ago. I backpacked for 4, very steep miles, and back, with a heavy load. This definitely worsened it. But resting and treating myself well afterwards, it's gotten a lot better. I've got the backpod coming tomorrow, and I'm doing everything else you recommend. But I'm have an odd, somewhat scary feeling in my ribs. Initially I confused it with a lung infection because the rib movement felt very similar to phlem in my lungs, right where the costo usually happens, and that same feeling has moved to the side of my ribs and is more widespread. It's not "clicking" but more like things moving around in there. It's not painful at all. It only happens when bending over. It slowly moved to that area. Could it perhaps be something else that can develop from costo (and maybe my poor initial treatment of it)? Or is it normal to feel all that movement when things are getting loosened up? Feels weird, because it can actually just feel like things are moving around inside. It's very subtly "noisy", slightly quieter than a rumbling stomach, and similar in feel, just on my side at my ribs. Thanks Steve for any more help.
@@ChadAvalonFilm Hi Chad. Almost certainly it's just part of the rib machinery around the back and sides being tight and probably strained as well. The muscle in between the ribs (those are what you're eating with spare ribs, sorry..) is probably strained and scarred as well - it's not just the rib joints. Problems where you describe would be completely in keeping with that. All the same, it does sound a little odd. I'd use the Backpod for the first week, stop if any problems, and see a doctor if there are. Not expecting any, though. 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. The symptoms you've described out to your side a bit sound like muscle scarring between and overlying the rib cage there, and massage is good at freeing that up. Please DO follow the instructions accurately - takes time to stretch the tight rib machinery, even with the Backpod.
Hi Steve,i'm italian and i have the tietze's syndrome (i went to the doctor Who told me that)...i'm doing the exercises you explained in your video. It's getting Better,but i don't understand why my breastbone Is like swollen and It hurts when i touch It....i hope you can give me some advices
Hi Gellando. Have a thorough read of the Backpod's Costochondritis page, and watch all the videos. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That should give you a clear idea. Tietze's Syndrome is just costochondritis bad enough to actually show swelling where your ribs join onto your breastbone. Exercises aren't usually enough to fix it. 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 UA-cam videos around saying you can fix costo just by exercises - they don't understand the problem. 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. If you can fix it just by stretches, then fine. But for it to be diagnosed as Tietze's Syndrome, that means you've got obvious swelling at those ribs joints, and that means it's pretty bad. (Like spraining your ankle and seeing that swell up.) So my bet would be you'll need more leverage to free up the rib joints around the back, which is exactly what we built the Backpod for. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve, thanks for your insight on this matter. So for weeks now I have been taking Vitamin D3 + K2, Turmeric, Ginger, Calcium, Magnesium, CBD oil/pills and using the BackPod in conjunction. And while I have felt a slight relief of pain, its still not the result I was looking for, after hearing so many positive reviews on the BackPod, I thought maybe I too would heal up fast. I have Tietze bad, my upper ribs are SUPER SWOLLEN, big knots. Do you believe some of this maybe from my Neck or Shoulder? Most of my pain is in my shoulder and not really my chest.... Do you think the BackPod will eventually loosen all of this up, I really don't want to live the rest of life in this pain. I am literally trying everything in the books to fix and heal this condition and nothing is working. :(
Hi. So, can you now lie on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and no pain under the Backpod? If not, then you're still tight on the rib and/or spinal joints. Stick with it daily until you can do that. Are you also using the Backpod out to the sides of your spine a bit - not just on the spine itself? This is needed to stretch the rib joints. As well, if you've had costo for more than a few months, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two with a week in between. The muscles between and overlying the tight ribs, plus your pecs, also get tight and scarred - massage is ideal for freeing them up. It's all to do with freeing up the tight rib machinery around your back and sides. Lastly, if you have hard swelling on your chest because of the Tietze's, break this down yourself. Use your own fingers twice a week for 10 minutes to work in Voltaren (diclofenac) gel or CBD oil - in all directions to break up the hardened swelling. It all takes time and effort, but it usually all frees up fine.
Steve NZ Physio Thank you so much for taking time to respond! I am on 2 pillows now will slight pain, I could probably go down to one pillow soon. I do rotate sides as well, How high can I go up on my spine though? Since my upper ribs are swollen I was thinking maybe I should only work my upper spine with the backpod.... So I kinda do the whole mid shoulder blades and higher. I will definitely take your advice. I never thought about the massages, I am scared that will make the pain worse; I have been reading that doing 10-15 min of cold pads on my chest and then 10-15 of heat on my chest should help the pain/swelling... Once again, thank you for the backpod and the insight into this matter, it all does make sense the back / ribs needs to be freed up. Last question, do you have to put your arms behind your head all the time, what if I lay my arms flat next to my sides while laying on it?! You rock Steve, many thanks and happy holidays!
Hi. Yep, you're better than you were but you're still tight and still need the rib cage to free up. Stick with it. Massage will help that - it'll be a bit tender or even sore to do but so what? It's all do do with freeing up the movement round the back and sides of the rib cage, so the load comes off the straining front rib joints on the breastbone. I've got no idea if ice or heat is better for those - I've never found either of them useful. What does work is freeing up the frozen rib cage machinery around the back. Stick with it. Hands under your head and elbows back is the way to go - that stretches your pecs as well, which is why we do it that way.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much Steve, I know you probably have a million sites to answer questions, so for you to take the time out of your day and reply means the world, I will stick to the plan and keep using the backpod with all my other supplements, I will definitely be doing a review video in a few months after I see how the results go and will make sure to show you MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT!!! Happy Holdiays Steve, best wishes to you and your family.
Hi Steve! Do you think physical therapy would b a great route to take for tietze? I been using the backpod for bout a month now and it’s not going away so I figure it need a little help? I got a massage scheduled for next month for my mid back pain. But I’m usu go the backpod to the best of my ability
Yes. Tietze's is just costo bad enough to show swelling, and costo is essentially a mechanical physiotherapy-type problem. Get the PT to watch my video on the research on costo, though - link is ua-cam.com/video/t8k2LCLeR24/v-deo.html
@@stevenzphysio4203 happy thanksgiving Steve! I stopped going to him, I had coso/ tietze syndrome for 5 months, and I was telling him about the backpod and he told me well if you been using it that long it should’ve been working by now. nd he was doing other exercises tht was making my pain worse. But I’m still going to continue to use the pod and do the other stuff u mentioned for the swelling. I mean I have been a improving, because when I had this in August and September. The middle of my chest used to hurt to. But it don’t anymore. It’s just the left side and a little swelling! But it’s a slow process
@@JLACYMIME Okay, PTs vary - just like docs and hairdressers. What you got was a fairly common PT or physio approach of strengthening, stretching and exercises. On their own, these don't work on costo and will usually flare it. You can't train, stretch or exercise your way 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 UA-cam 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. Which you're doing fine. It's not fast but it's getting there. Well done.
Hi from Jordan (Middle east) I realy loved your explanaition, I have this pain 6 years ago just after going through labour having my first boy. I have went through all tests under the sun three times till now (heart, bone, lungs and nerves) i even had a full CT scan, and all doctors said that there is no prblem with my chest or rib - bones! I have just turned 34 years old. I find your explanaition very reasonable becase i noticed one day when my husband gave me a back massage by rib pain reduced, i found that strange, now i understood why, thank you. how can get the backpod shipped to Jordan? tried to buy it from the official website but unfortunately i had this message saying that you don't ship to Jordan. :(
Hi Amani. I'm just the physio inventor of the Backpod. Try the last page on the Backpod's website - some of those hyperlinked suppliers send to many other countires, e.g. NZ Health Delivery. If no luck, try getting a friend elsewhere in the world to send you a Backpod. Good luck, and well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, So I ordered your backpod quite some time ago. But to be quite honest I don't feel as though it's helping that much. I've been using the backpod around 31th of July, so I'm using it for a month now, but the tightness that I feel below my shoulderblades (it feels like all the ribs are tight under the shoulderblades) hasn't diminished. The clicking part however has diminished, although it's still not completely gone. I had a tight lower rib that has diminished alot aswell. So I went to a chiropractor because I thought that maybe it was my posture. And he basically said I had lots of posture misalignments (my navel was about 2 to 3 inches to the right, when it should normally be in the middle, meaning that my hips turned alot) my hips are abit tilted aswell + I have some subluxations in my thoracic spine. Now I don't have any chest pain whatsoever, no stabbing pain etc. What I do have however, is when I walk for a long period of time, I feel some level of pain on my back, that radiates towards my rib in the back. My question to you is, since I know that NZ Physio's are on another level when it comes to knowledge of the human body, is this a postural problem? Or does this still stem from it turning into costochondritis? The cracks on my back has dimished, although when I lay on solid ground before laying on the backpod, I feel that my pelvis cracks? Or like moves? It's a very weird feeling. I really want your take on this, because my doctors basically keep telling me that it's impossible to pinpoint my problems, since they say there is alot of nerves. muscles etc surrounding the ribs. He told me I might have a sprained / strained intercostal muscle.. I want to know your take on this, and if you have some tips to give me that I can try... Thank you!
Hi. Mm - sounds like some things have freed up a bit, but it's a bit more complicated, with other things going on as well. That happens. Sounds like you might have a slight scoliosis twist in your spine, which is pretty common. I have one, but get no problems whatsoever because I just keep everything free and mobile (yes - with the Backpod..) Less clicking means things are moving better - they're not juddering and jolting around so much. Okay, can you now lie on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and no pain on the Backpod? If, so, then the rib and spinal joints are moving pretty well. Let me know about that. The chiro has seen you in person, which I haven't. However they do tend to have a bit of a bias to manipulating the spine, and missing the rib joints. You can quote me. I'm just saying. Also, did I suggest a sports massage? Better would be two, with a week off in between. 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. It's a bit tricky working things out via UA-cam. let me know about how the lying on the Backpod's going and I'll have a better idea. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve, Thanks for your answer. So yeah, I can lie on the backpod with no pillows. The cracking in my back isn't there as much, but it still is abit. I also feel no discomfort when lying on it. I've also tried to lift my buttocks from the ground so I can get more leverage, and no pain whatsoever. I for one thought it might be a slipped rib or something? But if I did have that I would be in constant pain, which I'm not. I do have that my sternum gets abit tight, and then more on the right lower side. Though it's not bad at all, and when I push on my sternum I can't feel any pain whatsoever. Can this be an intercostal problem? Since I'm tight all over from under my chest all the way to the back under my shoulderblades.. This tightness is diminishing very slowly, but it's still there. About the chiro, you're partially right, yeah. But I told him that he should check out my ribs, maybe that there's a rib subluxation. He did the manipulation where I lay on my belly, he comes to the side, lifts up my hips abit, and then pushes outward from the spine. When he did that, I felt 2 pops, like ribs going back into place, however my tightness didn't subside or anything. So I asked him what my problem could be, and he told me that my ribs are moving abit more than they should, and that it's probably from an injury (I think boxing?) that my ribs are moving abit more. He told me however that it's very fixable via correcting my posture etc and giving it time to heal. About the massage, do I need to get a sports massage specifically? Or can I let a family member just massage me? Thank you for your time.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Just an extra, But I just spoke with my doctor and they said I have a like a weird rib problem in my sternum, but they are not sure if that can cause my symptoms. But they are gonna ask my radiologist about it and if we have to do something about it. I will let you know more about that tommorow!
Okay, good luck. It does sound a bit more complex that the usual. A massage therapist is usually better, because they're doing massage all the time so they get really good at it. But if you've got a family member who's up for it, then take them along also - they can see what's being done and do more if needed. It is worth going over the muscles - there's often a scarring and tightness component there; especially if there's been an old strain or impact injury.
+Steve NZ Physio Hey Steve, So apparently there isn't anything wrong with my sternum, it was the "contrast" that made it look like it was out of alignment or something. My clicking is weirdly coming and going.. it's so weird. My doctor thinks it might be something with my muscle or my nerve that is making it click like that? Like there is a strained joint or a strained intercostal muscle? Could that be another cause for the clicking? And this tightness? I also see that I cannot go lower than the lowest parts of my ribs. Is there a reason why? Because I feel as if the reason I'm having alot of tightness is somewhere on the lower part of the ribs. Is it also a normal thing when I put my back on the seat and inhale deeply, that my ribs on the back get tight? What I get aswell is when I'm having a hot shower, I get an achy feeling at my sternum, no pain, just achy, but that ofcourse isn't bad at all. Just wanna know if that is common in these type of symptoms. I will also try out that sportsmassage somewhere next week, see if it helps out.
With costo, I think very comfortable and cushioned is better. The reason is that any sleeping position pushes on your rib cage. So if your ribs are tight round the back and can't move, then the already strained rib joints on your breastbone just give and strain further. So a hard bed makes that worse. The way you fix it, of course, is by freeing up the tight rib movement around the back which is causing the whole problem.
Hi Steve, you talk about the rib "hinges". What is the hinge? Also, was that your pet bird behind you? I ask, because he/she didn't seem spooked by your presence
Hi. I just mean the joints. Same as your finger joints - they're hinges as well. I'm using the word "hinge" to get across the idea that they're supposed to move, just like a door hunge does. The bird is a kea - a wild New Zealand mountain parrot; the only alpine parrot in the world. They're absolutely wonderful - great sense of fun and not scared of humans. We had a few drop down to help us with the filming.
Hee hee - I agree. I didn't do it. I think it's an AI from UA-cam. I particularly like the "bat pod". Wish I'd thought of that originally. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve, you may remember me.. I was in such a bad place with my costo. I just want to thank you because you're the reason why I'm still here today. Yup, it was that bad. I'm completely symptom free, my chest clicks at my sternum now and I'm okay with that, I can do any chest exercise I want, and I just can't thank you enough. Freaking amazing. :)
Great! I'm so pleased. Well done. The clicking will slowly happen less and less - it's just a measure of how chronically strained those rib joints on your sternum have been. Think of it like a bit of piston slap! It could take several months for it to finally go, now that you've taken off the pressure causing it.
I do mean well done. You thought for yourself, decided I might make some sense, got a Backpod and used it. And then stuck with it until it worked. I do get some contact from people who've had costo for years and give up on the Backpod because it hasn't fixed it in two days. It's this modern expectation of instant results - and the costo doesn't care.
If you do feel like telling your story on any of the costo sites like the patient.info costo forum, Reddit's costo page, reviews, etc. I think it would be worthwhile. Most costo patients are still out there suffering because they've been told costo is a "mysterious inflammation" that nobody understands. Sigh.
Best of luck with everything, and I appreciate the thank-you. Cheers, Steve August.
How did you get the top ribs on the front of the sternum to clear up?
Everyone suffering from costo. Please, listen to Steve! He is the only one who can fix your costo. Sometimes it takes longer than you expect but nothing else can fix it. FOLLOW STEVE'S ADVICE AND STOP HUNCHING. As Steve mentions, it is one of the main reasons for costo.I have bone spurs which probably stops me from releasing it quickly. But I am using the backpod and work on it every day. Huge, huge admiration for Steve for replying to all those comments and enquiries to explain what might be happening with your costo. TRUE LEGEND YET STILL SO HUMBLE AND APPROACHABLE.
I am suffering a lot. But i didn't understand the video. Can you help?
Are u cured from your Costochondritis?
@@stephaniehamlet2474 Not fully. But 80%-90% better. Only because I am not consistent lol. I also have other issues to the spine but it did not stop me from getting back to sports again :). Stick to backpod. It will be painful at the beginning but it will get better and better. :) Follow Steve's advice, be ready to get through some pains. The spine is not only about flexion but those rotation exercise are also important. Turn and breath into your belly (diaphragm). And be consistent (and that's me saying this lol). Stay positive. You will be fine. Drink water with lemon. Helps with reducing inflammation. Omega 3 oils would be good as well. ;) It's a biomechanical problem which can cause different symptoms in the body. Steve is the deal. Follow his advice. Be patient.
@@samach6652 Are you better now?
@@thomas2081 Hi. The pain comes back after even a walk or a cry. How are you Thomas. Thanks for showing kindness.
Hey everyone I had this condition right now for 3 years and ive using the backpod doing stretches and also using a triggerpoint foam roller after 3 to 4 months from using all of this stuf my pain from the costo that was from 1 to 10 everyday an 8 or 9 now is just a 1 or 2 but somedays I have 0 pain. Now im getting to lifting again and im feeling great trust in the backpod and dont give up it takes time to get better :) thanks to steve I got my life back.
Hi Nicogh. Thanks! Well done on thinking for yourself and giving the Backpod a go. Sounds like you've pretty much fixed yourself.
To get the last bit clear, try really pushing things. 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 tightest bits and stay a few or several minutes on them. It's all just to stretch the last bit.
If you feel like putting a review on Amazon or patient.info costochondritis forum or our Facebook page, that would be great. I'm really trying to get the idea out there that usually costo is NOT a "mysterious inflammation" but a straightforward tight rib problem that's not difficult to fix. You actually have more street cred as someone who's done that than I do as a physio who's spent 30 years fixing the things! Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Nico? How are u today !:)
Hi Steve, thank you for your practical and effective recommendations for Costochondritis. I was being woken up every morning by severe back and rib pain, which stretching and non-specific physical therapies could not resolve. I am a nurse myself and was frustrated by the ‘mystery’ of my year+ of pain, often quite severe in AM and with respiration. I also have a 7.5 month old son that sleeps like a dream yet my sleep was interrupted every day by pain! I believe the condition was caused by or exacerbated during the pregnancy. Finally focusing on the joint hinges and intercostal spaces has brought relief. I believed it was more than the tight erector spinae and need for more stretching that my GP and others suggested. Anyway I am very grateful to have found this information and wish you all the best in your work helping others. -Stephanie
Hi Stephanie. Thank you very much. Your story is unfortunately quite a common one. If your rib cage is tight enough before you get pregnant, then the growing baby starts to lever it apart a bit. The joint strain can happen around the back (pain under your scapulae) or on your front (called costochondritis though it just isn't a "mysterious inflammation").
I find just exercises on their own tend to flare it, because they just strain further the already strained rib joints on your sternum, way before you get a benefit to the tight and immobile rib joints on your spine. We get past this by using the Backpod to specifically stretch free the posterior rib hinges, without stirring up the strained ones on the front.
Good luck with the work, and well done on thinking for yourself. You have to with costo.. Cheers, Steve August.
MAY GOD BLESS THIS MAN
Steve,
I just love your sense of humour😊.
Happy days.
I am hanging on👍.
Hey Pete!
I’m 25 years old and have been suffering from mysterious sharp chest pins for nearly 2 years now. Doctor diagnosed it as chosto. I have tried everything so far with no significant improvement in my condition - then I found you! Decided right away I’ll try the back pod. At this point I’m desperate to improve. 🙏 Looking forward to this journey. I’m a person who loves being active and working out, so this condition is purely disabling for me.. always struggling for a breath and in pain nearly everyday.
Hi Liv. Well done on thinking for yourself, gambling 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.
Re working out: don't. Sorry. You'll hate it. 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 UA-cam 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.
Re struggling for breath - this is a normal symptom with costo. Those same tight or immobile ribs round the back that cause the costo strain and pain at the front also mean that you can't breathe in fully. You can't fill your lungs fully if you can't expand your rib cage fully, and you can't do that if some of the hinges round the back can't move. So, sure you'll get breathless with costo, even though your lungs themselves are fine. Incidentally, this won't show on X-ray, or CAT or MRI scans, which are all still photos and simply can't show if the rib joints round the back can move fine or are completely frozen solid - which they will be with costo.
The reason the Backpod gets a valid mention with costo is that it's the only thing around I know of which will do an effective stretch on the tight rib joints around the back, and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hey Steve. Firstly I think it’s amazing how you’re helping people with these videos and the backpod. I purchased a backpod around 6 weeks ago, and I’ve been using it around 5 days a week. Usually I will use it for around 3 days straight, then stop for a couple of days, and then use it for some days consecutively again. I’ve worked my way from 2 pillows to none, and had it pop my back many times.
The trouble is, I’m not positive if my condition is costochondritis. For one, although I am feeling better in some ways now than I did before starting, it seems most people are much better after a few weeks.
I have a lot of typical costo symptoms such as tightness in the chest that initially came with a fast heart beat. I went to the hospital and had normal blood tests, EKG, and x ray. I have also had pain in my right arm and wrist on the side where my ribs are sore for over a month. However I also have symptoms that seem to suggest gerd/acid reflux. Whenever I eat or drink anything (even water) I feel like there is gas building in my chest and that I need to burp to relieve it. I was prescribed a PPI (pantoprazole) but it didn’t help. I saw on the Amazon reviews that someone mentioned the backpod cured many of their GI issues, so I was wondering if that could be the case here.
To add some more back story: I’ve been having the constant chest discomfort for around 3 months, but for at least a year before that I had some tightness when doing push ups, and extreme tightness when attempting to do dips, which is part of the reason I think costochondritis is at play. I also could feel my chest moving when I would walk up/down stairs (I’m skinny so that is definitely not normal for me). Now my chest feels tight and it’s hard to breathe even when laugh hard or walk for more than a few minutes, and I used to play sports for hours a couple years ago.
While I feel my back has been freed up, I still have soreness/tightness/feeling of gas in the chest, as well as soreness on the right side of my ribs. In fact much of my right side is sore: neck, foot/Achilles heel, hip, but not of those bother me to the degree that my chest does by not allowing me to freely breathe and sleep at night. Another thing is that a sneeze oftentimes will make something in my chest pop, and that happens a few times a week. I’ve also seen an ENT since I’ve had minor sinus issues for the past few years but they were somewhat dismissive about it.
Sorry for the longwinded comment. I guess I’m asking for your advice on what to do next. I also tried a foam roller, and prior to the backpod I saw a chiropractor a few times who also thought my problem was my ribs. Also, I have mainly been using the backpod both vertically and horizontal slightly off to the right and left off my spine on both the middle and upper back. Should I also position it around my shoulder blade area? It seems a lot of my tightness is at my right side upper back near the top of the shoulder blade.
Thanks
Hi. It certainly sounds like the tight rib costo I've been talking about, including it firing up on dips (worst exercise for costo). I'd keep using the Backpod, but really push it now. To get more oomph, lift your buttocks off the ground, and/or move your arms down to your waist and up over your head slowly. Find the tightest bits and stay 1-3 minutes on them. Chase the tightest bits.
Also, have a sports massage or two. The muscles round the whole rib cage, including the pecs, also get tight and scarred.
However you may also have some GI or reflux problems too - unfortunately nothing says you can't have both. Cheers, Steve August.
Any luck resolving?
I have pain around the sternum for 2 years, I can barley sleep and Doctors have no idea what I have… After reading articles and watching UA-cam videos, I finally realized that I have Costochondritis. I hope I will manage to fix it. I would even fly to New Zealand 🇳🇿 just to meet this person and get help.
Hi. Shouldn't be needed - costo is just not that difficult to sort out, if you actually understand what it is and treat it correctly.
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
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 Hi Steve, thank you for all of the information you provide through your videos. I noticed pain in the left side of my sternum one morning after doing bench dips the night before. I didn’t think anything of it and it eventually went away. However, i believe tight undergarments and my posture at work as well as lifting moderately heavy things sets it off once in a while. It gets slightly better, goes away, and then gets triggered again.
I notice more pain as I take deep breaths, but not every deep breath hurts me. Also, I don’t feel much pain when i push on my ribs, but certain twists and back-bending will aggravate it, or sometimes laying down on my stomach will produce a soreness in my chest, almost like bruise pain.
In addition, the pain is not isolated to one area. I can feel it in my spine sometimes, under the breast bone, or sometimes tension in my shoulders and upper back.
Are these normal signs of Costochondritis?
love it!
Steve I just want to say thank you for posting videos on this condition. I have been suffering with chronic rib pain for just over 5 years and it's been really hard to live with. It's only after watching this video I knew it was costo. This lead me to Michael Durtnell at the Sayer Clinic in London where I am currently being treated. He's the only person I have come across who treats costo the same way as yourself. I hope he will be able to help and I will no longer need to take morphine as advised by the nhs!
Hi Sunita. Pleased you found the videos useful. I would unreservedly recommend Michael - please say hello from me. You're in excellent hands (ho ho) and I'm sure it'll work out. Bottom line: (1) Costo is a straightforward mechanical problem and not difficult to sort out if you know what you're doing. (2) Most docs think it's a "mysterious inflammation" and it isn't - as conclusively shown by the existing research. Therefore, (3) most costo does not get fixed unless you're industrious or lucky enough to find the correct explanation and help. Well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you Steve. I appreciate it a lot. And, yes I have been terribly hunched. But I am so much better now! There were other issues around my costo that I had to address as well (which I was not aware of). I could NOT have done it without you!
The BACKPOD helped me so much with my Ihunch that one of the physios I saw actually doubted that the original scan of the back was mine!:)
And the amount of ridiculous explanations for my pain that I was getting was just overwhelming. Basically I should not be walking by now!
Steve, not only did you help me to understand what it was and how to deal with this but also you got me hooked on the whole biomechanics of the human spine. I salute to your knowledge and gratuitous help you have been providing to everyone.
To many, including myself, YOU ARE A LIFE SAVIOUR.
Thank you.
On a different note, is there any chance to get in touch with you directly via e-mail or FACEBOOK?
Kindest regards,
Thomas
Well, thanks Thomas. There's an email address on the Backpod's website. Cheers, Steve August.
How did you do it, fix the chostchondritise? Please I could use the knowledge.
I’ve only had this condition for the last two months and I’ve had the worst anxiety, insomnia and sense of helplessness because everyone just thinks I was tripping out…
I even stopped surfing as I had fears I was going to have a heart attack in the water.
I just bought one of these back pods, thanks for all the information as every symptom you’ve mentioned I have, just glad I’ve started taking action on this now!
Thank you 🙏
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 strong but also tight on your pecs as part of it all, and also from surfing, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Any updates?
@@jakobbecker6435starting eating carnivore, that regulated my nervous system and stretching more along with using the back pod which helped tremendously.
All happy days here man 🙏🙌
Thanks for sharing this great information sir. So much noise but still audible. Thank you so much
Yes, well we were up the top of a mountain. Hope you found the information useful. There's a clear explanation of costochondritis and how you fix it at www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Hi Steve,
Hope you are doing well. My costo is getting better although I got a bit lazy on it as it was painful so my 'hinges' are not free yet.
Just a small reflection. I have seen so many different people being sceptical about the BACKPOD, including physios and chiropractors. Let me tell you folks. Most of them have got no clue what a COSTO is. I have been to 10 and told them about costo. None of them followed it up. The amount of nonse explanation for my pain was just ridiculous. I got myself the BACKPOD and I finally see improvement. You just have to be consistent (which I am not lol). You will see improvement in a matter of a couple of weeks. Just get on it. It gets painful but you need to be tough. It can get really sore.
STEVE, YOU ARE SUCH A GREAT PERSON. I HAVE BEEN THROUGH SO MANY WEBSITES WHERE YOU ACTUALLY EXPLAIN PATIENTLY EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO. EVEN THE ONES WHO UNDERMINE YOUR VIABLE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. WELL, OBVIOUSLY THEY THINK THEY KNOW IT BETTER. UNFORTUNATELY THEY CAN'T HELP BUT ARE MORE FOCUSED ON EMPTYING YOUR WALLET.
Such a pity that COSTO is still not fully recognised in Europe. Have you ever thought about coming to the continent to lecture about COSTO?
I have already suggested the BACKPOD to some of my friends (for different) spinal conditions and they love it. No more expensive visits to chiropractors or physios.
THANK YOU STEVE. FOR MANY (including myself) YOU ARE A LIFE- SAVING HERO.
Thanks, Thomas. Much appreciated. Actually I was lecturing in Germany over a year ago - barely survived the German hospitality which was amazing. My life is a bit like swimming in an avalanche so no concrete plans to get back that way soon, though intend to eventually. Sort of ridiculously, I can reach more people on UA-cam. It is academic suicide, and very much looked down on by the pure academics. But people are using it, and there should be good information on it, otherwise it gets captured by the hype and the well-meaning idiots.
It's a different environment, for sure! You actually have more street cred on it yourself, than I do as a physio with 30 years' experience treating patients - which is sort of salutary! I'm just trying to put reasonable information out there - people can assess that and take it or leave it. It does surprise me that all people using it aren't better at assessing hype - there's so much of it around that you'd think they would be. It does take time - to read the website, read some of the 100 five star reviews for the Backpod on Amazon.com, watch a video or two and follow the reasoning. Yet you've got vast amounts of people who'd prefer to watch 'The miracle 10-second stretch that will fix your sciatica - doctors don't want you to know this!' utter crap. Oh well - I find it constantly surprising.
Anyway, hang in there! Keep up the good work. Cheers, Steve August.
How did you fix yours.
Thank you so much Dr. Steve !! I appreciate your video so much you don't even understand. I've been struggling with what I finally now seem to think might be Costochondritis for roughly over a year. I'm a 25 yr old healthy male (good weight, good diet, good cardio exercise and occasional weight training). To my recollection I think I injured myself around a year ago in the gym doing Tricep/Chest Dips (but I did it incorrectly and at that time I was overweight and out of shape). With a history of 6 years+ working behind a computer and playing computer games for hours on end along with having bad posture (forward slouching) while sitting/driving I think this has caused my Costochondritis. I've been to the ER 3 times thinking it's a heart attack... ECG's, Blood Tests and X-rays were done on all 3 occasions. NO ISSUES AT ALL... I was so frustrated and mentally "drained" because of this constant worry that it might be my heart or something vital, I went into a depression and started suffering from Insomnia because of this constant worry about "I'm going to die" and no one knows what the problem is... Now I finally feel like I have the answer and this explains it really well along with a solution. The pain gets worse the day after doing chest training with weights in the gym, however jogging or walking actually seems to "help" the pain go away. After a day of work I'd always want to crack my back and stretch my chest because it feels like I struggle to breathe deeply, after the crack it would feel like I can breathe normally again. I will need to go see a Doctor soon and explain to them that it might be this but I don't want to go on pain meds or any of those stuff. I'm a very health conscious person (I take my vitamins daily) and get my exercise. Depending on what the Doctor says I really want to try and get this product to help me. I'm from South-Africa so I don't know if it can be shipped, we do actually have family in New-Zealand as well. Thanks again so much for this video!!
Hi Kodi Kodi. Well done on thinking for yourself and thanks for the nice comments. I always like that "Well, that makes sense!" response. The New Zealand physio explanation of costo I'm giving makes MUCH more sense than this 'mysterious inflammation' idea - which is NOT supported by research; it's a bit jaw-dropping.
Sure - dips are the single gym exercise most likely to set off costo; bench press is the next worst, sorry. Have a look at another UA-cam costo video of mine - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html There's some stretch and exercises there that will help - but only once you've freed up the tight rib machinery round the back first. I'd recommend the Backpod - as far as I can tell, it's the only thing around around that will do a really effective stretch on tight rib joints, and that's the core of fixing most costo.
Your sordid gamer history would fit also! I think we're seeing a big upsurge in costo for this reason - people getting really tight and hunched, then the costo coming in on top when the rib joints have also tightened. So what you've probably got is the iHunch, with costo on top. The iHunch is what we built the Backpod and its home program for, originally. Have a look on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz at the iHunch and costo pages - you should see a fit.
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.
Yes, I don't you can get Backpods in South Africa yet - we get quite a few requests. Best is for your family in New Zealand to send you one. They can get them from ringing 0800 784 677. Or try NZ Health Delivery on the Buy page of the Backpod's website - I think they send them all over.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
I'm going through this exact same thing now Kodi - I have had Costo for about 7 months now - a very scary and debilitating condition to have - as an avid gym rat and drummer, I am very physically active and I'm wondering now through all my activity that maybe this is howI developed this condition. Been to the ER three times in as many months thinking it's a heart thing when everything comes back fine - the last doctor basically told me this is a MSK issue as a result of stress and anxiety - well yes, dealing with daily chest pain is scary so my anxiety level went right up - to top it off I went through a divorce last year then got laid off from my job - so that definitely did not help my situation. I just got the back pod a few days ago and diligently working with it. Let's hope after some time I will get relief from this horrible condition! Steve is so good at explaining exactly what's going on and he had this 7 years! Holy smokes!!
Another great video Steve!
I spoke to you a few years back about my Costo and unfortunately still haven't been able to fully recover (Ive had Costo for about four and a half years total)
Firstly I would like to tell anyone that is skeptical about buying the backpod that you should ABSOLUTELY get one. I have spent every dollar to my name on various weird treatments, doctors, chiropractors and everything under the sun. Nothing has come close to the amount of relief that the backpod has given me. I use the backpod every single day, three times a day. I would say the backpod gave me a solid 30% recovery. Which may not sound like much but it has given me my life back. Before I couldn't drive, take out the trash, do dishes etc, without having a moderate to severe flare up. So that being said the backpod is a great investment.
Secondly I have some questions for you Steve. So I've been seeing a Rolfer that goes in very deep into the tissue in my armpits, pec minor, neck the area right above my collar bone. After each session I have almost complete relief for a few hours including a much larger range of motion without pain, particularly bending backwards. But then the normal Costo pain comes back. Same goes for when I do posture exercises that put emphasis on contracting my rhomboid muscles. The pain is again almost completely gone until my muscle pump subsides. I feel like I am getting closer and closer to finding the missing piece of the puzzle that will help me fully recover. That being said I was wondering if you might know what is going on here or if you have any input on this. Thanks again Steve.
Thanks! Pleased the Backpod's helped. Hmm - sounds like you're doing all the right stuff - it just needs more of it to get it better again and to have it last.
Re the Backpod: 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 tightest bits, and stay on them for at least a few minutes.
Re Rolfing: It's really strong deep soft tissue massage, and is obviously freeing up any scarred muscle in the area. To get it to stay free, start stretching as well - several times a day. Do pec stretches. There’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html Also, do the twist mobe and stratech i showed 12.40 minutes into the Part (2) UA-cam video on fixing most costo - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html
As well, check that your Rolfing person is working all round the back and sides of your rib cage, plus the pecs.
Re the rhomboid and mid -back muscle strengthening: Do more. If you can use the strengthening exercise in the Backpod's user guide then that's a good home one; sometimes it's sore with costo though; often okay doing it on a bed. If no go, then any gym exercises to really work that whole mid-back support muscle complex - mid- and lower-traps, rhomboids, lats, levator scapulae, etc.
If we can get it reasonably better then we should be able to clear it completely. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you for the reply Steve.
Re: Re: the Backpod:
Yes, so I use the Backpod regularly along with a peanut (2 lacrosse balls fused together) and I lift my pelvis to get better leverage. Im wondering if holding maybe a 10-25 pound weight would be safe to get a deeper stretch on my frozen up spine. Don't want to get too carried away and cause another injury
Re: Re: Rolfing:
Yea I do both of those stretches maybe 3 to 4 times a day sometimes more depending on the day. They work pretty well for minor relief. Coupled with the Backpod, Peanut and an additional front of the neck stretch I do, this makes up my morning routine.
Re: Re: the Rhomboid and mid back:
I currently have been doing extremely light weight as to not get carried away and cause a flare up. However the other day I increased the weight by a little bit and saw positive results. I will continue to increase weight until I can no longer have perfect form on all my exercises (Rhomboids, lats, levator scapulae and lower back). It seems to me that when my back muscles are working correctly and I have a good muscle pump about 90% of the pain is gone. This seems promising. The only issue I will have to face is not getting to carried away and taking this gradual increase in baby steps.
Thank you again Steve. I will let you know if I see any more improvement with the increase in back exercises. Cheers.
S W II M sounds like we are in the same boat. I’m pushing 2 1/2 years now. I can do basically everything in the gym pain free (depending on my posture) minus pec flies.
I’ve done some research and an issue could very well be the cartilage which connects to your sternum at the front is what is misaligned and needs to be manipulated back into place. I’m currently waiting on an MRI scan to see the state of my cartilage and its alignment. I’m hoping I can pinpoint the problem on screen and have it adjusted from there. Maybe something for you to consider if all else fails.
Yea man. Definitely not the most fun condition to have. That's awesome that you can lift again. My first 6 months I could still somewhat train, surf and do light specific lifting. But the continual use of my body and being completely lost as to why I had costo really led to the exacerbation of it The 6 month to 2 years mark was suuuuper rough for me. But like I said before the Backpod got me back to a semi-normal life. I have been regularly seeing a chiropractor for almost a year now and she kinda knocks my neck and spine back into place but I'm not sure how much she is actually doing haha. As far as MRI's go I had one maybe 3 years ago and the results were unremarkable. But then again almost every doc. I have been to has absolutely no idea what Costo even is.
I also think that the amount of muscle loss I have experienced has also made my condition worse.
You should also check out the costochondritis subreddit. There are some good little routines and stretches people have come up with there that work decently well.
I think a massive part of recovery from this hellish condition is having near perfect posture pretty much 100% of the time, including sleep. At this point I have posture support on ever chair/ seat I use in my life lol.
I think my next plan of attack if this upgraded workout/ posture routine doesn't do the trick is a super strict anti-inflammatory diet. Maybe try keto. Not sure yet. I'll never give up though :)
Best of luck to you my friend. Respect.
S W II M nothing showed up on your MRI? That’s strange. It’s infuriating explaining this condition to doctors and they’re looking at you like you have three heads. And yes, posture is huge of course. Have you seen a massage therapist yet? That along with the Backpod gave me great results. I’ve been on Reddit and up and down the internet researching this condition. It’s alarming the small number of people who have ever gotten over this 100%. Not to discourage you, but I’ve done the diet thing plus even anti depressants for 3 months to reset my central nervous system and I still couldn’t fully get over it. Everyone is different tho.
Check this clip out, around the 4 minute mark is what I meant about the cartilage being misaligned. This to me makes the most logical sense if you’re continuously feeling the pain in one isolated area.
ua-cam.com/video/6wWM1xHwpkM/v-deo.html
I’m going to call around this week and hope there’s a Chiro out there that shares this view. As opposed to just attacking the spine every session and ignoring the joints and articulations at the front.
I’m saving up for a back pod right now. I made a mcgyver version of the back pod at home for now.
Just use it as you'd use the Backpod. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If 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. Yes, the Backpod's likely to be better - we designed and built it specifically for this job. But your McGyver version will start you off fine.
Steve!! Thank you I just ordered mines and it’s coming in 3 days!! I pray it work I had it for almost 3 months now🙏🏾😩
Thank you Steve !
I have had so many tests and have been so very scared that I might not ever have a pain free day again and after 9 months of uncertainty they finally just said you have inflammation in the chest . And I was like ok... but what is causing it??? So I have been looking into chiropractic care thinking that it might be mechanical and the more I read and watched it made more sense! I live in the US and I’m finding it hard to find someone like you that can help me.
Hi Brittany. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take.
So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out.
Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that.
Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too.
Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts.
I find most US chiros are not good on costo. (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is usually a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time.
(2) 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.
(3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly.
That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Steve NZ Physio ,
Thank you for the reply and your feedback!
I ordered a backpod, after watching and reading all the research. I’m beyond thankful for this information and finally a explanation on this issue. I’m hopeful and excited to start getting better.
Thank you again for your time!
@@britp7534any updates?
Hi Steve, I've been dealing with Costo for a good 6-7 months now, I discovered your youtube channel and solutions for it around 3 weeks ago, and while I couldn't afford the backpod itself I did the stretches and made a makeshift backpod with socks. The day to day pain dropped significantly, I became a lot more mobile, I couldn't get my body to be perpendicular to my thighs as you showed in one of your previous videos, but now I got no issues with that. I do all the stretches three times a day and use the makeshift backpod twice, as well as an anti-inflammation cream rubbing it in twice a day on the right side of my chest. My back cracks a lot when I do the stretches after I wake up and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. While the pain has almost vanished from day to day life, I still experience it when I try to exercise, after a couple of push-ups the pain in my right side becomes acute and it forces me to stop. I didn't start trying to exercise until my third week of recovery. Could it be a case of still having leftover inflammation or have I just not recovered from Costochondritis? Any input would be helpful, thank you.
Hi Nikolay. Well done - I'd say you've freed up the rib and spinal joints around the back about 80 percent. So things have improved lots, but you're still not fully free, which is why the extra load of exercise is enough to flare up the costo.
It's not really a healing or inflammation problem now; more like the rib cage machinery round your back and sides is no longer seized, but still isn't up to 100 per cent perfect full movement.
You could try a sports massage - after so long with costo, the muscles between and overlying your ribs, plus your pecs, will be a bit tight and scarred also.
If that's not enough to clear the last of it for you, then I'd bite the bullet and get a Backpod. Your rolled socks have helped a lot, but nothing gives as much leverage as the Backpod, and you may need that leverage to free up the last bit of movement. The Backpod's core is polycarbonate, as used in jet windshields, and the design is such as to give a maximum stretch on rib joints, which are the crucial bits with fixing costo. Your rolled socks will have enough leverage to stretch lesser joint stiffness, but sounds like they gone as far as they can go.
Well done on thinking for yourself and deciding I was making some sense. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hey Steve. Decided to buy the backpod around the time you replied and I must say it's made a difference, initially just laying on it caused me pain, but now I experience no symptoms while using it and day to day life. I decided to try and get back into working out and after around 10 push ups my chest does start hurting again. What I've been thinking of doing is continue to use the backpod and slowly try and progress back to my previous numbers( around 50 per set prior to the injury). All the info I can find online of lifting and costochondritis is slowly work up on push-ups until moving back to free weights. Can I have your input on this?
@@nikolaypenev6032 Hi Nicolay.
Good - you'd done lots anyway; the Backpod just gave you the leverage needed to free the tight joints further again.
Now that they're that good, go for the very last bits. 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 tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each.
Re getting back into training - it's soo easy to flare costo. Remember that for several months the rib joints on your breastbone have been straining and giving - like spraining your ankle. So there is a vulnerability there that stays for quite a while, say another several months. You can work back into training, but you can't start at the same level you were at before it all blew up.
Actually, I really wouldn't use push-ups for some time - big load on the chest. The best way back into things I know of is starting with a cross trainer (elliptical machine). That gives a good cardiac workout plus a reasonable torso reciprocal workout.
When you can do a half-hour on that, then I find cables best to go onto, working especially for the muscles down the back of your back and rib cage, not so much the chest. Dips and bench presses should be about the last to get back to, if at all, and press-ups are quite a lot like bench press.
I know this is vague, but I don't know exactly where you're at or what facilities you can access. General principles are treat it like going back running again on a (nicely) recovering sprained ankle - don't start with a marathon. Build in gently, having a day off in between sessions to start with. You do need to feel your way, and if it's hurting then it's straining, so back off for a bit. You could also simply use the Backpod first, so that the hinges are good and free before you start a session.
So there's still a vulnerability, but you're getting there fine. Well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi I’ve now purchased the back pod wish me luck 😮 I’ve had this for two years now, my pain is more a burning sensation or when I bend forward, if I stay still with perfect posture I receive no pain. I’ve been doing your stretching they seem to be helping, there’s popping should the pod help me? Thanks
Can the back still be the problem/cause of costochondritis even if it was a hard hit to my ribs/chest that activated the pain? Fell and landed on a metalbar 4,5 months ago. Have been through horrible pain since. dont have pain in my back. Dont struggle with with breathing anymore but all impact, movement and flexing my upperbody gives me a lot of pain that will take many days to get better. Got an x-ray and my ribs and lungs was fine. But it dosen’t seem like its going away by itself, its been so long and still the smallest jumps triggers it and I have to lay still for several days afterwards. My ribs/chest,shoulders and albows has started clicking all the time with movement, was never a problem before. Im a pro athlete and im completely powerless, any movement will set me back in an invalid situation. In my situation can it still be the back that is the problem and could working on the back to open it up still be What could fix my problem/pain even if it was a hit to the sideribs/right chest and not feeling affected in the back but the pain is most located in my right chest/sideribs and under. Please hope to get answer im super desperate. Thanks in advance
Hi Elias. Yep - front (or side or back) impact is a common route to starting off costo. A front impact doesn't stop at the ribs and muscles at the front - the jolt goes through to the rib joints at the back as well.
The chest impact damage will mostly heal and repair, as you'd expect. BUT the rib joints round the back can seize up also - from normal repair scarring such as you get with a sprained ankle, say. (It's called adhesive fibrosis.)
When the frozen up, immobile rib joints around the back can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on the breastbone HAVE to move excessively to compensate, every breath you take.
So they 'give' (usually with clicking and popping and often with a sharp, stabbing, scary pain), strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your ongoing costochondritis.
The frozen rib joint movement where the ribs hinge onto your spine cannot show on X-rays, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and simply can't show whether the rib and spinal joints can move fine, or are frozen solid and completely immobile. So it's nearly always missed.
You have to free up this frozen rib movement around the back to fix costo. Any treatment purely for the painful front of your chest is not treating the ongoing cause of the strain and pain. Have a look at the Costo page of the Backpod's website, including the videos, for more info on costo and how we fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
That's the main answer. You can also have remaining scarring on the front of your chest, especially if you hit hard enough to get bruising or swelling here originally.
All it is is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints - there’s no auto-immune component. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing.
So you often get some hardened swelling remaining there on the sternum, pec muscles, and where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. It's not a matter of waiting for it to somehow "heal' - it's like hardened glue, so after a month or more it's become a tethering problem, not a healing one.
Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself.
Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best is a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves.
Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards.
You’re also 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
It takes time - probably a few or several weeks. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving the ongoing strain at the rib joints on your breastbone.
Good luck with the work. You are not alone. This is very common after a car crash onto the steering wheel, seat belt or airbag, or after any other sort of front impact, and usually not accurately treated at all. Just treating the front pain isn't enough.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve. Just bought a backpod just waiting on it arriving! I have had what i now believe to be chosto for years just never had any serious flare ups. Started very physical job and a new gym..since a chest infection oct18’ the pain has been constant tried to work through it - continued gym bench press, pull downs and dips.. main pain from working out was the seated row the pad pushing against lower sternum was very painful eventually leading going up to ER thinking it was a heart attack ,checked out fine ecg etc. symptoms randomly happen or can be perpetual - lightning bolt pain under left pec radiating out to armpit, upper sternum pain left side like a toothache, random clicking lowest left rib area with certain movements and which led me to you - rear rib hinge pain like a knot in between shoulder blades left side! Cannot get a diagnosis in the uk just get told to rest! Took ur info to local physio and he manipulated rib hinges just with thumb pressure , felt like a good sort of pain like rubbing a bruise .. kinda sore in that area now after manipulation is that normal? Also had dry needling done too.. would all this fit into the chosto diagnosis. Physio also noticed slight frozen shoulder possible rotator cuff injury summised that wouldn’t be helping Chest pain. Sorry for long post but you are the only person that seems to recognise this as a mechanical issue!
Hi Paul. Sure - that's exactly what I've been describing. Have a look at another video of mine in How to fix most costo and Tietze's Part (2) - it has more treatment details. You can't train through costo - it's not like a muscle injury, say. Any exercise or stretch just strains the already strained rib joints on your sternum, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round the back. Stick with the Backpod - usually takes three weeks to free the tight stuff up mostly. Get the physio to watch that Part (2) video as well - he sounds good. Have a sports massage or two as well - there'll be tight and scarred muscle over the tight rib cage, plus your pecs. Stretch your pecs as well. Stick with it - it's perfectly logical, which the "mysterious inflammation" idea is not. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I've been dealing with costochondritis now for 3 years and has stopped me from rock climbing permanently. I'm from Canada, and I've seen 3 different specialists now and they all say the same thing. It's an inflammation or "maybe there's a cyst in there causing irritation." My physio now is saying he wants to give me a really strong topical anti-inflammatory (I don't agree with him that it'll permanently fix my problem). I told my last chiropractor that I need my back loosened up to fix my chest, he was using a technique to adjust my middle-upper spine where I would lay on my back/side and he'd twist me and press down with a lot of force and couldn't ever get it to adjust after several visits. Now I'm seeing someone else.. a "specialist" and I told him about the adjustments of my back and he never even recommended we try it again and that that's what needed to fix this issue. He said well no, costochondritis can also effect only the ribs in the front... and he sent me for an ultrasound to look for cysts and wants to put me on a topical anti-inflammatory. No one seems to understand here. Do you have recommendations as to how I should approach this issue with my specialist? No one seems to believe that it could have anything to do with my back. I keep telling them I'm a very tense person, and I've always worked jobs that cause a lot of stress on my back and spine. Do I just need to fly to New Zealand?
Hi Amber. Actually had a rock climber from Slovenia come and see me - she's fine now.
Look, I'm too tired to be polite. Forget the physios and specialists. If they want to hit it with anti-inflammatories then they don't understand the problem. (By the way, there has never been a clinical trial to see if those or steroid shots help costo.)
Forget the chiros, for three reasons:
(1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a really poor choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time.
(2) 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.
(3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly.
Actually that chiro twist technique you described sounds like a low back technique - not likely to be useful with costo.
Fix it yourself. Have a look at the Part (2) costo video - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html Get a Backpod and start using it - at least you'll know that it's doing the right thing.
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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
Stick with it and give it a few weeks - it takes time to stretch the hinges free. If you then think they still need manipulation to unlock them, try an osteopath. Say hi from me, tell them the sitting rib manipulation technique from Stoddard is the best for costo (NOT the crush-the-patient one).
Have a look at the costo , iHunch and Perfect Posture pages on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz If you think the iHunch bit applies, then add in the specific strengthening exercises in the Backpod's user guide, even though you're already strong mostly.
Hope all that makes sense. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much for your detailed reply. I actually have the backpod now but haven't tried it yet. I'm going to give it a real go and stay committed and be patient with it. Thanks for all the advice and tips, you give me a lot of hope.
@@akanet.3526did it help you? really need to know.
Good Man Steve
There is no doubt the backpod helped during the worst part of my costco. Suchnas nerve pain and spasms in the tummy. I still have some symptoms. Physiotherapy exercises did not help at all but made the pain worse. I did see an oesteopath who treated my area back area four times, this is where your advice was key, to seek a therapist to,free up the adhesions. I Still have some mild muscle spasms in the front of my ribs but this could be caused by an other issue. But as l have an impinged shoulder l could not continue yet so close to resolving the tightness but not quite. 9 months so far to try too be free of my costco. I would love for you Steve to write a book on other chronic or acute issues and how to treat them. Your wealth of knowledge and experience could continue to,help humanity and boy is it needed. As you know steve costco is apainful and debilitaing illness. It causes rib injury and stress. I still have away to,go and once l,can resolve my shoulder impingement that last measure of treatment for the ribs l can continue.
Thank you, Colin. Pity about your shoulder - that will make it harder to fully free up your rib cage, but that's the real world.
Costo does usually need all its aspects treated. Sounds like you've done a good job with the Backpod on the tight rib and spinal machinery around your back, apart from the shoulder limitation. With the joints moving better, you'll move more and freely, and sit straighter. This can mean you get more movement pulling on the still tight and scarred pec and soft tissue around the front. It's pretty common. Just needs dealing to as well.
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.
See Sections (3) and (4) on massage and pec stretches. Good luck with the work!
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
(Yes, there are other physio conditions i could write about - but I'm not getting past the costo at present! Had no idea it was such a problem worldwide.)
Mr. August I am incredibly grateful for this video and the backpod! I've had the backpod for 6 days and I am already feeling improvement! Over 30 years ago I suffered a great deal of soft tissue injuries in a bad car accident that almost killed me. The car was crushed around me and my body had impacted all the glass windows and windshield in the car - my seatbelt had broken (old car) and I crushed the hard center console with my hips and legs - my legs hit the metal dash and doors - it was a horrible mess. Amazing that I did not break a single bone. There was very little "after-care" as the person who caused the wreck had no insurance to cover my medical needs and I had to get back to work. The damage to my spine, chest, hips, legs, arms, head was all internal. I had very serious bruising and lacerations on the outside but the worst of the damage was internal like severe concussion to the point I had memory loss, trouble organizing my thoughts (which I'd never had a problem with before the accident), hot spots from nerve damage, etc........ but because of the concussion there were many things I was not really aware were happening and I suffered for years with my back going out - leaving me disabled for days or weeks, unable to move. I also noticed a tenderness and pain to the touch in my chest - especially on the left side where a lot of the brunt of the accident affected me - but for some reason I didn't relate it to the car accident and really had NO IDEA what to do about it - it seemed minor in comparison to all the other physical challenges I lived with. Over the years I have suffered extreme headaches, upper back, shoulder, neck, arms, chest pain so severe that I cannot even describe it. I always remain positive and try to put a smile on my face "stiff upper lip" throughout, but at times this has truly been impossible! This wasn't constant but when it would hit me it was unbearable. I am actually very strong and though pain has become a daily companion - on the days when it is not excruciating I can accomplish a lot and I simply ignore the ever-present pain and discomfort. It is only when it is extremely horrible that I am unable to do daily things. Costochondritis landed me in the hospital in 2018. I know I had exerted quite a bit as we have a little heirloom farm here and I enjoy pruning our trees and bushes and working in the garden but apparently I overdid it and next thing I know I couldn't take deep breaths, could barely move my upper body, could not roll over, lift anything, reach, bend down - if I was sitting it took all my strength to lift myself up without the use of my upper body - for to even use my arms was excruciating! I could not sleep. I am writing all of this in hopes that somebody reading will see that they are not alone and will not grow discouraged and give up! I was hospitalized, having not known about this condition, then diagnosed with costochondritis after a couple days in hospital and it took months to get back to "normal" though the pain was just muted - it never went away entirely. Then it returned with a vengeance a few months ago and doctor again said "no cure" - only "no exertion, take ibuprofen and use ice" and "you're not in your 20s anymore". I left that visit feeling very frustrated and sad! I do not want to keep taking pharmaceuticals that don't heal anything! And this pain is so severe that I cannot imagine living like this til I die! I am definitely not one to ever consider suicide but I imagine that there may be some people out there that have considered that as an option - that is how bad this pain can be! Please don't give up - there is hope - I prayed fervently for answers - for help - for days and months and I trusted my God to answer my pleas for help and He is faithful - He led me here to this youtube video!!! It is with a great deal of gratitude that I write this THANK YOU for I believe after watching your video that you have solved the big mystery for me in this regard and that there IS A SOLUTION!!!!! Those of us who suffer this debilitating condition do not have to resign ourselves to a lifetime of suffering and loss of income, too! I am self-employed and so when I have been unable to work it is also a very stressful financial situation! Somebody said "well that backpod looks kind of expensive" Whaaaaat? It's not expensive! The financial impact of going to doctors, hospitals, losing work, being unable to function in daily life - not to mention the unbearable unrelenting pain that lasts forever and the stress put on loved ones who feel helpless - there is NO PRICE you could possibly put on that! I am ever grateful for you sharing this video and designing the backpod. Thank you for your determination to not have to live with this condition yourself after your injuries! Thank you for taking the time to share with the world what you discovered!!!! I can feel things starting to "move around" and the pain is lessening! I pray that it completely heals up - that I never have to go through such an ordeal as this costochondritis again. I pray that I can once again do the things that I love in nature that I had to put on the "backburner". I pray that I will be able to tend to all the things in my home that my poor husband has had to do for me (he is super helpful but it really is too much for him to do all of his chores in the house and little farm plus mine!). I pray I will be able to hug my loved ones without pain! I pray these very same things for others, too! I will be using this backpod for the rest of my life and sharing it with others! Thank you and may YaHuWaH El Shaddai bless you richly for your kindness !
Hi Cassandra. Thank you so much for the long comment. These keep me going. It's why I became a physiotherapist and what we built the Backpod for - to help.
Costochondritis remaining after a car crash involving a seat belt or front airbag or the front column is really common. Everyone concentrates on the impact on your chest. What they miss is that the jolt also goes through to your rib cage joints around the back, where your ribs hinge onto your spine.
The chest impact damage will mostly heal and repair, as you'd expect. BUT the rib joints round the back can seize up also - from normal repair scarring such as you get with a sprained ankle, say. (It's called adhesive fibrosis.)
When the frozen up, immobile rub joints around the back can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on the breastbone HAVE to move excessively to compensate, every breath you take.
So they 'give' (usually with clicking and popping and often with a sharp, stabbing, scary pain), strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your ongoing costochondritis.
The frozen rib joint movement where the ribs hinge onto your spine cannot show on X-rays, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and simply can't show whether the rib and spinal joints can move fine, or are frozen solid and completely immobile. So it's nearly always missed. Unfortunately your long haul with no useful understanding or treatment from the health pros is pretty common.
You have to free up this frozen rib movement around the back to fix costo. Any treatment purely for the painful front of your chest is not treating the ongoing cause of the strain and pain. Have a look at the Costo page of the Backpod's website, including the videos, for more info on costo and how we fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 a minimum, you and the massage person should both wear masks, hand sanitise; plus take all your clothes off when you get home and put them straight into the washing machine, and yourself 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.
That's the main answer. You can also have remaining scarring on the front of your chest, especially if you hit hard enough to get bruising or swelling here originally.
All it is is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints - there’s no auto-immune component. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing.
So you often get some hardened swelling remaining there on the sternum, pec muscles, and where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. It's not a matter of waiting for it to somehow "heal' - it's like hardened glue, so after a month or more it's become a tethering problem, not a healing one.
Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself.
Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best is a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves.
Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards.
You’re also 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
It takes time. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving the ongoing strain at the rib joints on your breastbone.
Good luck with the work. You are not alone. I think this is very common after a crash, and usually not accurately treated at all. Well done on thinking for yourself, and getting a Backpod.
Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hello again, Mr. August. How could I ever thank you enough?! You are literally a lifesaver. If you had any idea how much I've prayed for answers and then right after the most painful crisis recently - then I found your video and ordered the backpod...... well, suffice to say, I am IMMENSELY GRATEFUL! I am copying what you wrote and I am dedicating myself to your advice every day. There is progress already and I am patient and determined to keep going until I am back to full strength and ability! I will continue to share your wonderful videos and the additional helpful instructions with others as well because it is true that the main "resources" on the web are very misleading about this condition and leave the sufferer without hope (completely needlessly!). Thank you ever so much for taking the time to write here because I know that your words are a big part of my healing process and that of others who suffer from this. You have a huge heart to help others! And I am so looking forward to getting back to all the activities I love that I have missed for too long. Yahushua bless you richly for your kindness :) Cassie Conroy
@@cassandraconroy563did you get better
@@cassandraconroy563how did you do it and how long did it take you I could really use the information
@@rebeccatumilty7271 I followed the instructions that came with the backpod and started slowly and worked my way up over time to more minutes. Also I watched every youtube I could find and followed the recommendations. incidentally it took about 3 years before doctors finally figured out I have SAPHO syndrome which is why I was having such serious issues. With that said the back pod has been a help to me so I would recommend it!! if you get one just focus on following the instructions that accompany it, take your time !
Hi Steve! I was diagnosed 8 months ago after my 2nd trip to the emergency room. The night home from the emergency room, I bought the backpod. After a week, I was virtually symptom free. I feel like I had my life back for 4 months. My primary doctor recommended I go see a physical therapist to ensure that what I was doing was working -especially because so little is known about the disease (or so she said). I was hesitant, but thought that I might learn something new. After my first appointment of constant stretching of just my ripcage and strength exercises for my chest, I had the worst costochondritis flare up I’ve ever had. It induced a panic attack due to me being unable to breathe without pain. I am reverting back to the backpod. BUT I NEED YOUR HELP and advice… my husband and I are trying to get pregnant next year, but I have seen absolutely nothing about pregnancy and pre-existing costochondritis. Do you have any insight on this particular issue?
Hi Kelsey. Relax. Costo partway through pregnancy is quite common - for very obvious, logical reasons. You won't have a problem, though, because you can sort it out okay beforehand.
How costo in pregnancy happens - as the baby bulge gets bigger, the rib cage is forced apart a bit. If the rib joints round the back are too tight to move, then the ones on your breastbone get strained out more, often with popping and cracking and sharp stabbing pain - a lot like spraining your ankle slowly. That’s what the pain is - it’s not a “mysterious inflammation”, no matter what you may have been told.
This can continue even after your baby is born, because the tight rib machinery around the back stays frozen, so the joints on your breastbone have to keep moving too much to compensate. So they click, pop, ‘give’, get sore - and welcome to costo.
So you only get the problem if you're tight in your rib cage before your pregnancy. 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 what we built the Backpod for primarily. Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/
The reason your PT flared it all up is that you were still too tight in the rib machinery around the back. When that's the case, 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 UA-cam videos around saying you can fix costo just by exercises - they don't understand the problem.
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.
Just go back onto the Backpod. 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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. Get your husband doing this - going all the way down onto your low back will be excellent when you're pregnant, also.
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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.
Hope that makes sense. Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Excellent video!
I bought the backpod steve so I'm going to give it a go . Keep feeling something stuck to my ribs awful feeling 👌👌
Good luck, Nicolle. Well done on thinking for yourself and gambling I just might know what I'm talking about. Do please follow the instructions accurately. It takes time to stretch the tight bits, and yes, you can feel a bit of treatment tenderness over the first few days as they start to free up. This is normal - just like you'd get after stretching really tight hamstrings for the first time. Stick with it. Cheers, Steve August.
Got diagnosed with costo in very early 2016 and with it the rather big changes to my lifestyle to put it mildly. When I got the diagnoses I did extensive & pro-active internet researching and even joined a costo support group to help in my research, but generally all the info about costochondritis was either very vague or so PC correct that it was useless to be of any help at all. I've been a very physically active person all my life and with it the injuries over the years from being such a person. So when I found "Steve NZ Physio" video about costochondritis on UA-cam, the terminology used in the video made matter of fact perfect sense and was clearly understandable to someone who has had various treatment styles from physiotherapists trained around the world.
With the info in hand to make a worthwhile & viable treatment solution not just to control my costo but to get rid of it completely. I went looking for a local practicing physiotherapist of New Zealand training in advanced manipulation techniques, found one in my home town and the results have been totally worth it !! He uses the same terminology as "Steve" does in the video - the bucket handle example - to describe what costochondritis does to the spinal joints. From having costo so chronic that it caused two hospital emergency visits by ambulance & months off work and lots of anti-inflammatory pills to control the effects of costo, too not having to touch any pills at all and no time off work at all except for the occasional spinal tune up from my physiotherapist while I retrain the cartilage in the problem spinal joints.
Be it your physiotherapist/chiropractor or osteopath just make sure that they are open minded to look at the other fields of study regarding the cause of costochondritis, my costo was purely posture related (work place induced) and the Backpod does the job very nicely indeed when combined with the techniques given to me by my physiotherapist. I don't have a costochondritis problem anymore just a temporary back problem that is been sorted out in a natural way, no anti-inflammatory painkillers needed at all.
Oh yeah the costo support group that I joined, kicked me out of the group for the politely pointed language I used to describe the administrators of that said group, their PC correct lack of pro-active approach attitude to the problem that is costochondritis is sadly very lacking indeed, considering how many suffers on that support site were needlessly suffering while a viable treatment was been shot down in flames.
Hi Lyell. Well done on thinking for yourself - you've done a really good job of fixing your costochondritis.
Pleased the Backpod has helped as part of that. I do think it's an important part - I simply can't find anything else out there that will actually do an effective job of stretching the tough shortened collagen around rib joints - and that's the irreducible basis of fixing most costo.
Interesting you got kicked out of a costo group. Me too - I'd naively thought that passing on some Kiwi physio info about how we fix most costo would be appreciated. You know - if the problem is a tight nut, wouldn't you want to know someone's invented the spanner? I wonder if it was the same group..
Cheers, Steve August.
The same group sadly to say, that bunch of administrators have got their heads so firmly suck in the sand that they can't see a good thing at all, if I tried that sort of attitude at work I would be out of a job in a week flat and blacklisted as not suitable for the industry total !!!!
While I was doing the researching, I got a deeper understanding and appreciation of just how good & innovative as a bunch New Zealanders are in the medical field, definitely punches above the weight class so to speak. Some of the medical innovations have become so mainstream around the world, that they are taken for granted in everyday life.
The Backpod deserves the recognition as a medical product it got from the New Zealand Innovation awards & the German Red Dot awards, yes I did do a more than a fair bit of researching while I was off work with costo!
Thanks, Lyell. There are some things we've got a handle on. I so nearly didn't put up that first video on cotochondritis - didn't think there'd be much interest in a condition we regard as well sorted out and not difficult to fix. This turned out not to be the case.. Thanks for the nice comments. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Lyell,
Glad you are feeling better!! Quick question for you. How did you find a physiotherapist with training from New Zealand?
My chiropractor and others I have worked with are unfamiliar with the New Zealand way of treatment for this. Generally it seems a lot of practices in the US do the fist behind the back method of adjustment which Steve has pointed out is pretty useless for this.
I am in Wash DC so pretty far from New Zealand. Anyhow looking to find a good physiotherapist, chiropractor, or other doctor that has this New Zealand training locally.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
All the best,
Ben
Hi Ben,
got busy by going around all the physiotherapists in town and asking questions in person or by phone, luckily finding a New Zealand trained physiotherapist with the proper advanced manipulation training and the most important part, the word of mouth reputation for getting problem backs sorted out pronto for long term results. (the percentage amount of UK trained physiotherapists living and working in my area is very high indeed and not even in the UK!) Nearly ended up going to a very good osteopath who had treated me before, very successfully for a lower back injury that was oh so close to putting me in a wheelchair for life.
It doesn't have to be a good physiotherapist - chiropractor or osteopath from New Zealand, it's the training in advanced manipulation with a good word of mouth reputation to go with it that, and is open to new techniques that is the key. The use of the fist behind the back comes down to the practitioners prefered method of working with the patient's body type & injury problem.
For me the shear cost & appointment scheduling of going to a chiropractor or osteopath would of been to prohibitive of getting a successful treatment done, while the physiotherapist route has made it possible, faster and cheaper (but don't get me wrong, it has taken a lot of dedicated effort on my part and my wallet has definitley been hit hard big time by costochondritis!!).
My physiotherapist's basic all round training was done at the University of Otago's school of physiotherapy (including the basic manipulation training), then completed at the University of Auckland school of physiotherapy for the advanced manipulation training as his practise speciality with refresher training sessions over the years as new techniques have been incorporated (he could of done that level of training at either the Otago or Auckland schools, as it is a certified practise standard in New Zealand physiotherapy).
The University of Otago's school of physiotherapy was established in 1913 and was the main physiotherapy school for New Zealand for about 60 years before the school in Auckland started up, so the know how level is up there.
Hello Steve Thanks for the help I just have some questions, I been dealing with Costo 4 months now. I didn’t have swelling but now I have it on the left of my sternum. And I have back pain too. I been to a chiropractor for almost a month and it gave me just a little relief. I been using the backpod for about a month now and it’s like the titeze syndrome and backpain don’t wanna leave. It’s better than when I first had it, but it’s taking long . I know you said 3 weeks but is it supposed to take this long . I’m using the pod the best as you explained it. I’m thinking about going to physical therapy for some stretching. I can’t afford a sports massage . But I really wanna stick with the backpod cause I have faith in it. But this tietze syndrome aggravating 😢 and this On and off backpain nd I have been to the hospital for everything checked multiple times. I did housekeeping lifting a lot of heavy bags. I think that’s how I got it. Any advice Steve especially for the swelling in the front. Do you think physical therapy would be good for it, especially since swelling is involved. And do you think they can help with the backpain? And do it have to be a sports massage? Can it be a regular massage?
Hi Mike. Just replied to you at length on the other video you asked the same questions on.
Hi Steve,
Hope all is well. Wrote a while back and I could use your advice. So just to get caught up I was using the backpod and things had gotten better and was exercising and it really was fantastic to be able to run and lift light weights again! Then unfortunately got reinjured just jogging and have only seen minor improvements since for about a year using the backpod and doing physical therapy. I already have done the thing where I lift my butt to get more leverage and everything per your guidace, but it hasnt freed things up. I think the rib that is most out of place is just too high up. I went to a chiropractor and she was helpful in terms of physical therapy exercises (which I think have helped some) but she really only knows the fist behind the back method of adjustment. She tried doing the knee in the back adjustment per your guidance, but really had no training in it so she had a lot of trouble getting any leverage and really wasnt able to do it for the most part.
Long story short, I am looking for Osteopath or someone trained in the New Zealand method of treatment. I dont think many chiropactors in the US use the same techniques at least from my experience. And my chiropractor had trouble doing the knee behind the back method as she just has very little practice in it. I am trying to avoid hoping to doctor to doctor (I have already tried a few) as it expensive here.
Do you know of anyone in Washington DC. trained in the New Zealand school? Or how I would go about finding someone with that training?
I am writing for your recommendation from you as I really do believe your product has been helpful and helped me in the past get almost fully better (I mean I could run and I cant tell you how freeing it is to be able to do that after not being able to for years). Anyhow any recommondations would be helpful and if your not sure of course that is understandable (I realize New Zealand is quite far away).
Hi Ben. Yes, the stretch leverage on the Backpod drops off as you get high up the ribs and back. Try an osteopath. That knee-in-the-back technique is an old Stoddard technique - osteopath who wrote a textbook way back in the 1960s.
I'm not tribal about chiros. We're all treating backs and all trying to get the patient better and do ourselves out of a job - or should be. There are really good practitioners of every stripe. Having said that I have been getting a little dismayed at so many of the stories about what they do in the US; a lot does not seem well thought through from my New Zealand physio viewpoint.
I don't know anyone in the US to recommend, sorry. Good luck. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks Steve! Is this essentially the technique your referring to. I was trying to find a video with it being done on someone to refer osteopath/chiropractors to. This seemed like the one (though a bit blurry): ua-cam.com/video/rWZA8w9tYrE/v-deo.html
Hi Ben. Yes, that's it. Well done - I had a look and couldn't find it. "Knee-in-the-back" pretty much gets the idea across - it does have different names in different countries and disciplines, I think. HVLA just stands for high Velocity Low Amplitude Thrust.
You can use it for the ribs or spinal joints. It's particularly good for costo not just because you don't squash the rib joints round the front, but also it's a technique to improve extension at the rib joints, which is exactly what they need. I use a foam rubber pad between me and the patient - easier on both of us. You can use it just as a strong stretch - doesn't have to include the quick jerk for the manipulation. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for the confirmation and your help! Appreciate you taking the time and being so responsive. Its great to a have someone on here that is knowledgeable and easy to reach for questions. I will follow your advice in looking for an osteopath. Your right finding a good doc does feel like a bit of a lottery. I think I need to try more of them though and find one that can do the knee behind the back manipulation. That manipulation just makes sense to me. The video I found should be helpful as well when I point out what I am looking for to the potential doc.
Thanks again for all your help,
Ben
I just supplement collagen by buying some sort of gym supplements and it improved a lot for me within a week, also took some painkillers prescribed by a doctor but it didn't give good results, so I found collagen to work well. I have a sedentary job so also started having chest pains without having any heart problems, so some yoga plus collagen did improve it more than pills.
Hi Mesaj. Good to hear. We'd see most costochondritis as a specific musculoskeletal problem, so not at all surprised that painkillers didn't help. All they do is try and dampen the pain - they don't treat the problem causing the pain.
The yoga stretches will have freed up some of the rib cage tightness causing the overuse strain at your rib joints on your breastbone. If that's enough (plus the collagen supplements) to fix you fully, then great. I do find it's a matter of leverage. Any yoga-type stretch will loosen things, but for joints you do often need more than just that. If you're not coming completely clear, then I would recommend the Backpod - it's got way more leverage again for the tight rib joints around the back that are the cause of most costo pain at the front. Often they do need that leverage to stretch free fully.
Interesting for me to hear about your collagen supplements. I just don't know what to think about those. Frozen joints do get tightened collagen around them. This is the material that makes up your ligaments, joint capsules and fascia. It's seriously tough - stronger by weight than steel wire. You can unlock a frozen joint with manipulation but you cannot stretch out the shortened collagen around it in the same split second click - it's impossible. That's why you get people going to the chiro repeatedly to get the same joints unlocked - they just tighten up again fast because of the tight collagen around them. We reckon this is nuts and a racket. We get past the problem for the thoracic spines and ribs by stretching out the collagen on the Backpod - that's exactly what it's built to do.
So I'm really not sure what collagen supplements actually do, since we'd see it mostly as a collagen stretching problem, but I do hear you about them. Still learning - it's not like I know it all. Thank you.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, Does Costo get worst at night…. I don’t get too much pain during the day but when i sit down in the bed at night i feel tingly pain in my neck and in my head sometimes. I get pain in chest too when trying to sleep. Thank you
Hi steve,
You may never see this although Im hoping you can! So around a month-and-a-half ago I suffered from an acute anxiety panic attack very acute and very chronic and from there I felt a huge blow to my chest something I've never felt in my entire life.
on that day September 3rd at 9:18 p.m. exactly following my panic attack was closed Airways. I realized and noticed that my breathing felt very different very shallow very very traumatizing as I did believe I was going to pass on.
From that day it has been 7 weeks. every day with a grain of salt is getting better however the pains I'm feeling are underneath my breast as well as over top of my breast that wrap around to my mid and upper back and I also have weird Sensations that I feel in my upper body from it it also gives me headaches and weird, jaw and neck pain so sad because it has changed my life.
I've been to er 19 times in 7 weeks and everything is clear they are saying.
Recently I purchased your item last night and it actually arrived today I still have tenderness and pain in my back and I'm just hoping that this will not make things worse sir I'm praying that it will only get better from using this as there are great reviews it has (your back pod)!
hope that my symptoms of costochondritis are similar to what you have talked about in this video clip.
I'd be happy to hear back from you,
Arielle
Hi Arielle. Well done on thinking for yourself and getting a Backpod. Relax - the docs are very good at checking for dire possibilities like your heart, and you're all clear on those. They're not usually good at costochondritis. What you're describing sounds like costo.
Stick with the Backpod - 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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 o wow thank you so much for the information and responding)! today was my first day trying the pod and it hurt.. so bad.
I am very very sore back there for some reason.there are a couple of spots that are just way too sensitive even to touch and idk y.
Would you suggest a ease" way of using thee pod? Easing myself in ?
I could only lye down on it (with pillow on top of it) 4 about 10 seconds before i realised i think i might be doing somthing wrong because I am making it feel worse.
probably using the pod incorrectly because I kno its specifics specifically to aid in relieving frozen muscles ( although i dont know if thy are frozon , just hurt and very sore and sensitive) so yes im convinced I've got to be doing something wrong? & With such amazing ratings! yes i think im outing myself.
thank you steve for any help that you may be able to provide to this very sad feeling that is restricting my air and making me feel faint somtims whch is so much mor scary feeling to wak up to evry single morning living wth it.
Best and thank you
Arielle
@@arhead12 As I said in my earlier reply, 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.
Thank you!
Hey Steve, is there any way I can contact you personally? Thanks in advance.
Yes - use the contact email on the Backpod's website. I'm pretty swamped, so may not respond immediately. If you've a question about costo, give me lots of detail so I've a clear picture to make sense of. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I started using the Backpod a month ago after developing chest pains and sternum sensitivity in January. Wow, what a difference! I’ve gone from feeling the sharp pains at least 20 times a day to maybe 1x a day! Thank you so much for your invention. I have been feeling pain inside my left armpit. Is this normal due to the Backpod? I’m wondering if it is due to the stretch with the arms behind the neck when using the Backpod?
Hi Krista. Yep - you're freeing up your rib cage fine, so you're now running into some surrounding muscle restriction - because the joints are moving so much better.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Hey Steve, first of all, thank you so much for all this helpful information. I've been dealing with costo the past 5 or 6 months, its been tough. It's hard for me to stay out of the gym, and I do notice lifting weights re-aggravates it, do I need to stop doing all weight lifting exercises or just certain ones? Also, I am asking for a back pod for christmas! My next question, in the meantime before I get the back pod, do you think its okay to use a baseball in a similar way? Laying down on my back, starting with the lower ribs and slowly repositioning the baseball up by a few inches at a time to hit all those frozen ribs.
Hi Ryan. Sorry, but 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 UA-cam 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.
Until the Backpod arrives, you can use some tightly rolled up socks taped up into a ball about 90mm across. Use that as we'd use the Backpod. The instructions are in the user guide - there's a pdf of it near the bottom of the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That'll start you stretching the tight ribs. Yes, the Backpod is hugely better - it's got much more specific leverage because of its unyielding core, and usually the joints need that oomph. But the socks will start you off okay. If you get to where the socks don't feel like they're stretching enough, then shift to the baseball. The Backpod is better again, for several technical reasons outlined on the website.
When you get one, 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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 hey Steve this was so helpful. By the way I ended up just buying the back pod that day I commented, and it’s been great. I’ve been using it for about a week now and already feeling some relief. I will slowly start to get more intense with it, have been taking it easy so far and it feels great. Even after the first time I used it there was instant pain relief! I’m starting to have less and less sharp pains. I’ve also been going to a chiropractor twice a week and his adjustments and manipulations have also made some of tightness go away.
I definitely think I have a case of the “iHunch.” Ive always played lots of video games, and the last couple years I’ve had desk jobs. So lots of bad posture and hunching over I think resulted in this. I’m so happy with my back pod and your videos had been very helpful. I’m going to continue to work on it. Thanks Steve 🙏
Hi Steve,
Hope you are well. I have a question please. My pain in the sternum area is pretty much gone. However l a experiencing more pain in my back now. I can still feel the tightness and my back is clicking. Does it mean it is still realigning itself? I have some herniation in T6,T7,T8. Thank you Steve.
Thomas
Hi Thomas. That's odd. I'm sure I've already answered this. Maybe it was to someone else.. Or UA-cam hiccuped again..
Okay, good that the sternum pain is gone. That means you've freed up the tight rib machinery around the back enough that the excessive load's now off the rib joints on the breastbone. Good work.
Keep going. The disc herniation at T6/7/8 should reduce. It'll likely just be disc bulging, which you get from much hunching and bending in the thoracic spine. (It's part of what we call the iHunch.) The more the thoracic bends forwards, the more the discs bulge backwards - and that's where the nerves are. So what helps it is stretching the spine back the other way, which redices the bulging. This takes time. The fact that you've got the disc bulging showing at all tells me you've been pretty damn hunched and tight there for a long time. It'll take time to stretch fully back to normal.
The clicking round the back will be just that - with the frozen hinges starting to move again, but juddering and clicking as they do, like rusty gate hinges. It's a half-way house - they're no longer stuck immobile and painful. but they're not back to full silent well-oiled movement yet.
So stay with it. As I've said, 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, because of the discs, when you get that good start adding in a slack push-up. This is like the cobra pose in yoga - you can find it on UA-cam. Just use it as a slack push-up, so long as it's not stirring up the costo. Do 20 slow ones, letting everything relax except your arms; hold the stretch for a second or so up the top. It's not for strengthening, just to do a slow pumping effect on the disc bulge. It's part of the McKenzie approach to treating bulging discs - also from New Zealand physio. Do a set of 20 4-5 times a day.
So, yes, it's all still just getting back to normal free full movement. It's not there yet.
Ive had costo for 6 weeks. Im in agony and suspected it was phone use over a long cold Winter. Im in uk can i get the back pod here?
Thanx so much🍀
Dear Steve,
I have bought the BackPod 2 months ago. It helped a bit but since 1 month whenever I use it I get bad muscle tension from the back to my chest muscle (like the pain is following à rib). Then I have to stop with the BackPod for 1 week until I am Not in pain anymore. Strangely, I am very careful when I use it (I take 3 pillows and dont stay to long on the backpod) So I dont understand where the problem is... I really want to fix my costochondritis though
Dear Chooby. I don't think you're doing enough to free up the tight ribs fully and fix the problem. If all the rib and spinal joints round your back were moving fully and freely, then you could like back on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and just feel a satisfying stretch - no soreness. That's normal, and it's what you used to have before things got so tight.
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.
But you have to go hard enough to actually stretch the frozen joints. If you don't, it's like pushing a brick with a pillow - doesn't matter how much you do it, it's not going to move. I think - go harder and longer. You do have to feel something or you're not getting a worthwhile stretch. It's just like doing a hamstring stretch - you do have to feel the stretch or it's not doing anything useful.. If it gets a bit sore, too bad.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
I’m not sure if I have costochondritis, but I keep getting this clicking/popping sound near my sternum when breathing in. On some days I get a lot of pain on my chest region, like sharp stabbing pain. On other days it’s gone. When I sleep on my sides, my chest pains a little and I get these random chest spasms which last 2 seconds. This has been happening for 6 months now, doctors can’t find out what’s wrong, and they refuse to do an X-ray scan. I’m only 21, and very worried about this.
Hi. It certainly sounds like what I've been describing. The clicking/popping on your sternum is your rib joints there giving and straining, a lot like cracking your knuckles. They do that because the joints at the other end of the same ribs where they hinge onto your spine are frozen and can't move. You'll probably have some lesser pain back round there as well.
Have a look at the Costochondritis page on our website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ There's a home test there for the tight rib joints. (Incidentally rib joint tightness won't show on X-ray, CAT or MRI scan, which are all still photos so can't show whether they hinges can move okay or not.)
You get it with costo when you sleep on your side because you're lying on your rib cage. So that pushes on it and it tends to strain and give more at the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. It's like stretching an acutely sprained ankle - it'll hurt.
The docs are the ones to check out your heart and anything else dire. They're good at that - they're just usually not much good at costo. They've cleare you for anything dire, so the next bit's up to you. Read the page, see if that seems like a fit with what you've been experiencing, do the test - and if it's all a fit then start fixing it yourself. You don't need permission. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Back pod is a good temporary treatment for costo
Hi Steve, I had an injury while doing pull-ups last year. I suffered for few days and it healed up by itself. But I'm experiencing the same pain since few days back. In my case I have no problem in breathing, I don't experience any pain while sneezing or coughing and no problem in sleeping, except that I cannot move my body freely especially the side stretching which you did recommend in one of ur videos. I need your advice🙏
Mm - the odds are good that you've just become tight in the rib and spinal joints round your back, sort of between your shoulder blades. If they're tight, then with any big load on the rib cage (such as pull-ups or dips) the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone will give. It's a lot like spraining your ankle, only at those joints.
They settle after a while, like a sprained ankle would. But it'll keep happening unless the tight rib machinery around the back is freed up back to normal. So, what you're feeling is that tightness around the back and probably side of your rib cage. That's why you can't move your body freely - some of the moving hinges can't move.
So, it's not a muscle problem. You won't fix it with more training. It's more like the hand brake is jammed on in the car.
The easiest way is to simply get a Backpod and stretch the frozen joints free. Have a look at the Costochondritis page on our website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for the video. I was recently told casually by a chiropractor I may have this based on my symptoms. I've had it for maybe 8-9 years now and there is a hard lump on my right side where the rib joins the sternum, and it's getting bigger and bigger slowly over time. It often pops very violently, like a tectonic plate grinding and slipping, and yeah it hurts quite a bit when it pops like this. Is this normal for costochondritis or possibly another issue altogether? I'll look into this back pod.
Yup - it is normal for costo. The swelling is not an auto-immune or systemic swelling. It's just the sort you get when you sprain your ankle and it swells up. Over time, it'll go hard, though you can still have fresh fluid forming on top. Costo is usually called Tietze's Syndrome when there's obvious swelling with it.
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
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you for the reply and link, I appreciate it! The lump is completely hard, there is no soft swelling, it actually feels just like a big lumpy bone sticking up, that's what made me unsure if it was costo or not because there is no soft tissue swelling.
Does anyone else's sternum pop when using the backpod? My sternum has been Popping for a while now but this is the first time my sternum has popped while i've been putting pressure on my back. Let me emphasize that no pain comes for my sternum when I'm using the backpod but it does pop and I get this relaxation feeling even when it pops. My theory has been maybe things are loosening up? I could really use some advice Steve, thank you so much!
Sounds like the tight rib and spinal joints around the back are freeing up okay. They'll often crack and pop a bit as the joints shift from no movement back towards free silent running movement, plus the ones on your sternum are already moving too much so they can crack and pop a bit too.
It should all settle down once the movement around the back and sides gets back to normal. Can takes months, though - it's not instant.
Here's a long wordy PDF on the other bits that usually need treating with costo and Tietze's Syndrome. It's not just the Backpod alone, though that is the core of it. The PDF is easier read on a computer, not a phone. Good luck with the work.
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much Steve for replying back. Not everyone is attentive in that way. Costo has been a hell of journey and I just want to feel normal again. I will look into the link, thanks again!
Hi Steve. Thank you for your common sense approach and advice. I have scoliosis and am wondering if the Backpod will affect that. I’m seeing a chiro and osteo who are trying to manipulate my ribs back in place and mobilize them. So I don’t want to undo any good they do. Can you please help? I’m so ready to get my life back. Can you recommend anyone in the U.S. who adopts your philosophy?
Hi. Not really. Look, it's not really a philosophy. It's supported by the actual published medical research, which also does not support the "mysterious inflammation" idea, but mostly it's just the bog standard understanding and approach from New Zealand manual physiotherapy, plus my own experience on patients and myself. It's not radical or a biggie - we were astounded to find that most the rest of the world sees costo incorrectly and doesn't fix it.
I have a mild scoliosis myself. I don't get any problems because I simply keep it free moving by occasional use of the Backpod - see a video I made for the Backpod on scoliosis; link is ua-cam.com/video/gAm82WWyyYU/v-deo.html
If your osteo and chiro are helping, then fine. If they're not, then why keep going? I've no idea what your chiro's doing. The good ones are very good, but I don't have a high opinion of the trad US ones for treating costo generally.
(1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time.
(2) 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.
(3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly.
That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive.
Rule of thumb (ho ho) - if you're getting a temporary improvement with chiro (so it is a joint problem) then you should get a permanent freeing up on the Backpod. It’s particularly relevant to costo - the Backpod is the only thing we can find that will actually do an effective stretch on tight rib joints, and this is the crucial thing in fixing costo.
If you haven't got one, I'd get 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Hello Steve ! I have been diagnosed with tietz syndrom 2 months ago. I don't feel huge pain but more a discomfort time to time. I'm doing stretchs and exercises you recommand. What do you recommand for people who workout regularly ? Is it bad with tietz syndrom ? I don't want to make it worse.
Thanks you for all your amazing advices !
Hi Alexandre.
(1) Don't do dips - they're the gym exercise that causes most costo.
(2) Get a Backpod. The problem with all exercise with costochondritis and Tietze's Syndrome is that it just strains the already strained rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round the back. You have to free these up first, specifically, without also straining the joints on your chest. We use the Backpod for that.
Have a look at the Backpod's costochondritis and Tietze's page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve,
Have had costo for over a year now. Got the backpod 6-7 weeks ago and been using it 2-3 times a day for 5-7 minutes each time. It is helping, my rib joints feel stretched and freed, my sternum is cracking much less. However, the pain in the sternum doesn't want to fully go away. There were some days when I thought the pain almost went away, but then had sudden flareups. It seems like there's something I am missing. I tried muscle stretching as you showed in your videos, pecs stretching, omega3, sternum & rib massage with voltaren, therapeutic massage, got rid of alcohol, but still no final result. Would be grateful if you help me figure this out. Thanks!
Hi Maxim. I think I've just replied to you on Reddit costochondritis. If not, have a look over this long wordy PDF on treating costo: www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
It is wordy - best read on a computer not a phone. It covers the bits often needing dealt to as well as the Backpod itself. Also ways to get the maximal stretch from the Backpod. Best to go over it carefully and see if there's anything there you haven't covered yourself yet.
Did you fix it with the pod
Beautiful place.
Yes, it is! Up on Gertrude Saddle, with Milford Sound in the background. South Island of New Zealand.
Steve,
I have been dealing with what drs assume to be Costo for 3 months now. I only feel the pain in the center of my sternum or the left side (where the ribs attach to the sternum). I have been to chiropractors, used stretching techniques, and eventually ordered the back pod. I use it for about 10-15 mins a day and haven’t seen much improvement. How long does it take for results?
Hello Sharmeen. Depends. I don't know how tight the rib machinery round the back is, whether you have any other medical conditions, if you're doing anything to keep stirring the costo up such as the gym or regular chiro, how long you've been using the Backpod for, and if you're using it correctly.
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. The usual result is the rib joints freeing up mostly in three weeks, but with a clear improvement in your costo pain after the first week. Of course this varies.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Hello ! I hope dr Steve will see my message :( i am using the back pod ( i m on day 7 of using it ) and i feel i need to push my spine in the place where is my pain , when i push i feel a bit better , my costo is 6 months old .In my town , i didn t found any phyziotherapist that could treat my costo , is so frustrating 🤦♀️ i want to be sure that i understood what i have to do , at first i have to use only the pod until i free up the tight rib machinerry and only after that to do stretching ? Thank you very much , by the way many dr should teach from you and people from your country are so lucky to have dr like you .All the best
Hi Andreea. Yes, that's right. It seems frustrating, but that's the quickest way to fix costo. Free up the tight rib and spinal joints first - then start doing the stretches as well. The exception is that you can start stretching your pecs now - there’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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.
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 i am so thankfull for your answer ! So i supose even i got costo from pneumonia the treatment is the same ? Many many thanks!
@@andreeagta5486 Hi Andreea. Yes, sure. It's exactly the same problem, no matter how the rib machinery round the back gets tight.
Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take.
So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out.
So you treat it the same way, regardless of why the rib machinery around the back gets tight in the first place. Coughing is a classic trigger of costochondritis - from pneumonia, the flu, just a bad cold - and now COVID-19. It is not the infection itself that brings on the costo, but the coughing.
Coughing is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. I’ve seen cracked ribs from it, and not just in little old ladies. If the rib cage joints around the back are frozen solid and can’t move a little to absorb that shock, then the whole jolt hits the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone. So they strain and give - with every cough. It’s a lot like repeatedly hitting a sprained ankle with a hammer. And welcome to costochondritis.
So you treat it all the same way - free up the tight rib machinery around the back causing the strain at the rib joints round the front.
Hang in there - good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you very much again , i can t wait to fix it and then to tell everyone who is suffering from this to buy a backpod and to fix their problem , you are such a good man 🤝everyone who suffer from this condition , please listen what dr Steve teach us .
Is there any convenient alternative for backpod? I litterally have no enough money to buy it. 😔
You can use some tightly rolled up socks taped up into a ball about 90mm across. Use that as we'd use the Backpod. The instructions are in the user guide - there's a pdf of it near the bottom of the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That'll start you stretching the tight ribs. Yes, the Backpod is hugely better - it's got much more specific leverage because of its unyielding core, and usually the joints need that oomph. But the socks will start you off okay.
Hi Steve….further thinking…..is it still “classic”
costo without the sternum palpitation pain? I have mainly tightness across my pecs and inflammation in the cartilage that attaches the upper ribs in the front. Not so much huge breathing issues or real lower rib problems. It’s more from hunching as you say, I suspect. It’s mostly upper back, neck and shoulders, shoulder blades it seems.
Well, it's close to being classic costo. It gets tighter and tighter around the back and sides of the rib cage, as you've described, until the joints where the ribs hinge onto your sternum MUST strain and give, just to let you keep breathing. So what you've got is costo starting on top of the usual iHunch. Have a look over the links I put in my earlier reply - they should make it clear.
!!!!! I’m SO sorry to keep bothering you but no one seems to get it here in North Carolina. Do you recommend or have heard of Sayer Clinic in London? They are listed with you on a costo expert site. I just would like to have an ally walk with me thru this who can see me regularly in person. So I’m indeed doing the Backpod. I’m just concerned about my scoliosis and whether that’s a complication. What kind of chiro adjustments do I need? I feel like the ones I’ve gotten so far made things worse. Maybe that’s part of the settling of the ribs process(?) I did watch your videos. Chiro wants to dry needle my upper back to loosen things up. Will that help with following up with the Backpod too? Thanks for your patience.
Cannot see your earlier reply for some reason
@@asmith5010 I give up. I don't know why a few of my replies disappear from UA-cam. Michael Durtnall at the Sayer Clinic is superb on costo. In my experience most US chiros are crap on it. Dry needling is just fluffing around. See the video I made on scoliosis and the Backpod.
Got it. Thank you so very much.
Hi Steve, I've been to a&e twice in a week and have lost 7 nights sleep. I have since been given vimovo to reduce the swelling of costo and tietze. I had two good nights sleep then last night a full 10 hours lying awake hearing my own pulse and feeling the symptoms come back. I'm losing my nerve. Do you have any advice? The lack of sleep is destroying me mentally and my heavy pulse in my chest. I've had costo on and off for 10 years. Please help.
Hi Siobhan. So, nothing that's been tried in 10 years has fixed your costo. Therefore you're either incurable or everything that's been tried is wrong. It'll be the latter. This is the usual story.
Have a thorough look over the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website, including all the videos. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Then get a Backpod and start fixing it. It's not particularly difficult if you actually treat the cause of the problem, instead of dabbling about on the pain on the chest. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 hi Steve I've ordered the backpod thank you. I'm really very anxious at night time as the tietzes swelling is worse at night and seems to be spreading to a few ribs. I'm losing a lot of sleep over this. No amount of meditation can distract from this sensation 😔 any advice hugely appreciated. I've had two emergency room visits with xrays, bloods, ekg etc. My mind is just running away with me with the swelling at night.
@@MrShivBoom Hi Siobhan. Good - well done on thinking for yourself. When it arrives, DO read the instructions in the user guide carefully. 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.
Pain sleeping is common with costo, and in your case it's worse than normal, because you've got swelling as well. (Tietze's is just costo bad enough to show actual swelling at the rib joints on your breastbone - same as a sprained ankle swells up. that's all it is.)
Since the back rib joints can't move, when you lie on the rib cage jn any position the strain goes onto the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. So they get sore(r) and wake you up. Then everything gets worse when you're behind on sleep.
I haven't any tricks for that. The only way i know of to help is is to free up the rib cage machinery around the back - which is what the Backpod's for. Good luck with the work.
Cheers, Steve August.
@@MrShivBoomare you better now
Hi Steve -
Very inspiring content. I just started using my Backpod this week, and look forward to progressing. I had a question on exercise. For the last 10+ years, i've been working out with heavy weights. Crossfit, Olympic style lifting. I suspect this has a lot to do with the genesis of my costo issues. Is there any type of exercise I can still do while working with the Backpod? For example, cardio, spin, light weights, etc.?
Additionally, I have pain in my shoulder, seemingly rotator cuff. Can the two be related and if so treated the same?
Thanks,
Pete
Hi Pete. I just don't think you can train through costo. It's not like a muscle problem, say. You'll hate that. The reason is that any exercise or stretch just strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round your back. I usually use as an indicator the patient able to lie on the Backpod without needing a pillow under their head. When the joints are moving well enough for that not to hurt, then start back into exercise - carefully! It usually takes about three weeks, though does vary. The cross trainer (elliptical) is a good way back in - going quietly. Then muscle work for your support muscles around your middle back. Good luck - you do have to feel your way. But Backpod first. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you for the quick reply! Lastly, I'm about 3 days into using the Backpod and experiencing some additional soreness as a result - mainly in my back and ribcage. Is this a normal initial result during the first week of use?
Yes. Stick with it. DO follow the instructions accurately for the first week especially. The Backpod is a real treatment device, not a magic wand, and you're stretching stuff that hasn't moved for some time. You will feel it a bit, like after going for a run for the first time in a year. Shout yourself a sports massage too, for the tight and scarred muscle that will be surrounding the tight rib cage, including the pecs. That'll also reduce the muscle soreness round the back. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 So far so good, Steve. My last question is on sleep, which seems to aggravate the condition. Any tips on position, etc. Is this a relatively common symptom?
@@stratplyr810 Hi Peter. Unfortunately any position puts pressure on your rib cage, so that pushes on the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. I don't really have an answer for that, except freeing up the tight bits round the back of the rib cage so that they can move a bit and the joints on your breastbone don't have to so much.
It is common with costo.
Thank you sir
I don’t know if you’re still active on this account, but I’ve recently been burdened with costo and I have a hard rubber ball that I’ve been using in place of a back pod, do you think that will work effectively?
It'll help but not as much. I do not know of anything else out there that will do a really effective stretch on tight posterior rib joints except the Backpod.
This isn't marketing hype. A foam roller cannot produce as much leverage because your upper body weight is spread along the length of the roller; the peaked shape of the Backpod focuses it all on a much smaller area. Also rollers, all balls, etc. are unstable, so your muscles can't relax, so you get less of a stretch on the joint collagen. All other spinal curvy things I've seen have such wide curves that again you don't get much leverage from them. Tennis balls and rolled towels are too squashy to give much of a stretch. Two lacrosse balls making up a peanut halve the stretch you can get on any one side of rib joints, and again they're unstable.
That’s just how it is. We built the Backpod because I didn't think there was anything available that was doing a really good job on the shortened collagen around the joints. Collagen is stronger by weight than stainless steel - you can stretch it but you HAVE to have enough specific leverage to do so. Hence the Backpod. The unyielding core is made of polycarbonate, the same material used in jet fighter windshields; 6mm will stop a bullet. It's flat bottomed, hence stable when you lie on it, and shaped and sized exactly to fit between your spine and the inside edge of your shoulder blade to stretch the rib joints.
If you're not too tight on the ribs, then the lesser things can probably stretch them free. But by the time you've got costo, the ribs round the back are really frozen - which is why you've got the costo strain and pain at the front. The Backpod's just got more leverage than anything else, and you nearly always do need that leverage. Otherwise it's like trying to push a brick with a feather. If the problem is a tight nut, then you do want a spanner.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve can the covid vaccine cause cosco? December is about to be 5 months for me and I don’t know how I got cosco. I did lift a lot of heavy trash. But I been using the backpod for a month and a half and my tietze syndrome is stubborn. I have mid and upper back pain on and off randomly. And mild flare ups. Any other suggestions Steve? Is it normal for some patients to not see clear results from the backpod after a month? And the backpain is that from the frozen ribs around the back? My pain on each side of my spine, I always use my backpod everyday
Re costo after Covid-19 vaccinations: I don't think that can happen unless you were already tight on the rib joints and machinery around the back, and usually had already had costo. I don't think the vaccinations can create costo on a freely moving rib cage out of a clear blue sky. There's no logical basis for why a general systemic injection would create such specific pain at just some of the rib joints on your breastbone.
But, if you were already tight round the back of your rib cage - and that would be the case if you've had costo before - then the boost in inflammation in your body generally after the vaccination could be enough to flare up what was already some strain at the rib joints around the front into symptoms. You do get a bodily response to the vaccination, which is normal and intended, but can include a bit of inflammation generally.
I've seen this happen many times with patients catching a cold while I was treating a back or neck problem, say. Usually things are progressing well (usually!) and all the tight stuff is freeing up and they're getting less sore. Then they get a cold, and everything flares up again.
It's not like they're going backwards, just that the general body inflammation from the cold or 'flu adds to the specific local inflammation at the problem areas in the back or neck, and these flare up and get painful again. It settles down again as they throw off the cold or flu. It's not like the cold or flu created their back or neck problem - just flared it up a bit.
I think that's all that's going on with costo after the Covid vaccination. It can be enough to push the costo into flaring up for a bit, but I don't think it can create it. Because it's costo though, it can stay on after the vaccination flare until the tight ribs round the back which are driving the strain at the front are sorted out.
So, the usual answer as far as treatment goes - free up the underlying tight rib machinery round the back that's driving the strain and pain at the rib joints on your breastbone in the first place. Yes, you may need other bits dealt to as well, but that's the core.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 ok awesome !! So I can get the booster shot. But I need to make sure my cosco is sorted out before I get the booster shot? And thanks Steve!
@@JLNATION_REACTZZ I'd get the booster shot anyway. You do NOT want to mess with Covid-19.
Steve, I don't have pain in the front/sternum area. I do feel tightness but most of my restrictions are experienced in upper/mid back, shoulders and neck. Just wondering if costo has an extensive involvement like this? I have been struggling with this for the last 3 years. I went thru a whole spectrum of tests MRI, x rays, etc. I thought I had MS but those tests came back negative. Thank you.
Hi. What you've probably got is how costo starts out. It's very common. When the tight rib and spinal joints around the back get even tighter then they are now, then the rib joints on your breastbone start straining. They have to do this to give your rib cage enough movement to take a breath in - if the joints round the back of the rib cage can't move, then the ones on the front have to move excessively to compensate. So they strain, 'give' (usually with popping and clicking), get irritated and inflamed - and that's what costo is.
Cheeringly, you're not that bad - yet. The odds are extremely good you've got the usual upper/mid back, shoulders and neck we call the iHunch. This is the commonest reason these days for costo starting - getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever.
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 your best home treatment and ongoing care approach is to do all the bits in the Backpod’s home programme, including a Backpod - we designed it all 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 it work and how long did it take you
Hi Steve
I have been dealing with off and on chest pain for about a year now, ive had pretty much every cardiology test done and they have reassured me that it is not my heart and its due to costo. Sometimes the pain can be more annoying and at other points it can be quite severe and debilitating, Ive been to the emergency department many times. The pain mimics a heart issue as it radiates into my neck and arms when it is severe. I have experienced the pain on both sides of the breastbone before. Do you think the Backpod could help me?
Probably yes. Nothing else has helped in a year, so you're either incurable or they're doing the wrong things. Relax - it'll be the latter.
Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take.
So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem.
Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that.
Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too.
Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Steve, Your video helped me so much. I also have wrist tendonitis from typing. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Kyle. Treat it like any sports medicine overuse injury. A certain amount of rest; Voltaren diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel worked into the wrist a couple of times a day; massage every four days or so through the whole forearm; and forearms stretches. I can't be more precise over UA-cam. Essentially it happens because of the amount of typing or whatever that you're doing, with the muscles and tendons working the wrist too tight to handle that load. So you try and settle the stirred up tissue, but the long term answer is getting all of the forearm muscles (not just at the wrist itself) fully flexible and stretchy again. You need massage, because you've got only limited leverage on wrist stretches - the muscles aren't like a hamstring where the more you lean forward, the better the stretch. So you need the pushing-toothpaste-down-a-tube effect that massage has on tight, scarred muscles.
Is smoking very bad for this ? Thank for video also I have worst posture I game all day and never leave my home due to very bad health anxiety and I get tight chest pain with it leading to my ribs and shoulder blades I been to hospitals doctors they just can never find nothing wrong with me hence why they say I have health anxiety I also have mild cerebral palsy also
Hi Conner. Smoking's bad for you anyway - but you know this. It won't affect costo. The core question is whether you think you're worth not filling your lungs with that crap. I can't answer that for you - you have to answer it for yourself.
So, you've got costo on top of the iHunch. It's hugely common with gamers. When the thoracic spine gets hunched and tight enough, then the rib joints round the back also freeze up. When they can't move, then the more delicate joints at the other ends of the same ribs where they hinge onto your breastbone MUST move excessively - every breath you take.
So they strain, click and pop, get irritated, painful - and there's your costo. It's NOT a "mysterious inflammation." Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ It's what we built the Backpod and its home programme for. It'll also stretch tight rib joints, which nothing much else will, and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo.
Yeah, I think you should get one. Everybody's worth it.
Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio I’ll have a look yes and thanks for replying could this cause little wheezing in my right rib or seams to be by my rib like I said I been to hospitals doctors they said I’m not weezing but I can feel it when I take a deep breath sometimes I get no excerise nothing, I’ve had cameras down my stomach all sorts a few years back nothing ever came of it the doctors look at me like I’m stupid but I’m feeling all of these symptoms with no help just game I don’t feel comfortable leaving my home it’s been an on going problem for years now
Hi Conner. The tight and immobile rib machinery around your back causes the costochondritis pain and strain at the rib joints on your front. It’ll also cause breathing difficulties, because 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 can’t move.
This gets missed by well-meaning docs all the time. The frozen joints cannot show on X-ray, MRI or CAT scan, since these are all still photos and can’t show whether the joints can move or not.
As far as I can tell, the Backpod is the only thing around that will do a really effective stretch on tight rib joints.
Does Costochondritis also cause lower back pain too?
Hi Giselle. Nope - it's purely a rib cage problem. Though if you're getting hunched in the thoracic spine (upper and middle back) from much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones, then your low back does tend to develop an excessive hollow. That will cause pain on standing, as the load is all going onto your spinal joints, like leaning back in your chair would load the back two legs.
Hello, I have had costochondritis for 2 years, generally no breathing pain, but constant pain. I have a very hypermobile spine and a connective tissue disorder which effects my collagen. My body dislocates in places and I get loads of ligament and tendon issues. The way you describe it seems to suggest people have strong collagen but for me it isn't the case. Stretching pulls my ligaments really really far leading to pain, so I'm not sure what is the best approach for me. Do you have a clip focusing on people with conditions that reduces the collagen and causes hypermobility? Advice would be great. Vitamin d is find. Xray OK. All physios are at a loss.
Hi Ness. Sounds horrible - my sympathies. I really don't know for sure. What connective tissue disorder do you have?
I am suspicious of one thing, though. I've seen so many patients over the years who've been diagnosed as hypermobile. And they are, generally - BUT their problem is coming from the specific bit(s) that's tight or frozen and stuck.
So the surface answer is no hypermobile (excessively moving) joint should be mobilised further, with the Backpod or anything else.
But if by 'hypermobile ribs' they mean the rib joints on your breastbone are moving too much, then sure. That's the commonest reason for costo - the rib joints on the breastbone are moving way too much and straining, getting irritated and inflamed and painful.
But almost always (but it may not be your case) the reason they're moving too much is because the joints at the back end of those same ribs where they hinge onto your spine are frozen solid and not moving at all. (You can get that, even though generally you're hypermobile.) That's where absolutely the Backpod is your device of choice to stretch the tight ribs around the back free. That's how we fix (most) costo.
Also, I'm pretty wary of that 'hypermobile ribs' diagnosis even when it's referring to the rib joints round the back. It's common that you can have someone who's hypermobile - all the joints in their body naturally really flexible - and still have specific joints stuck; and they need freeing up.
Generally, if you're naturally hypermobile, keeping up the support strength for your flexible joints is a good idea - Pilates is very good at that. But you can still have specific joints sticking which can need specifically freeing up. The Backpod is good at that because you can just place it under the sore tight rib joints and stretch just those, cautiously.
Best I can do over Facebook! Hope it makes sense. I simply can't tell if that's your case or not. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio hello it's hypermobility EDS but I appear to have heart and organ issues with it too. It causes very regular subluxation and dislocation.
Hi Ness. Thought it probably was - my sympathies. My comments still apply then, but i just can't tell over Facebook whether you're specifically tight inside the hypermobility or not. You could try using a Backpod to stretch the ribs cautiously and see how it goes.
Lying back on the Backpod requires the joints to move fully. If yours are already doing that then it just feels like a satisfying very specific stretch. If they're tight, they'll complain and get sore. In that case just keep using it until they free up - then stop. In almost all costo, doing that takes the load off the straining rib joints on the breastbone and the costo can then settle down. It would be trial and error, but completely under your control and not at all difficult to do. Cheers, Steve August.
Brilliant
Hi Steve,
My sternum has the pain but also “cracks” or “pops” usually in the same spots. That usually helps the pain somewhat but it is also uncomfortable. I’m going to try this out! Do you think it could solve the cracking issue as well?
Hello, Brett. Yep. Cracking and popping of the rib joints on your sternum are not, repeat NOT, inflammatory symptoms. Inflammation is silent and constant. So no matter who has told you you have a "mysterious inflammation' - they are wrong.
Have a thorough look over the Backpod's Costochondritis page, including the videos - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That should give you a good idea of what's going on and what it needs.
@@stevenzphysio4203 hi doc , my sternum cracking for 5 years crack with pain , is this costocondritis??
@@mahmoudsaleh8019 Hello Mahmoud. Almost certainly, yes. There just isn't anything else that commonly causes cracking and popping as the rib joints "give' on your sternum - like cracking your knuckles, or spraining your ankle. It's NOT a "mysterious inflammation" - inflammation is constant and silent.
See the costochondritis page on the Backpod's website for more details - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Steve is a nice guy and has replied to my questions in the past, its worth trying the back pod to see if it helps as it seems to be helping some people. It didn't help me sadly however after using it for 4 years, had costo for 7, so just be wary that it isn't a magic item that will fix it.
Hi Adam. Completely agree, and thanks. I'm actually saying only two things: (1) most (not all) costo is caused by tight rib machinery around the back, and (2) as far as I can tell, the Backpod is the only thing around that will do a really good stretch on tight posterior rib joints.
The Part (2) How to fix most costo and Tietze's UA-cam video of mine (link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html) gives a better coverage of the treatment approaches. It's still never as good as a specific hands-on personal assessment and treatment tailored to the particular patient from a health pro who understands the condition. But it's a pretty good first approximation, given the usual nonsense of costo as a "mysterious inflammation". I'm considerably bemused that we do as well as we do, as judged by the Amazon.com Backpod reviews, for example.
Sorry you still have your costo. You're welcome to email me about it and we can have another go. I've learned a bit more over these last few years, including of some effective health pros in a few places. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve, finally got my backpod in the mail today and used it as instructed. Been dealing with costochondritis for about a year now due to excess lifting in my job. Is it normal to have a more intense flare up after using it for the first time? Also my upper back is really sore now to the touch. Will keep powering through, just would love your feedback. You sir, are amazing.
Hi Nick. Well done on thinking for yourself and giving it a go. Almost the only problems we get with the Backpod are people using it enthusiastically too much, especially the first time, and getting a bit sore afterwards. This won't do any harm anyway. Think of it like going for a run for the first time in a year - sure, you're going to feel things a bit afterwards.
Please DO follow the instructions accurately, as written. You're starting to stretch rib and spinal joints that haven't moved for a year. Sure, you can get a bit of treatment tenderness afterwards - it's in the real world. That's why you use enough pillows under your head to start with, to grade the stretch so it's only mild to start with. When the hinges are moving fine, you just get a satisfying stretch on the Backpod, even without a pillow. It usually takes three weeks of daily stretching to reach that, though this can vary.
Hang in there, and stick with it. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey nick ..did the flare ups settle down? Just used my backpod for the first time . Flared up an our or so after use along with back tenderness and just generally sore.
Hi Paul. Welcome to the real world. You're starting to stretch very tight stuff, it'll take a few weeks, and you will feel it afterwards for the first few days - just like you would after going for a run for the first time in a year. DO ollow the Backpod's instructions accurately to minimise this. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for reply . I did think that, having checked I didn’t have my legs bent so maybe put too much force on ribs for first go. I had a physio do manual work yesterday as per your videos + dry needling work probably just overdone it! Just desperation to get rid of this Costo . Should u work thru discomfort or play it by ear if its too sore leave it a day or too. I mean it makes sense if you are working on the rear ribs it will cause pain in the chest as they are still angry and inflamed.
Paul Howes love the fact Steve is always willing to respond! The backpod is my saving grace. My costo is literally almost a 100% gone. Haven’t even been thinking of that word till I saw this reply. Just keep pushing through and stay dedicated, it will work it out.
The video link on how to fix it is unavailable?
Hi Scott. Sorry about that. Thanks for pointing it out; I'll redo the link. The video is still up on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html I hope you find it useful.
Hey Steve, so I have been following your videos for about a year now. I asked you about training through Costo/tietze syndrome about 8 months ago. I took your advice and used the back pod a few times day for 3 months. It was feeling better, but not significantly and for three months it did not heal. At this point I have no idea what to do. Exercising makes my symptoms feel better or reduce them, along with pec stretches. But inflammation occurs in my shoulders arms and neck. Please please please help me out, I’m doing physical therapy as well, but nothing is working at all.
I have tried physical therapy, resting, pain killers. I’ve had this for almost two years and I’m just 19 years old. I just want it to go away! I’m willing to do anything necessary to cure this
For that three months, I was not doing any workouts. Just resting and using the back pod. Just so you know.
Are u better now
Careful where you keep that bucket I can hear a few cheeky Kea birds nearby
Yup. We started off with one sitting beside me, but it flew off after a bit. (The kea, not the bucket..) Wonderful birds.
HI Steve, got this problem recently (weeks back) consulted a doctor and been taking anti inflammatory medication along with calcium and vitamin D and I can say I’ve zero improvement, next step doc recommended was X-RAY, but came across your video and others knowing that most of the people suffering from this are suffering from long term.
I am gonna try what you suggested in the video, just wanted to ask if I can continue weight lifting which doesn’t induce pain ?
Hi Abhishek. I don't think so. You'll hate that, but the costo doesn't care. Even if you're doing weights which don't hurt, you'll still be straining the rib joints at the front.
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 UA-cam 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. I don't know of anything else out there that actually does an effective stretch on the frozen rib joints round the back, and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo. Anything else is just dabbling.
Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
Steve NZ Physio Thanks for explaining in detail, but I was wondering how do I get one of those backpod in my country ? I am from India.
@@Abhishekkumar-kk3xw No Idea. I thought they were on Amazon in India. You could try BuyBackpod.com on the Buy page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/buy-now Otherwise get a friend outside India to send you one?
Steve NZ Physio No, it’s not on amazon.in, I have to check about someone sending cause you know convid has hit international travels and logistics pretty hard.
Anyways, thanks for the quick tips and help.
I’ve been using the back pod for about 6 months now, gone to a chiropractor, tried acupuncture and sports massages. However the pain under my scapula and popping sternum is worse that its ever been. Thinking maybe it has something to do with the subscapular bursa or something else under the shoulder blade. Any advice on what I could try next? Cheers.
Hi Reuben. More data, please. How did it all come on, how long have you had it, where exactly is the pain, how much have you seen the chiro and how often, did they do the usual body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique, are you still seeing them, can you lie on the Backpod without pain and without a pillow under your head, how exactly have you been using the Backpod and how often, what treatments and investigations have you had, how old are you, where are you, any other medical conditions, what's yer quest and what's yer favourite colour?
That sort of thing. Draw me a detailed picture so i can work out what's going on. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio Haha. Hi Steve. I’m 27, the pain is under my left shoulder blade and it came on gradually about 7 years ago. It’s epicenter is a few inches left of the spine right under the blade, but the pain radiates through the entire shoulder blade area, up the spin into the neck and down the left arm.
The sternum pain and popping started about 2 years ago and both have been getting gradually worse since.
I’ve always done yoga, Qi gong and been very active so laying on the backpod for 30mins to an hour a day without a pillow has not been a problem. I’ve also been using a lacrosseball to work on it. Only went to the chiro once but was not impressed, the adjustments were very light it seemed almost like a reiki treatment. Thinking I should try again perhaps with a sports medicine physio.
I’m in Toronto Canada. As far as other medical conditions I have a inguinal hernia on my right side, meeting with a surgeon next week but I hope to avoid surgery.
I’ve also had weird pain in my lumbar spine for 7 months since diving off a pier in thailand. Had an X-ray for it that came back normal. But somethings definitely going on, the pain is right in between each vertebrae of the lumbar spine and bending backwards is very painful. It radiates this hot pins and needles sort of sensation that wraps around the lower back into the oblique muscles, torso and also down my right hip at the back. That sensation comes on immediately if I sit or lay down.
Not sure what quest I’m on but I write and produce music. My favorite colour is slime green.
Cheers.
@@rubo27 Hi Reuben. Hmm - well, on the odds, and without having seen you as a patient, it's most likely to be what I've been describing - some of the rib joints round your back frozen solid, and the ones on your breastbone straining to compensate. Hence the popping sound as the ones on your chest give - like cracking your knuckles.
I would have thought it's be better by now on the Backpod, though. Are you using it just on your spine? It does need to be used out to the left of midline a bit, to get your rib joints.
Push it a bit over the next two weeks. Now 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.
If still no improvement after 2-3 weeks with that, it may just be that the joints are simply too tight for the Backpod to shift. In which case manipulation would be needed, just to unlock them. I'd avoid a chiro - they tend to do a body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply 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.
You're better with a manipulating physiotherapist or osteopath.
As well and in any case, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had the hinges jammed up for so long, 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.
Also, talking someone into doing the two massages shown in the Backpod's user guide, working especially hard around the shoulder blades, should also loosen things.
Re your low back - sorry, too many possibilities to be sure over UA-cam. The thoracic spine is much easier. Physio or osteopath would be your best bet, I think.
All the above is my best guess. Good luck. Cheers, Steve August.
I coughed for a year thanks to tuberculosis. Now doctors dont get that i have this pain when my lesion is on the other side of the lung.
I can manage it with minimum movement but it does not go away.
I am a occupational therapy student my institution will give me free physiotherapy. Just waiting for corona to end
Hi Stweie. Good - if you're an OT student then you're learning about the body.
Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take.
So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out.
What the docs are doing is focussing on the TB lesion. What they're missing is that the coughing on an already tight rib cage has strained the rib joints on your sternum - like spraining your ankle.
Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that.
Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too.
Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts.
Good luck with the work. It's up to you.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 thank you so much
Hi Steve, I have a burning sensation on the ribs under my breasts. Can costo be felt there?
Hi Deborah. Sure. I am assuming that you've been checked out by the doctors or your heart, gastric reflux, etc. and you're clear on anything like that.
Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take.
So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem.
When there's a burning character to the pain it's called a wound up or fired up nervous pathway. It's not just from costo. You can get it from any chronic problem with pain. The nervous pathways essentially get really good at firing pain impulses, so they can keep doing that, even when the original problem is much better or completely fixed.
It's a bit like learning a skill - the pathways get well established in your nerves and brain. This is the same thing, only with pain. It's why often just light touch is still painful, and you often get a burning quality to the pain.
Okay, so what to do about it? The standard medical approach is a very low dose tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline 10mg before going to sleep - NOT because you're depressed, but in very low doses they slowly desensitise the fired up nervous pathways. Usually takes about three months. Those would come from your doctor. I find they work slowly but well once the mechanical reasons for the pain being there have been sorted out - they will not work unless these have been, which is what pain specialists usually miss.
Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Dr. August,
I have had this pain for the better part of 3 months. Doctors told me it would heal after some time, which clearly hasn’t been the case. I just ordered the Backpod today. My question is how long will it take to start noticing results? Also, how long until I can start weightlifting again? As of now, even a simple dumbell curl hurts to the point where moving and breathing is hard. Thank you so much for sharing this information with us!
Hi Jimmy. Yes, costo usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that.
Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take.
So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem.
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 UA-cam 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.
Well done on thinking for yourself 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much! Will post an update in a few weeks. Thanks again
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Dr. August, I have one more question. Is it normal for the pain in the sternum to worsen before it gets better after one day of the backpod?
@@stevenzphysio4203 thank you
@@jimmywarden6495 It's fairly common, temporary, and not a biggie. You are starting to stretch tight bits that haven't moved for months or years. Sure, if you stretch anything too much in one go it'll hurt. So READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and just start with as much as they recommend, including the pillows if needed.
As well, as you free up the back and ribs on the Backpod, and sit straighter, that can pull on the chest - and costo is pretty irritable anyway. Just do the bits I suggested in my earlier reply, including the pec stretches.
Hi Steve! I am 29 years old.
I had surgery for gynocomastia ( male breast reduction) in 2018. After the recovery from surgery I started having a pain in my upper chest when I bent or put a strain on my knees through my arms or you can say upon standing up when I bent down I feel a sharp pain in upper ribs and sometimes upper back.
I want to take a handful of advice is it costocondritis, and did gyno surgery (fat removal) could cause this?
Any advice for treatment, it's pain is unbearable.
Hi Abdul. Firstly, I'm assuming the doctors have checked you out for the heart and other dire possibilities, and that you're fine on all those. They're good at that. They tend not to be good at costo.
With those out of the way - yes, is does sound like what I've been talking about. It's clearly mechanical because the pain comes on when you move in certain ways, and anyway I've seen it before. There will be two things going on:
(1) Your rib machinery around the back will be tight. This is pretty common anyway - see the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ So that's sets off the costo strain and pain at the rib joints on your sternum, as I've explained in this video. So, yes, get a Backpod and start freeing it up. It's not particularly difficult.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 during 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html They'll stretch much better after some massage.
(2) What you can get with costo and especially Tietze’s Syndrome is swelling where the ribs join onto your breastbone. You'll also have had that after the operation.
All it is initially is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints or surgical cutting. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing.
So you often get some hardened swelling there where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. After any sort of thoracic surgery, especially a spinal split, but including the breast reduction you had, you’ll have surgical scarring tying things down even more.
Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself.
Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best seems to be a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves.
Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards.
It takes time - probably a few or several weeks. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving it - which you also need to do.
Hope that all makes sense. It's a standard physio problem left over after the op. The surgeons are good at the op, they tend not to be good at the logical aftercare. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks Steve!
Firstly all heart problems are ruled out by doctors. I am taking your all instructions seriously.
Steve should I take some help from local physiotherapist?
Would this condition resolve or it would be paiful for lifetime?
Thanks
@@AQadeer_ME Hi Abdul. Physiotherapists vary, the same as doctors and hairdressers. It can be hard to find a good one. You should be able to do pretty much by yourself and a Backpod, with massage as well, as I've outlined.
Yes, it can just stay painful forever. People always think pain means you have to wait longer to allow the problem to heal. Scarring is no longer a healing problem, but a tethering problem. It can just stay tight, pulling on the nerves and causing pain, and keeping the rib joints frozen up, until you work it free yourself. You've been sore since 2018. No, it's not just going to go away unless you make it go away.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Right.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Steve can I get your email address if I personally want to consult over time.
Would a water bottle work to lay on? What about sretrches and exercises
Hi. Re stretches and exercises - have a look at my UA-cam video 'How to fix most costo and Tietze's' Part (2) - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html
Re the water bottle - no. Look, I'm a New Zealander. I've become aware how much marketing hype and nonsense there is on the net, including UA-cam. As far as we can tell there is nothing available that will do as good a job as the Backpod on stretching a tight, hunched thoracic spine, and nothing at all that will do a good job stretching tight rib joints, other than the Backpod. Of course there isn't - we built it specifically for the job from 30 years of NZ physio expertise, and we're good at this. To be accurate - we're one helluva lot better than the average US doctor who thinks costochondritis is a "mysterious inflammation". To us that seems like the Dark Ages.
Have a look at the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz for a discussion of why the Backpod works and other things don't - it's not rocket science. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve!
I got what I believe is costochondritis a week ago when doing dips for the first time in ages. In the last dip I suddenly felt a very sudden and scary pain in the middle of my chest, as if the chest tore apart right in the middle. My chest is now very tense and I feel a sharp pain when I take a deep breath or make certain movements. Sneezing is also horrible.
Is this likely to be costo or could it be something else? If costo, is it too soon to start the backpod exercises? Should I let the inflammation go down a bit first?
All the best,
Jonas
Hi Jonas.
Your rib cage was tight before you did the dips. Dips are way the worst exercise in the gym for triggering costo; bench press is next. Because the rib machinery around the back couldn’t move a bit to take the strain, the more delicate rib joints on your sternum strained and ‘gave’ - it’s a lot like spraining your ankle, only at those joints.
So, since then, you have frozen movement at the rib joints on your spine, and excessive giving movement at the rib joints on your sternum.
Stop exercising. You’ll hate it. 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 UA-cam 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. I know you want to exercise. The costo doesn’t care.
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. Sure, go straight into it. There's no point in hanging off - the tight rib joints round the back are not going to free up on their own.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html You can start the pec stretches now.
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for thew dips to trigger costo is if you’re getting a bit tight and 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 under enough load such as dips or bench press, 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. I’ve attached some bits.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much for your very quick answer! I appreciate it tremendously!! :)
I went to a physiotherapist here in Sweden some days back and he concluded that I had overstressed the tendon(s) connecting the breast muscles to the sternum. He believed it would take six weeks to heal completely and he didn't think it was costochondritis (which I had asked him about).
From your experience, do you also think it could be possible that it could be something like that (something "less serious" than costo) that will heal by itself? Have you had patients who, like me, got a sudden really sharp pain and tearing feeling when doing dips and then got better quickly?
All the best and thanks again,
Jonas
@@jonasvonessen9008 Hi Jonas. Well, one of us is wrong. Your physiotherapist has seen and examined you in person, which I haven't. On the other hand, realistically I'm likely to know a lot more about costo than he does.
Your description of the sharp pain while doing dips is classic for a rib joint or more giving under load - like spraining your ankle. Also, dips are the single worst exercise in the gym for doing that. Also, they don't really load the pecs much, but they sure do the whole rib cage. Plus, the sharp pain on breathing in fits exactly with a load on the sprained rib joint(s) on your sternum, whereas just breathing in doesn't stress the pecs at all.
I'm a physiotherapist myself. Often, with costo, you'll get a physio or doc who doesn't understand it explaining it to the patient as a muscle strain. Anyone can say anything - the science is in the tests that support that. So, did your physio actually test the pec, by stretching it and getting you to contract it? Pain on either or both is what indicates a muscle strain.
Did he test your thoracic and rib rotation? There's a simple test for this - sitting you down and twisting your torso. If not, then I don't see he can say it's not the ribs. Do the test yourself - it's explained on the Costo page of the Backpd's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Do it carefully and accurately. If you're obviously restricted and /or painful on the twist towards the side of your pain, then it's rib and not pec.
In which case, no - I don't think it's just going to settle in a few weeks.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Steve. Thank you so much again for taking your time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it!
Supposing you are correct and one or more of my rib joints gave under the load of the dips, will it then be enough to use the backpod? I realize that the backpod will release the tension on the rib joints, which will make it easier for them to heal, but it will still likely take some time for them to heal up either way, right?
All the best,
Jonas
@@jonasvonessen9008 In my experience, once it's happened from dips, it'll keep on happening until the frozen rib machinery round the back is freed up. As long as that stays tight, the strained rib joints round the front cannot heal, because they're keeping on being strained every breath you take.
You can test this out. Just ignore everything I've said, and see if you're still in pain six months from now.
Hi Steve, I've had costo for about five years and I just received my Backpod from Amazon. I followed the instructions and did about 10 minutes of the recommended stretches. It felt good, however when I got up off the floor, my left arm and left hand were both tingling and slightly numb. It's been about an hour and it hasn't gone away. Is this normal or did I do something wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Flores. No worries about the numbness - it’s just that you’ll have been tight through the muscles where your nerves are running through your shoulder girdle and down your arm. These are getting stretched when you lie on the Backpod - which is a good thing. The tingling and numbness is just from the nerves being pulled on a bit as they stretch.
You can put a pillow under each elbow when you’re lying on the Backpod. Or simply drop your arms by your sides. (You won’t need to when it’s a bit looser.) That’ll mean there isn’t as much stretch on the muscles and nerves down the arm.
Go and see a good massage therapist and get them to work all round the chest, shoulder girdle and the muscles down the arms. That’ll loosen the muscles the nerves are running through.
As well, you can start stretching the nerves and muscles gently. Lie on your back on a table, knees bent up, with your left shoulder just off the edge of the table. Hold your palm upwards, then bend your hand and fingers back, then drop the straight arm gently down towards the floor (arm out at 90˚ to your body) until you feel a good stretch and even some tingling down the arm. That’s stretching it all. Hold for several seconds, then lift up the arm to take the stretch off, then do again, several times gently. It’s just a stretch.
It’ll all disappear when things are loose enough. That you have the tingles/numbness at all does tell me you were pretty tight to begin with - and for five years. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine, but it will take time.
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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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.
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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might make sense, and gambling on a Backpod. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much for taking the time to write your reply. I've been using the Backpod for a week now and I can definitely tell that it is loosening me up. I've had less chest pains and as soon as I feel them, I notice they're gone after using the Backpod. I will begin using these additional techniques that you suggested. Thanks for all you've done to help people like me find a solution to this huge problem.
@@floresfultonmedia1571did it work
Hi Steve, I hope you are doing well. New Zealand is a beautiful place. I'm researching how to get some relief from this nightmare. I might consider getting one of the backpod as I kept coming back to this channel when I seek a piece of advice. Is there any group or Telegram that I can follow to keep myself updated on this?
Hello, Danny. Not that I know of. It's not usually difficult to fix, if you understand what it is and what it needs. Your best overview is the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's NZ website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
@@stevenzphysio4203 Awesome Steve. Waiting mine that I ordered from Amazon. Should be coming in this few days. Cant wait!
@@dannysimsks Good oh, Danny. Well done on thinking for yourself, gambling I might know what iIm 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)’ UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.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.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much, Steve. The only thing I use at the moment is the back stretcher, with 3 levels of curve if you've seen this before. These target the lower back and help expand the chest but are probably not targeted. Let's see, and I'm sure the backpod will surely target in between the shoulder blades and expand the chest.
@@dannysimsks Yep - they're useful for stretching a hunched thoracic spine, but they can't really get the ribs - and those are the crucial things to free up to fix costo.. That's why the Backpod has a small peak - it'll sit on the curve of the ribs between the spine and the inside edge of your shoulder blade. You have to free up those frozen rib joints to take the strain off the rib joints at the front.
I have these symptoms. I had a pain in my chest Dec 10-2019 now today 18.1.2020..i visited heart hospital and take a ecg but fit. I get mbbs doctor and take medicine of stomach .and pain killer tablet but. Chest pain normal but feel some rib pain upper side of left side all time and some time feel right side and back side rib. Now I am sure it's rib pain. I am not in good in English but normal. Please give me some suggestions.
Hi Chohdary. Well, the doctors have checked your heart and lungs and all the serious nasty stuff, and you're clear. They are good at that. They are not so good at costochondritis. It sounds like you have exactly what i have been describing. Probably your rib joints around the back are frozen and cannot move. So that makes the pain at the other ends of the ribs where they join onto your breastbone (sternum).
You fix the problem by freeing up the tight ribs around the back. The Backpod does this really well. When you lie on it it stretches the tight rib joints around the back. Have a look at the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
I think that is your best answer. Good luck. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 you are right my friend. It is costocondritis.you are not a doctor but you describe this pain.
I really like you.
@@chohdaryimransohail3 Thanks, Chohdary. You're right, I'm not a doctor, I'm a New Zealand physiotherapist - and this is a physiotherapy problem. That's why I know about it.
Can intense exercise cause it? Heavy breathing, jumping, heavy pulling? Wearing sports bras that compress breast area. This is my second time experiencing unexplained chest discomfort and pain. So far each time it happens I have been training pretty intense. Is this a cause
Mm - not usually heavy exercise just on its own, but heavy exercise if you’re already a bit tight in the rib cage - sure.
It’s common with the iHunch - much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones. So you get tight in the rib joints round the back.
Then enough exercise, especially twisting to full range or dips in the gym, and since the rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your sternum do instead.
So they strain, often click and pop, ‘give’, get sore - and there’s your costo.
Easy enough to fix - just free up the tight rib machinery around the back causing it all. Sports massage for the muscles and a Backpod for the joints will usually do that fine.
Tight sports bras, yes.
Hi Steve, I've been experiencing this chest discomfort for about a month now. Havent had this before. Im 25 this year. Been to the clinic twice. The first, i was diagnose with GERD. The second i was diagnose with costochondritis. It is actually making me feel very lost and I can't seem to lead my life happily ever since I got this. The pain is a burning pain on both side of the middle top of my chest but mostly from the right. I just recovered from a 3 months chronic cough. Does cough contributes to costochondritis? I can't bear this discomfort any longer. I'm so worried. I'm currently awaiting the arrival of the backpod. Does this burning tenderness pain ever go away?
Thanks!
Hi Elvan.
I'm assuming you're the same Elvan Lim who emailed me yesterday as well. Here's the email reply I wrote, in case you didn't get it.
Relax. Of course I can’t be 100% certain over email, but it really does sound like a straightforward musculoskeletal problem that will sort out logically.
It’s good that you went to the hospital - the docs are good at checking out your heart and anything else dire, and they’ve said you’re clear for anything like that. Good!
The GERD diagnosis was obviously wrong - the meds didn’t help.
The costochondritis diagnosis is probably right, but wrong when you were told it would just go away, and wrong with the anti-inflammatory medications to treat it. This is commonly the case!
Jogging doesn’t strain the ribs much, and it’s good in that the blood pumping through will help most strains. So, I’m not surprised that it’s okay doing that. Lifting and twisting will usually be painful with costochondritis.
Coughing can certainly bring on costochondritis - coughing is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. What happens is, if the rib joints around the back are too tight to move, then the whole jolting impact of the cough just hits the more delicate ribs joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone. They strain, a lot like spraining our ankle. They can keep spraining if the rib machinery around the back stays tight, with every breath you take.
It sounds like your past strain in the area round your middle back from the exercising with pack episode four years ago could have left a tight patch of rib and spinal joints back there. Then the coughing set off the strain at the front.
Also, if you’re like most young people, you may be getting a bit hunched and tighter anyway, from lots of bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones. So if so, that would mean more tightness around the back as well. (I’ve attached some information on the iHunch to this email - it’s what we built the Backpod for primarily. Feel free to pass it on.)
Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what I was talking about, and getting a Backpod. It sounds like exactly the right thing for you.
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, 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 UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
Also, go and see Jordan Benjamin at City Osteopathy and Physiotherapy, A T Robinson Road, Singapore 068898; phone +65 622 22451. Jordan’s another New Zealander, uses the Backpod, and is really good on costochondritis driven by tight rib and spinal joints around the back, which is exactly what it sounds like you have.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
hi! i’m 19 and i’m experiencing the exact same thing as you. i was coughing for 3 whole months and after a week of recovery, my chest started hurting. I was diagnosed with GERD, i even took the medication for a whole month and it didn’t get better. Then again i was diagnosed with costochondritis. If i may ask you, how is your condition right now after two years?
@@wetookachonce6931 Hi. I kept doing back stretches. I think the approach is to slowly eliminate the triggers. So for example we were both diagnose as GERD. Maybe try stopping some foods that will cause GERD. Did it help? If no, then its likely the same as me. Just remember do lots of stretches. It will go away!
@@elvanlim1801 i’ve been eating healthy (including eliminating food that triggers GERD) since my cough didn’t recover for weeks which was months before i was diagnosed with GERD and as i said before, food and medicines didn’t help. How about the backpod? Does it help? About the stretch, have you ever gone to physiotherapy? I’m thinking of going there for the back stretches because i don’t wanna cause any harm if i do anything wrong.
@@wetookachonce6931 you can always do stretches. Stretches in general is not a bad thing. Its always good to gain more mobility around the back and chest area.
What is the relationship of caffeine with costo?
Well, too much certainly makes me twitchy.. I don't think there is much. Caffeine is a stimulant, so if you're already sore with costo then it's likely to be that much more irritable with sufficient coffee. But it doesn't by itself cause costo.
Friend of mine gave up coffee of six months and felt much healthier, slept better, thought more clearly - but it wasn't worth it. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks Steve. I love coffee, so I'd rather not give it up. I just read in places that caffeine affects it more, so wanted to check with your experience on that.
Another question, if I may. I would like to reduce my time/money in experimenting and finding the right massage therapist. Is there a particular school of study which may be most in alignment with the New Zealand understandings? I am looking at a neuromuscular therapist. Is that in alignment? Also, which would be more supportive, a good massage therapist or a physiotherapist? I know nothing about physiotherapy, and so it'd probably be harder to find a good one, but if you think its a better course of action I'd give it a try. Thanks again!
@@ChadAvalonFilm Hi Chad. All health professionals are a bit of a lottery, unfortunately; there are good ones in all areas. What sorts out most costo is the Backpod plus a couple of sports massages if you've had the costo for longer than a few months. That's your best first hit at it. Mm - neuromuscular therapists tend in my experience to be a bit precious and not listen so much to anything outside their perceived tight approach to treatment. Sorry.
You can get rib and spinal joints around the back that are so concreted solid that even the Backpod can't stretch them; these do need unlocking with manipulation so it then can. They're way in the minority, though. Easiest approach is a few weeks on the Backpod plus or minus massage, then add in manips only if the improvement stops short of total.
Re massage, what you want is a sports massage a.k.a. deep tissue 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. The trick is to find the sweet spot between a gorilla who'll bruise and fluttery stroking and poking by someone with dolphin music in the background and crystals on the windowsill..
Re manips - I find osteopaths best, generally. Their techniques are gentler and more precise than chirps. Chiros have a bit of tendency to focus just on the spinal joints and miss the rib joints, which are the crucial things in costo. Physios (PTs) tend to just give exercises, which will stir up costo on their own.
It is a bit of a journey, but you get to choose - it's your body. You could ask whoever you see to watch this video or the Part (2) How to fix most costo one - if they won't, then they're not learning, and in my experience tend not to be very good at what they do because of that. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 thanks again Steve! Another question, if it's not too much. I made the mistake to power through my costo when I had my largest flare up about a month ago. I backpacked for 4, very steep miles, and back, with a heavy load. This definitely worsened it. But resting and treating myself well afterwards, it's gotten a lot better. I've got the backpod coming tomorrow, and I'm doing everything else you recommend. But I'm have an odd, somewhat scary feeling in my ribs. Initially I confused it with a lung infection because the rib movement felt very similar to phlem in my lungs, right where the costo usually happens, and that same feeling has moved to the side of my ribs and is more widespread. It's not "clicking" but more like things moving around in there. It's not painful at all. It only happens when bending over. It slowly moved to that area. Could it perhaps be something else that can develop from costo (and maybe my poor initial treatment of it)? Or is it normal to feel all that movement when things are getting loosened up? Feels weird, because it can actually just feel like things are moving around inside. It's very subtly "noisy", slightly quieter than a rumbling stomach, and similar in feel, just on my side at my ribs. Thanks Steve for any more help.
@@ChadAvalonFilm Hi Chad. Almost certainly it's just part of the rib machinery around the back and sides being tight and probably strained as well. The muscle in between the ribs (those are what you're eating with spare ribs, sorry..) is probably strained and scarred as well - it's not just the rib joints.
Problems where you describe would be completely in keeping with that. All the same, it does sound a little odd. I'd use the Backpod for the first week, stop if any problems, and see a doctor if there are. Not expecting any, though.
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. The symptoms you've described out to your side a bit sound like muscle scarring between and overlying the rib cage there, and massage is good at freeing that up.
Please DO follow the instructions accurately - takes time to stretch the tight rib machinery, even with the Backpod.
Hi Steve,i'm italian and i have the tietze's syndrome (i went to the doctor Who told me that)...i'm doing the exercises you explained in your video. It's getting Better,but i don't understand why my breastbone Is like swollen and It hurts when i touch It....i hope you can give me some advices
Hi Gellando. Have a thorough read of the Backpod's Costochondritis page, and watch all the videos. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That should give you a clear idea. Tietze's Syndrome is just costochondritis bad enough to actually show swelling where your ribs join onto your breastbone.
Exercises aren't usually enough to fix it. 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 UA-cam videos around saying you can fix costo just by exercises - they don't understand the problem.
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.
If you can fix it just by stretches, then fine. But for it to be diagnosed as Tietze's Syndrome, that means you've got obvious swelling at those ribs joints, and that means it's pretty bad. (Like spraining your ankle and seeing that swell up.) So my bet would be you'll need more leverage to free up the rib joints around the back, which is exactly what we built the Backpod for.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve, thanks for your insight on this matter. So for weeks now I have been taking Vitamin D3 + K2, Turmeric, Ginger, Calcium, Magnesium, CBD oil/pills and using the BackPod in conjunction. And while I have felt a slight relief of pain, its still not the result I was looking for, after hearing so many positive reviews on the BackPod, I thought maybe I too would heal up fast. I have Tietze bad, my upper ribs are SUPER SWOLLEN, big knots. Do you believe some of this maybe from my Neck or Shoulder? Most of my pain is in my shoulder and not really my chest.... Do you think the BackPod will eventually loosen all of this up, I really don't want to live the rest of life in this pain. I am literally trying everything in the books to fix and heal this condition and nothing is working. :(
Hi. So, can you now lie on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and no pain under the Backpod? If not, then you're still tight on the rib and/or spinal joints. Stick with it daily until you can do that. Are you also using the Backpod out to the sides of your spine a bit - not just on the spine itself? This is needed to stretch the rib joints. As well, if you've had costo for more than a few months, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two with a week in between. The muscles between and overlying the tight ribs, plus your pecs, also get tight and scarred - massage is ideal for freeing them up. It's all to do with freeing up the tight rib machinery around your back and sides. Lastly, if you have hard swelling on your chest because of the Tietze's, break this down yourself. Use your own fingers twice a week for 10 minutes to work in Voltaren (diclofenac) gel or CBD oil - in all directions to break up the hardened swelling. It all takes time and effort, but it usually all frees up fine.
Steve NZ Physio Thank you so much for taking time to respond! I am on 2 pillows now will slight pain, I could probably go down to one pillow soon. I do rotate sides as well, How high can I go up on my spine though? Since my upper ribs are swollen I was thinking maybe I should only work my upper spine with the backpod.... So I kinda do the whole mid shoulder blades and higher. I will definitely take your advice. I never thought about the massages, I am scared that will make the pain worse; I have been reading that doing 10-15 min of cold pads on my chest and then 10-15 of heat on my chest should help the pain/swelling... Once again, thank you for the backpod and the insight into this matter, it all does make sense the back / ribs needs to be freed up. Last question, do you have to put your arms behind your head all the time, what if I lay my arms flat next to my sides while laying on it?! You rock Steve, many thanks and happy holidays!
Hi. Yep, you're better than you were but you're still tight and still need the rib cage to free up. Stick with it. Massage will help that - it'll be a bit tender or even sore to do but so what? It's all do do with freeing up the movement round the back and sides of the rib cage, so the load comes off the straining front rib joints on the breastbone. I've got no idea if ice or heat is better for those - I've never found either of them useful. What does work is freeing up the frozen rib cage machinery around the back. Stick with it. Hands under your head and elbows back is the way to go - that stretches your pecs as well, which is why we do it that way.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much Steve, I know you probably have a million sites to answer questions, so for you to take the time out of your day and reply means the world, I will stick to the plan and keep using the backpod with all my other supplements, I will definitely be doing a review video in a few months after I see how the results go and will make sure to show you MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT!!! Happy Holdiays Steve, best wishes to you and your family.
@@JrumBeats Hi, How is ur condition now? Does Backpod helped to reduce your rib inflammation/ swelling?
Hi Steve! Do you think physical therapy would b a great route to take for tietze? I been using the backpod for bout a month now and it’s not going away so I figure it need a little help? I got a massage scheduled for next month for my mid back pain. But I’m usu go the backpod to the best of my ability
Yes. Tietze's is just costo bad enough to show swelling, and costo is essentially a mechanical physiotherapy-type problem. Get the PT to watch my video on the research on costo, though - link is ua-cam.com/video/t8k2LCLeR24/v-deo.html
@@stevenzphysio4203 happy thanksgiving Steve! I stopped going to him, I had coso/ tietze syndrome for 5 months, and I was telling him about the backpod and he told me well if you been using it that long it should’ve been working by now. nd he was doing other exercises tht was making my pain worse. But I’m still going to continue to use the pod and do the other stuff u mentioned for the swelling. I mean I have been a improving, because when I had this in August and September. The middle of my chest used to hurt to. But it don’t anymore. It’s just the left side and a little swelling! But it’s a slow process
@@JLACYMIME Okay, PTs vary - just like docs and hairdressers. What you got was a fairly common PT or physio approach of strengthening, stretching and exercises. On their own, these don't work on costo and will usually flare it.
You can't train, stretch or exercise your way 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 UA-cam 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. Which you're doing fine. It's not fast but it's getting there. Well done.
Hi from Jordan (Middle east)
I realy loved your explanaition, I have this pain 6 years ago just after going through labour having my first boy. I have went through all tests under the sun three times till now (heart, bone, lungs and nerves) i even had a full CT scan, and all doctors said that there is no prblem with my chest or rib - bones! I have just turned 34 years old.
I find your explanaition very reasonable becase i noticed one day when my husband gave me a back massage by rib pain reduced, i found that strange, now i understood why, thank you.
how can get the backpod shipped to Jordan? tried to buy it from the official website but unfortunately i had this message saying that you don't ship to Jordan. :(
Hi Amani. I'm just the physio inventor of the Backpod. Try the last page on the Backpod's website - some of those hyperlinked suppliers send to many other countires, e.g. NZ Health Delivery. If no luck, try getting a friend elsewhere in the world to send you a Backpod. Good luck, and well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.
Thank you for the idea :). I am working on it
Hi Steve,
So I ordered your backpod quite some time ago. But to be quite honest I don't feel as though it's helping that much.
I've been using the backpod around 31th of July, so I'm using it for a month now, but the tightness that I feel below my shoulderblades (it feels like all the ribs are tight under the shoulderblades) hasn't diminished. The clicking part however has diminished, although it's still not completely gone. I had a tight lower rib that has diminished alot aswell.
So I went to a chiropractor because I thought that maybe it was my posture. And he basically said I had lots of posture misalignments (my navel was about 2 to 3 inches to the right, when it should normally be in the middle, meaning that my hips turned alot) my hips are abit tilted aswell + I have some subluxations in my thoracic spine.
Now I don't have any chest pain whatsoever, no stabbing pain etc. What I do have however, is when I walk for a long period of time, I feel some level of pain on my back, that radiates towards my rib in the back.
My question to you is, since I know that NZ Physio's are on another level when it comes to knowledge of the human body, is this a postural problem? Or does this still stem from it turning into costochondritis? The cracks on my back has dimished, although when I lay on solid ground before laying on the backpod, I feel that my pelvis cracks? Or like moves? It's a very weird feeling.
I really want your take on this, because my doctors basically keep telling me that it's impossible to pinpoint my problems, since they say there is alot of nerves. muscles etc surrounding the ribs. He told me I might have a sprained / strained intercostal muscle..
I want to know your take on this, and if you have some tips to give me that I can try...
Thank you!
Hi. Mm - sounds like some things have freed up a bit, but it's a bit more complicated, with other things going on as well. That happens. Sounds like you might have a slight scoliosis twist in your spine, which is pretty common. I have one, but get no problems whatsoever because I just keep everything free and mobile (yes - with the Backpod..) Less clicking means things are moving better - they're not juddering and jolting around so much.
Okay, can you now lie on the Backpod with no pillows under your head and no pain on the Backpod? If, so, then the rib and spinal joints are moving pretty well. Let me know about that.
The chiro has seen you in person, which I haven't. However they do tend to have a bit of a bias to manipulating the spine, and missing the rib joints. You can quote me. I'm just saying.
Also, did I suggest a sports massage? Better would be two, with a week off in between. 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.
It's a bit tricky working things out via UA-cam. let me know about how the lying on the Backpod's going and I'll have a better idea. Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve,
Thanks for your answer.
So yeah, I can lie on the backpod with no pillows. The cracking in my back isn't there as much, but it still is abit. I also feel no discomfort when lying on it. I've also tried to lift my buttocks from the ground so I can get more leverage, and no pain whatsoever. I for one thought it might be a slipped rib or something? But if I did have that I would be in constant pain, which I'm not. I do have that my sternum gets abit tight, and then more on the right lower side. Though it's not bad at all, and when I push on my sternum I can't feel any pain whatsoever. Can this be an intercostal problem? Since I'm tight all over from under my chest all the way to the back under my shoulderblades.. This tightness is diminishing very slowly, but it's still there.
About the chiro, you're partially right, yeah. But I told him that he should check out my ribs, maybe that there's a rib subluxation. He did the manipulation where I lay on my belly, he comes to the side, lifts up my hips abit, and then pushes outward from the spine. When he did that, I felt 2 pops, like ribs going back into place, however my tightness didn't subside or anything. So I asked him what my problem could be, and he told me that my ribs are moving abit more than they should, and that it's probably from an injury (I think boxing?) that my ribs are moving abit more. He told me however that it's very fixable via correcting my posture etc and giving it time to heal.
About the massage, do I need to get a sports massage specifically? Or can I let a family member just massage me?
Thank you for your time.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Just an extra,
But I just spoke with my doctor and they said I have a like a weird rib problem in my sternum, but they are not sure if that can cause my symptoms. But they are gonna ask my radiologist about it and if we have to do something about it. I will let you know more about that tommorow!
Okay, good luck. It does sound a bit more complex that the usual. A massage therapist is usually better, because they're doing massage all the time so they get really good at it. But if you've got a family member who's up for it, then take them along also - they can see what's being done and do more if needed. It is worth going over the muscles - there's often a scarring and tightness component there; especially if there's been an old strain or impact injury.
+Steve NZ Physio Hey Steve,
So apparently there isn't anything wrong with my sternum, it was the "contrast" that made it look like it was out of alignment or something.
My clicking is weirdly coming and going.. it's so weird. My doctor thinks it might be something with my muscle or my nerve that is making it click like that? Like there is a strained joint or a strained intercostal muscle? Could that be another cause for the clicking? And this tightness?
I also see that I cannot go lower than the lowest parts of my ribs. Is there a reason why? Because I feel as if the reason I'm having alot of tightness is somewhere on the lower part of the ribs. Is it also a normal thing when I put my back on the seat and inhale deeply, that my ribs on the back get tight?
What I get aswell is when I'm having a hot shower, I get an achy feeling at my sternum, no pain, just achy, but that ofcourse isn't bad at all. Just wanna know if that is common in these type of symptoms.
I will also try out that sportsmassage somewhere next week, see if it helps out.
Hi Steve is it best to sleep on a solid floor bed or a very comfortable bed?
With costo, I think very comfortable and cushioned is better. The reason is that any sleeping position pushes on your rib cage. So if your ribs are tight round the back and can't move, then the already strained rib joints on your breastbone just give and strain further. So a hard bed makes that worse. The way you fix it, of course, is by freeing up the tight rib movement around the back which is causing the whole problem.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you Steve. Buying a new bed tomorrow
Hi Steve, you talk about the rib "hinges". What is the hinge? Also, was that your pet bird behind you? I ask, because he/she didn't seem spooked by your presence
Hi. I just mean the joints. Same as your finger joints - they're hinges as well. I'm using the word "hinge" to get across the idea that they're supposed to move, just like a door hunge does.
The bird is a kea - a wild New Zealand mountain parrot; the only alpine parrot in the world. They're absolutely wonderful - great sense of fun and not scared of humans. We had a few drop down to help us with the filming.
The subtitles are so funny, so many mistakes
Hee hee - I agree. I didn't do it. I think it's an AI from UA-cam. I particularly like the "bat pod". Wish I'd thought of that originally. Cheers, Steve August.
Get to the God damn point.
Learn to handle complexity and detail - you're the one in pain. Steve August.