How To Use The Backpod (longer version)
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- Опубліковано 22 гру 2024
- For more information on the iHunch and the Backpod please visit backpod.co.nz/i... or en.wikipedia.o...
The Backpod and its home programme are specifically designed to counter upper back pain, neck pain and headache from hunching - especially over laptops, tablets and smartphones.
The simple collection of strengthening and stretching exercises, home massage, posture and the Backpod cover the essentials needed to pull a tightened, hunched spine back towards perfect posture. The programme is available free as videos on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz
The Backpod was invented by a New Zealand physiotherapist with 35 years' experience in treating spines. As far as we can tell, the Backpod and its programme make up the only home package specifically designed to counter the several components of the iHunch. If you treat only one bit, then it doesn't tend to work or last.
I got into using the backpod grudgingly, after reading Reddit comments for some time. I am glad I did. It worked for me!
How did it work and how long did it take
I was recently diagnosed costochondritis and suffered from it unknowingly for 4 weeks prior. I was so frightened and scared..I just received my back pod and it produced immediate relief. It's just not there anymore! I hope with more use in the next coming weeks, that it wont return... Weeks of anti inflammatory medicine and pain killers prescribed by doctors did nothing!! Thank you so much for your incredible device and your outstanding passion 😁🙏
Thank you very much, Leon. There's some as might call it neurotic obsession.. Well done on thinking for yourself, and I'm pleased the Backpod's helping.
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. I guess not until after lockdown lifts, though.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on 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 I'll certainly keep in touch with my progress! You've been quite an inspiration to us all; there's finally a light at the end of this tunnel! Thank you!
Did you use it directly on the spine ?
Works wonders ✨️
@@stevenzphysio4203 Dear Steve August. Iam having costo since last 15 months. After using backpod I had soreness on the complete back. Now soreness reduced on the sides of the spine. But iam experiencing pain on the spine because of using backpod directly on the spine. Can I use backpod only on the sides of the spine to cure my costo. Please suggest.
I suffered severely from TIETZE SYNDROME (a more rare form of COSTCHONDRITIS lucky me eh) for over 8 years and was told by doctors I will have to learn to live with it but make life style changes to keep it at bay. I tried most things but the the main ones imo you need to work on before trying anything else are POSTURE (sit or lay properly not at crooked angles , don't lean on your elbows avoid lifting or repetitive awkward movements) and cut out things that irritate NERVES (Sugars Coffee Smoking/Weed and I found Hangovers set me off too)
If you are here reading this you will know of the PAIN, ANXIETY. MENTAL TORTURE and DARK PLACES you can go to with pain that no one understands or anybody can see.
You can try Acupuncture, Yoga, Meditation or stuff yourself full of whatever the doctor throws at you (that will ruin your insides) or do what I forced myself to do and SWIM! Please please please try it, it really helped me so much :)
Cutting out the things I loved and swimming as much as I could I felt I was in control for the first time in a long time. I felt I had it at bay, BUT it was always still there waiting in the background waiting to rear its ugly head waiting for me to slip up.
**DONT GIVE INTO IT**MAKE CHANGES**DONT LET IT BEAT YOU**TAKE CONTROL**ITS YOUR LIFE TAKE IT BACK**
I am trying to keep this as short as possible but please guys make some changes and you might find it clears up :):):)
When I first came across the Backpod I was dubious to say the least. Parting cash with something so seemingly simple was painful but I was pushed by a friend who was closest to understanding what I was going through and I've not looked back.
DO THE SIMPLE STRETCHES AS EXPLAINED SOME WHERE ELSE as I did while waiting for delivery because I truly believe they get you ready for for the Backpod. The VERY FIRST USE of my Backpod and immediately it was uncomfortable on my lower spine and more so as I moved it up. When I got between the shoulder blade area SOMETHING POPPED/CLICKED I absolutely stained my pants as it was like nothing I can explain. A few moments later I was still feeling uncomfortable but also feeling a little lighter a little looser a little bit perkier I was now in 2 minds to whether I was in pain or pleasure but I can assure you it has only been pleasure since. I worked up form only 10 seconds to never exceeding 30 seconds on any one spot on or either side of the spine at one time.
I am convinced the combination of making some LIFESTYLE CHANGES, SWIMMING maybe making me supple, STRETCHES I did as recommend for a week before delivery and then using the Backpod has cleared the intense episodes I were so frequently having. I went to A&E/Hospital in three different countries with suspected heart attacks and had suicidal thoughts, considered a mental home and even chopping my arm off. IT WAS THAT BAD!!!!
Thankfully there ARE people out there who have also suffered, studied and have more knowledge than some GP's. I am so grateful for Steve's dedication to the the cause and creating the Backpod I will eternally be grateful.
Really guys the biggest challenge is mindset. If it takes you one or two years to save for the Backpod, well then make the changes above I mentioned in preparation for the big day. There is light at the end of the tunnel you just need to take control and commit.
Sorry to go on but if you enjoyed or can relate to my comment are willing or going to give it a go please give a thumbs up to help encourage and give others some hope and belief. Make your own luck, I felt your pain people!!
Daniel Howells Thank you for this message. It gave me hope.
Thank you Daniel
Give Up Weed?!?!!
Thank you Daniel for your comment. I have been struggling with costochondritis for over 5 months now. I have hit some deep dark places that no one understands. The feeling of Hoe story not feeling reassured from the doctors. Time & time again telling me all I can do is take ibprofun. It makes me feel so much better being able to hear someone with similar experiencesz
@@viktoreawhite7641 The doctors are useless. Christ gives me hope.
I recieved mine this week. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, for years i been trying to explain to my chiropractor this pain in my chest. Thank you thank you
Hi Richard. Thank you. Well done on thinking for yourself. Please DO follow the instructions in the user guide and give it time to stretch the tight bits.
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 usually a 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.
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.
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.
Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
How are you today ?
Hey steve just a general comment. It feel so good to use the backpod and feel like the man when walking in a room because of my posture drastically improving😅. Really like your product Sir. Thank you!
I had very bad costro for a long time . I was so desperate and I came across the pod and followed the directions on how to properly use this along with advice givin from him and I’m back to normal ! I still use it to stretch my spine out along with chiropractic treatment and foam rolling and I’m doing great :) . Was worth every penny thank u so much doc for your invention and time to give advice over the net . Can’t explain how great full I’m to u !
Hi DJ. Well done. And thanks. Mostly people write in with their problems so it's really nice when someone comes back to show that of course costo is fixable and they've done it. Go well. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi, Steve! I want to first thank you and your team for making these Backpod videos, but I also want to thank you for taking the time to reply to all of us in these comments. I bought the Backpod last month but was hesitant about using it. Since this device deals with the spine, I wanted to ingest as much knowledge as I could find on safely using it. I have "military neck" and forward head syndrome/iHunch/Dowager's Hump, so I was especially interested in where to precisely position the Backpod to correct these. I also have slipping rib syndrome and mild EDS, so you can see why I was extra cautious before using this. I read the booklet that came with the Backpod and then read the PDFs on your website, but I wanted to read more experiences, reviews, and tips before using it, so I extensively researched online.
💯 Hands down, the most valuable resource has been your detailed replies to the hundreds and hundreds of people - some who have not even purchased the Backpod - over the years who asked you for help with their individual issues. You giving detailed, personalized answers to hundreds of people takes time out of your day, but you've never asked for anything in return. It shows you really have your heart in helping people get better. Reading your replies to people in your videos' comments has been more informative than the numerous chiropractors I've been to for my neck issues. (No offense, but 99% of the chiropractors I've been to have been more interested in upselling me than helping my posture, so I became distrustful of the profession after too many expensive, useless experiences.) Your knowledgeable and caring responses have put my fears at bay. I sincerely appreciate the extra mile you go to genuinely help people.
I've been using the Backpod for a little over a week, and the exercises feel great. I'm very flexible, so I chose to not start with any pillow aids. The Backpod instantly alleviates the tight areas around my neck and shoulder so much that I wish I could stay in each position for 60 minutes instead of just 60 seconds. 😂 (I'm pretty sure I am using it correctly, but I'm excited for your upcoming glass table video so I can completely ensure my overanalyzing self that I'm 100% using it correctly.) My Dowager's hump isn't too extreme, but it is noticeable and it bothers me so much that I purposely dress to hide it whenever I wear my hair up. I have no doubt that with regular use, the day will come when it will decrease significantly. Thank you a billion times for giving me hope that this day might even come. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Hello, E O. Thank you very much. Yes, with your mild EDS, do take it quietly - as per the instructions in the booklet. You will need to add in the exercises, stretch, home massage and posture in the program in the user guide as well as the Backpod. It's the combination that's most effective - we just put together the simple basics that this immensely common problem needs.
People with EDs and other highly flexible people often get told that they're so wonderfully flexible that they don't need any stretching, etc. However what very commonly happens is that they still jam and tighten up spinal and rib joints, like the rest of us do, but because the rest of their joints are moving so well and fully this masks the frozen ones. So you have to use very specific techniques to free up the tight bits - hence the Backpod.
So, go for what feels right. Use it more on the tight bits specifically, and don't worry about your bits which are already moving fine.
EDS does need muscle support for those very flexible joints. I've included just the two most basic strengthening exercises in the user guide. If you want to take it further, I'd recommend Pilates - it's a good approach for quietly building support strength, but without the extreme strains and jolting a lot of gyms and other sports involve.
Re your slipping rib syndrome - concentrate on using the Backpod on the curve of the ribs (just beside the spine a bit) where the extra movement is happening. SRS is trickier to sort out than costochondritis, but it's still the same principle - free up the tight rib joints around the back that are driving the excessive movement further around the rib.
I appreciate the thank-you. I'm pretty swamped, and I do want a life back. We're in the middle of setting up a searchable 100 FAQ / topic site called CostochondritisAnswers.com as a resource for patients, doctors and EDs. Hopefully that'll have enough specific answers that I won't need to keep responding. After that I'm going on a loong holiday!
Cheers, Steve August.
Superb healthcare tool!! Had lots of back stiffness after heart surgery in 2015 and have always been round shouldered. Took me 2 months to not need the pillows. I do it daily as part of my wellness routines. (age 70)
Well done, Paul. Costo is really common after any form of chest surgery. The surgery is done for perfectly good life-saving reasons. But surgeons don't usually think of the down-the-line effects from pulling the ribs or sternum apart to do the op.
The massive strain on the rib joints round the back means they often scar and freeze afterwards. When they can't move, the rib joints on your sternum MUST move excessively, just to let you breathe. So they strain, get painful - and welcome to costo.
If you've had a sternal split op then you get a double hit of pain from scarring repair making the nerves on your sternum hypersenstive.
Here's a long wordy PDF on the other bits you might also to sort out any lingering pain. See especially Section (6) on what to do for specific scarring and ethering around the front of your chest as well.
Cheers, Steve August.
This is amazing, got mine two weeks ago. The relief I am getting from Costochondritis has blown me away. I was taking pain killers using ice and heat nothing was working. The relief from this can be felt almost straight away. Started slow and build up from using on the bed to the floor etc. Thank you so much.
Well done on thinking for yourself, Scott. Stick with it - it needs more yet. But you're obviously winning.
Keep going - 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.
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.).
i live in new york and if you watch the news, you know that covid 19 is taking lives by the thousands here. my anxiety has been through the roof over it. two weeks ago, i developed chest pain that concerned me the point where i went to an urgent care to get a chest x-ray (i also was tested for covid yesterday, fingers crossed) and it came back “perfect” and was ruled out as costochondritis. it hurts so bad that i feel like i’m going into cardiac arrest or having a heart attack, lung failure, you name it. i pray that it truly is just costo and NOT corona. i’ll know in about 24 hours and if i am negative, i am 100% purchasing the back pod! i know have hope in helping this pain and reducing my anxiety levels. i feel some relief in watching your videos! thank you!
Good luck, Kristin - scary times! This may help. Fingers crossed on Covid-19. However there's a home test you can do yourself for the tight rib machinery causing costochonritis. Have a look at the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Do the sitting twist test on that page.
Do follow the instructions for it very accurately; you'll need someone to turn your torso. If you get pain and restriction turning towards your painful costo side, then it's almost certainly the tight rib bit I've been describing - in which case it's logical and fixable. I have to be honest - nothing says you can't have Covid-19 as well, but at least if you've got obvious tight rib costo, then that explains the pain now. By the way, immobility at those posterior rib joints won't show on X-ray, which is a still photo, so can't show whether the joints can move fine or are completely frozen. With costo, it's the latter.
You might of got covid by going to the urgent care clinic. Many positive people with covid go there for testing especially in New York with over 100k confirmed cases now
You are a wonderful human. I wish we knew about you long time ago
Thank you Steve for creating this little device.
I am self diagnosed with costochondritis. I have had every symptom to the condition down to the emergency room visit where I thought I was having a heart attack , the doctor just thought I was having an anxiety attack even though I was paralyzed in pain on my right side. I’ve even had a doctor dismiss my pain and say that it was an anxiety issue. So I self diagnose myself to figure out what was wrong with me because it’s not normal to be in so much pain and take medication for inflammation and not have it even touch the pain. I’ve use this back pod a few times and I got relief from the first treatment that I did. I really didn’t think it would work but honestly I totally recommend it and I will continue using it until I am in zero pain. This little device is life-changing.
Hi Theresa. Well done on thinking for yourself. I do hate that so often a sensible concern about a scary mysterious chest pain which the docs clearly don't understand or fix gets you dumped into an anxiety pigeonhole as though that's all that's going on (and it's somehow your fault). The good docs don't do this, but it sure does happen.
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
Hi Steve, I recently received your Backpod and I've been using it for a few days now in hopes of fixing my costo and particularly the intense shortness of breath I suffer from. I've dealt with it chronically for many years; my chiropractor was usually able to fix it in the past when I had similar flare-ups, but this time it's just not going away, so I decided to try your product! It was a bit uncomfortable the first few days, but I've gotten used to it now. I do have one question, though: when I'm actually on the Backpod, my breathing seems to ease up quite a bit and I'm actually able to take in more breath than usual, but the second I get off it, I'm immediately super tight again and struggle to inhale deeply. Have you experienced this with many of your patients? How long do you think it'll take until the breathlessness goes away? This current flare-up has lasted since December, so just about 4 months of tightness now.
Hi. I'd say you've been steadily getting tighter around your rib cage, muscles and joints. Manips are only a temporary unlocking of the joints - they just tighten up again if that's all you do.
Also, I have noticed that chiros tend to have a bias to just unlocking the spinal joints, and missing the rib joints where the ribs join onto your spine. These are the crucial ones for breathing, because they have to be fully free to let your rib cage expa=nd fully, to enable a full breath in. If they're tight, it's like wearing a tight corset - sure, you'll get breathless.
So - keep going. A few days isn't long enough for the Backpod to stretch the tight collagen material around the joints so they can stay moving okay.
Here's Here's a long wordy PDF on costochondritis and what we find works best to fix it. It is more easily read on a computer, not a phone. You can skip the bits relating to costo, but there's really relevant info about freeing your rib cage fully.
See especially Section (2) on using the Backpod all the way up its progression, to longer, stronger stretches, plus the sitting twist exercise, to work the joints freer again.. Also sections (3) and (4) on massage and pec stretches. See Section (10) on getting back into exercise also - the walking to cross-trainer progression is ideal for getting more air in as your rib cage gets freer.
Good luck!
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
@@stevenzphysio4203 Great, thank you for the reply! I'll be sure to read all of this thoroughly and take your advice to heart. Also, one more question if you don't mind: for some reason, the areas around certain vertebrae on my back always start to hurt whenever I get these flare-ups (I can easily find the spots with a Thera cane), and unfortunately putting the Backpod _directly_ on the spine is extremely painful because of these areas. Off to the sides is totally fine, but putting it right on the spine hurts, and it also makes me feel even tighter than when I got on it. It's not the Backpod itself causing the pain, either, the pain is already present at all times.
Both my chiro and physio I had in the past have told me these are indeed costo flare-ups, but I haven't heard of anyone experiencing pain right on the vertebrae like I do. I just didn't know if you happened to know why these areas are so painful and maybe how I should go about treating them?
Having suffered horrendously from costo for 3 years now since a car accident, I only just heard about this and ordered it as soon as I did after hearing people's reviews. So excited to try it and praying it helps, literally nothing has so far and honestly am at the end of my tether as I struggle to even exist or breathe.
@Lightspeed Unfortunately that's a common story.
Have a look down the bottom of the Backpod's New Zealand Costochondritis page - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ There's a PDF there with the full user guide, plus a treatment plan PDF with the practical detail of the other bits you're likely to need too.
Costo is common after a car crash. The impact of your chest on the steering wheel, air bag or dashboard send the shock through to the joints around the back of your rib cage also. So they jolt, then scar up and freeze. The acute front damage heals, but the pain continues because the rib joints on your breastbone have to move excessively as long as the rib joints on your spine can't move at all. That's what costo IS.
If you got physio consisting of just exercises, it doesn't work with costo. (I'm a physio myself.) Any mobility exercise will just strain further the already straining rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight joints around the back.
Good luck with the work! Of course it's not a mystery, of course it's not a "mysterious inflammation", and of course it's (usually) readily fixable.
Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much for your reply. I've been using it since I commented and for the first time in 3 years I'm actually able to go about most of my day without pain, I'm honestly amazed, and at the same time angry I've suffered for years with suggestions and treatment from supposed professionals actually making it worse, when it could have been resolved or at least relieved by something so simple.
Thank you again, you have no idea how much of a difference you have made on my life with this, and I'm sure many others.
@@LightspeedGaming Thanks - I appreciate that. Happy new year!
Hi Steve, I have costo and have been using the backpod for almost 2 months now. Before using it I was very tight and it was very painful around the sternum and ribcage areas, and a week into using it, it had started to feel a little better. It took me a couple weeks to be able to lay on it without a pillow, and started to feel good stretching. I still feel soreness in my back after using the backpod, and throughout the day. I use the backpod for 20 minutes, 2 times a day, both vertically and horizontally while lifting my buttocks up off the ground. I tend to go 3-4 days while feeling fine, but always relapse into feeling pains and tightness again even though I maintain use of the backpod. I also feel soreness around my collarbones and shoulders almost 24/7. I guess I’m asking, how long can it take for my hinges to unlock while using the backpod? Also, would it be effective to use the Backpod for longer or maybe once more a day? I wanted to thank you in advance for even looking at this, it’s commendable that you respond to all of us when you don’t have to. You’re a saint, Steve.
Hi. Well done on thinking for yourself. Sounds like you've done a good thorough job on the Backpod freeing up the tight rib and spinal machinery round the back. Most probably, you need a few extra bits that the Backpod itself can't do:
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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
(4) The Backpod can't get any leverage on collarbones. I'd bet you were tight on these as well as your rib cage, and you're feeling them more now because they're still tight but the rib cage has freed off okay. Try seeing a physiotherapist (PT) - there are hands-on techniques to free tight collar bones. It is a lottery finding someone good, though.
(5) 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.).
How is your pain now
Been suffering from chronic costochondritis now for almost 4 years. I have lot of hopes that this would help manage the pain. Would keep you updated.
let us know I also have suffered with costo for 4 years and just ordered the backpod
It works I got costo from punch I can use it please tell me@@topdnbass
Hi Steve! Love your product very much. I have a very tight back and had a severe flare up of costochondritis this last week. I am in lots of discomfort with my shortness of breath because of the flare up and tightness. I went to a sports doctor in Christchurch who said this doesn’t happen with costochondritis and I am an anxious person who should be on antidepressants, which is not true. Do you know of any good physiotherapists located in Christchurch with good knowledge on costochondritis? I’ll continue to use your product everyday, my dad just wanted someone to check out my back as I’m really struggling to breathe with this flare up.
Hi Michaela. No, your doctor is wrong. Shortness of breath is a classic costo symptom.
The same tight or immobile rib joints round your back that cause the costo strain and pain at the front rib joints, 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 the 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.
Go see Marty Hepburn at PhysioEvolved at 1/1063 Ferry Road, down the bridge over the Heathcote end; phone (03) 384 4766. Marty's superb on the surrounding tight muscle which is part of the rib cage restriction, and he can drop you across to the physios if there's anything he can't sort out. There are good physio techniques for your back. Your dad's right - that needs sorting too.
The physios there are great, and also do hour long appointments - time to do it properly.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Steve thank you so much for replying! I will see Marty tomorrow, thank you
Hi Steve, For 4 months now I have been having pain on taking a deep breath and when walking, just behind my sternum and to the slight left of the sternum behind ribs 2,3 and 4. Sometimes I also feel it to the slight right of the sternum but not always. The pain in the sternum area becomes very intense when I walk for 50 yards or more and I am unable to walk beyond that because of the pain. My pain feels like its coming from inside and I do not have any tenderness on palpation on my chest. Wherever i read about costochondritis diagnosis, its always mentioned that the ribs are tender to touch on the surface but in my case I do not have any superficial tenderness. My doctors have done EKG, Echo Cardiogram, Nuclear Stress Test, CT Scan of the chest and everything came out to be negative. Right now my doctors have no idea what is going on with me. The pain management specialist I am seeing says its very unlikely to be costochondritis because i do not have any tenderness when he presses on my ribs. Do you think its possible to have costochondritis without tenderness on pressing on the ribs and for the pain to manifest from the inside when the chest expands for taking a deep breath like in my case? Have you seen such patients in your practice?
Hi Saurabh Rai. Yes. Doctors usually don't understand costochondritis, and they're often fixated on that palpation test. It's completely inaccurate - sometimes you get pain on palpation and sometimes you don't.
A better test for the tight rib machinery around the back causing costochondritis at the front is on the Backpod's website costo page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Try that yourself, and if it shows the usual rib restriction causing costo then get a Backpod and start fixing it.
The docs re very good at checking out the dire stuff like your heart - they're just not good on costo. You're going to have to do that yourself, in my experience. Fortunately it's logical and not particularly difficult - have a good look over the info on the costo page. Cheers, Steve August.
I’m going through the same exact thing like you all my test tested out negative as well. My doctor has no clue. I’m tired of breathing and feeling pain it’s been close to 3 months already. I’m tired of this pain. It all started from my work place at Walmart from cart 🛒 pushing 8 hours 5 days a week.
Hi Roberto Vargas - I totally understand what you are going through my friend. Just hang in there, this can take a while to heal, but it does go away. Have you seen any improvement since it started out? Mine has improved a little with rest. I have started using the Back pod since last 5 days, and my breathing has improved to some degree so really hopeful that this will help me heal if I stick with this. Also work on strengthening your back with some exercises if you are able to tolerate it, it helps to improve your posture. I’ll write an update in a week to let you know if I am seeing more improvements with using the Back pod.
Ok sounds good. On my behalf well it comes and then it goes. What stresses me out doctors say I’m fine. They don’t know the pain I’m actually going through.
Hi Steve , I've been using the back pod for 8 months, can use it with no pain most of the time now. Are there any more advanced moves or stretched I can try to get me 100% better. I'd say I'm 80% better and still get flare ups
Hi Matthew. 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 wow thanks for the great reply Steve
How is your pain now
@@Gvvnarayana7 my pain has now gone ;
What was ur histiry
Hi Steve, thanks for putting out the info on Costochondritis. Please help with this - for someone wirh active Costochondritis pain in the front, they are finding it difficult to do backpod without pillows due to severe pain in the front near sternum. So could you please share how to use backpod effectively when there is active pain and pressure in the chest, thanks!
The Backpod's doing fine. What they're getting is more pulling and tugging of the still tight and scarred pec and soft tissue around the front of the chest - because they're moving better at the ribs around the back, and sitting straighter. It's actually progress.
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 especially Sections (3) and (4) for massage ad 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
Thanks Steve. Could a damage to cartilage or rib in the chest like broken/bruised rib or cartilage also cause Costochondritis? If so, can backpod be used for this purpose as well, please clarify, thanks!
@@PCJSKSJ Sure. The question is - is it likely? I don't know any details about your particular costo. If it was from a front impact, then of course that can break bones. That'll show on X-ray.
The overwhelming reason for any pain using the Backpod is people simply not reading the instructions. It takes time to stretch the tight stuff, and if you just bang onto stretching on the Backpod without any pillows to grade the stretch, then it can hurt. Same as stretching anything in the body too much in one go will hurt.
If you haven't got the full 31-page user guide, there's a link to it in that PDF. The guide has clear instructions on how to grade the stretch so you just build up to a stronger one as things free up more.
@@stevenzphysio4203 X ray for the person with pain was normal, didn't show any abnormalities, although not sure cartilage issues if any could be captured in X ray. So not sure what caused costo exactly to the friend, but he had felt the pain immediately after waking up from a 30 minute short nap on lying on one side, could that be due to a cartilage damage or frozen back, just wanted to narrow down to the cause whether a cartilage injury or only frozen back ribs, thanks Steve!
@@PCJSKSJ Well, just lying on his side for 30 minutes can't create costo out of a clear blue sky. (Or create a fracture unless there's some medical basis like severe osteoporosis or a cancer already in the bones or cartilage. Which would show on X-ray or a MRI or CAT scan.)
However, lying on your side does put pressure on the rib cage. If the rib joints around the back are frozen up and can't move to absorb some of that pressure, then the more delicate ones on the breastbone can give - like bending a sprained ankle. That can certainly cause costo pain at the front.
Again, it wouldn't happen for no reason. However it's very, very common that people get hunched and frozen in the rib cage and upper and middle back - especially from much hunching over laptops, tablets, phones, games, etc. We call it the iHunch. Have a look at Section (5) in that PDF.
If he's got that, then yes, lying on the tight rib cage can be enough to set off the strain and pain at the rib joints on the breastbone. As an indicator, they'll likely have been clicking, cracking and popping under the extra load. These are symptoms of mechanical strain (like cracking your knuckles), and are not symptoms of inflammation, which is silent and painful.
COSTO HAS FUCKED MY LIFE UP. I desperately need help. I Just ordered my back pod off Amazon, I have tried everything and have been to rehab twice for opioids due to this pain. In January of 2023, I had a titanium plate surgically installed in my sternum from a thoracic surgeon which didn’t work either. He thought stabilizing the area would help combat inflammation. Costo has fucked my head up, I’m am always depressed and anxious and sometimes think being dead would be better than one more day of this hell. To anyone else suffering, I pray for you all. Never take your health for granted!!!
I should mention I’ve had costo for 6 years now. 25 year old male. I will continue to post my progress once I begin using the backpod. Good luck, don’t ever give up hope.
Hello, Jack. Unfortunately you're not alone. Also unfortunately, what you got was a typical surgeon answer - immobilise the straining rib joints at the front, but don't ask WHY they're straining in the first place. It's not a "mysterious inflammation" arriving for no reason - of course it's not! The front rib joints strain and locally irritate and inflame because the ones around the back are frozen and can't move. Duh.
So ANY treatment solely for the front joints is missing the point - you have to free up the frozen patch around the back which is causing the strain and pain at the front. We were flabbergasted to discover that most of the rest of the world outside New Zealand and Aussie manual physio doesn't understand this basic point. It's supported by the actual published medical research and the "mysterious inflammation" silliness isn't - if you actually go and look.
Good - you've got a Backpod. We think it's the single best tool in the world for stretching free the frozen rib joints around the back - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing costo. If you haven't had this approach, then no-one's treated your costo correctly so far. DO read the instructions carefully and DO follow them accurately.
Also, you'll need other bits. It's not just the Backpod alone. Here's a long wordy PDF covering them. It's easier read on a computer, not a phone. See especially Sections (3), (4) and (6). You'll need all those. It takes time and effort, and go quietly as per the instructions or you'll flare things up. Good luck with the work.
Cheers, Steve August. www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
@@stevenzphysio4203 doctor Steve, thank you for the reply. I began using the backpod today and can feel the stretching at work. I am going to continue using everyday. I am also starting physical therapy next week. Hopefully both of these treatments combined will help alleviate some of my pain. I just pray the surgery I got in January did not make things worse. I’ll post my progress over the next few weeks.
DAY ONE: Backpod delivered this morning. I work from home so I was able to use it on and off throughout today. I also use a foam rolling pad to help stretch. The backpod is definitely a unique device that stretches the rib cage in ways the body/other devices cannot. After using it all morning and afternoon, I do feel like there’s been a slight reduction in the inflammation in my sternum. Could it actually be working already?? Or is it maybe placebo??? Who knows, but I’ll keep using it if I think it helps in the slightest
@@jackhohenwarter7362 Hi Jack. Good oh. Yes, it's often quite fast. The more the rib joints around the back move, the more the rib joints on the breastbone don't have to. Yes, also - the stable peaked shape of the Backpod can do a thorough stretch on tight rib joints whereas the long length of a foam roller cannot.
BUT - you're stretching frozen and tight stuff that hasn't moved for 6 years. Take it quietly as per the instructions or you'll get sore, especially in the first week. Also, you will need Sections (3), (4) and (6) in the PDF, as I said. Also Section (5), now I know you're working from home.
But hang in there. It's all logical and should respond fine. This is just bog standard New Zealand manual physiotherapy. Takes some time and effort.
I never really comment on any UA-cam videos but I just had to say how grateful I am for the Backpod. At the start of this year, I had a goal to go to the gym as much as I could and try to get myself in to better shape. A month in to it, I had a debilitating injury where I was unable to breathe and my sternum/rib cage just felt like it was going to explode. I had a trip to the hospital where everything was deemed normal and was simply told to take ibuprofen because they suspected it was a pulled muscle. Being very athletic, I knew that this was not the case.
After countless weeks of stress, I had finally discovered that I could have costochondritis and stumbled across this video. I immediately placed an order and I am so thankful that I did. What was an extremely horrible injury has now turned in to something that has almost disappeared. I stupidly went a week without using the Backpod and my sternum and rib cage soon became inflamed but now it has almost gone for good. Being 18, the idea of not being able to breathe and live my normal, healthy life was extremely scary. I was diagnosed with asthma? due to the shortness of breath but that is definitely due to the costochondritis. I cannot thank you enough for the information and product that you have created because I am almost fully recovered. For anybody who is unsure, please purchase the Backpod and use it consistently, it is worth it but do go to the doctors to receive a medical examination to rule out any possible underlying health conditions. Thank you Steve once again, my life is starting to get back on track!
Hi Holly. Thank you very much indeed. Well done on thinking for yourself and I'm delighted it's worked. I lecture on costochondritis to various medical conferences and EDs in New Zealand - we're just a bit flabbergasted at how much it's not understood or fixed in most of the rest of the world.
You've pretty much done it yourself anyway, but try these bits to get the last of it clear. Also, avoid dips in the gym for at least six months - they're the single worst exercise for triggering costo.
Now that presumably 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 last bit of work, and well done!.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
how are you doing how is your costo doing?
Pedro - A lot better now! I rarely have any flare ups so I’m starting to feel ‘back to normal’ again. Thank you
Steve NZ Physio Thank you so much! I have booked a massage for the end of this month to see how that goes and I’ve been doing the stretches as requested. I’ve noticed a huge difference and I can’t thank you enough. Stay safe and I hope you’re well.
Hey Steve! Can I use it twice a day? Cant find that information in the user guide :)
When you're good enough. It takes time to stretch. I don't know how you're using the Backpod, or how free your joints now are. Feel your own way - if you're doing too much too soon, it'll get sore. So back off a bit if it does.
Steve... I'm at 19 months of terrible chest pain, and have turned back to the BackPod as the solution.
I have taken your advice from months ago, and I'm being very gentle on my thoracic area..
Before I go on, what difference does it make to have a pillow or two under your head... For me that makes exactly no difference if my head is on 3 pillow or none at all.. I control how hard I apply the BackPod with my bent legs. I roll my body on to it so i have exact control on how hard it is against my body..
Has been just 2 days since i have given the BackPod another go.. I have been VERY gentle.
I do 2 trips around up and down my spine...
I also do some positions a physio gave me.. Im sure you know Thread the Needle, Child Walk, and Cat and Cow.
I don't know if its my gentle application of the BackPod or the physio moves above, but my chest gone from 6/10 to 9/10... Should I ditch the physio stretches, or the Back Pod? Should I take some days off both of them for some time.. My chest has never been OK.. What do you or ANYONE out there think?
Hi. The instructions are accurate for a reason. If you use your legs to control how hard you lay on the Backpod, you can't relax your back muscles, so you don't get an effective stretch on the Backpod.
Also, you haven't mentioned using it also out to the sides of your spine to stretch the rib joints, and these are the crucial ones to free up for costochondritis.
Until the rib joints around the back are free, any stretch you do will stir up your chest pain. The reason is that any stretch while the rib joints around the back are still tight just strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone - way before you get a benefit to the tight joints around the back.
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
Thanks Steve, reading the PDF @@stevenzphysio4203
@@stevenzphysio4203 I read the doc and watched the videos.. I don/t have 3 pillows so I used a foam roller under my head with 2 folded towels on it. .. Also I went up the right side next to my spine and down 10cm or so out from my spine.. ... Then did the left..
@@stevenzphysio4203 My chest pain is already 8/10. After using the pod today it's 9/10.... Tomorrow, should i just suck it up princess and do the BackPod reggardless of existing pain?
@@DoblyTufnell Hi. I just can't tell over UA-cam comments. If it's really 9/10 it's probably flared too much to do anything. The PDF and the Backpod are good general approaches to suit most costochondritis. But obviously we can't see an individual in person for greater accuracy.
If it's 9/10 painful, the best thing right now is probably see your doctor for pain relief, and also to discuss what's going on.
The PDF along with the Backpod is a good route map through the things that generally will sort out most costo, logically and with a bit of time and effort. It is up to you to decide they're a good fit with what you've got, and to apply them intelligently to your own specific problem. Beyond a certain point, i can't tell in detail what's happening with a patient over the net. A bit of soreness as you start to stretch anything tight is normal and reasonable, but 9/10 sounds like too much, just from a simple stretch. It is up to your doctors to make sure there's nothing extra going on.
Have a look through the possible causes of pain in Section (2) of the PDF. See if any of them look like a fit. Good luck.
Hi steve! I have costochondritis on my right side of the ribs for about a year. I've just started to use the backpod, used it for the first time yesterday on the right side of the upper spine and the middle and when i woke up this morning, my right hand is tingling a lot whenever i extend my arm. The whole arm is feeling really heavy and there is a numb like sensation in the hand but mostly tingling like pins and needles. Did i do something wrong? 😢
Hi. Sorry about the delay in replying.
It can happen. What you’re telling me is that you’re really tight, and probably a bit hunched also. It’s really common, you are not alone, and what you’re describing as things start to loosen is common also.
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. It's a lot like sleeping funny on your arm and waking up with it numb and tingling for a bit.
Talk someone into doing the home sitting massage on you - shown in the Backpod's user guide and also as this video here: ua-cam.com/video/9eLUQX03IoE/v-deo.html Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades. Do every few days for a few weeks.
Ideally, also, 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. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine.
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
Hello steve, I just wanted to thank you and all those who recommended the backpod. I only very recently developed costo and I wanted to help the problem before it potentially got worse as I heard people could suffer from it for over 10 years. It was so scary at first - I thought it was heart related issues and was making me really irritable and confused. Caused by me binding my chest (I am transgender) and exercising - I hunch over at the computer or desk a lot so I assume it would have eventually developed from that also.
I have only been using it a week and I can say it's loosening up parts of my back and relieving pain whenever I use it. It's actually encouraged me to go back to do physical things again. =) THank you
Hi Mich. Pleased the Backpod's helping. I see that on the Wikipedia Costochondritis entry there's mention of costochondritis starting off with chest binding. I really have no idea how common transitioning is, with chest binding as part of it. However what I can say as a physiotherapist is that I think everyone using chest binding should also be using a Backpod.
The reason is completely obvious from a manual physio viewpoint. The binding will of course immobilise the rib machinery around the back of the rib cage, where the ribs hinge onto your spine. Yet you still have to have some movement at the joints of the rib cage or you can't breathe - it doesn't all just happen at the diaphragm.
So what happens is that the much more delicate rib joints round the front, where your ribs hinge onto your sternum, will strain and give - a lot like spraining an ankle. This will happen with every breath you take, and of course they'll get painful.
Once it's established, it's likely to continue, even after you stop chest binding. By them, the rib machinery around the back has become thoroughly frozen and immobile, and the straining painful rib hinges on your breastbone have become hypermobile, strained and slightly floppy. (They may click and pop a lot too - another indication of the ongoing strain at them.)
If, like most people, you're also getting hunched and tight anyway from much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones, then that will add to it all - see the Backpod's iHunch page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/
The pain at the rib joints on your breastbone, usually called costochondritis, is not, repeat not, a "mysterious inflammation" - no matter what doctor has told you it is. See the UA-cam video I did covering the actual published medical research on costochondritis - ua-cam.com/video/t8k2LCLeR24/v-deo.html
What the research actually says is completely different from the popular and popular medical view of costo - which is simply wrong, which is why trying to suppress this "mysterious inflammation" doesn't work. Have a look over the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/
The Backpod is the obvious counter to costochondritis with chest binding. You can use it to free up and keep free the movement at the rib machinery around the back, which means the rib joints on your sternum don't have to strain. You're going through major enough changes as it is - I don't see that you need scary chest pain to be part of them.
Stick with it. 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 (but not before), 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 So long as it's not a problem for you. 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.
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. The sitting one for the back and rib cage muscles is going to be particularly helpful.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well - when you can. There’s a good gentle pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
I hope this is useful. It should be. I don't think anyone else has analysed the problem like this, but it's just simple New Zealand physio principles. Please do feel free to pass it around - you won't be the only one with exactly the same problem. Far from it. Best of luck.
Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Steve NZ Physio hi Steve, thank you for writing out such a helpful reply. Is there any risk in me doing circus/acrobatics while I’m still using the backpod? I recently started classes and It hasn’t been painful anymore but yes definitely still tight - I’m getting massages soon and also I have stopped binding while I loosen up my upper back. I am definitely not the only transgender person who has developed Costo from binding so you’re probably right about that and from your research.
@@Michawaken Sure, but that's nothing to do with the Backpod. The Backpod is just stretching free the tight stuff round your back and ribs. If anything, doing that will reduce the risk of straining or locking something on circus/acrobatics. It's the circus/acrobatics that are the risk if anything is, but that's up to you.
Hi all, I've had my backpod for 6 days, I've used it as instructed each day at least once or twice.
I think I've seen some improvement, I have good and bad days with my costo, but I have noticed my left thumb is sometimes numb after use. Had anyone else had this?
My pains in my chest are usually central or to the left and are normally on/off slight dull ache or icy burn sensation.
Has anyone continued to workout whilst experiencing costo whilst getting used to the backpod?
I wanted to get people's general view on whether I should exercise.
I should note I have been to A&E before and had several scans. A heart related issue was ruled out and my GP had suggested this is costo
Thanks
I’m on the same boat regarding the numb, it’s on my right hand the second and the middle fingers, it’s been 14 hours, and I’d say maybe the numbness decreased a little bit but it’s not fully gone.
@@firasneiroukh4706 Hi. It can happen. What you’re telling me is that you’re really tight, and probably a bit hunched also. It’s really common, you are not alone, and what you’re describing as things start to loosen is common also.
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. It's a lot like sleeping funny on your arm and waking up with it numb and tingling for a bit.
Talk someone into doing the home sitting massage on you - shown in the Backpod's user guide and also as this video here: ua-cam.com/video/9eLUQX03IoE/v-deo.html Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades. Do every few days for a few weeks.
Ideally, also, 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. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine.
Re using the Backpod for costo more generally, 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
I've got almost 2 years of pain due to some intense compression in my T5 T6 T7 right in the middle of my back, just ordered this thro Amazon last week, and it is on its way, should arrive next week.
Please give me any advice for this specific area of my body, I can stretch my shoulder blades usually with pull ups, but mid T4 to T8 is what I call the impossible to reach area.
I'm very hopeful it works because some nights I can't sleep properly from the amount of compression there. Thank you a lot doc! and will definitely give you an update after using it :)
Hi. Yes - you just can't reach that T5-T7 area satisfactorily by yourself. Usually it's tight in the spinal joints and tight and scarred in the tough muscles over the top of them.
Just use the Backpod as the directions say. However do read the 'Warnings and precaution' section on straight or hollowed thoracic spines. These are really uncommon - most people are too much the other way, after hunching over computers and phones. However you've said yours is compressed, and I can't assess that over UA-cam comments, of course.
In any case, talk someone into doing the home sitting massage on you - shown in the Backpod's user guide and also as this video here:
ua-cam.com/video/9eLUQX03IoE/v-deo.html
Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades. Do every few days for a few weeks. That'll help heaps, then the Backpod should more easily get to stretch the tight joints underneath.
I received mine today. It might be the best investment in my life.
Did it work for you . This is going to be my first week
Same? Did it work?
Yes, I have been using it all this time. The pain and stiffness won´t just disappear overnight but if you do it regularly and play with different positions long enough you should see results soon enough. That being said, I have no idea what underlying condition each of you have. In my case I could hear knocks along my spine every time I used it. Nowadays I barely feel one and that´s only when I was off for too long. Good luck!
@@hurolinci5986 hi need help in how many months issue solved with back pod
@@hurolinci5986 is u r issue resolved
Hello Steve, I would like to thank you for all these precious insights. I've been using the back pod for 2 months now and for the past month, I have been using it without a pillow. I don't have any breathing problems anymore except when I sit for a few hours. Still a little pain that keeps alternating from the left pec to the right pec. I think I have a problem with the back pod: I can't get my shoulders to touch the floor like the patient in this video did, what can I do? I think it is due to a lack of mobility in the pectoral and shoulder muscles. But today I pushed a little more and my shoulders were able to touch the ground like in the video. Do I continue to force a bit like today so that my shoulders touch the ground? Honestly, after doing this, it's like something is unlocked, I feel better now, freer it seems. Am I going in the right direction? Thank you for your answer.
Hello, Calvin. Sounds like you're going well. I don't know how tight (and probably also hunched) you were before starting with the Backpod. But sounds like the tight joints are freeing up fine. Keep going. I'm assuming you've got the 32-page user guide that should come with the Backpod. If not, there's a PDF of it here: www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf
Do note that the instructions tell you how to get more oomph out of the Backpod, once you're good enough. I'd add in those bits now.
As well, start stretching your pecs, and talk someone into doing the two massages shown in the Backpod's user guide. Ideally, shout yourself a full sports massage or two as well. It's all to get the muscles and joints around your rib cage and middle back freed and loosened up - back to what they used to be when you were younger. Well done. Keep going.
I think this could have been a little more specific - to say between the shoulder blades may sound like “on the spine to some people” and that is definitely not what they should be doing. Maybe add an upright view of the back and demonstrate with your hands or hands holding the backpod the proper placement. Appreciate the product!
Hello, Teresa. Fair enough - we did this video at the start of getting the Backpod out there, and didn't at the time realise what a big thing it was going to become. Trying to find time to do a really detailed how-to-use video, including shots from beneath a transparent table.
There are good written instructions 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.
I actually just received my back pod. How is it supposed to be between the shoulders but not on the spine? When I used it for the first time, it definitely was on my spine.
There are really clear detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod on pages 3-5 of the Backpod's 31-page user guide. These are the best instructions on how to use it correctly. When we find the time, we will do another UA-cam video showing how to use it, including views from underneath a glass table.
I wasn’t confused until I saw Teresa’s initial comment saying that the pod shouldn’t be on your spine, which is what my comment was addressing. I read the instructions and had no problems. I’m just saying that the pod was on my spine, while Teresa’s comment said that it shouldn’t be.
@@rhondadare8092 Hi Rhonda. Yes, I know - sorry. I misunderstood your reply. I do get a lot of questions about how to use the Backpod. I really don't understand why a lot of people - most usually young US males - don't just quietly read through the instructions. But then again the full 31-page user guide isn't in all Backpods sold in the EU and UK, so i try to answer those in more detail when I can..
Anyway, 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.
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.
Good luck with the work!
Cheers, Steve August.
So yes, the Backpod works 👍 Had costocondritis for a year - clicking sternum, sore breastbone, rhomboids stiff, headaches, neckache. My GP said it's "idiopathic inflammation" - e.g. they won't bother investigating it. My excellent osteopath unlocks my mid-thoracic and cracks my spine free every so often. The cause is my bad posture - graphic designer for 30 years with long stints every day staring intently at Photoshop.
The Backpod works well for me - if I remember to use it. It's getting that routine to use it daily as it won't fix me from inside its box....
Great - well done. It's an ideal combination - osteopathic manipulation to definitively unlock any tight rib and spinal joints around the back, then Backpod to stretch out the tightened collagen material around them so they can stay free.
Your GP is wrong on both counts. "Idiopathic" means the cause is unknown. No it's not - we've known the cause of costo in manual physio in New Zealand for at least the 30 years I've worked in this area. I just never occurred to me that most of the rest of the world didn't understand it the same way.
Also, it's not an inflammation - that's why treating it with anti-inflammatory meds doesn't fix it. There is only one piece of published medical research on this (Disla et al) and it shows no difference in inflammation levels in the blood between a costo group and a control group.
Well done on thinking for yourself. You could try adding these bits to get even more stretch out of the Backpod:
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.
Just got mine. Let's see how it goes 🤞
How did it go
@@704chopsuey4 it's definitely helping a lot. Combined with stretching it's gotten much better.
Hi Steve, I just wanted to clarify,
1) Am I putting the back pod directly in the middle? So my spine is on if?
2) Do I then do either side of my spine?
3) I read somewhere about turning the back pod horizontally and laying on it too. Is that right?
Thanks 😊 Looking forward to healing my costo
I also have the same question, if the pod is touching the edge of the spine and on it slightly? I use a Ma Roller and don't know if that is sufficient?
Hi. Read the instructions. Sorry - I am just too swamped to reply to questions that are already covered in the 31-page user guide. It's all there, clearly written.
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
@@freedom1111bird A roller is nowhere near as good for costo as the Backpod. The small peaked shape of the Backpod can get an effective stretch to the tight rib joints around the back. The long cylinder of a roller spreads your upper body weight along its length, so there just isn't much stretch getting to the ribs. Usually they need a lot - that's why we built the Backpod.
Hey Steve thank you for backpod im about to purchase one.
I think I have costocondritis when i woke up in the middle of night with stabbing chest pain. I never experienced anything like this. Im only 25 years old, lean and healthy. Now i have chest pain for about a week and its not getting any better. The only thing I did was weightlift the day before but it was my normal weightlifting routine nothing too heavy and i have good form. I do think i have poor posture because im a web developer. Could this just be my poor posture catching up to me? Is it possible to gradually develop costo?
Thank you.
Hi. First step with chest pain - always go to your doctor or ED. They are really good at checking out your heart, lungs and the other dire possibilities. If they've done that and you're all clear, then sure, costo is the likeliest answer.
Yes, you can develop costo gradually. It's really common - a quiet tightening of the rib cage as your thoracic spine gets hunched and tight - hugely common with web developers or anyone working over computers. See this page on the iHunch: www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/
Then, when the rib cage is tight enough, you do something which strains it, especially dips or bench press. The rib joints round the back can't give to take that strain, so it all goes to the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone. They give - a lot like spraining your ankle. And welcome to costo. It's NOT a "mysterious inflammation".
Straightforward physio (PT)-type problem. See this long wordy PDF for what we find works best to fix it: www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf Good luck with the work.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hey steve thanks for responding. When using the backpod and all other stretches you prescribe should I still go do weightlifting if that pain in the chest still occurs or take a long break.
@@4will3 Hi. I've covered that in Sections (1) and (10) of that PDF.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you Steve. How does sleeping position affect this condition?
@@4will3 Hi. Pain on lying down to sleep) is another classic costo symptom. You're lying on your rib cage, and the rib joints around the back can't move, so the already strained rib joints on your front strain further. It's like taking a sprained ankle and bending it further into the sprain. It'll get sore and usually wake you up.
The best sleeping position (apart from sitting up) is probably on your back, which at least spreads the load over both sides of your rib cage, so you get less strain at the front joints on any one side. But it's only a help and often not even that. The only way I know to fix costo pain on sleeping is to fix the costo.
Very well demonstrated and described. Thank you!
I Received mine today 24.05.23, I‘ll come back to tell you if it works :)
I have Costochondritis for 2 years.
I went to many Doctors and even told them that I think it’s Costochondritis. None of them knew what I have and never heard about it, beside the last Dr I met one week ago, which agreed with me that it seems that I have it. He suggested physiotherapist, which I will start soon, but I want to see how the BACKPOD influence my pain.
let me know please i’ve had costo for 6 months
Let me know please, I also have costochondritis now for past 8 months and I'm thinking about buying a back pod
Hi. It's not just the Backpod alone, often. 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
Did it help?
Hi Steve,
I've been using the Backpod for 4 weeks now and this past week it did start to feel better although I will still get times in the day when it hurts more and the clicking and crunching in my sternum comes back. I've been using it without any Pillows for about 2 weeks and it feels like a comfortable stretch. i was just wondering how long should it take before its completely gone?
Many thanks
Dan
Hi Dan. It depends a lot on how long you've had your costo or Tietze's for. However long that is, for all that time the rib joints on your sternum have been straining and giving - like running on a sprained ankle - every breath you take. So that's a lot of straining at those joints, and they don't instantly bounce back from that.
You're doing the right thing, and it's obviously better than it was, as the Backpod frees up the tight rib and spinal joints round the back driving the pain on your front. Stick with it.
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.
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
Hang in there. The crunching will be the last thing to go - usually months after the pain has gone. It takes that long for the rib joints on your breastbone to settle back into well-oiled silent running, which they can do once the tight rib machinery round the back has fully freed up. Cheers, Steve August.
Today I got my backpod for costo i ll update soon my results
Well done on thinking for yourself. Please DO follow the instructions accurately. It's tough stuff you're stretching and if you go too hard too soon, it'll protest. It takes time to stretch the tight stuff.
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
Did it help?
Hi Steve. Day 2 of using the back pod.
- Every morning I need to click my chest for relief of tightness
- When I lower my head (chin as close to my chest) my chest really hurts.
- My right side of my body temporarily goes numb when I use back pod 2 pillows (is this normal?)
When do you think I will see improvement? I.E I guess: no clicking my chest in morning and hopefully costo free?
Hello, Tom. It takes time. It's not instant. Imagine if your hamstrings were so tight you couldn't touch your knees. it takes at least weeks of daily stretching before you can reach the floor. It's tough material you're freeing.
DO follow the instructions. If you're getting some numbness with the mild stretch that two pillows gives you, then you're really tight - and probably have been for years.
It's only Day 2 - sure, you're going to get some treatment tenderness as you start to move things that are that tight. It gets easier. The numbness is just nerves being pushed on, like waking up with a numb arm after sleeping on it.
Add in the two home massages shown in the Backpod's user guide. That will help immediately - the muscles over the frozen joints will also be tight and scarred.
Here's a long wordy PDF on what's needed to fix costo. Best read on a computer, not a phone. Take time to go over it in detail - you can skim the bits that don't apply. Good luck with the work.
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
Can i sleep on this? 😂
Actually I did have an email from one costochondritis sufferer who fell asleep on the Backpod for hours. She reckoned it fixed her. It would be equivalent to holding a stretch on a tight hamstring muscle for hours - it would be a serious stretch on the tissues.
So, it sounds an attractive idea. But if you're too tight when you start, though, it'll likely just strain things. You can only stretch tight stuff so much. That's why the Backpod instructions say start quietly, once a day to start with, don't make it too sore. It'll usually take a few weeks of daily stretches for the tight ribs and spine to free up mostly. You can't really overstretch on the Backpod - the floor stops you.
Hi Ahmed. That's great! I'm the physio inventor - we built the Backpod to be useful. All it does is provide enough leverage to actually stretch the tough, tight collagen around the thoracic spinal and rib joints so they free up. (Just manipulation will unlock them but not stretch the tight stuff around them, so it doesn't last.)
Very pleased about the costochondritis. It's caused by frozen rib hinges around the back, which the Backpod has obviously freed up. You know, we didn't even build it for that, mostly. It's mainly for stretching out the usual tight, stooped upper back. But it's also, as far as I know, the only thing around that will give an effective stretch on rib hinges - hence its use in fixing costochondritis. Very pleased it's worked!
More info on fixing costochondrits in two other videos: 'How to fix (most) costochondritis and Tietze's Syndrome' Parts (1) and (2). Links are: ua-cam.com/video/uvJbQFDeyOk/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html Cheers, Steve August.
how to use for costo- please send video
Steve NZ Physio
Hello Sir, isn’t using foam roller parallel to and on the spine just as effective?
Hi Steve my name is Idrees, I have had what seems to be costochondritis for a little over a month now, which started off as a sharp pain when I took a breath for about 2-3 days. Eventually right before I went to the hospital, I was anxious about what it was and unsure if it was heart related, so I started experiencing extreme shivering and severe chest pain. When I went to the hospital, all the scans and ultrasounds were clear, and they told me my heart was healthy. They gave me muscle relaxer, which seemed to help, although it may have just been that I hadn’t been to sleep in 36 hours at that point, and I was exhausted.
When I got home, I began to realize that completely relaxing all the muscles in my body, almost going limp, helped my pain while breathing as well as my tightness, similar to what I did in the hospital. I read about the backpod and ordered it after having no relief with a 5 million ball. I have been using for a week and a half now, and a week in, I started feeling better with less tightness in my chest and pain. However, a couple days ago, I started getting tight again, and feeling anxious about it as well. Im 18 years old, and I play basketball but I’m not flexible at all, and I was wondering if that might be a reason for my frozen joints.
1)
Is it possible that I just sort or relapsed and it needs more time
And also 2) I have never had any problems with anxiety or panic, but i feel like the anxiety I do have is brought on by the costochondritis. I don’t tell the doctors because I don’t want them to merely leave it up to anxiety when I know there is a cause. Is it common for these two to be hand in hand (costs and anxiety)?
Thank you, Steve
Hi. Anxiety with costo is very common. It is completely sane and reasonable to be concerned about a mysterious debilitating chest pain which the docs (usually) clearly do not understand or know how to fix. You get a double hit with costo, because the immobile rib hinges mean you can't take a full breath of air into your lungs. So you breath high and fast, and this hyperventilation pushes you towards panic attacks, and certainly anxiety.
Stick with the Backpod - 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. Not until you're safe to do so with COVID-19 around, though.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on 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. Also, of course, the costochondritis page.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hey Steve I believe one of my false ribs slipped on my left side particularly the 10th rib i think. I’ve been having pain for over 7months It just gets Worse especially when i stopped Working Out Because i Found i had a bulging disc. I get pain both in the front and a lot in the back of my ribs would The BackPod Still work for my slipped rib ? Also Why Everytime I Flex my Left Lat I feel 3-4 Clicks everytime I do it in my Lat/shoulder blade Area should I be worried.
I have a friend who had such bad costo she was missing work and in terrible pain. She found this video on the backpod, gave it a try, and it REALLY worked for her. She uses it every night now and is almost completely out of pain. I have mild scoliosis and just bought mine. I notice my scoliosis because one shoulder is always higher than the other. Wow, this thing looks so innocent, but I need 3 pillows when using it. Anyway, hoping for some change as I use the backpod daily over a number of months. Thanks for the video!
Hi Susan. Thanks - great to get the feedback. Stick with it - you're really tight if you need the three pillows. It does take time to stretch. Try using the Backpod on your sacrum as well - it's in the user guide. I'm only guessing, but a twist in the sacrum is often part of a scoliosis. I have a mild scoliosis myself - I get no pain or problems because I simply keep the joints free on the Backpod, usuing it only once every few weeks. It takes time and e=ffort to get things free, but once there it's usually easy to maintain them.
Also, ideally shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've a scoliosis, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs and down your back and sides, plus usually the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. The two massages in the Backpod's user guide will help lots as well.
Cheers, Steve August.
Steve, this thing took away 70% of costochondritis for me in just less than 2 weeks of usage. I had initially gone to the doctor, they ruled out any heart problem or anything serious, told me it is costochondritis (which I kept mispronouncing as "Costcoconditis" for some reason) and then many many months later, discovered you and ordered the backpod. I have ALL sorts of back issues dating back to 2012 when I injured my back severely and never really did any strength or core training for a full decade, probably weakening it insanely in this period.
Hi. Good. if you can get 70% improvement in two weeks of using the Backpod, then it's obviously what I've been saying it is. Which means it's fixable.
It can take more than just the Backpod alone, though. 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
Hi might sound a bit daft but this bit
With costochondritis, make sure you also use the Backpod positioned slightly to the side of the spine over the curve of the ribs, to quietly stretch free the tightened rib joints.
Does that mean just to the side of either side of the spine please? The instruction booklet never came with my back pod so I’m looking about for the instructions and watching the videos.
Hi. There's a full Backpod user guide to download or view near the bottom of most pages on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz That has the instructions for use in it. What the Backpod's doing is stretching tight thoracic spine and rib joints. You use it under the spine to stretch the spinal joints, moving it up and down the thoracic spine itself. You also use it to stretch the rib joints, where the ribs hinge onto each spinal vertebra. You stretch these rib joints by positioning the Backpod about 35-50mm (1.5 - 2 inches) out from the midline of the spine, over the curve of the ribs; so between the inside edge of your shoulder blade and the spine. Do both sides.
You want to free up that whole thoracic and rib cage area, but the tightest bits will need more than the not-so-tight bits. 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. That upper traps one will be ideal for your remaining scarring in there.
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
Hope that makes sense. Chase what feels tightest. Sure, it can get a bit tender for the first few days as things start to move again. Stick with it. It takes time to stretch the tight stuff - it's really tough.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve, I've been using the backpod for around 2 weeks now and I go a few days where I feel like I am improving, ribs seem to be freeing up etc. then out of no where I'll have a day where my upper back becomes very painful and lying on the backpod causes intense spasms, like sharp pain in very focused areas of my back. The next day I will be very sore in my upper back but I continue to use the back pod twice a day, the pain usually subsides after a day or two. Previous to the backpod all my pain was in my chest, is this pain expected when freeing up of the ribs? Do I just continue using it as I am? I've been using it with 3 pillows but the first couple of days I had it I may have gotten over excited and removed the pillows during the stretch.
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The backpod has been a fantastic so far, I no longer have carpal tunnel symptoms in my arms and on the days I'm not experiencing this back pain I feel almost 100% better plus my anxiety for the most part has completely gone. Thank you so much for your product and dedication to answering questions - my life has already been greatly improved after only 2 weeks.
Hi Doctor! I’m sure I probably know the answer to this, but is it okay to exercise while just starting to use the backpod? I am extremely tight ( can barely do it with three pillows ) but would like to still get some form of exercise while my body tries to heal while using the backpod. Even at home workouts make it flare up, so maybe I should just stick to walking right now?
Hi Faith. Stick to walking for now. Costo is different. You can't train through it, sorry.
The core of the problem is that the rib joints round the back can't move at all, so the joints at the other end of the same ribs where they hinge onto your breastbone HAVE to move excessively - every breath you take. So they strain, 'give', get irritated, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo.
So, this means that any general exercise you do, whether in the gym, yoga, stretches, etc. just further strains the already strained rib joints on your breastbone - way before you get a benefit to the tight rib joints round the back. You can't train through costo, and you can't fix it by training. There are some videos out there that reckon you can, but anyone who thinks you can doesn't understand it.
Sure, general muscle support, especially the muscles around the back, and stretching, etc. are helpful, but only, repeat only, after you've freed up the rib machinery around the back first. That's why we use the Backpod. You're really tight, hence the three pillows, so it will take a few weeks at least before the joints have stretched free enough not to need a pillow at all. When you get to that, then you can start doing exercises again.
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
Well done on thinking for yourself, and good luck with the work.
Cheers, Steve August.
I just ordered mine I've been dealing with minor costo for about 3 weeks now it has been getting better on its own significantly but I ordered the back pod so I can use it as a preventative measure for the future.
Good thinking. So nice to hear of someone who got onto it fast, instead of having the problem for years. It'll most probably be happening because you're spending much time over laptops, tablets and smartphones - we call it the iHunch. There are other things which cause the tight rib machinery around the back but that's the commonest reason these days.
So the Backpod gives you the tool to stretch those rib cage and spinal joints free, and keep them free, which essentially solves the problem. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Is there something else I can use instead of the pod? I live in South Africa and cannot afford it.
I'd also like to know if having asthmatic bronchitis means I am at greater risk to sustain injury while attempting to fix this?
To think yesterday I was fine, I even woke up today feeling fine, just to descover pain between and under my breasts basically lining my ribs. It's really frustrating because looking at the comments under videos that say it'll go away on its own you can definitely see that some people have struggled with this for months and that if it goes away it just comes back later on. I already have one chronic condition that I constantly have to monitor so this is frustrating. Why does it get jammed up in the back? Why does it happen to some people and not others? My parents and siblings have never had this but for some reason it has to happen to me.
Anyway, I have an old medicine ball that our local gym gave us when it went belly up, will that help?
You're asthmatic so your rib cage has got chronically tight anyway - asthma isn't just about the lungs. When the rib hinges round the back get tight enough, then the ones on your breastbone HAVE to move excessively to compensate - every breath you take. So they strain, crack and click and pop, 'give' - and welcome to costo. You fix it by freeing up the rib joints round the back. I do not know of anything that gives a really effective stretch to those posterior rib joints other than the Backpod. That's what we built it for. I don't know how you get one to South Africa.
The Pronoun I you might want to try a yoga block, or a rolled up towel, used in exactly the same ways described in this video. It’s not the same but does still work to a degree. I lost my back pod and so tried those alternatives, they were not bad. My chiro also recommended a foam roller used similarly but i hated that, though mine is a very dense and hard roller . If you try the yoga block, get a low one, and make sure to use the block on its lowest side, you’re not after height. Look for info on the supported fish pose also.
After 5 grueling months with costo, I did some independent research and found this. I just got it in the mail today and am trying it out first time. I’ll update in a few weeks if it helps with the pain/inflammation. I have high hopes, wish me luck!
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 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.).
Hi Steve - I bought the Backpod and it arrived today (Yay!). I bought it because of tightness in the centre of my chest. However, I have also been suffering from numb hands at night, that I thought was unrelated... I haven't been able to replicate this (numb hands) while being awake until tonight using the backpod - numb hands in moments. Do you have any experience of this with clients? Any hints and tips on how I can use backpod to relieve this - it would be a win-win!
Admire your responses on these queries. Top work. Best regards, Aidan
Hi Aidan. What you’re telling me is that you’re really tight, and probably a bit hunched also. It’s really common, you are not alone, and what you’re describing as things start to loosen on the Backpod is common also.
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. However this may definitely be risky with COVID-19. I don't know where you are in the world.
In any case, you can also 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. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine.
Stick with it. You’ve been tight a long time and this stuff takes time to loosen. Think of having a hamstring muscle so tight you can’t touch your knees. It takes weeks to get down to your toes, but that’s the real world. The numbness should clear as the joints and muscles free up. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve! Super nice video. Been using the backpod for a few weeks and my sternum area feels almost free of pain, though now it seems to have moved to the fake and floating ribs. Can I still use the backpod and lower it in the spine to move the lower ribs? Also my chest feels tight but no pain in the sternum area, seems like maybe scar tissue has created in the front of the chest? Seems something hard is there making tight... thanks a lot!
Hi Javier. Nice going - you're getting there, and you're entirely correct about needing to free up the soft tissue around the front somewhat too. Yes, just go lower with the Backpod as well to hit the ribs that need it.
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 thanks a lot for this great reply. I appreciate it a lot. Will follow your recommendations. You are really great :)
hi i have a question, i have seen that everyone suffers from chstochondritis i was diagnostic with teitze syndrome (i belive from bad posture ...20 years working on pc) its now 4 months I tryed almost everything ....can the back pod be used for my condition? its my last hope..
Hi Paolo. Tietze's Syndrome is just costochondritis with enough swelling to be noticeable - it's not a whole different entity. So, just to be clear - everything you've tried in the last four months has not worked. So, it's all been wrong - including whatever the doctors have done.
This is the usual story. The usual medical and popular idea is that costo is a "mysterious inflammation" - and the existing, already published medical research shows clearly that it's NOT. See my video on the actual medical research on costo and Tietze's - ua-cam.com/video/t8k2LCLeR24/v-deo.html
Costo and Tietze's are just strain and pain at the rib joints on your breastbone because your rib joints round the back can't move. So you fix it by freeing up that tight rib machinery around the back. Any treatment purely for the pain at the front, or for an assumed general inflammation, misses the point and is just wasting your time.
The Backpod is the only thing I know of that will actually do an effective stretch on frozen rib and spinal joints around the back - it's your single most effective tool for fixing costo. Of course it's fixable - you just have to do the right stuff for it.
You've got costo on top of the iHunch. Most new costochondritis is happening these days because of hunching over computers, especially laptops, tablets and smartphones. As well as the spine getting hunched and then freezing like that, the rib joints at the back also tighten up. When they get tight enough to freeze, the more delicate rib hinges on the breastbone then have to move more just to let you breathe. So they strain, get irritated, then inflamed - and there's your costo. If it's bad enough to get swelling then it's called Tietze's.
This is really common. We built the Backpod and its home programme primarily to counter the iHunch. Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website, plus the costo page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ Then get a Backpod and start fixing it.
Cheers, Steve August.
thank you for taking the time to answer me. I do not think I have swelling but if I press in the center of the sternum I have pain and sometimes behind my back in the same position. I will try the backpod and watch your video thank you again
@@paolosaraceno2082 Hi Paolo. I was assuming swelling because that's usually why you get given a diagnosis of Tietze's Syndrome. It's good that it's not that bad - should mean it's easier to fix.
Hi Steve,
I can't believe that you answer to anyone! It seems a lot of people don't find an efficient answer to their pain.
I'm dealing with costochondritis since 6 long months. It's the second time but this time stronger, I already had this 2 years ago but disappear in 6-8 months with physio + acupuncture.
This time, I saw around 10 times a physiotherapist + 3 times an osteopath and the pain is going since december to the neck, upper back, shoulder and arm. I can't move the arm, I don't have any strength and its really sore when I try to move the shoulder. The osteopath told me that my neck nerves are pinched in different points and thay explain the arm pain.
But Osteopath and Physio also told me that they don't know too much about the costochondritis, and the treatment they give are mostly for the "frozen" arm, but not good for the costochondritis as I can feel that it's worst and worst.
I start to use the back pad for 4 days and I now I can feel that the pain going to the other side. The pain was always in the right size but now going also to the other one.
Do you think its normal?
Thanks for your answer and tour time.
Sophie
Hi Anne-Sophie. Thanks for noticing that. I don't know how much longer I can keep answering questions - it does take up hours every day. But I've got 30 years of useful expertise in this area, and I do remember what it was like when I had costochondritis for seven years myself, before becoming a New Zealand physiotherapist and fixing it completely. It does seem worthwhile passing that expertise back - especially when the popular medical and patient view of costo is shown to be simply wrong, by the existing medical research.
Okay - your particular case isn't easy. You've got a frozen shoulder as well - which will be connected; it's not just a coincidental separate problem. About 60% of shoulder movement happens at the ball joint of the shoulder itself; 30% at the glide of the scapula over the rib cage, and 10% at the rib and spinal joint movement in the area. So, you're well frozen up over that whole upper side - I'm assuming it's your right side.
You're getting the costo strain and pain at the rib joints on your sternum on your right side, because the rib and spinal joints around the back can't move. Well done on thinking for yourself and getting a Backpod. That'll give you the specific leverage to free up the immobile rib and spinal joints around the back. They're causing the costo pain at the front, but they're also part of the frozen shoulder problem - they're not moving either.
Keep going on the Backpod. Well done on thinking for yourself and getting one. Do please re-check you're using it exactly as the instructions say. Use it on the spine plus slightly out to both sides of the spine to get the rib joints - spend most time on the tightest right rib joints.
Don't worry about the left sided pain. You've been completely frozen on the right rib machinery, hence the pain on the right. But also a lesser tightness on the left as well. Now that the right tightness is loosening up you're feeling a bit of left-sided pain as the improved movement reaches to that lesser left tightness. Just use the Backpod over your whole very tight back and rib cage, left as well as right sided.
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. In a week you can use it twice a day and for longer than just 30-60 seconds in any one position.
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
I’m guessing this next bit, but the commonest reason these days for costo (and also for a lot of frozen shoulders) 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. I'm not minimising how much effort it'll take - frozen shoulders are really nasty and slow. It's good that you're seeing a physio - you will need extra strengthening, stretches, etc. beyond the basic ones in the Backpod's programme. But the Backpod and its programme are going to do a good job on the costo part of the problem, and help the frozen shoulder part as well.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Not sure where to put it. When you say between shoulder blades is it on spine? Or muse between spine and shoulder blade, just on one side? Thanks
Just read the instructions.
Hey Steve! Thank you so much for this video! I’ve been using the back pod for the better part of three weeks now, slowly removing pillows once per week. The initial chostro in my left sternum area is gradually decreasing but I get this sharp pain in my lower left breast just under the nipple whenever I twist my torso to the right. A couple days ago I was in my armchair and found when I breathed deeply I got the same pain in the lower left breast area and a tiny point in my left shoulder. I lean on the side of hypochondria & I've been instructed by my doctor that whatever pain I’ve been experiencing is ‘not’ cardiac related (he’s seen me multiple times and each time he points to Costro), but I do get nervous about it sometimes cause it just seems like the left side of my chest gets a new spot of pain all the way down the center. I’m also guilty of bending forward more than I need to when sitting. Based on the symptoms I’ve described, Would you say my lower left breast pain is still costochondritis? Again, love the backpod & appreciate your videos!
Hi Michael. Sure sounds like it. Relax - trust your doc. They're really good at checking out the heart and other dire possibilities; they're just (usually) not good on costo.
Stick with the Backpod. It’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time, but it's obviously freeing up fine. 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.
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.
But you're also tight around the front. That's why you get that pain on the left when you twist to your right - it pulls on the soft tissue, pec muscles, etc. on your chest. 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. It's getting there fine. Well done on thinking for yourself.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Hi Steve, i´m at the point when i no longer need pillows to do the stretch and i have some questions regarding the costo treatment plan pdf.
First it says that now to put a stronger strecht i should lift my buttocks while streching but my questing is, do i lift my buttocks while moving my arms up and down or i move my arms up to my head to my weist whitout liffting my buttocks? And the other thing is that it mention to do the strech up to 1 to 3 minutes, is that only on the parts that feel more tight or in general?
And the second doubt i have is the sitting twist exercise you mention in the other video and you link in the pdf. My english is not the best so i dont get to hear well in the video how many reps and times a day should i do.
Thanks in advance. And thanks to the backpod, it really has been life changer for me.
Hi. Just add in one extra bit on the Backpod at a time, and see how it goes. So, just lift your buttlocks off. When that's okay, try doing that plus working your arm up over your head. then try doing that with both arms. It's just adding in the parts of a stronger stretch.
Just do 1-3 minutes on the tightest bits.
See Section (2) in that PDF. Do the sitting twist exercise after using the Backpod, and also a few times during the day.
I have had costochondritis for two years after being hunched over a laptop and then taking a fall down the stairs. Some of the pains are pretty scary and gave me panic attacks and generalised anxiety disorder just thinking about the pain coming back. There was pops in the chest and cracks around the sternum. I also breathed shallow sometimes because deep breaths were occasionally uncomfortable. Little did I know that shallow breathing was causing palpitations and anxiety and made my mind worse. I slumped on the sofa that triggered it. I sat up straight that triggered it. I fixed the breathing and did slightly deeper breaths which fixed palpitations. But each time I had the sharp pains I had panic attacks. All my pains were above the ribcage and emanating from the sternum and around it. Mainly left side but sometimes right side and a little milder. After two years of this niggling back pain from the left side of the spine and pains and aches in the left pec and sternum, I decided to try this backpod. Like a fool I was doing it wrong and causing more pain. I literally went straight in with no pillows or cushions under my head. It hurt too much, I stopped doing it and it came back again. I am now taking it slowly and following the instructions better and to the letter. End of week 3 and its easing. I purchased a neck posture cushion for sleep which helps also. I can feel a big difference going into week 4. Much happier and my mind is much better. I do take D3 and Cod Liver Oil also now as well as walking and as I feel the movement is helping me free it up. So please persevere, start slowly and take it easy. Follow the manual and videos to the letter, it will work. Maybe supplement D3 and Omega 3 which could help with the pain. But anti-inflammatory medication seemed to do nothing. I had more help from paracetamol or cocodamol when the pain was sore. It was always worse in the evening I noticed too. So take pain relief definitely toward the evening. I also tried CBD which seemed to help in a high dose of 1500mg a day. But you don't need any of the above if you use the backpod regularly. I don't take anything apart from the D3 and Omega 3 now alongside usual vitamins and minerals. Movement helps also. Being sedentary is common with costo. But that's one of the biggest problems. I wish you all luck, try this pod honestly. Definitely worth it even if it relieves the pain by 50% which I know it will be better than that. That's got to be worth it. You don't have to suffer. I wish you all well. And don't do what I did. This block is for the long term not weeks or months. It can come back. So keep doing it indefinitely. Don't stop.
May I ask how you were doing it wrong? I am going to try it again. I just realized I wasn't putting it in the middle on the spine.
@@kathymorehouse6505 hi Kathy. He says start with 3 pillows and if it hurts it says in the manual that you can put a towel or fluffy blanket over it to soften it. I used no pillows and it was causing too much of a stretch. In the long run it gave me way more pain in the back. It was very sore for days after using it so I gave into the idea it was doing me no good, instead of doing it with 3 pillows properly to begin with. I actually thought his video says in the same first session to remove the pillows one by one. I didn't listen. Was in some discomfort and just did what I saw in this video without really listening.
Well done. You worked it out. What you just described is the single biggest problem we have with getting the Backpod to help people - following the instructions.
If you do too much too soon - it'll hurt. It's like having hamstrings that are so tight you can't touch your knees. If you try to force down to the floor in one hit - it'll hurt.
So you don't do that. Pleased you worked that out. It takes time to stretch the tight stuff - at least weeks. So all you do is a bit daily, and it'll get there. Well done.
With costochondritis, you often need other bits dealt to as well. Here's a long wordy PDF covering them. It's best read on a computer rather than a phone, and you can skim the bits that don't apply to you. Good luck with the work.
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 thank you Steve. It has really helped. Just take several minutes a day and it works nicely. I think I was too desperate for change and overlooked or only read what I wanted to read on desperation. Works well when you take it easy. 👍
@@stevenzphysio4203 just a simple question please if you don't mind. What time is best to do it. Is there any evidence for morning or evening as being a more beneficial time. I did notice it gets sore as the day goes on if I started in the morning. I've never tried evening as an alternative. Thank you in advance. Andy
Hi, is this good for costochondritus that is mainly affecting the lower ribs? Can costochondritus pain also spread and feel like stomach pain right by the rib?
Hi. Yes. When the rib joints round the back can't move, then the rib joints on your sternum MUST move excessively just to let you breathe. That's what costo is - it's NOT a "mysterious inflammation" arriving for no reason. If it's the lower ribs round the back that can't move, then you'll get lower rib cage pain. Same answer - free up the tight rib machinery round the back so the strain stops happening at the front.
If it's the very lowest ribs, then you can feel some stomach pain as well. All the same, you should see your doctor in case there's a specific problem in your stomach area that isn't to do with the costo.
I do often find that people with very low costo pain are usually very tight and strained in their abdominal muscles as well, so that can tie in with your stomach symptoms.
I had right side shoulder blade pain for months. Many massages and chiropractic visits only helped slightly. Took a chance on a BackPod from AMZ Prime, figuring I could always return it. Tried it last night for the first time. Omg! I don't know what sort of magic they sprinkle in these Pods at the factory, but today I have zero pain. ZERO!! I didn't even lay on it yet. I just pressed my back against it up against a wall, placing the Pod slightly right of center and pressed for about a minute until I felt something release while I was watching American Idol. I will never return this! P.S...yes, it was a little sore for a few hours, but it's been about 18 hours and soreness is gone now.
Hi Rico. Well good - that's what we've been trying to tell people! Costo isn't that difficult to sort out if you do the right things for it.
DO follow the instructions in the user guide. Start quietly (which you've done), accept it'll take some time, and don't be surprised if you get a bit of tenderness as things start to free up. Good luck!
Hi Steve, The Backpod has helped me tremendously, I’m pregnant and at 19 weeks I started feeling horrible stabbing pain in my sternum and front ribs on my left side. It was debilitating as I couldn’t sit for more than 20 min without horrible pain and would wake up crying multiple nights a week/could barely sleep. I tried everything, 6 weeks of PT as recommended my by doc, chiropractor, and massage but nothing provided relief.
Three weeks ago I bought the Backpod at 28w, it has done wonders. I do use it about 3x per day for 10 minutes each, now I can sit for hours and no excruciating stabbing pains keeping me up at night. I am however still pretty tight and get the stabbing pain every so often. I saw it should be about 90% better at this point, and wondering what additional recommendations to help this resolve. Just hoping to be pretty improved before labor and saw another pregnant woman post about some massages my partner can do to help? Thank you Steve! I would be really suffering without your invention!
Hi Stephanie. It’s common for costo to start over pregnancy. 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 would have been 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 simple home programme there (and in the Backpod's user guide) is aimed pulling you straight and free again. You can't do all the bits in the programme while you're pregnant, but do talk, bargain or bribe your partner into doing the two home massages. The sitting one especially done all the way down to the low back is ideal, and you can do it all the way through your pregnancy. It's shown as a video on the page.
Good luck with everything! Cheers, Steve August.
Hello Stephanie I’m currently pregant too 31 weeks but this started happening about two months prior to me being pregant.. this is my second week going into my second week of using and I still feel the same but I’m not sure if I’m doing it right .. did you place the backpod directly on your spine ?? I’ve been placing mine on the sides of my sides and sometimes icing the front when I get bad flares .. please help !!
Can I still go the gym with my Costochondritis and use the backpod at home?
Hi Chris. Nope. You probably know that yourself. 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.
Sorry, I'm sure you'd hate to give up exercising for a bit. The costo doesn't care.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hello Steve, first of all, thank you. I found my way here through trying to research different modes of self-adjustment, and when looking up how to move the front ribs, Bob and Brad mentioned you by name so I found your lovely podcast and then your overview of the data on Costochondritis. It was on sale at Amazon, and freakishly they delivered my backpod within a few hours of me ordering it there, probably since I'm near a major city. I have some data from my first 4 days (and that of my girlfriend) that may be of interest to others.
Background: Concert pianist, career on hold for years due to back, chest and arm pain. Other careers include soldering microchips, video game testing, gardening, all things involving hunching the thoracic spine. SLeeping in a bed and laying flat was too painful for me, and so I have been sleeping on the couch for months, as that felt like a more natural position that let my muscles relax. Waking from bed no matter my sleeping position or amount of support left me in lots of pain for the first hour of each day; usually too much pain to do many stretches.
Posture correction did not work, posture exercises helped for some things, particularly strengthening of the lower back (different modes of planks and such). 2x weekly manipulations from a therapist worked to an extent but the problem was not solved. I could not tolerate massage; too painful. If I look at the thumbnails from my youtube vids, I can immediately now see my iHunch.
Notable incident: a couple of years ago I was laying in bed propped on my elbow, when one of my right front ribs suddenly jutted forward out of the joint. When I went to my chiro, he did a pretty strong CPR shove to put it back in and it made an unnervingly loud grinding noise. He said he hasn't seen that except in car accidents or in a case of someone being hit in the back by a baseball bat. My current opinion now is that this was indicative of the severity of my thoracic lockup.
Girlfriend: Works in adult industry, also a live streamer and gamer, seemed to have the same problems as me but less advanced.
My usage data:
Day 1: Read 10 pages of booklet and jumped in, hopes high. Not pretending to be macho, I did 3 pillows. Centering the pod on the spine was very uncomfortable, bruised feeling for a day or two. Off to the side was better and I stayed on the thing wiggling around for over 30 minutes, alternating sides and height. I did not only raise my arms above my head into the recommended position, but tried many types of arm motions, up and down. Right thumb went numb, and the index and middle fingers to a lesser extent, during use. I applied ice packs immediately and at a few other times through the day. It felt very different than anything I'd done before; the pain was a bit acute but began to notice right away that I had more stamina for piano practice and cooking. I could not do more than 10 minutes of either before without stopping my activity to rest. I sat down at the piano and an hour had gone by; no screaming back or headache. I also noticed that the nagging tightness in my hip seemed to have released, but also my right leg became quite 'weak', similar to the feeling of a kinesiologist doing a muscle test and finding an easy collapse. I took a step down off a curb and my right leg gave out, not in pain, but with this feeling of 'muscle test weakness'. I took it easy and all was good. My assessment of day 1 is that I have a very advanced case and the pain was a result of the severity of the problem. I was very very excited that I could play more piano.
Day 2: Bruised feeling continued, but did some stretches and used the pod off to the sides. More deep motion feelings, and my trigger points were unable to 'run away' from me (like they do with my trusty lacrosse ball) and some released! I did about 15 minutes this day. More piano stamina than the day before, one longer 2.5 hour session and pain did not make me quit playing in the end.
Day 3: Still could not center the pod on the spine even with towel on the floor, but used at a 45 degree angle on the couch with some success. I began to feel as though a manipulation would really help me, as I developed some headache and shooting arm pains through the day. I kept returning to the pod on the couch since that was the only thing that made me feel better.
Day 4: Went for a manipulation and took the pod for my physio to see. He immediately started playing with it and using it hilariously wrong, so I left the book with him and told him not to use it where there weren't ribs, and also that I wanted any thoughts he had after reading the book and watching your videos which I emailed him. He was intrigued and remarked about its aggressiveness; he's going to get one to try. Today's manipulation was *highly* successful. Neck and mid-back manipulations that caused brief acute pain did not today, rather my joints moved much more freely and with a 'clunky' feeling. He remarked about this also. I was able to get off the table using only my abdominal muscles for the first time, rather than having to roll off to the side. I still had a rough amount of shoulder pain and knots upon returning home which was frustrating (because we all want a manipulation to fix the world), but on returning home I iced everything and then got on my back pod. I was very surprised at how centering the pod on the spine did NOT hurt today, in fact, I went down to one pillow. I spent about 30 minutes with the pod and gosh the relief was good this time. Lots of deep 'unlocking' feelings in the thoracic, and again was able to get off the floor without pain! I have scheduled an ultrasound for tomorrow to test that out on my shoulder. Right thumb still goes numb (thumbness?) with arms over head, and pulling feeling in biceps, but it was much improved. I have to say, things are really looking up and I'm starting to have hopes of being able to practice piano regularly enough to be the pianist I want to be.
Girlfriend:
Day 1: Centering on the spine was less difficult for her, and provided the same subtle relief for daily activities and work. She remarked multiple times through the day that at points where she usually expects tension and pain, she was surprised that she did not get it. Through the day, she began to get increased soreness 'in the diaphragm', which felt like a deep muscular pain. I postulated that if ribs were slightly freer, this might make sense. She quit work eventually and went to bed with a big ice pack across her abdomen. This diaphragmatic discomfort did not persist after one night of sleep.
Day 2 and 3: She is on two pillows and with continued reports of increased work stamina and much less pain.
Day 4: She got a manipulation same time as me, and she said it was her 'most successful adjustment ever', she said she felt like everything moved and experienced tremendous relief that persists to the present moment.
So, I think the rest of this is probably going to be by-the-book. The therapy started off painful, but I embraced it and went as far as I could anyway. Again, I really think the pain indicates the severity of my problem; when I watch the model demonstrate in the video, I am absolutely astounded by her thoracic mobility. I've never had anything of the kind, in fact just 'being straight' felt unnatural. The strangest thing I'm currently experiencing is, my right hand seems to be much more responsive at the piano to my intentions. Maybe this is nerves starting to communicate better with less compression.
Thank you Steve, very much. Hope these anecdotes can add to some data pool. I will be putting some 'non-slip' stickers on the back of the pod, so that I can use it against the wall.
Hello! That's great - really enjoyed your gripping day-to-day report; thank you. I can get a bit caught up in the technicalities - it's a good reminder to me of what it's like from the viewpoint of a patient.
That all makes complete sense, and you're on the way. You're doing everything correct, and - Hallelujah! - you have a chiro who listens and isn't automatically opposed to the Backpod which they see as competition to their attentions. (Which it is - but it's a complement, not in opposition. It's an ideal combination with good, effective manipulation - manips to unlock any really frozen joints, and the Backpod to stretch the tightened collagen around them so they can stay free. I have had hate mail from a few US chiros - idiots. I thought the important thing was what's best for the patient?)
Good - you're on the way. You're stretching bits that haven't moved for years, so it's not instant. Don't get disheartened if the costo bites you yet - it takes time to free everything up.
I'm not surprised you're worse than most people, given you're a concert pianist. It's the same inevitably hunched position as the iHunch over desktop computers not set up correctly, laptops, tablets and smartphones. I used to lecture on musicians' injuries. They're appallingly high, and piano figures high in them. (The worst is almost violin, which is flexed but also so asymmetrical. The only thing that beats it is viola, which is the same thing only heavier. The least problems are from percussion including drums, partly because those guys are partly animal anyway..)
Re your bit of numbness down the arm - it can happen. What you’re telling me is that you’re really 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. It's a lot like sleeping funny on your arm and waking up with it numb and tingling for a bit.
Talk your partner into doing the home sitting massage on you - shown in the Backpod's user guide and also as this video here: ua-cam.com/video/9eLUQX03IoE/v-deo.html Get her to go hard down between your shoulder blades. Do every few days for a few weeks. It's great that she's got problems too - you can do swaps on each other.
Ideally, also, 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. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine.
Have a look through this 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. Do see in Section (2) where there's a sitting twist exercise once the Backpod has loosened the joints sufficiently. That and a pec stretch should be your brief warm-up before playing the piano - ongoing.
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 Thanks so much for your kind and extremely encouraging response, it really helps. Wow, that arm stretch was fantastic! It feels much better even after typing for a while since then.
I'm so happy to hear that you also dealt with musician injuries; I find myself talking about self-care as much as music when teaching these days. In this regard, I have made a discovery that I want to tell you briefly about regarding ergonomics at the piano. I was studying the Chopin etudes, and trying to regard Chopin's promise that his first etude: "if practiced very slowly and for a long time allowing no tension, that it will expand the player's reach." I was puzzled, until one day I was sitting at the piano with my arms down and looking at the ceiling. I stood up with arms dropped at my sides, and bent my elbow. I noticed that the natural position of the thumb is pointing at the ceiling. I then turned my hand palm facing the floor, as is taught in current piano method, and consciously felt for the first time what happened in my shoulders when I did this. The weight suddenly settles there, and the elbows are trying to flare outward. I thought, 'odd', then stuck my hand on the piano that way. To my surprise, my reach *had* actually expanded, especially regarding the inner fingers, when my hand was at about a 35 degree angle (my index finger's knuckle being the highest point of the hand at that stage). I then realized what this first study of Chopin's was trying to get me to do, and have since discovered that these 24 studies are studies in ergonomics, and each one was written with a certain ergonomic idea in mind as its underlying theme, even below that of the music.
If you've got a keyboard, see how many keys you can reach between the index and the pinky finger with the palm facing the floor. Then try the twist, you should instantly reach a fair amount farther, probably the distance of one more key. I was shocked at this, then decided to go watch small children and blind pianists play. Nearly everyone with immense natural talent or without eyesight does *not* put the palm parallel to the floor (i.e. in a way that is shunned at sight by the pianistic community). Then I thought "if I'm right, I should discover that angled computer mice exist." I did and immediately bought one. Then the same physio I mentioned before informed me that this is also the position a doctor will put someone's hand in for an x-ray if one is needed, because "This is the way the architecture of the hand makes the most sense." I realized that in this position, Loud and Soft playing, previously determined by weight applied vertically (where the shoulder is the fulcrum or, at best, a shock absorber), became a matter of a more 'screwdriver turning' motion, and there was suddenly much more dynamic control in my wheelhouse. This was a year ago and everything about how I play the piano has become freer by bearing this thing in mind. And much like the US docs, nobody yells at me more than the trained piano teachers for going on about it! It's funny what random little discovery can shatter 25 years of one's training.
Thanks for the humor also, I laughed a few times during your message and while reading the pdf; this is also a great medicine. I'm not a deist, but bless you anyway.
@@Contracrostics Yes - really good thinking. There are the bits that the human body does well, having evolved and developed to be good at them. Then there are the exigencies of using various instruments to produce sound. Sure, there's often a mismatch.
One is that when you roll your forearm palm down and flat to accommodate to a horizontal piano or computer keyboard, you're mostly using forearm muscles called the pronator teres to do so (a.k.a. pronation action). The median nerve runs between the two heads of these muscles, and can commonly be impinged by their action - like someone standing on a hose. So since you're wanting maximum control, speed and sensitivity of your hand and figures for playing - you don't want any limiting pressure on this nerve.
What you've worked out is a way to not push quite so hard with this pronating muscle, therefore not putting as much compression on the nerve. Completely fits with the anatomy, and well done. That's the player and teacher answer.
You can get computer keyboards humped to a ridge in the middle, so you don't have to pronate so much when using them. That's the device answer. No idea if anyone's ever done this for a piano keyboard.
You can also just keep the forearm flexors and pronator teres free and flexible with stretches and occasional massage so the nerve and blood supply running through them aren't compressed. That's the physio answer. (Actually, that applies to your whole arm, shoulder and torso - that nerve stretch for the arm is an example.)
I'm intrigued by musicians' injuries - I enjoyed lecturing on them. Also my children and grandchildren play piano, violin, viola, cello, flute, sax, double base, etc. - so there was always something to sort out personally. (One of Hannah's life goals is a grand.)
I think - hit the problem from all directions, not just one. The better and more flexible you keep the machine, the more margin there is for styles.
Musicians have an appalling high rate of injury. I'm a bit out of date now, but they were also treated appallingly badly, in my opinion. You have to see them as sports injuries, and musicians as elite athletes - in the muscle groups they're using. (I worked out that if you count the finger contractions in piano for The Trout, and apply that number to hamstring contractions when running, playing it is equivalent to three marathons back-to-back. I'm not sure that's completely accurate, but the general idea is.) Sure, you'll get problems.
This is compounded by musicians knowing they're sedentary and not jocks, and feeling they have to practice to the max to get good, and that bloody Little Mermaid idea of ignoring the pain for your art or your love. It's not talent that stops most serious musicians but pain. It's further compounded by the pros not wanting to admit to problems, which may have real world consequences for their careers.
Teachers focus on specific style - to the point of almost duelling over the way to hold bits of your body, as you know. (John Otto Cleese in The Life of Brian: "He IS the true messiah! And I should know - I've followed a few.")
Nothing wrong with that, but as well - if you keep the machine well oiled with joint, muscle and nerve stretches, massage, some support strength, some cardiovascular fitness so your circulation is good to start with, then you can afford to be less completely rigid in style. You've got some leeway before getting sore. (Way less problems in those swoopy Eastern European violinists compared to the rigid, anal British types. I'm stereotyping shamelessly.)
This is all bog standard New Zealand sports medicine and injury prevention. Hopefully it's changed, but when I was lecturing, the approach in the rest of the world was largely stop playing for six months, and then think about surgery. There was just zero sports medicine understanding applied to musicians. You'll know what's around now.
I did once start a book on the care and maintenance of the violinist, in collaboration with the prof of music in my local university. There was certainly a need. But it got lost in the usual busy-ness of life.. (Pity. I may yet return to it. Violin is so completely nuttily asymmetrical and weird - it's a physio's delight. Piano is really easy - it's essentially the iHunch with some arm and nerve stretches.)
Sorry - rambling on. It's an area I like, and I like musicians, and their problems are logical and readily solvable when seen through a sports injury lens, which certainly wasn't usually done. Good luck with the work on your own problem. Cheers.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks so much again; I feel you've given me a ridiculous amount of your time but I'm very grateful for your replies as well. Your giving me the name of that muscle lead to some interesting research today. I feel a bit irresponsible for not looking up the nerve structure before, and I see now where that median nerve runs also to C6-C8 (and does some weird rejoining around the bicep?). I found different hand bending tests for the pronator teres to check it, and all returned negative so at least that area isn't strained. Lots of interesting reading about cervical radiculopathy as well, where the symptoms are more closely resembling what I've been experiencing.
I think you're absolutely right about hitting the problem from as many angles as possible. It's been fascinating to hear your expertise on all of these things, and extremely eye-opening. We barked up quite a few trees before arriving at this point of examining mechanics, and with each new angle has come paradigm shifts. Some were important, like checking homocysteine levels and looking for candida (we are 15 and 16 Hcy respectively, been trying to lower them because of their relationship to inflammation), organic acids tests, lymph cleanses which did help the fascial trigger points quite a bit, red light therapy, sauna and sunlight, earthing, treating my high cadmium with binders, changing diet to organic with increased fiber, getting rid of household chemicals, doing genetic analyses and guiding diet around SNPs... And then lots of costly red herrings too. I've been looking for any information on whether the types of musculoskeletal issues we've had actually increases cytokines because of constantly re-injuring the tissue, but I haven't found much. Intuitively it seems like it should create a toxic load; do you know?
Day 5: Felt 2 deep cracks in the right ribs (I think 2 and 3) on the 2nd session of the day, experienced intense relief. My girlfriend put her hand on my back and said it was suddenly much flatter and felt very different, not lumpy. I felt it and agreed. I tried bed sleeping because I did not want to be bent up on the couch after this and it did not trouble me like it had been.
Day 6: Pretty sore from day 5 but down to 1 pillow now on the center position stretch, none for the side position and lifted hips for increased smash. Discovered I'm a different height at the piano, now I'm playing like a comedy routine, missing everything. Much experimenting with bench height and distance from the keys, I find I am lowering it and moving it closer, as it's easier to straighten my back. Very discombobulating and funny. Doing the palm up arm stretch no longer produces tingling. Focusing on the massages tomorrow because now soreness is out by the shoulders and traps, infraspinatus area is quite irritated.
Day 6 part 2: At the piano, there was a point where I caught my chin dropping and raised my head quickly (more like tossed it back) and the front 2 or 3 sets of ribs all moved with it, it felt like a zipper unzipping. It was eerie to suddenly feel my throat open up. I ended practice and felt like trying my right side with the Pod after this to see what would happen. It seemed like everything I focused released this time; I got a major motion in the vicinity of C7. Then a major problem that's always around T8-T9 also let go, I got a cold sweat and a wave of intense nausea. Did shallow breathing on the couch for 15 minutes and it cleared up. Now I can honestly say my torso has never felt like this, it's almost like it's not there. I think the pain is, at least for the present moment, lower than any previous baseline. Feeling very happy, just enjoying the new feeling of breathing.
If you do wind up with that book for string players eventually, I'd be first in line for a few copies. My late friend and mentor is an exemplar of the tragedy you're talking about with music professionals. He was the Cliburn winner in 1985, and the lifestyle eventually drove him to suicide some 10 years ago. That signaled my retreat because I saw it would be my road too. Having attended the Cliburn myself and seeing how everyone was popping Advil, Codones, Adderall and such by the dozen backstage just to make it through... when you win that cursed thing, you're given some 200 concerts to complete within a couple of years. In chamber rehearsals I did watch a lot of violinists and violists play through tons of pain, which I glazed over about at the time.
Thanks so much for all your insights and assistance, you've been incredibly kind.
@@Contracrostics Sorry - I'm a little swamped. Still enjoying your daily progress. You're banging through the stages wonderfully quickly. Don't get disheartened if the costo bites you yet - you do expect to get various hiccups along the way as the whole unit steadily frees up and settle back into a new configuration. It is serious remodelling - back towards what you used to the like - and bits of it will protest along the way.
Also - it does take time. You get most of the progress and unlocking in the first few or several weeks, but then it can take months or regular maintenance before it's all stretched out well enough to stay free.
There are all sorts of rather neat ramifications. It's not just posture, and pain reduction, and non-restricted nerve flow, and all that implies on optimal muscle and nerve activity - control, speed and sensitivity. But freeing the rib cage means you get more air into your lungs, and that means more oxygen to your muscles - and your brain. It's a noticeable difference.
Anyway - more power to your elbow. And other bits.
hi steve! i have been struggling to move because of the severe pain/tightness/swelling, and trying to get in to a rheumatologist (4 month wait) as well as trying to decide who to go to regarding physical therapy/chiropractic/massaging for costo, considering i live in the states and have to pretty much educate my doctors on what costo even is. not diagnosed, but i have ruled out heart/lung problems and have all symptoms of tietze syndrome- it has been debilitating. the swelling is constant. I first got it after covid (6 months ago), continued coughing & immobility brought it on then, although i used to bind and had horrible ihunch/posture issues for years beforehand. your videos on the locking joints causing the inflammation has given me a new hope that there is an identifiable cause & treatment, when all doctors wanted to do is throw nsaids at me (even after an ulcer). i am going to purchase the backpod and start on some costo-specific stretches. it seems the tightness and swelling (aside from being on the left side of &below my sternum) is going from the center of my chest all the way to my shoulder, right beneath the collarbone, and messing up mobility issues as well as putting pressure near where my armpit meets my pec. the pec is very tight and i can feel the swollen first couple of ribs underneath it, pushing on the muscle and popping. this is also beginning to cause nerve issues in the affected side's arm, im assuming due to the pressure and tightness right near my armpit. just wondering if this was common with costo and if there are any stretches you recommend specifically for loosening the affected side's shoulder and pec muscles/ribs? also, would you recommend at least one chiropractic adjustment (or even rolfing session) if i believe my issues are being caused by more than the joints at my back freezing, but also general misalignments throughout my body? and should I rule out/treat a potential slipped rib before using the backpod? any and all advice welcome, thank you so much
Sounds bad but not difficult. You're very tight in your rib cage (after the binding) and tight and hunched in your thoracic spine (binding and the iHunch). So the jolt from every time you coughed with Covid hit just the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone, spraining them. And welcome to costochondritis. No, of course it's not a "mysterious inflammation" happening for no reason. And no, of course it can't be fixed just with medications - it's not that sort of a problem. It's bad enough that you're getting the swelling at the rib joints - just like a sprained ankle would swell up. Here's what you do:
(1) Get a Backpod. There is no point in messing around - you'll need to to stretch free the frozen rib and spinal machinery around your back.
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.
(2) Shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two or more, 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
(3) 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.
(4) You'll need this specific bit as well. What you can get with costo and especially Tietze’s Syndrome is swelling where the ribs join onto your breastbone. (Tietze's is just costo with enough swelling of the joints where the ribs join onto your breastbone to be noticeable.)
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.
With costo and Tietze’s, the irritation and strain can continue for months or years, so you can get a rock-like build-up of this stuff, often with a bit of fresh swelling on top. It’s a bit like running with tight boots causing a blister and NEVER STOPPING for years. As long as the rib hinges round the back can’t move, then the rib joints on your breastbone HAVE to keep straining - every breath you take.
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. If you’ve had thoracic surgery, especially a spinal split, 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. Massage wax is best for the massage itself, but ideally afterwards work in something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or CBD cream like Penetrex or BioFreeze (usually available on Amazon). 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're doing.
(5) Don't rush to chiros or PTs. I'm a physio myself. The good ones are good, but I just hear so many stories of ones that weren't, and that actually made it worse - especially the US chiros. Add them in if needed after at least several weeks - you'll need that long to do much of the bits you need to do.
Good luck with the work. Keep going. The only way out is through.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
Cvd19...lol......Cvd19...lol...😅
Hi Steve, I’ve been using it for 30 seconds in the middle of the spine (between shoulder blades) and 30 seconds in the right side (between shoulder blade and spine). I just started using it a week ago and I’ve been using it daily this way. Is this recommended? Is that enough time? My costo pain is right side
Hello Steve, I’ve been dealing with costochondritis for about three months… it is extremely depressing. I ended up in the emergency room with a panic attack. I thought I was having a heart attack… after they ran a bunch of test. Everything came out good doctors just can’t explain why I have a chest pain. It’s very frustrating. The pain ranges from small pain to very intense pain but it always there .. never goes away!!!! this thing has me questioning my mental status. It’s crazy what it can do to a person… my anxiety levels have been through the roof this past three months.. after doing so much research, it always ends back to the back pod… I keep reading super good reviews. I just ordered it yesterday and I just received it today. I started with it today.. my question is how often should I do it per day and for how many minutes? Thanks .. I’m really hoping this works for me.
same for me, a constant light chest pain that never goes away, but gets sharp on occasion, along with a painful popping. its been about a year for me. ive been to physical therapy, the chiropractor, massage therapist, ER. currently trying out the backpod
Just ordered mine, either they are saving my life or making money off my pain
@SlowWhiteKid any relief yet?
@@MaturedFreak any relief?
@@MaturedFreak how is it working for you ? I’ve been using it every day in the morning and before bed… I got ice surgery two days ago so I haven’t used it for two days but I must admit it has taken the pain away. I can barely feel it at times now… .the pain is like a 2 .. there’s times that I don’t even feel it anymore but then it reminds me for about 30 minutes that it’s there then it goes away kind of weird but it’s only been like two weeks for me and it has worked.
Also, has this got a spongy springy feel or is it rock hard? I'm a.little worried it may give me a bruised sore feeling to my back. Is that normal if that happens at first?
The core is rock hard for a stronger stretch, which is why the Backpod has a spongy, springy cushioning outer layer. Yes, you can feel things a bit as you start to stretch on the Backpod. That's normal and not a biggie. Same as stretching a tight hamstring - if you couldn't feel anything then it wouldn't be doing anything.
Hi Steve, I injured myself (stupidly) by what I think was too much weight on a Turkish get-up with kettlebells. I lost control of a rep and the weight extended overhead behind me.
Over the next week, I gradually started experiencing the symptoms of Costochondritis in my right rib area which became quite bad (saw an Osteo who thought it was Costo too). This was around three months ago and I bought the backpod which definitely helped and I am now able to use it without a pillow with minimal discomfort. However, I still feel residual pain/discomfort by my right sternum and under my right pec just inside the nipple.
It hasn’t changed much for a few weeks and was wondering if you had any advice to help improve it? I play tennis a lot (keeps me sane!) and I’m worried about getting back to it will just reverse my healing so far. I tried playing yesterday which felt ok for about 45 mins, then felt like it was starting to aggravate it.
I can breathe deeply with no problems and getting up from lying down is generally ok.
Any advice would be amazing and thanks for your videos and general advice, very nice to see someone taking the time to help people out online!
Russell
Hi Russell. Sounds like you've done a good job almost clearing your costo - well done. Getting the last bit clear can be a bit tricky for me over UA-cam - it's not like I can see any specific tweaks your body might need. You've seen the osteooath though, so he or she has probably covered anything like that.
Try these for the last bits - they're the common extras that crop up. You may not need all of them.
(1) 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.
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.
(2) 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. Not until after lockdown's clear, though.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
(3) 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
(4) 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.
(5) What you can get with costo and especially Tietze’s Syndrome is swelling where the ribs join onto your breastbone. (Tietze's is just costo with enough swelling of the joints where the ribs join onto your breastbone to be noticeable.)
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.
With costo and Tietze’s, the irritation and strain can continue for months or years, so you can get a rock-like build-up of this stuff, often with a bit of fresh swelling on top. It’s a bit like running with tight boots causing a blister and NEVER STOPPING for years. As long as the rib hinges round the back can’t move, then the rib joints on your breastbone HAVE to keep straining - every breath you take.
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. If you’ve had thoracic surgery, especially a spinal split, 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 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've done.
Good luck with the remaining bits. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Amazing! Thank you so much for your response Steve., it's much appreciated.
Hi Steve, i was wondering if you could help me figure out what my condition is because I’ve gone to so many doctors and no one can explain exactly what it is and I’ve read online but I don’t know if it’s exactly Costo or something else. But pretty much I have clicking and popping on my left sternum which is always inflamed and makes my whole breast up to my neck feel pain and if I twist my body to the right side the left side sternum starts to flare up and burns. I just need you to shine some light and guide me in the right path please. I’ve been dealing with it for 2 years now and just recently about 2 weeks ago started using the Backpod but not seeing much difference but I’m not feeling as much soreness anymore when using the Backpod. Also one more thing, my upper back feels like it always wants to pop like there’s this urge to bend backwards and pop it but it just won’t pop no matter how much I bend. Also my neck is always super stiff and hurts to try and stretch it to the left or right and if I turn my head to far to the right it will pull on my sternum and crack and every morning when I wake up my chest feels tight needs to crack. Sorry it’s a lot but had to let you know what’s going on with me! Thank you Steve 🙏🏼
Hello. That sounds like bog standard costochondritis. You're frozen up in some of the left-sided rib and spinal joints in your middle back. That's why you feel tight and sore back there too.
When those rib joints can't move, the joints at the other ends of the same ribs where they hinge onto your breastbone MUST move excessively - every breath you take and move you make. So they strain, click, pop, give, get painful and locally inflamed. That's what costo IS. It's not a mystery at all.
So, you're using the Backpod to stretch free the tight rib and spinal machinery around your back. Freeing this up is the irreducible core of fixing costo. Well done. Keep going. DO follow the instructions in the user guide accurately.
Also, you'll probably need other bits of the problem dealt to as well. Here's a long wordy PDF on the other bits needed. It's best read on a computer not a phone. You can skim the bits that clearly don't apply to your specific situation. Good luck with the work!
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
Hope you get better man, I am in the same boat
@@jackhohenwarter7362 thanks man, I hope you get better too. Been a rough couple of years haha
Whenever it’s time to change position and I lift up my head & neck to do so, I end up with an awfully painful, sore neck at the back of it and the sides, the following day. Any suggestions please Steve? I’m currently using one pillow. It’s also difficult to hold my arms up under my head whilst on the Backpod. (bursitis in left shoulder) I tend to keep my arms down by my sides. Is this ok? Am currently seeing a Gonstead Chiropractor to have those tight rib hinges in the back, loosened up. He said that the pod should be used all the way down the spine &.not just between shoulder blades, or things could be ‘put out’ with the spine if I didn’t?
Years of chronic accumulated damage due to lifting, transferring & carrying my disabled son with CP. Thank you.
Hi Amanda. Just make sure you're holding your chin in a bit when you're on, or changing position on, the Backpod. It's in the instructions. That keeps the neck in a neutral position. If you let the chin poke out and the neck arch, then you're compressing all the vertebrae in the neck.
You're probably already quite a bit like that anyway; I've seen it before with patients who lift disabled children. It seems sort of natural to poke your chin out as you tense to do the lift, but it does compress the neck vertebrae lots.
Do all the exercises in the Backpod's 32-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.
The neck strengthening exercise, posture control and the two home massages are exactly what you need. Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ Get whoever's doing the massages to work round the sides of your neck a bit as well as along the back of your neck, and go hard down between your shoulder blades.
Say hi to the Gonstead chiro from me - those guys are usually good. Mm - I think he may just mean you should be using the Backpod all up and down your thoracic spine, as well as up and down out to the sides of the spine as well to stretch the rib joints. He's quite right in that the Backpod doesn't get used just between your shoulder blades - the thoracic spine extends up to where your neck starts, and down to where your low back starts. Works all over that whole area, though concentrate on the tightest bits.
You're doing fine if you're down to one pillow. Keep going. When all the hinges are moving fine, all you feel on the Backpod - with no pillow - is a satisfying stretch.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Steve from someone that has tried everything know to man this is the best
Nearly give up on it but so glad I didn’t can you just confirm it can take some people a lot longer to get the benefit of this amazing invention it took me 12 weeks to get down to one pillow all the best Drew
Hi Drew. Well done. It can take that long - depends how tight you are to start with. Well done on sticking with it. We definitely get some people - usually young US males - who expect instant results and give up after only a few days, so never get them.
Keep going. When you can lie on the Backpod with no pillow under your head and feel just a satisfying stretch, then the rib and spinal joints are moving pretty well - like they used to. You're not there yet but it's coming.
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 Hi Steve thanks for the amazing reply i will digest your advice and keep going there will be free lodgings and I nice malt
Whisky if you come to the Pinehurst Lodge Hotel in Aberdeen best wishes and many thanks Drew
@@drewcrawford447 Thanks, Drew. I have fond memories of sitting on the roof of a Youth Hostel in Aberdeen in the '70s hoping to see the Northern Lights. Will take you up on that if I get there again. Cheers, Steve August.
Figured I'd post on this video rather than your main one because this one has fewer comments/questions. I just purchased your backpod earlier today, looking forward to getting rid of this debilitating condition I've had for about 3 months.
In addition to the backpod, I read earlier that you also recommend massage therapy? Are there certain areas the massage therapist should be focusing on?
Also, is acupuncture effective in reducing the costo inflammation? Trying to figure out what things, in addition to the backpod, I should be doing to heal from costo. Cheers, Nick
Hi Nick.
No idea if you're still out there - I just spotted this question. Acupuncture can be useful with coto, but it varies anyway, and I still don't find it treats the root cause of costochondritis. The New Zealand physio approach I've been describing does. Best would be to watch the Part (2) how to fix costo video - link is ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html I hope you find it useful. Cheers, Steve August.
Hi Nick. How are you doing today? Are you 100% healed from costo?
I have the habit of vigorously rubbing my palms together partly because of cold and partly because of no reason and that seems to have worsened my costo. Now after using your backpod for one week, I'm already feeling better and now I don't feel chest pain despite rubbing my palms even more vigorously. I don't understand why rubbing palms just for few seconds a bit regularly would hurt my chest anyway
If you're already really close to costochondritis pain, then rubbing your hands together can use the pec muscles on your chest enough to set off the pain at the rib joints on your sternum. Costo is pretty hair trigger anyway, so that can be enough to trigger it. (It won't cause costo on its own, but it can be enough to fire it up.)
So, on the Backpod, you've already freed off the rib joint tightness around the back (which IS the cause of the costo) enough, so that now just rubbing your hands together is no longer a trigger for the costo. Well done. Keep going.
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
Hello. Mister August, I feel like I am tired and have the same feeling that you feel when you are sick. You know the lack of energy and feeling fatigue and just want to sleep. Do you think it’s normal with costo. Lungs and heart are fine(got checked with mri xray ecg)
Hi. Any chronic pain problem can drag you down. It's not specifically from costo, and it's not a standard symptom of costo. If it lasts, you're probably best to see your doctor about how you are.
Hi Steve, I’ve been having severe chest pain on my left side since July of 2018 I’ve gone through 3 EKG’s, 3 in depth blood test, 2 full chest x rays and an MRI and the doctors can’t find anything wrong and say everything’s good so they give me Ibuprofen 800MG’s but of course they only reduce the pain from a 100% to a 90% I’m really interested in the back pod I just have a question I have an indented chest (not bad but noticeable) will the backpod still work the same for me? Given I use it right?
Also I’ve gone through 2 acupuncture sessions and my pain went from a 100% (constantly) to about a 30% so I don’t get the pains as often but (3-5 times a day) before when I was at 100% I’d get sharp pains at least 10+ times a day so im HAPPY but i don’t think acupuncture will last forever what I noticed is when I got the acupuncture the acupuncturist is actually stepped on my back in between my shoulder blades and applied in order to crack whatever’s between my shoulder blades and my GOD the crack was loud, the loudest I’ve ever heard anything crack but it felt soooo good and for the next 2 days I had 10% pain of what I had which felt like heaven but I can feel my back or the hinges I guess freezing up again so the pain is coming back to a 30-40% but what do you think he cracked? Because it felt amazing. I’m sorry for this long comment but my biggest question is for indented chests does the backpod work differently? My spine is normal and everything I just have a bit of a sunken chest. I hope you read this and thank you so much cheers
Hi Nathan. That's really clear. Get a Backpod and fix the problem. The acupuncture helped, but acupuncture on its own doesn't disappear the rib machinery tightness - that's too set in the shortened collagen around the joints. Note it wasn't just the needles that helped - major chunk was the acupuncturist unlocking some frozen joints. They'll be the frozen rib joints and probably some spinal joints as well - it's just like cracking your knuckles. They won't stay free though, unless you also stretch the very tough shortened collagen around them - hence the Backpod. If you got that much improvement from the unlocking, then you should clear it all by stretching the area so the joints can stay free.
Don't worry about the indented chest - look at the improvement you actually got when the joints round the back we released. That's the best indicator or where to go with this. Anyway, the better you get the rib machinery around the back moving, the less load there is on your indented chest.
Also, shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, 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.
Go for it, and good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.
Steve NZ Physio thank you so much for the insight, this condition is so scary because it feels like it’s your heart. I’ve become so worried and scared these last couple of months I’m certain I’ve developed anxiety and/or panic attacks and having a panic attack or anxiety attack while having the pain is so frightening. I’ll have to order a backpod and hope for the best thank you so much, also do you have social platforms such as Instagram and Twitter?
@@nathanquintero936 I think it's perfectly sane and reasonable to be worried about a mysterious chest pain that the docs don't seem to understand. However stick with the logic - they're good at checking out the dire stuff like the heart and you're all clear on that; they're just not usually much good with costo. So assume it's fixable, think for yourself, and follow what seems to make sense. From my point of view as a New Zealand physiotherapist, this "mysterious inflammation" nonsense is just nuts.
I've made some tottering steps on Instagram and Twitter to get the New Zealand view of costo out there a bit, but I'm not good at it. Also I'm busy..
Steve NZ Physio I agree with you completely, and for people like me who aren’t in the medical field when we google “left side chest pain” and see “Heart attack, angina etc” it’s extremely frightening. I think the worse part about costo is the tenderness that you feel on your chest , from being able to feel a seatbelt or the shirt you’re wearing just anything that’s on your chest you can literally feel.. it feels nasty to say the least, but thank you so much on being an extremely carrying and knowledgeable person I appreciate it greatly
Hi Steve. Please help I recently bought the backpod here in NZ. I have had terrible posture for a while. a long time ago I started trying to correct posture by sit pressed up straight against the wall for a few mins each day. At the time i got a strange pain in my back, which felt like it was into my esophagus. It never really caused issues there after. Recently this year ive had bad spasms on my lower left side of body which extended into chest. This went away after 2 months. Lower MRI showed nothing significant. This last month I had costo type pains, chest cramps (dull and sharp), pains under breast, spot pain on sternum left side and this spot on my back on the upper left side adjacent to spine. I also had upper stomach pain and pain in esophagus when swallowing. I went for a gastroscopy which came back clean. But while under sedation I felt pain in esophagus on that back location while the scope was inside me. For the last day after the gastroscopy ive had pain in that back spot when swallowing which feels like its deep in the back left of my esophagus. and sometimes extends into throat area, and feels like something is stuck. The painful area also feels raised like my rib is higher - if i lie on my back my ribs feel like they are raised higher on the left side and have always been like that. if i lie on the backpod on this back area its a bit uncomfortable and uncomfortable slightly on the front of my chest left side as well. My muscles between my shoulder blade and spine on this side were so tight that I rolled my shoulders back a few times and there was really bad crunching sounds and it eventually stopped crunching and felt a release. What could this be??? If i bend in certain positions when swallowing the discomfort is less severe. I have also had blood work done multiple times over the last 7 months which was all normal. Please let me know does this sound musculoskeletal?? Thanks
Hi. Yes, it does sound musculoskeletal - the crunching at the rib and spinal joints as they move is a dead giveaway for that - like rusty hinges. There may also be a bit of gastric reflux (GERD) - unfortunately nothing says you can't have two things going on. However your gastroscopy was clean, so let's assume it's just the usual costochondritis - tight rib machinery around the back driving strain and pain at the rib joints on your sternum.
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 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. Cheeringly New Zealand is clear of COVID-19 at present, so you can do this safely. Better hand sanitise, and have a shower when you get home though.
As well, if possible, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing the two massages in the Backpod’s user guide, about once a week for at least a few weeks.
You’re probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on UA-cam - link is ua-cam.com/video/EfVKRXhYVEA/v-deo.html
I’m guessing this next bit, but it sounds like it applies. The commonest reason these days for costo starting is if you’re getting a bit hunched, usually from much bending over computers, phones, patients or whatever - we call it the iHunch. As part of the spine getting a bit hunched and tight, the rib joints attaching to your spine also stiffen and seize. When they can’t move, then the joints at the other ends of the same ribs MUST work excessively just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, ‘give’, irritate, get locally inflamed - and welcome to costo. It’s not a “mysterious inflammation” arriving for no reason.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ If that looks like a fit with you, then 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.
If you let me know where you are in NZ, I can probably suggest a physio who's good with costo in your area.
Good luck with the work.
Cheers,
Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).
@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Steve thanks so much for the reply I really appreciate it. I'll follow your guidance on this as much as possible. The iHunge page definitely applies to me i have a desk job and my posture is hideous (I basically sit like the guy in the picture unless I force myself or remind myself not to), I also note the raised shoulders which I have to actively remind myself to lower while seated otherwise they are definitely lifted and when stressed I particularly bunch up all my tension in my upper back. I have a chiropractor appointment for this week as I was hoping to get an initial manipulation and confirmation that something is stiff and locked. I would really appreciate a recommendation for a physio good with costo - I am located in Auckland CBD area.
Thanks again
@@naywolf7911 It's pretty common - the iHunch would now be the biggest upper spinal problem in the computer-savvy world. Manipulation to unlock the really tight bits, plus the Backpod to then stretch them out so they can stay free, is the ideal combination. Just manipulation on its own doesn't usually last. Practitioners do vary though - physios certainly do. The physio I know in Auckland who's really good is Francis Joung at 2Will Physiotherapy, in Glenfield and also Milford, Auckland; phone (09) 443 3611. Good luck and merry Christmas. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks Steve I appreciate it, I'll definitely give them a call! Regards
@@stevenzphysio4203hi Steve do you know any good ones in the north east of England to help with the first and second ribs, one that can do the sitting in a chair and wiggle the first rib to losing it. That could help me.
Hi Steve, thanks for the informative video and for the wonderful product! I have been dealing with this since July of this year and it is a horrible disease to have.
I had one question - I have noticed that on the day after using the backpod, my sternum feels less tight however I start feeling short of breath occasionally. Is this something which is supposed to happen?
I know that the cause of the shortness of breath is non-cardiac in nature since I have had multiple tests done with my cardiologist which have all been normal and my 2nd rib cartilage is tender to touch.
Thanks once again!
Hi Jitesh. Just stick with it - the shortness of breath will settle down once your rib cage is fully free again. It was only happening anyway because the rib cage was tight - you can't take a full breath in if all the hinges can't move.
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.
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.
@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks for the response, Steve! It feels very comforting to read your replies to all of the comments here. I will stick to using the backpod.
Thank you so much once again, and have a great day day ahead! Stay safe!
How long were you using the backpod before your symptoms were completely gone? i'm 4 days in and while it has improved, I still feel the costo about 20% severity of what it has been and still have pain breathing in, in my back where the affected rib is in between my spine and shoulder blade. like 20% of the time. Im a jiu jitsu athlete for background.
Hi. It usually takes weeks at least before the rib cage joints around the back are freed up enough for the rib joints on your sternum to stop straining.
Jiu jitsu is a problem - you're going to keep getting impacts and strains, which are going to keep setting you back. (I used to do judo.) You're almost certainly carrying old impact scarring also, which is going to be part of the problem in freeing up the tight rib machinery around your back.
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 Section (2) on detail of using the Backpod for costo. You'll almost certainly need the massages and pec streches covered in Sections (3) and (4).
You can skip the bits that probably don't apply, but the detail is there if needed.
Think of your jiu jitsu as your approach to costo. It's not like karate - you can't just aggressively bull through it. The costo has its own requirements, one of which is not stirring it up when you're in the process of freeing up the tight joints around the back. (See Section (1) in that PDF.) Just go with what it needs, while you're fixing it.
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. Is it possible to lay on the back pod too much? Should I keep it to 10 minutes a day? Or is more better?
@@Ramiz112 I don't really think it's possible to overdo the Backpod - the floor stops you from going too far. But there's not much point in doing too much in the first week and stirring things up.
DO read the full user guide instructions. They're linked in Section (2) of that PDF. They're quite precise - especially in that first week. It takes time to stretch.
Is this same method used for copd patients to aid on breathing exercise?
No idea - CPOD treatment varies around the world. But regardless of the state of your lungs, you can't take a full breath in if you can't expand your rib cage fully. In COPD patients, the rib cage itself has usually become tight, and this is usually missed by docs concentrating (fairly enough0 on the lungs themselves. The Backpod is ideal for quietly stretching free the tight or frozen rib joints round the back.
Hi. For anyone who's just come onto this video, the Backpod is a New Zealand designed and produced spinal fulcrum, specifically for stretching out a tightened, hunched spine and its associated rib joints.
It's part of a simple collection of home strengthening, stretching, massage and posture that is an accurate counter to the problems you get from much hunching forward - usually over laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Have a look at www.bodystance.co.nz/ihunch.php which is a breakdown of what goes wrong and how to correct each bit. Cheers, Steve August.
Thanks for replying steve, i now have the official back pod, first i used it wrong and for too long which caused massive inflammation, so i gave it a break for a day, then i got a cold which inflamed my chest for a week, and now i dont have a cold and have been using it properly for about 4 days not over extending the stretch by keeping 3 pillows until im ready for 2 and not over doing it time wise, 7-10 minutes a day once a day. i really dont know how to tell if its getting better but i am trusting the process. question, my chest sternum feels really tender and ready to pop in the morning especially, is there any reason behind this and is there any way to minimalize it so it does not get inflamed. fortunately i have experienced enough inflammation in that area to know mostly what causes it and what does not, so i am able to work around that area most of the time. Thankyou for all you've done steve, you really are saving peoples lives
Curious if this can be used for other fascia work on other parts of body (e.g. calves, outer thigh, pecs, inner thigh, feet/arches, glutes, occipital ridge, etc)...seems like it would be perfect for all of that deep fascia work. Please advise:).
Hi Kristy. Mm - not really, but I'm open to suggestions and experiments. I have had a few patients telling me the Backpod does a really tough stretch on their tight piriformis and glute muscles.
Generally though, you stretch fascia longitudinally, for example tough massage along your outside thigh to stretch the iliotibial band there - this is tough fascia, a lot like a steel band. The Backpod isn't really designed to roll along, so you don't get that longitudinal stretch from it. A foam roller is better for the ITB, for instance, and better again is someone who knows what they're doing massaging it - can't beat good hands.
The Backpod is built specifically for stretching the tough collagen around thoracic spine and posterior rib joints. It works fine for these because you stay in the one position - that's why it has a flat base. If you're lying on a ball or roller, these are unstable so your muscles cannot relax, and this opposes the stretch.
So, apart from the glutes, maybe, it's really only for what we designed it for - a really effective strong stretch for hunched thoracic spines and frozen posterior rib joints. Cheers, Steve August.
Brilliant! I saw this on Brad/Bod’s page and am using it daily.. I do find that once I find a “spot” on glute/hamstrings/quads I’m using the Backpod on the “spot” and holding/rolling back forth on it and it seems to be releasing it...I love the foam roller for the larger areas to find the spots but then come in with something more targeted for the static (tiny movements). I also tried it under arch of foot near heel and it felt great! Thanks for the comprehensive reply.
Ordered the Backpod and have been using it for 3 days so have. Is it normal to experience more pain before it gets better? I have been laying on the Backpod for 6 minutes a day in different positions and I am able to lay on it with just using one pillow.
Hi Janine. Stick with it. The Backpod's a real treatment device, not a magic wand. t'll usually take three weeks or so to free up the tight rib and spinal joints around your back, mostly. This can vary. Sure, you can feel a bit of treatment tenderness after you stretch anything. It's just like starting to stretch a really tight hamstring muscle, say. It usually goes in a few days.
When you don’t need a pillow under your head any longer, 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 1-3 minutes.
Cheers, Steve August.
Hey Steve,
I’ve been dealing with SI Joint Dysfunction for almost 2 years for which I’ve found a very good pt to help stabilize. About 1.25 years ago, I did an overhead press, heard a snap and had pain. The acute pain improved but there’s been this constant dull achy pain between my thoracic and scapular region with a popping sound occurring if I sit and study for a period or have poor posture.
Recently found out after numerous imaging, PT sessions and prp injections that my right thoracic ribs and part of the thoracic were subluxed/misaligned for all that time. Previously thought it was snapping scapula.I have a pt helping me with this and my SI where she will rotate my ribs with rib springing and has exercises to help me stabilize but I have to keep getting them adjusted.
I’m your experience, would the backpod help reduce this misalignment with consistent and long term use? (For reference, 22 M and I am very forward and tight in general)
Hi. Yes - go for it. It's exactly what you need. I'm a physio myself - say hi to your one for me.
So, you're feeling better when the ribs round the back have had springing by the PT, and manipulating. All manips (adjustments) do is just bang the joints temporarily free - like cracking your knuckles. (They don't put anything "back in" anywhere - it's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing real.).
But they've been tight for over a year, so the tough collagen (ligaments, joint capsules, fascia) around them has shortened down when they were immobile or tight. This stuff needs stretching or the joints cannot stay free - otherwise it just freezes them up again.
You cannot just with fingers do the long enough, strong enough, specific enough stretches needed to fully stretch out the collagen around them so the joints can stay free - your fingers and thumbs give out! Collagen is stronger by weight than steel wire - to stretch it needs long (1-3 minute) enough, strong enough, specific enough stretches.
The obvious way is by getting the patient to lie back on a specific fulcrum. Their own body weight provides the oomph, the small peaked shape of the Backpod focuses it on specific ribs, and you can stay there for long relaxed minutes. The Backpod's shape means its small peak can get enough oomph to the ribs - a foam roller can't, for example. That's exactly why we built it.
All your PT's stuff will be correct and helping - this is just adding in what is also needed, but she can't do. (Neither can I or any physio.)
Great, thank you so much for your insight Steve! My backpod will be in on Sunday and I will follow the instructions and progress with it in the coming months. I’ll try to provide an update a few weeks down the road!
@@ethanvaughn135
Any update on how you’re feeling?
I’m noticing some improvements. When I started using the backpod, my hands would get kind tingly since I was so tight but that’s subsided.
The bp has definitely helped but as Steve mentions, having a good pt regimen is crucial. I met with a great pt virtually who has put together a pretty comprehensive program for me to follow the next couple months to get better.
@@ethanvaughn135 Hi. Yep - that's improvement. As the joints are getting freer, the trap on the nerves (which is probably T4 Syndrome) is easing off, so you're not getting the tingling down to your hands. You must have been really tight for that to happen.
Add this in. Talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing this sitting massage on you, every 4-7 days for a few weeks at least. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades. The muscle overlying the tight joints will be tight and scarred also - this works really well on it. Keep going - you're getting there. It does take time.
ua-cam.com/video/9eLUQX03IoE/v-deo.html
Hi Steve, for context i have been dealing with costo for some years so i'm wondering if i should do combine the backpod with some exercises or something.
I've streching with the backpod with 3 pillows and a towel for around two weeks now and one day i experience a little to any pain at all while like today it hurts me so much while doing it. The point it's that i cant progress to doing it with two pillows.
Should i combine the backpod with any exercises or streches or something.
And the last thing, i have been trying to get my posture correct and i notice that when i get my shoulders back where It should been my chest pain gets worse. Should I still force my posture where It should be or It is too soon to do that?
Thanks in advance and sorry for my english.
Steve if I have lumbar lordosis and thoracic kyphosis would I still be able to use it on my spine?
Yes - that's what it's for. It's just for your thoracic spine, though - it's not for your lumbar spine.
Your thoracic spine is hunched, and lying back on the Backpod is an excellent to quietly stretch that free and back to its normal slight forward curve. It's very, very common.
Your low back already has an exaggerated hollow, so using the Backpod there will make it worse. So don't - the Backpod is not a low back device.
Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website: www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ That is probably now the biggest upper spinal problem in the computer-savvy world. We built the Backpod and its little home program specifically to counter it. Good luck with the work.
Are we supposed to be going down the midline with this? It’s not super clear when said to be going between the shoulder blades.
Yes. The Backpod is designed to stretch out a hunched thoracic spine (middle and upper back). So you use it on the spine - unless your spine is one of the few percent that is straight or hollowed.
As well, you use it up and down out to the sides of the spine a bit to stretch the joints where the ribs hinge onto your spine. These get tight and frozen as well - and are the direct cause of costochondritis.
It's in the instructions.
This was helpful. I had the same question since i just used it in between spine and shoulder blade on both left and right side
Hi Steve, i use the backpod aince a month now. It works really good for my middle back. However, i use it mostly for a Ihunch and since my hump is sublte (1 cm), i'm already able to do it with no pillows and my head touch the floor. I also use a cushion to raise my body and increase the pressure. Do you have a trick to provide a better traction in my upper back? Thanks!
Hi Jo.
Well done - you've worked things free enough to go a bit harder now. It's in the instructions in the user guide. If by any chance you haven't got the full 32-page Backpod manual, it's as a PDF near the bottom of the pages on the Backpod's new Zealand website www.backpod.co.nz.
Also, now you're at this 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 Thank you so much for your explanations. I didn't expext that much elaboration. I truly appreciate it!
Hi Steve, I've been dealing with costo for six months now. I'm in my 20s and I believe I got it from bench pressing and push ups. I bought the backpod two months into my journey and used it everyday for ten minuets starting with three pillows down to zero on the fourth week. I didn't see much improvement so I decided to stop using it out of lazyniess but, after reading and learning about it more I'm ready to commit . I do have some question if you don't mind me asking. why does it tend to go away after a year without treatment? Why do you think my chest felt a little better after playing a pickup game of volleyball even though I had semi-sharp pain doing some movements? Lastly, if I follow a strict regiment of using the backpod daily along with door stretches whats the most probable heal time? Thanks for all that you do for the community, It's nice having an expert who can empathize.
Hello, Luke. Costo doesn't usually just settle down in a year without treatment. That's just part of the truly mad misinformation about costo.
There is only one, repeat one, piece of medical research covering how long costochondritis lasts. It's an article by Disla et al on costo in an emergency department.
When they were checked on a year later, most of the costo patients studied still had their costo. It hadn't gone away or settled down.
But - and it's a big BUT - the abstract of the paper (i.e. the medical summary of the main points that most doctors in a hurry read to get a quick look at the main points) says ""Spontaneous resolution (of the costo) is seen in most cases at 1 year."
This does NOT follow from the full paper - and this is extraordinary. It's like having a newspaper headline saying something quite different from its article. So if you read only the headline, you are told that most costo will settle all on its own in a year.
This is just not true, and it's part of the extraordinary misinformation about costo. The same full Disla paper also proves costo is not a "mysterious inflammation." So, no - anti-inflammatory meds are not going to fix it.
I'm still personally flabbergasted about this. The standard two things you're told about costo - that it's a "mysterious inflammation" and will settle down soon - are simply not true. I'm not at all anti-doctor or anti-science. Quite the reverse - I lecture to the docs at various medical conferences in New Zealand, on spines and costo.
I've briefly covered the available medical research on costo in this UA-cam video - ua-cam.com/video/t8k2LCLeR24/v-deo.html That includes the research showing what actually does fix it.
Re your chest feeling a bit better after volleyball - it's not. The sharp pains were the rib joints on your breastbone still giving - like going over again on an old floppy sprained ankle. It'll keep happening unless (1) rib machinery around the back is completely freed up, (2) some other bits need dealing to as well, and (3) you may have to stop all exercise for a few weeks to give it a chance. Every time you exercise and it hurts, it's like running on a sprained ankle - it's making it worse not better. I know you want to keep fit - the costo doesn't care.
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.).
Thanks for the info, Steve.
Hi Steve, I just wanted to mention that this message will be a bit long. (I read in one of your comments on a UA-cam video that you prefer longer messages for more context). So, I got injured at the gym. I know it's a pretty normal story of how costochondritis started for me. It happened when I was coming back from the gym and had a shortness of breath. After that, I felt pain in my sternum and went to the hospital. They did X-rays for my lungs, 2 electrocardiograms, and blood tests. Thankfully, nothing abnormal was found for my heart or lungs. I've been using the backpod for 2 weeks now, still on 3 cushions. I have sternum pain, and sometimes I hear small cracks in my back that relieve the pain. When I place the backpod on my spine or the side, I feel discomfort due to the pressure. What does that indicate? I should mention that I've had costochondritis for 1 year. Do you know why my back is so tense? I went to a chiropractor, but unfortunately, they used the body slam fist technique on my back. When I try to crack my back, I can't do it, and that's when I feel the tension. I have pain on the side of the sternum, but I don't hear cracking sounds there, or it's rare. I hear small pops in my back when I adjust my posture or bring my shoulders back or chest forward. Also steve when I squeeze my shoulder blade I feel pain there. I would like to add that I have a mild scoliosis. Could I put the pod on the spine even with scoliosis because I have what you called the Ihunch since a used to game a lot on the ps4 bending forward. Is it normal that with stress and overthinking the muscle get’s locked and I feel a lot more of restriction. Does this indicate a problem for the muscle because when this happen I feel my whole body tense because of stress. Would you recommend a muscle relaxer. I will go to do some rounds of massage because clearly my muscle needs it. I hope you can give me a feedback with all the info I gaved you. Have a good day
Hi. That sounds like completely bog standard classic costo. Heard the story so many times. So should sort out fine.
You've been frozen up for at least a year - sure, you can get a bit of treatment soreness as it starts to free up again. Just like you would if you started stretching a really tight hamstring muscle.
You're still really tight - it's only two weeks and you're still on three cushions. Just stick with it - exactly as the instructions in the user guide say. As well, though, add in massage for the tight muscles overlying the tight joints. That'll help a lot fast. When all the joints are moving fine, then all you feel on the Backpod without any pillow is a satisfying stretch. It'll take time and effort to get back to that.
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 Section (3) on massage. Also Section (2) on using the Backpod for costo and Tietze's.
You're pretty tight - gaming will do that. When you're good enough, add in all the bits in Section (5) on the iHunch. You'll need them all.
Good luck with the work!
www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf
Is it good to do mobility exercises for the spine like cow cat and more?
For sure. The difference between them and the Backpod is simply leverage. The cat cow and similar assume that you're already moving pretty well, and just need these sort of exercises to get freer again.
However so many people are so frozen in the middle of their thoracic spine that no personal exercise or stretch has the leverage to drag to really frozen joints free - they can be like concrete. That's because any general stretch for the whole spine spreads the stretch over all those vertebrae, so each one gets less specific leverage.
With the Backpod, its small cushioned peak is stretching only a few vertebrae at one time, so you can work up to a LOT of leverage on them - which is what they can need.
But by all means, add in the cat cow, etc. as well. They'll complement what you're doing on the Backpod, and vice versa.
@@stevenzphysio4203 I've been using a backpod for almost two months without a pillow and it doesn't hurt either, I'll continue until it goes away, thank you very much.
How many days should i use it.. pain is reducing alot after using backpod.. should i use this daily to avoid recurring?
Hi Naveen. Stick with it daily until you don't need a pillow under your head and lying on the Backpod just feels like a satisfying stretch. That means all the joints are sliding fine and freely when you're on it. It's like having good stretchy hamstrings - means you can touch your toes without strain. That's how it should be!
Once it gets that good, which may take weeks, then just use it once weekly for a couple of months to consolidate the freeing up of the joints.
After that, just use the Backpod if things start to feel like they're getting tight. That's all I do - I use it once about every few weeks, and I have no problems. Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 thank you doctor.. can i go to gym after pain is gone? I would like to build up muscles but have intense fear that this may re occur... i do have other symptoms to.. like breathing difficulty(pain when breathing) and during acid reflux, this costo pain and breathing difficulty magnifies alot that i just cant even do anything rather than sitting..
@@GB-gi6ft Hi Naveen. yes, you can fix costo fully, usually, and get back into the gym. But it is like an old sprained ankle - there is a weakness at the rib joints on the breastbone which means you're vulnerable to too much strain, even when the pain has gone.
You should avoid dips for a year - they're the single worst exercise for costo. Also, you have to start back in very gently - at half or less what you were doing before the costo hit. this is normal rehab physio - what you'd do after any resolving injury.
You should wait until you're pain free on the Backpod before even thinking about it. Plus, if you've also got acid reflux, that is trickier than the usual costo.
The backpod isn;'t a magic wand, but using it plus the other bits i've suggested should be fine to free up the tight rib machinery so that you can cautiously start back into exercising. it does take time, though, and you have to be sensible and careful about it - costo is easy to flare if you do too much.
@@stevenzphysio4203 yes doctor, pain has reduced alot after using it.😍
Doctor costo pain is reducing day by day after backpod but i have a major doubt... why does costo pain amplifies at the time of acid reflux, breathing itself is difficult during this time..i had done all the other tests on blood, heart, stomach, easophagus etc.. all were normal..the only thing im diagnosed is with costo...
Hi Steve!
My lower ribs also hurt, will this heal them like the upper ones? Should I use it under the shoulder blades to fix them?
Hi. It's not really a healing problem, more a tight tethering one. If the lower ribs are sore because they're tight, then you need to use the Backpod on them to free them up. All the Backpod's doing is acting like a fulcrum to bring enough leverage to bear to stretch free specific tight rib and spinal joints. So whatever rib is tight and sore, that's the one you need the Backpod under to stretch the joint back to full movement.
So if you're tight and sore on the lower ribs, then under those ones the Backpod should go. Although it's a good idea to do the whole rib cage anyway - you want it all moving well and freely.
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.
Cheers, Steve August.
Should it really be on my spine? I see on the book it says a bit to the side. But should it be directly on the spine like in the book?
In my book it looks like it’s in the center. They also have images for the sides.
It's both. It's in the instructions in the booklet. You want to free up the whole area - spine and ribs. Yes, of course you use the Backpod on your thoracic spine - that's what we built it for. If you have a tight, hunched middle and upper back, then what it needs is stretching back to free full erect movement.
If you have one of the few percent of straight or even hollowed thoracic spines, then you don't use the Backpod in the usual way. It's covered in the booklet.
Hi Steve, I received my backpod today! My question is, can you use it too much? I wanted to just lie on it all day while watching TV because it feels so amazing! It hurts a bit, but it's that good kind of pain. Like a deep massage.
Thank you for your videos! I've had costochondritis on and off for 17 years!! Many years as a photographer and the editing have really messed up my neck, back and chest. I go to a physical therapist, but it hasn't really made much of a difference. 😢
Hi. Better sit within the once a day use of the Backpod for the first week. Yes, it feels like exactly what your spine needs - because it is! Patients can tell. But you're stretching very tough tight joints that haven't moved for a long time, and they'll probably flare if you do too much in the first week. After that, go for it.
You'll have costochondritis on top of the iHunch - when the rib joints round your back got tight enough (as part of the usual spinal hunching and tightening) to start straining at their joints on your breastbone. Have a look at the iHunch page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ Also the Perfect Posture page.
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
Your PT can help by doing specific hands-on freeing up mobilisation techniques on your thoracic spine and rib cage, especially higher up. Ask them to watch my Part (2) How to fix Costo video - ua-cam.com/video/r7ve6nNVdWc/v-deo.html (It's also a sneaky test on your PT - the good ones are always open to new input.)
Cheers, Steve August.
@@stevenzphysio4203 , thank you so much! I appreciate all of the advice! I'll schedule a massage for next week. I'm ready to take care of this chronic issue. I'm only 45 and I'm not ready to retire yet!
Thanks again 😊
Little Snap girl how are you doing now? Please help
@@mirinda8169 , doing great! It works! I use it twice a day now. I'm feeling less of the twinges of pain that I used to get. It's only been 2 weeks, so that's good if you ask me. 😊
Little Snap girl that’s great. I’ll message you again in a week or 2. Good luck
Quick question. Is the backpod placed directly on the spine or the side of the spine? I bought it to aleviate spine and Costo pain. I also have mild Osteoporosis.
I think he wants you to do both. To the side is what stretches the rib hinges more I think.
Ryan Pastor is correct. Both.
Just follow the instructions - it's all in there. If you've got mild osteoporosis, you're best to check with your doctor about using the Backpod. It is only a stretch - there's no jolting - and you grade the stretch so it's mild, and it's completely under your control. But even so - check with your doctor first.
Good morning .. I would like to buy the product, but I live in Brazil. What site indicates for the purchase of backpod, other than amazon.com, which is charging a very high import rate, making the purchase impossible. Thank you.
Hi Ariel. I just don't know. I'm the physio who invented the Backpod - I don't have anything to do with the selling. Try the BUY page on the Backpod's website www.backpod.co.nz Those are our main suppliers and their prices are reasonable. Watch out for others who are selling the Backpod at really high prices - they are our Backpods but it's definitely a racket. If still no luck, try getting someone outside Brazil to buy one and send it to you. Cheers, Steve August.
When you say ‘to the side to stretch out the rib hinges’, how much to the side should we go?
Hi. Read the instructions in the user guide - it's in there. You want to have the peak of the Backpod positioned over the curve of your ribs to stretch the rib joints. So that's between your spine and the inside edge of your shoulder blade. Depends a bit how big you are, but it's usually about 40-50mm (say 2 inches or a bit less) to the side of the midline of your spine (which is indicated by the row of bumps you see down someone's back when they bend forward). If you're a smaller person, it might not be quite that far out to the side.
Use the Backpod up and down the rib cage like this. If your rib strain around the front is quite low down, say, then you'll need to go lower with the Backpod on the associated rib joints round the back. The rib cage actually extends a lot lower than most people think.
As you get towards the top of the rib cage, then you get less leverage on the Backpod for those top 2-3 rib joints. So 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.
Chase the tightest bits. They're usually the sorest bits until they free up. When the joints are all moving fine, all you feel on the Backpod is a satisfying stretch. That's what you're aiming for. It usually takes about three weeks to get most of the way to that, though this can vary.
Basically, use the Backpod all over the whole rib cage and thoracic spine, because you want it all moving freely and well. But concentrate more again on the tightest bits.
Hang in there. Cheers, Steve August.