Costochondritis and Tietze’s Syndrome: The published medical research on how to fix them.

[@temporarythoughts]

No one: Costo: Every breath you take. Every step you take. I'll be straining you.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hah! Yep - that's what happens. Unlike every other joint in the body, those rib joints on the breastbone never get a rest. As long as the rib joints round the back are immobile, the ones on the front will be straining constantly. I should have used that song as a backing track! Cheers, Steve August.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@Sjj827 Hi Sophia. No, it's not usual with costochondritis. It may not be a big deal, though - any pain can make you a bit nauseous if it's bad enough, and costo certainly can be. My suggestion would be to simply fix the costo and then see if you still get the nausea. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve probably found that out. Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that. Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@Swigzable]

So the plan is see a chiro free up the frozen hinges that have been sore after yelling loudly August 2019 and the do the back pod rutine

[@Swigzable]

I am correct on this Steve. Thank you so much for these videos aswell

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@Swigzable Good plan, but DO watch the chiro. 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 dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) In my experience, they have a bias towards manipulating the spinal joints and (often) missing the rib joints - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing most costo. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive. Here's what i find works best: Yes, get a Backpod. It's the only thing around that we can find that does an effective stretch on the tight rib joints around the back - and getting these freed up is essential. Do 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@gypsywine]

I've never seen or heard anyone with a better understanding of this condition. I'm so glad I found this video. Now I know I'm not crazy or a hypochondriac. Thank you.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you. I do sympathise - I know how confusing and frustrating it can be along with the pain. We were flabbergasted to discover that the rest of the world mostly accepted the "mysterious inflammation" nonsense - against the actual published medical research. Here's a long wordy PDF on what we find works best to fix it. It is more easily read on a computer, not a phone. Good luck with the work! www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf

[@GabeKLagos]

Thank you Steve for caring and making a difference in the medical industry. I've wasted over $10,000 in emergency and medical bills because of this pain with no help whatsoever from every doctor I've seen. I've been recovering from my second 2 year apart and longest bout of crippling chostocondritis for the past 8 months. I'm just starting to see progress from lots of rest and backpod stretching along with all the other techniques you've spoken about. I've experienced every type of severe stabbing localized chest pain dull to sharp breathing and moving or not sleepless nights and constant anxiety. My lifestyle is better for it now as I've treated myself as if I had a heart problem and most importantly as a physio-mechancial issue adapting my workouts to relieve over stressing and using the backpod to deliver targeted stretching where needed. Thank you again and I hope you are greatly rewarded and acknowledged for your efforts bringing knowledge, health and peace to sufferers around the world.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you very much, Gabriel! I share your frustration, though not these days, your pain - I fixed my own costo over 30 years ago. Look, that was just luck. I had costo for seven years after a climbing fall left part of my rib cage frozen up. I understood what was going on after qualifying as a physiotherapist in New Zealand, where we are very good at practical hands-on treatment of spines. I had no idea that most of the rest of the world saw costo as this "mysterious inflammation" until I put up that first KZbin video explaining how we'd see it and got completely swamped by patient queries from all round the world. Since I'm lucky enough to have an understanding of costo, it does seem worthwhile passing that NZ view on. If you can find the time to tell your story on any of the costo groups, Amazon and Facebook reviews, etc., I do think it's a worthwhile thing to do. Actually - and this amuses me - on the net you actually have more street cred as a costo sufferer than I do as someone with 30 years' expertise in fixing the thing. Well done on thinking for yourself. Cheers, Steve August.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@Cheezus Sliced Hi. Of course I can't be certain over KZbin but it sounds like what I've been talking about. You get swelling on your chest if the costochondritis strain is bad enough - like running on a sprained ankle, and it swells up. I'm not sure, but I think this might be fairly common with quads and paras. It makes sense - you can't do the usual full body movements to keep all your spinal and rib joints moving freely, so unsurprisingly the spinal and rib joints can get tight, then freeze. When the rib joints round the back (where the ribs hinge onto your spine) can't move, then the more delicate joints at the other ends of the same ribs (where they hinge onto your breastbone) HAVE to move excessively, just to let you keep breathing. So they strain, 'give' (often with clicking and popping), get irritated, locally inflamed (and often swollen - like continually running on a sprained ankle) - and there's your mysterious costo chest pain. Docs usually don't get this at all - as I've explained in the video. If that sounds like a fit, then I'd say the Backpod would be ideal to free up the tight spinal and rib joints around the back that cause the strain at the front. Essentially, all you have to do is lie on the Backpod, and your own body weight provides the force to quietly stretch the joints free. This is something you can do as a quad, although you can't do a lot of the other exercises and stretches that would help. I think it's well worth a try. I'd be very interested in how it goes - I've been suspecting for sometime that this may be a common problem for quads and paras, as I've said. Any thoughts? Ideally, 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. 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Re TENS - it's not actually a treatment; just a way of interrupting the pain signals running down the nerves. It doesn't treat whatever problem is causing the pain in the first place. Also there's definitely some controversy about using a TENS on the chest, because the heart runs off electrical signals also, and the TENS is designed to swamp the nerves with electrical impulses so they don't carry so many pain signals; a bit wary of doing that near the heart. Have a good look over the Backpod's Costochondritis page - that'll give you an idea of what we're doing. www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Cheers, Steve August.

[@elizabethwoodland1350]

Steve NZ Physio Hi Steve, thanks so much for your work and willingness to advocate for this condition. I have ordered the Backpod to London and can’t wait to use it. I have costo as a nice ending to having coronavirus. All clear now but left with costo! Sorry to ask on KZbin but I was wondering if you could possibly recommend a Physio in the UK? I have seen you mention SirTedFairySpear2 as someone you recommend and I wondered if there might be a way of finding out who that is? Thanks so much. Lizi

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@elizabethwoodland1350 Hi Lizi. Hope you're going well. I just spotted your comment - sorry about not replying sooner. Frankly, finding someone in the UK who knows about costo is not at all easy. Uniformly, the doctors do not understand it, and also don’t realise that they’re actually missing what’s going on. (I’m basing that statement on many patient contacts, plus also phone calls from some UK doctors who’d had costo themselves for many years with no help from within their profession.) I’m slowly garnering the names of a few useful therapists who are good in the area. The UK expert would definitely be Dr Michael Durtnall who has the Sayer Back and Neck clinics, at 8 Sunningdale Gardens, Kensington, London W8 6PX; also at 80 Coleman Street, Moorgate, London EC2R 5BJ, UK. The phone for both is phone [phone]. Michael’s a chiropractor himself, but has moved far beyond his initial training. He’s superb on costo, and his team reflects that. You might have a wait to see him personally - it’s still the best, though. For the massage side, I’d thoroughly recommend a soft tissue therapist called Sophie Cooke, who is west of London at Lapwing House, Cold Ash Hill, Newbury RG18 9NX, U.K.; phone [phone]. Sophie has had costochondritis herself, and there’s nothing like being on the receiving end to concentrate your mind on fixing the problem - also my own case! She’s quite committed to it, has been fixing other patients of hers who have costo, is learning further mobilsations etc. for the joints, and is going to be a real asset in this area. If you can reach either of these two, it should be very worthwhile. Please say hello from me if you do. Cheers, Steve August.

[@ilyakarakurkchi6155]

The same story :)

[@kaytaylor7503]

It's like a labor pain in the chest. You can feel it coming and you're terrified waiting for the pain to crest and then finally subside.....until the next wave of pain starts to swell. Any woman who has given birth knows this! Thanks so much Steve, at least I feel there is hope!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Don't give up - there really is help. It's not that difficult to fix - if you understand it correctly and to the right things for the problem. Mostly, most docs don't. Cheeringly, you can do most of it at home yourself anyway. 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

[@Jacqualine_]

After years of battling costo, this is the first time I have felt heard after watching this video. So glad that this information exists and grateful for your dedication. I am starting the Back Pod today and hopeful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@lavitra.]

Hello. So did it work for you?

[@novalee2200]

How's it going?

[@parodycreator9955]

Are you feeling better now?

[@jeremypolanco7377]

How is it now ?

[@promos319]

same

[@Alexander-ey6te]

FINALLY HEALED! Thank you Steve! I have been suffering from costochondritis for 3 years or more. I have used the backpod on and off for months, without pillows. I did not manage to get rid of the chest discomfort entirely with the directed use, but have lived almost pain free for some time. The problem was triggered everytime I did heavy exercises for the chest, which I found very disturbing because I like to exercise and build my muscles but the chest pain kept preventing me from doing so. I did eventually manage to get rid of the pain entirely! Now I can finally hit the gym and do chest exercises without pain once again. So here is what I did. I didn't have any flare ups for weeks, as I didn't do any heavy tasks. I went to the gym and did some exercising and yes, again pain in the chest. After watching this video and listening to Dr. August stating that almost ALL costochondritis comes from upperback mobility issues, I decided that I am probably not that special to have some exotic cause of costochondritis. The directed use of the backpod was not intense enough. I was already used to the firmness of the backpod after using it for some time. However, I only truly felt that it was healing my costochondritis after using it sideways, without pillows and also slightly keeping my buttocks off the floor to apply extreme pressure on my upper back. Then after each backpod session, I used the hardest foamroller I could find (Triggerpoint Grid X) and used it for some time. I did this maybe 6 times a day. It has only been a week doing so, in this intense manner, and I am truly pain free for the first time in years. I usually cannot do bench press exercises without a major flare up, but that has changed now! When Steve says these upper back tissues can be tough, he means they can really be TOUGH. Hope this helps. Good luck to you all! Listen to Dr. Steve August, this guys knows his stuff!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Alexander. Well done! Good on you for thinking for yourself, and also for making the Backpod work. Its aim is to stretch fully free the tight rib and spinal joint movement around the back, which means you do have to use it long enough and hard enough for that to actually happen. (Not everyone does that.) Also, unsurprisingly, you can need some other bits as well as the Backpod to return the whole bundle of rib cage machinery back to normal operation. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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. Sure, keep adding in the hard roller as well - it's all to get the full movement back. The long cylindrical shape of the roller means it can't get much specific leverage on individual rib joints, but it'll still help with the total spine and rib cage mobility. 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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 remaining work. And well done. If you feel like telling your story as an Amazon or Backpod review, or on Reddit/r/costochondritis it would be really worthwhile for other people. There's still a huge amount of doom and gloom about costo because it's still usually seen - erroneously, and against the actual published medical research - as a "mysterious inflammation" that you treat with an anti-inflammatory approach. It's not and you don't. Despatches from the front lines like yours are hugely worthwhile. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@priscillaknight4678]

Thanks for sharing!

[@sipahi61]

Hi Alexander thanks for the insight I also do a lot of weight training and have started to suffer from costochondritis. I just purchased the backpod and will start using it today. Are you still pain free ? has the pain returned, and now that you are costochondritis do you still continue to do the back stretching workouts you spoke of ?

[@dariusst6116]

I have had this same problem for years, though it severed for me few months ago.. I also almost always felt pain after training chest, especially doing dips. That what i think made it worse for me, because i started doing really deep dips and kept training through pain.. Now i been diagnosed with costochondritis a month ago, and have been trying to find information myself of how to heal it. I'm currently doing anti inflammatory diet, but it seem to not work. I also started using foam roller for my back which i find extremely painful on left side, but i keep rolling through pain. I am not seeing great results yet, but it's for sure better. ( i couldn't even twist to sides, it was that painful). Also for me, at firat i had experienced pain in my centre and more left side of the chest, but not I'm feeling it more in upper chest(seems to be 2nd rib) and i kind of see some swelling arround the cartilage. I'm working physical job and it might not be helpful for treating it, but I wish so much i can heal it and come back doing training. It is so mentally hard when it's not getting better..

[@ojichukwuanyaogu5028]

@@stevenzphysio4203 I was diagnosed of costochondritis, but my chest is not tender...the pain doesn't get worse when I apply pressure with my hand. Instead it's a very heavy squeezing pain. It's been getting worse over time (it's about 10 months now). Now, I can hardly sit or stand, and I limp & stoop while walking. I'm wondering if my case is still costochondritis...

[@CosmicMindSense]

I approve his message ! Because i had suffered from costo for 8 months, no medical or alternative treaments/soft medicin worked ! ONLY The Back Pod healed me once and for all ! Pain free !! Very not expemsive compared to what medicall/alternative treatment ''solutions'' cost ! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT ! Thx again Steve , i still use the pod to this day only because i like to keep a good posture !

[@TheWheelOfFortunae]

How long did u use the backpod each day? And how long did it take to clear up?

[@tommywartime]

Same question as the one above...what did u do??

[@psycoticmonkey666]

An absolute hero. Completely fixed my costochondritis problem after years and years of GPs, rheumatologists, osteopaths, physios, etc offering no help whatsoever

[@stevewilliams7659]

What did u do to fix it may I ask??

[@psycoticmonkey666]

@@stevewilliams7659 used the backpod in line with the instructions in the box and did all the exercises in Steve's other videos

[@derickdavis1885]

You may have just helped me unlock the secret to the chest pain I have been struggling with for years! Numerous trips to the emergency room with countless tests to be told I’m fine and just stressed out but never any explanation for the ongoing and frequent chest pain that plagues me constantly. Only yesterday when I visited a chiropractor for the first time ever was the possibility of costocondritis being the root cause ever mentioned. He mentioned it after noticing how tense and tight my back was. I started digging into it and eventually came across this video and it’s all starting to make sense now! You have no idea how overjoyed I am right now knowing this might be the light at the end of the tunnel I have been waiting for! If I’m finally able to rid myself of this pain I wouldn’t hesitate to fly to you just so I could give you a high five and a hug!

[@thebagelchief1140]

Keep us updated!! Hope you're feeling better.

[@DeathAH]

How are you feeling now?

[@ludstertv]

I had only suffered with costo for a few months, but it landed me in the ER before I knew what was going on. I was hurting and couldn’t breathe very deep. The back pod helped me a lot within a couple of days, and even more so with each day. So glad for it!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Jason. Well done on thinking for yourself. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@jeremypolanco7377]

How are you ?

[@mousatosun7739]

@ludstertv has that worked for you?

[@karenforrest1613]

Thanks again Steve August. I had serious costo for 5 years from 2011 till 2016 when I came across your original backpod video on KZbin. I had nothing to lose so ordered one. My pain went in 4 days. Unbelievable, and I have been pain free for 7 years now thanks to that remarkable little product. 😊

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Karen. I remember your name - I think we corresponded years ago. Well done! I'm very pleased the Backpod solved your costo problem. What I've been trying to get across is that costo is actually not a difficult problem - once you simply understand what it is. Most people including docs don't, even though it's there in the medical research. So you get all this doom and gloom about costo not being fixed - simply because it's not treated correctly. It is a mad situation. Very nice to hear from you. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

[@Janetl62]

Love my backpod! My daily upper and middle back pain due to poor postures has almost disappeared. I have been using this for about 6 weeks for twice a day and I am still on one pillow for now and it helps me so very much. I have been taking it slow and easy not to cause any discomfort. My husband says he sees a big difference in my posture. I have been more active these past few weeks than I have been in years! Thank you sir for your wonderful knowledge and invention and giving me my life back. 😊

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Janet. Thank you very much. Well done on doing the work. Actually, it's important - have a look at the Perfect Posture page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/perfect-posture/ 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Well done! Cheers, Steve August.

[@mirinda8169]

Janet Coker is it disappeared now Mrs Coker?

[@Janetl62]

Mirind A I am still using the back pod once or twice a day. My upper back pain has improved greatly.

[@mirinda8169]

Janet Coker ordered mine coming tomorrow. I’m hoping to god it cures me in 1 month

[@Janetl62]

Mirind A best of luck. I hope it helps you too. It has really helped me but I know everyone’s different. Take it slow and follow the directions. I started on three pillows and I am still down to one now after weeks of use but I didn’t want to rush it and hurt myself.

[@alexandero.4483]

Thanks so much Steve. I am going to begin this regimen religiously. Thanks so much.

[@tracy9397]

Thank you so much for explaining about this!! After going to doctors and going to the emergency room 3 times in the last 4 months, I felt like I was losing my mind!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Well done on thinking for yourself and not giving up. Going to the ER is always the right thing to do when you start to get chest pain. The docs re very good at checking out the heart, lungs and other dire possibilities. They're just (usually) not good on costo - because it's essentially a hands-on physiotherapy type problem, not a medical one responsive to a medication and suppress-the-inflammation approach. Have a look at the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That has more specific details of how we'd fix it - which isn't usually difficult. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.

[@tracy9397]

@@stevenzphysio4203 I actually ordered the back pod right after I watched the videos. :) A doctor diagnosed me with costo in my 20's and it eventually went away. Now 25 years later it's back. Thank you again for the information. I really appreciate it and can't wait to try the back pod!!

[@valerieoldham9094]

Thank you.. For years this has been a roller coaster ride..Costing a lot of money, lost time at work! It is a blessing to have found this site!!!! I purchased the Pod. Thank you for all the info!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Valerie. Well done on thinking for yourself, gambling I just 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@rebeccatumilty7271]

Did it help?

[@katiewagner45]

I’m a kiwi living in the UK and I can completely sympathise with every single person on here. Steve you are a legend for explaining this and helping us see an alternative to ‘mysterious inflammation’. I’ve been to A&E and doctors multiple times and been told it will pass on its own and to take anti inflammatories no change though. My main issue is the shortness of breath that comes out of nowhere when there’s discomfort in my ribs, docs have checked my lungs and heart etc and all clear and don’t understand my shortness of breath which is frustrating as it’s all terrifying. Have just received my back pod and hoping this will be my solution have also started seeing a chiropractor which has definitely helped too fingers crossed!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Katie. Thanks, and well done on thinking for yourself. The shortness of breath is easy to understand. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve found that out. It's actually more like having the hand brake in the car jammed on - nothing's wrong with the vehicle, it's just that one piece of seized machinery that's the problem. The tight rib machinery round the back that causes the rib joints on your breastbone to strain, also means you can't take a full breath in - it's like wearing a tight corset. So that makes you breathe high and fast, and often that hyperventilation pushes you towards panic attacks, and certainly anxiety. It's all classic costo. The frozen rib joint movement, where the ribs hinge onto your spine, cannot show on X-rays, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and simply can't show whether the rib and spinal joints can move fine, or are frozen solid and completely immobile. I have to say that though this explanation is simple and logical and demonstrable, in my experience docs - including respiratory specialists - just do not think of it. They're concentrating on the lungs and missing this simple consideration of rib cage expansion. Stick with the Backpod - 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@MrDwaneMann]

Thanks Steve. You and I have chatted on Facebook and you have helped me by answering personal questions. Thanks so much!!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you very much, Dwane - I appreciate it! Cheers, Steve August.

[@issahsimba2725]

Please what is his name of Facebook

[@chetzmartinezrodriguez2253]

What is FB name?i need to ask as well something

[@msingh8722]

Wow, just wow! Great presentation, references of papers researched, explanation of existing ideas/hypothesis, in simple plain language, personal experience, not a challenge to the existing mindset but rather a solution to the problem provided. I have some data from personal experience with this problem, to share it with you, I will be contacting you, Sir. Thank you for this video, and damn you KZbin, why did I have to go to Reddit to get to this video. I had searched so much for last 2 years. Based in NZ, this video should have come up at the top result.

[@hollytomas8905]

I am so glad to have found your videos! WOW! I've been suffering on and off for several years after being 'cut loose', just as you described by the A&E dept of my local hospital. Only prescribed dicolfenac, no follow-up or advice re exercises. My back is totally fused due to long term disability and illness, so of course this now makes total sense to me.... the relationship between the back and the sternum. A huge penny has dropped! Thank you SO much. I now understand and can do something to treat the 'cause' rather than the 'effect' . Very very grateful to you :O)

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Holly. Thanks very much. Yes, it does make sense! And it's supported by the medical research, which the suppress-the-"mysterious-inflammation" approach isn't. Have a good look over the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.

[@gerdwinter2902]

how are u doing today? :) hope you feel better, im dealing with this right now :/

[@Langkops]

God. Bless. You.

[@mimicee5968]

Yassssssss

[@rcc3574]

Wonderful information; eye-opening. I will listen to any doctor or health professional who does not push drugs (especially pharmaceutical!). Thank you for your work and outreach!

[@Riggsby256]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t even describe the relief just knowing about this

[@iisreset]

Thank you for this! I was lucky and when the chest pain arrived for me I noticed it being a skelital muscle issue and not heart related. For me it actually arised when I was going through a bad bout of Anxiety and that caused a muscle in my back between my shoulder blades to become very tight. I think this prevented the hinge motion in the back because it was at the same location as the front pain. Once I used the backpod and put it un that muscle and stretched into it, it was pretty sore. Kind of like getting a knot to release. Once I did that, in one session.. I was able to take a full deep breath without pain! It was glorious! The pain did come back about a hour later but I noticed the pain in my back with it. After a couple days and session the back pain and chest pain are gone. You are helping many people with this knowledge, thank you sir and god bless!

[@bkelly6501]

Thank you so much for this! I have had tietzes on and off for over 45 years. I find the pain debilitating. I will order the backpod today

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Well, that's horrible. Much longer than my own seven years of it, before fixing it. Yet another example that costo doesn't just "settle down soon" - statistically most of it lasts at least a year, and can just be ongoing. Until you fix it. Here's a long wordy PDF on what costochondritis actually is and what we find works best to fix it. It is more easily read on a computer, not a phone. The PDF covers using the Backpod for costo, and also the other bits that often need dealing to as well. After 45 years, you are likely to need most of these 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

[@mimi674]

Hi there Steve! I appreciate your efforts in reaching the population of us who are so confused about this condition. Personally Ive had this problem and been diagnosed for 2+ years now and have only been able to manage the pain by constantly cracking my sternum joints (which may be aggravating the pain in the longterm). Doctors have told me to take anti- inflammatory medication, topical anti-inflammatories or steroids. You are the first person I have come across that addresses the root cause of the issue, which in the case of American medicine is contrary to "treating the symptoms". I am ordering the Back Pod and will update you with the results. I am hopeful thanks to you!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thanks, Miranda. Well done on thinking for yourself. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please carefully 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@Gvvnarayana7]

How is your pain

[@memepanda961]

😊

[@anthonykent1706]

A big thank you Steve. I had a big outbreak last week down my left side which caused a lot of discomfort and anxiety. Plus was sent for a precautionary ECG. Have used the Backpod since daily + the twisting exercises on the video, and am now nearly back to normal. Really amazed at how well it works.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thanks, Anthony. Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what I'm talking about, getting a Backpod and making it work. It is scary stuff - I've had it myself. 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. 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. There'll be muscle tightness overlying the joint tightness as well. 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Cheers, Steve August.

[@kailuamazon_3523]

Hey Anthony, how are you feeling 5 months out?

[@anthonykent1706]

@@kailuamazon_3523 Hi. Firstly I can now use the backpod without any pillows and it is actually quite comfortable. Any time I get a bit of chest or side rib discomfort, It helps click things back. Secondly, My Bowen consultant pointed out that the nerve feelings were being mostly exacerbated by TMJ, manifested by a slight Jaw tingling. This was fixed in a week by biting on strategically placed lollipop-type sticks. My consultant has bought a backpod after I recommended it and is a huge fan. He has advised some of his clients to buy them for their back issues. It is hardly known about in the UK .

[@gerdwinter2902]

how are u doing today? :) hope you feel better, im dealing with this right now :/

[@anthonykent1706]

@@gerdwinter2902 A lot better thanks. I still use the backpod most days as it clicks the upper back into shape.

[@AuditioningByHeart]

God bless you. I’ve never been in so much pain in my life. My rib pain is beyond explanation. But now I feel like I finally have a way to approach fixing it. I am so so so grateful.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Yes, it's a beaut, isn't it? Been there myself - that's why I'm doing this. 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

[@AuditioningByHeart]

You are so kind to respond. I will read it top to bottom. Thank-you again!!@@stevenzphysio4203

[@idontknowwhattoput1264]

All of these comments and this video have really given me hope and made me feel less alone on this journey. I’ve dealt with this pain for 3 years after a serious car accident, nothing has helped. I’m going to the chiropractor every week just to prevent myself from having an episode and having to go to the ER again.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. I do sympathise. Costo is pretty common after car accidents. If you were restrained by a seat belt, or hit the air bag in front, that can essentially strain the rib joints round the back - it's not just the front impact. Front damage usually heals, but the badly jolted rib joints where your ribs join onto your spine can freeze and stay frozen. That's the likely reason you've been in pain for three years. If you're getting US trad chiro manips every week, and if the chiro's doing that body slam onto the patient with his fist in your back technique, then be aware that it's badly spraining the already strained rib joints on your breastbone every time it's done. That's every time. We think it's a completely nut so approach to costo. Watch my KZbin video 'How to fix most costo and Tietze's Part (2). I hope that helps and makes sense of it for you, and good luck with the work needed. Cheers, Steve August.

[@idontknowwhattoput1264]

Steve NZ Physio you’re amazing. Thank you SO much for you insight. I’ll be buying the backpod.

[@idontknowwhattoput1264]

Steve NZ Physio I’ve been using the backpod and it’s helped some to where I haven’t had an episode where I’ve felt I’ve needed to go to the ER but I’m still in pain. Is that Chiropractor move where he twists and body slams you okay in conjunction with the Backpod or is just using the gun-type thing that pushes your ribs in from the side okay?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@idontknowwhattoput1264 Good, pleased the Backpod's helped. It should do. That's why you're better. Re chiropractors - the good ones are very good, but I don't have a high opinion of the US ones for treating costo generally. (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) In my experience, they have a bias towards manipulating the spinal joints and (often) missing the rib joints - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing most costo. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive. Steve August.

[@thomas2081]

Thank you Steve. I love this video of yours. And the scientific evidence behind it. You are truly an amazing human being. I am hanging on then. I actually bought another Backpod as l have found so many other things it can help you with. It is so great for a deep facia release. You have been my true inspiration to dig deep and learn a bit about how a human body works. Hope to speak to you some time soon when back from Europe. Trying to change the thinking there about the costo BACK to FRONT😉. Many, many thanks.Thomas

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you, Thomas. How are you using the Backpod for deep fascial release? I keep finding applications for it I never thought of.

[@ermaabrazado5145]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! The pain definitely made me a miserable person and this video gave me hope that I’ll get better.

[@colinprr]

I am suffering with this pain as well. Can we talk on an email to discuss our symptoms, so that we can help each other to cure this pain.

[@samwd5039]

@@colinprr I am fighting up with the pain for the past 6 years. Did heart test, endoscopy, cervical MRI, chiropractor, physiotherapist, psycatrist, and neurologist but didn't help. Now I am advised for shoulder and Thoracic MRI. They never checked for my lungs.

[@samwd5039]

@@colinprr glad to see you found a solution Can you please share the KZbin links of exercises? Thanks alot

[@colinprr]

@@samwd5039 here you go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6nZo2aIprmamNk Follow these exercises, specially the one where keeps the hand on the monitor and strech. That exercise made my chest cartilage bone sound which made it go back to its place.

[@clwest3538]

Steve, thanks for this info! I'm a 60 yo f with 1) family history of males having heart attacks early and 2) Had a car accident in '95 which left me with severe whiplash on my right side neck and shoulder and thoracic back issues which left me with a frequent sharp pain in my lower front left rib area. I had been warned by my physio (in 95) that this would be a lifelong battle to stay out of pain so was very alert to body changes. This past 6 months or so I had noticed a few time a swelling over the upper area of my sternum (no pain associated) but didn't think much of it - except it was strange. Then in May of this year I was terrified I was having a heart attack - suddenly I could not breath fully, my chest (sternum) was giving sharp pain when I moved, I became nauseated and then felt light headed - off to ER thinking I was having a heart attack. All tests came back negative for heart attack. They did find I had a severe sinus infection (which I didn't know I had - thought it was just more allergies) and prescribed antibiotics. The really sad part was - the ER suggested I was just having a panic attack - to which I replied, "... yeah, I was panicked I was having a heart attack!" Kind of pissed me off .... Anyway, not willing to live with this pain which fluctuated between dull to sharp, I researched 'pain in chest not a heart attack' .. and costochondritis came up ... I enjoy watching and following "Bob & Brad" and "Motivational Doc" here on Utoob. Both mentioned you and your research. B&B discussed your research in length and showed your 'pod' but I didn't want to (or couldn't) wait - so I used a wadded up pillow with heating pad and that eased the pain but it would fire up again too fast. What really 'cured' my case was slow back stretches then doing the stretch where you lay on your side with knees bent and arms extended; slowly rotate the top extended arm and head to the other side. The first time I did this was very stiff so I did it again after laying on the heating pad and focusing on relaxing - this time I felt a ripple type release in my thorax and ribs area which almost made me giggle it felt so strange; I rolled over to the other side and did it again and got the same result. Then I lay still breathing in fully with no pain for the first time in weeks! Slowly I got up and still zero pain! I have included this stretch in my stretch regime and even the almost constant front-of-the-rib sharp pain is gone. I'm thinking mine was cured so easily because I caught it right after it happened. Just for the record, and maybe to help others, I did think back on what could have caused this (besides slacking off on my stretches) - I had been on my computer an inordinate amount of time doing some research - right hand resting on the mouse and left elbow resting on the desk - both holding a lot of body weight; read "very very poor back and neck posture" for extended time. I have since revised my computer use and continue with the stretches and laying on the 'wadded up' pillow. I feel so much better and want to thank you for your research!

[@precious3584]

Could you somehow dear sir show what you did thru videos or something. Its very hard to have this and not understood by everyone thinking its just panic attack.

[@precious3584]

Could you somehow dear sir show what you did thru videos or something. Its very hard to have this and not understood by everyone thinking its just panic attack.

[@precious3584]

Could you somehow dear sir show what you did thru videos or something. Its very hard to have this and not understood by everyone thinking its just panic attack.

[@jibberscrabst1114]

I'm frustrated and anxious. After a lifting injury in mid-2017 I was diagnosed with costochondritis by my doctor, an American Osteopath. At the time I described it almost precisely this way: 'It feels like my whole rib cage is out of alignment!' The treatment was the typical 'itis' treatment. It's never been debilitating for me, but it's never gone away. Pandemic stress, 10 kilos of pandemic weight gain, and work stress have given me grief and caused it to flair up. Another visit to my primary care provider (the Osteopath), and he turned me on to Bob & Brad, and that brought me to you. I'm CONVINCED! I've been working with the back pod and exercises. I feel like I'm making progress. You speak of many highly regarded hospitals and other sources describing it as a mysterious problem that they attribute to a litany of potential causes, that it usually affects children (too much screen time?), and it goes away on its own. It appears you published this video in 2019. It seems the medical community remains entrenched in the dark ages, believing mystery over a damned good working theory and an effective treatment. Is the medical community taking this seriously? Are they studying it? Has there been any new information?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

That's the mad thing about costochondritis. The existing, already published, peer-reviewed medical research fully supports my New Zealand manual physio view of costochondritis as a straightforward mechanical strain at the rib joints on your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib rib joints round your back. There is no - repeat no - medical evidence supporting the "mysterious inflammation" idea, and some clear evidence refuting it. I'm involved in costo research with a group of docs and physios here in New Zealand, and I also lecture on it to the docs at various medical conferences here, EDs and physios. So, yes - we're taking it seriously. I can't speak for the rest of the world. Cheers, Steve August.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@jibberscrabst1114]

Thanks for your quick response. Indeed, I've come back in large part to check on things again to make sure I'm doing everything I can, and properly. I'm pretty sure I'm barking up the wrong tree, but why isn't the medical community in New Zealand and/or elsewhere (U. of Jamestown, Fargo) trying motion imaging technology to prove or disprove the theory? I read the Zaruba & Wilson paper and while much of it is 'over my head', it seems like it points in the right direction. (Gosh, I love the internet!) If some common feature of the maladapted rib-collagen-spine junction could be found maybe it could be renamed more appropriately, reliably diagnosed by a simple xray, and treated more effectively. I often say that computers have exponentially sped the rate of learning around the brain through digital manipulation of imaging technology. Why aren't we applying some of this awesome power to the skeleton. Arguably, many of us use the later much more than the former! I also think by the time we figure out how the human brain really works, the computers will have taken over. Ah, but in seriousness, perhaps you could raise this query with some of the physicians you come in contact with. Ask them to bring a Radiologist friend! I suspect those Radiologists are particularly inquisitive types!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@jibberscrabst1114 Yes, radiologists can see right through you.. There probably is high-tech motion imaging that will show excessive movement at the rib joints on the sternum. Maybe that's the future. Personally, I don't think it's needed. There is already a perfectly clear and consistent set of clinical tests and congruent history indicating costo. It's only confusing and a mystery if you think it's a "mysterious inflammation" - which the existing already published peer-reviewed medical research says it isn't. Sigh. There are plenty of conditions in medicine which are perfectly acceptably diagnosed just by clinical assessment, e.g. a sprained ankle. Except for any suspicion of a fracture, etc. you don't need an X-ray, scan, etc. If it looks like a duck and waddles and quacks, then almost certainly it's a duck. (Nothing's absolutely certain in medicine.) The problem is most busy caring doctors think costo is actually a herring. Their view of it as a "mysterious inflammation" certainly is - a red one.

[@ericwendt8985]

Thanks for the information Steve. I have been dealing with pain in my lower ribs / upper abdomen for 8 months now after overextending on an eccentric abdominal exercise. I initially thought it was an abdominal strain or tear, but after the pain dragged on for months, a doctor finally diagnosed me with costochondritis in the costochondral joints of both of my 7th ribs. I have not been able to return to core training ever since. Most costo cases I read about describe sharp pain on the costosternal junctions. My pain is different as it is generally a constant sensation of inflammation and tenderness at the costochondral junctions at my lowest true ribs, rather than right at the sternum. The pain being away from the sternum led me to initially believe it was just a muscle strain, but it has been so chronic I am relatively convinced it is an issue with the joint. Have you seen many cases of chronic inflammation at the lower costochondral junctions rather than at the sternum, particularly at rib 7? I also began to notice my thoracic spine was very tight and taking full breaths was getting increasingly difficult. I attributed this to subconscious postural adjustments I was making to avoid overextending my abdomen. Two months ago, I came across one of your videos and immediately purchased a Backpod. I have been using it daily now for 7 weeks and have seen some improvement (no longer have to wear anti-inflammatory patches all day to get by), but still have near-constant pain. I also have a very stubborn spot in my rear-right spine/ribs that prevents me from taking full breaths and reduces my ability to twist to the left. Backpod stretches are loosening up my back generally, but I can't seem to free up this spot. My pain in front always flares up the worst when I have to sit with little back support for an extended period of time and is best when I am walking or laying down-I usually wake up with little to no pain and it comes on throughout the day. I am interested in what you have to say about my case because it seems to be different than most cases I hear about. Is the treatment protocol any different for my location, type of pain, and mechanism of injury? This has been a constant struggle for me all year so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Eric. I'd say you've got a combination of things going on. Your particular strain is at the costochondral junction (CCJ) of your rib(s), where the bony curve of the rib changes to cartilage - technically called 'slipping rib syndrome.'. The usual give and strain happens at the rib joints on the sternum, but they're both essentially the same thing - giving and straining and too much movement at the CCJ or sternocostal joints, because there's no movement at the rib joints of the same rib(s) where they hinge ono your spine. The slipping rib problem at the CCJ is less common than sternocostal strain (= "costochondritis"), and trickier to sort out, but you treat it the same way. So stick with using the Backpod, and especially on your worst bit to the left of your spine. 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 slipping ribs 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. Plus, I'd expect that you're tight and scarred in your abs, especially up where they attach to the bottom of your rib cage. The massage person should have a good look around that area especially. Lastly, from what you tell me, I'd also be suspicious that you've jammed your lower thoracic spine into extension at one or more levels, which can essentially nip the nerves coming out of the spine and running round to your abdomen, so you get pain referred there. You might need to see an osteopath for that as well. I'm not recommending a trad US chiro as they're likely to do the usual thrust manip onto that part of the spine, which would just bang it further into extension, increasing the problem. You can simply trying hanging between parallel bars, or similar, to traction that bit of the spine. Go gently - it may strain the rib bit as well but probably not. Forget it if it does. Sorry, that's the best I can advise over KZbin. I'd push the Backpod, massage, and cautiously the hanging for a fortnight or so, then at the osteo if needed. Cheers, Steve August.

[@ericwendt8985]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks for the reply, Steve. Really appreciate it. I have been reading up on slipping rib syndrome and I wanted to clarify the terminology. Most resources I read suggest that slipping rib syndrome occurs on ribs 8-10 (i.e. the false ribs) because of injury to connective ligaments, whereas my pain is on the costochondral junction of rib 7 (the last true rib). Would you, for example, describe pain at the CCJ of rib 4 as slipping rib syndrome or something else? I also do not feel any kind of slipping sensation. I also see some resources describing costochondritis as pain in the CCJs. I have been going to regular sports massages for about a year now, initially for other injuries and lately have been targeting my back, chest and abdomen. After 7 weeks of weekly to bi-weekly massages and daily Backpod I have improved some but am still struggling. My next step is to see an osteopath or someone else that can perform manipulation on the spine and ribs. I think I may need some additional help getting my back moving properly. When you say my lower thoracic spine is jammed into extension, should I avoid using the Backpod on those areas? If so, any joints in particular to avoid? Your suggestion about the nerves being irritated is interesting and may make sense of what I am feeling. Would entrapment or irritation of the anterior cutaneous nerve at T7 tend to produce similar symptoms to mine? My pain appears to reside more in the cartilage than in the muscles, but as I loosen up my rib machinery without symptom relief up front, I start to wonder about other possibilities.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@ericwendt8985 Hi Eric. I don't think either slipping rib syndrome (= excessive movement at the costochondral junctions) or costochondritis (= excessive movement at the sternocostal joints) are well understood usually, and the very fuzzy terms for them reflect this. Personally, I just think of them as costosternal strain, or CCJ strain - this can happen at any level, especially from impact. Yes, sounds to me you may be thoroughly locked at some of your levels. There's a limit to how accurate I can be over KZbin. Ideally, you find a good osteopath who can accurately check out exactly what's there, and bang free specifically the bits that are too tight for even the Backpod to stretch free. But I'd still do more on the Backpod as I suggested to get as much as you can out of the tightest bits. I'd go as low with the Backpod on the rib joints as needed - if you're sore at a particular CCJ then you do need that rib joint on the spine freed up. You can get both - mecahnical strain at the CCJ, plus nerve root irritation adding in referred pain in the same area. But we know there's still mechanical restriction because you can't turn fully to your left. I'd say push hard with the Backod, and use your left turning rotation as an indictor of how it's freeing up.

[@ericwendt8985]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks for the clarification. Perhaps I am understating my improvement over the last 2 months because I used to need to wear flector anti-inflammatory patches all day to be able to function how am I now with no drugs. You have mentioned dips and other heavy chest exercises as tending to aggravate costosternal joint strains, I was wondering if there are any exercises or movements that would be worst for my condition in the lower CCJs. I generally avoid anything that requires strong activation or extension of my upper abs (won't be doing those damn dragonflies any time soon) and anything that tends to tighten up my back. Do you have any recommendations for how to ease back into a strengthening routine?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@ericwendt8985 Hi Eric. Generally you're wanting to build muscle cautiously, without straining the hypermobile CCJs too much while it's happening. I can't do that well over KZbin. Best to talk to the gym people. As a start, I find the cross trainer / elliptical machines are good. You're upright, lots of cardiovascular workout, plus it's a rather good easy rotational workout for the whole rib cage. Best is to start way back at about 15 minutes and do it only daily, and increase about 5 minutes each time. Anything gung ho on those strained CCJs is just going to be like running too much on a sprained ankle. It's injured, and it's not going to just disappear because you want it to. You do have to build back slowly into what it can handle. The tight rib joints around the back are still freeing up. It'll take more time yet.

[@trentwhalin9422]

Hi Steve, Just got mine from amazon today! I can't wait to try it out! I went to physical therapy to resolve a shoulder injury and did a lot of rowing like exercises. While my shoulder pain went away I did notice during pec stretches and the exercises I put out my chest a lot and felt a tightness in my vertabrae between my shoulder blades in addition to what felt like sternum being pushed in for certain movements. Have had it for about six months now. Went to the doc, said it was probably costochrondritis and to take advil. Nothing. Add on top of that trying to teach on computer for the last month. I hope this works!

[@trentwhalin9422]

I want to add that, besides those PT exercises, I have not worked out in nearly year thinking I may make the condition worse.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@trentwhalin9422 Hi Trent. Well done on thinking for yourself. Yes, working out would have made your costo worse. 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 KZbin 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. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@trentwhalin9422]

@@stevenzphysio4203 is it normal to have a little soreness around the costo the next day after using the backpod? Also, my Costco has tended to be felt either in certain positions (really slouching or stretching upward) and movements that engage my chest/rib cage, where you feel either the sternum being pressed in or pulled apart. Is that normal for Costco?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@trentwhalin9422 Hi Trent. Yep, all normal with costo. You are starting to stretch free rib and spinal joints round the back that may not have moved for months or years. Sure, you can get some treatment tenderness from them for the first few days - just like you would on starting to stretch a really tight hamstring, say. It's normal and not a biggie. It's up to you to use the Backpod correctly so it doesn't hurt. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 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. What also helps is massage for the tight muscles overlying the tight rib machinery around the back. 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 really hard between your shoulder blades especially. Secondly, as the rib machinery starts to free up, you'll automatically sit straighter. This can pull on the also tight and scarred pec muscles on your chest. The rib joints on your breastbone are really irritable anyway, so they can get a bit sorer too. Again, this isn't a biggie, or a reason to stop. Stretch the pecs as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Hang in there. It takes time to stretch the tight stuff, and it can protest, usually just in the first week. You probably will need the extra bits i suggested in my earlier reply. Cheers, Steve August.

[@trentwhalin9422]

@One With Nature basically. Took some time. I mean months. I slowly figured out I needed other things too like stretching my pec minor, scalenes and thoracic mobility in addition to posture. The backpod is invaluable but for me was only one part of it.

[@davidpearce2981]

Thank you Steve, first came across my experience in 2018 , over a number of months visited A and E several times because of the chest pain, but couldn’t tell me what caused it. But worth noting I was aware of my bad posture, and when I had it first it felt like a big not in the back and tried to stretch it out, then the chest pain started it also seemed to effect the abdomin as if I’d tensed there, finding an answer is huge, plus access to the back pod is a huge saving

[@ibrahimali6030]

Two years of suffering Finally I started feeling better after ordering your tool and used it for jus three times 👍❤️🙏 thank you so much & may god bless you

[@ahsanrajput7518]

May I asked do yo had any swelling on your chest either side as in my case I have swelling on upper left side ? Please advise as I’m thinking to order backpod .

[@ibrahimali6030]

@@ahsanrajput7518 I had like a knot or tie on my upper left side with pain every time I want to get some things from the floor or even tried to squeeze my swimming shorts ;at first it was very bad pain that goes to the back

[@lawstuddd]

Thank you for everything! I went to the ER this morning and diagnosed with Cosco. My pain is on the left side chest area- Does cosco also radiate to the left side of neck and L head? I’m assuming it does since its all connected, correct? I ordered my backpod for next day delivery. I am deeply grateful for you and everyone’s experiences. Approximately how long will it take to start weight lifting, hiking or running again? I imagine it will be best to ease in? how soon should I go in for a massage ? Is there a difference bw a sports massage and deep tissue with regards to cosco? Would you recommend a backstrap posture corrector to use while at work? I am a ihunch work style. Again thank you for everything you have done. Godspeed. I will sleep a bit more comfortable tonight knowing I am not having heart problems (hopefully). Thank you, everyone. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Sounds like you have costo sitting on top of the iHunch. This is really common - there's a lot of costochondritis happening these days because of hunching over computers, especially laptops, tablets and smartphones. As well as the spine getting hunched and then freezing like that, the rib joints at the back also tighten up. When they get tight enough to freeze, the more delicate rib hinges on the breastbone then have to move more just to let you breathe. So they strain, get irritated, then inflamed - and there's your costo. There's a good Wikipedia article on the iHunch - you are not alone! Also have a look at the Backpod's iHunch page www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ It's what we built the Backpod for primarily. Because it's built to stretch the rib hinges at the back, as part of sorting out the iHunch, it also has a specific use in fixing costo. You've probably got the dreaded iHunch, with costo on top. Cheeringly, the Backpod and its home programme are designed for both - they’re both part of the same general tightening hunching problem, and not particularly difficult to understand and sort out. Good luck with the work. Stop exercising until you can lie on the Backpod without needing a pillow under your head to make the stretch milder. You'll hate it. It's still quicker in the long run. 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. 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. As far as I can tell, it's the only thing commercially available that will give an effective strong localised stretch to the frozen rib and spinal joints around the back causing the problem - for definite technical reasons which are discussed on the Backpod's website www.bodystance.co.nz/en/backpod/. It really is a very precise problem, with a very accurate answer. 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. Might as well go straight into tat now - it'll help lots. 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Backstrap posture correctors have their place. We don't like them as physios because they replace the muscles down your back that would normally be keeping you upright, so these get even weaker. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.

[@stevesmith7239]

This man is telling the truth. he is saving you time and money by giving you this information for free. dont be cheap. spend the 80 dollars and buy the backpod. keep using it everyday. at first you will still have pain or new pains will develop, but this will eventually subside as the ribs are pushed back into it correct placement. the backpod cured my costro, after having to put up with breathing, lifting, yawning and sneezing in agony for 3 months

[@MaryC33333]

How long were you using the back pod before you saw an improvement? I have been using it for about a week and it just feels more sore after I use it so far…

[@stevesmith7239]

@@MaryC33333 it took about 3 weeks of daily use. It does get a bit more sore once you start and pain may develop in other parts of the rib cage, but the pain will subside, relax into it and take deep breaths. Make sure you use it everyday and don't stop. Make sure you don't over exert yourself during the day, refrain from lifting or strenuous activity, your rib cage needs to heal

[@MaryC33333]

@@stevesmith7239 thank you for the response Steve, I’m getting very impatient with this condition! 😅

[@1lyac]

@@MaryC33333 hello, so have you gotten any better?

[@bkfrance2]

I had nagging discomfort / pain in my back and under my left breast for YEARS!! Via Bob&Brad I found out about you, Mr August and your BACKPOD! Life changing!!!! I bought the BACKPOD out of desperation with very little faith but lots of hope!!! Oh my!!! It worked!!! I’m pain free and will stay pain free with regular use of my BACKPOD!

[@simonewan1]

Hi there, I have the pain in the same area that you do. My pain got a lot better even after a couple days of using backpod, but I still get flare ups here and there. How long did you use backpod for to become completely pain free? Thank you!

[@bkfrance2]

It started getting better after 1 use so I persevered. I used it daily for a week. Truthfully, some days I used it twice a day. Once in the morning on a yoga mat on the floor with 2 pillows and once on my bed at night with one pillow. Because I was feeling much better, I changed to 3 times a week for the 2nd week. By the 3rd week, I used it twice and by the 4th week, I didn’t need it! If I had used it daily each week, I might have improved even quicker!! I should be more consistent for maintenance but now I use it only once in a while when I’m feeling a twinge under my left breast or in my back. I swear by the BACKPOD! Seriously my BEST purchase ever for my health!

[@simonewan1]

@@bkfrance2That’s awesome you recovered so fast!🎉🎉🎉

[@rosannatindbk7511]

WAUW! This made my day! I had what I thought was a heart attack after a period of intense stress back in May and have had left chest pain since and just a weird feeling that my body wasn't normal nor able to really relax. I have been so scared there was something wrong with my heart, although the EKG showed everything was fine. This really makes so much sense to me and I think it will help me tremendously! Thank you so much for making this knowledge so accessible and well presented.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Roseanna. Thanks - it really is logical and evidence supported; the "mysterious inflammation" idea isn't. For practical treatment, I'd suggest you thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@rosannatindbk7511]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Steve, thank you very much for answering! I have consulted my doctor and she finds it to be Tietze's syndrom - affirming my suspicion after having read about symptoms and - luckily! - finding your video. I have now ordered the BackPod and will let you know how it goes. Thanks again!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@rosannatindbk7511 Hi Rosanna. Well done on the doctor agreeing, you 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@rosannatindbk7511]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Hi Steve. For some reason my answer is not shown here - I wrote two longer ones to you including some questions... Maybe it's youtube deleting it?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@rosannatindbk7511 Hi Rosanna. That's irritating. I think it's a glitch. I have noticed that comments occasionally disappear off KZbin, for no reason I've ever been able to work out. You're welcome to try again, or email me at the contact email address on the Backpod's New Zealand website www.backpod.co.nz Cheers, Steve August.

[@GatoTurd]

Hello Sir, I want to buy the pod. I’ve gone to the ER about 5 times before felling the inflammation of my chest on the left side of my chest. Not so much pain but tightness in the middle of the chest and left side of the chest with pain on the left side of my neck and now pain that runs down the pack of my left arm to the elbow. I was told I have no heart problem no lung problem no cancer and everything comes back negative. I get short of breath while sitting and I know I hunch due to poor posture. Through out the whole day about 3 times a day I get shortness of breath and tightness. Is this all part of this T Syndrome or Costo? Please help me here I am going crazy. 😢

[@GatoTurd]

My whole left side looks like is swollen.

[@ericwalsh9025]

Hey man hang in there with this. My pain is on the left side and have been to the ER 3 times in the past year because I thought it was my heart. I’m a personal trainer and have always been in god shape. Turns out to be Costo, it’s very very painful and consistent but it can go away! I’m not a doctor but his back pod is legit I’d you use it as suggested and take time to put the work in, you can get back to a pain free life

[@piteptown720]

Hello doctor, a combination of the backpod and chiropractor has helped alot I rarely have any chest pains but my sternum and middle back are still popping. what should i do next? continue the same therapy or change it?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Pedro. Good - well done on thinking for yourself. Stop the chiro now - if they're any good they'll have unlocked any joints that were tight enough to need it. Stick with the Backpod - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@Stress-relief-insights]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you so much Steve you have clarified the issue I have suffered with for 6 years. Now I have a way forward thank goodness!!!. Thank you from a fellow kiwi in Taupo 💕 Greatest appreciation for all the work you are doing. I hope you get rewarded in so many ways! Warmly, Nicole

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@Stress-relief-insights Thank you, Nicole. Have a thorough look over the Backpod's Costochondritis page for how we fix it - link is www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Just email me if you'd like me to talk you through it. Cheers, Steve August.

[@martyharding6063]

I have pain in my entire rib cage. I have these bumps on the front and side of rib cage. Before all this happened I was told I had costchondritis. Any remarks from you about this whole rib cage pain would help. Touching them is next to impossible. Doctors just dont know what to tell me. I pray I hear from you.

[@Swigzable]

@@stevenzphysio4203 you are amazing Steven a life saver. This is my last hope I am so excited to get this fixed

[@kylebazzar7994]

This research is genius!! Thank you so much I’m 29 years old and have had Costo pain for 3 years. It can be extremely debilitating. I also suffer back issues and spasms down the middle back in my erector spinal muscles. I gotta fix my back to fix my costo and I’ve never thought of this explanation. Everything about the body is give and take. It makes so much sense!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Well done on thinking for yourself. It is completely nuts. All I'm doing is passing on my bog standard New Zealand manual physio understanding of costo and how to fix it. This is also what the published medical research shows. The "mysterious inflammation" idea is NOT supported by the research, and is simply wrong. So, of course treating it with anti-inflammatory and other meds doesn't fix it. Get a Backpod and start using it - you'll need that after three years of the rib machinery round the back being frozen solid. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@lilear2015]

Everytime I get a cough I get this pain, starts in my back, on the opposite side of front rib pain. I can't stand up straight off all of the coughing, hurts to lift kettle and hang clothes in washing line. Just had cv19 and k have it again off all of the hard coughing. So glad to have found your info, as I've always thought it was coming from my back initially. You have given me some hope, as it is quite bad at the moment as the tightness is also affecting my digestion as it's so tight. Thank you thank you thank you!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Li. You're definitely not alone. Coughing is a classic trigger of costochondritis - from pneumonia, the flu, just a bad cold - and now COVID-19. It is not, repeat not, the infection itself that brings on the costo, but the coughing. I'm reasonably swamped with queries from people who've had COVID-19 which has left ongoing costochondritis in its wake. Coughing is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. I’ve seen cracked ribs from it, and not just in little old ladies. If the rib cage joints around the back are frozen solid and can’t move a little to absorb that shock, then the whole jolt hits the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone. So they strain and give - with every cough. It’s a lot like repeatedly hitting a sprained ankle with a hammer. And welcome to costochondritis. It’s NOT a “mysterious inflammation” appearing for no reason. The costo can stay even after the infection that caused the coughing has settled. The immobile rib joints at the back stay frozen, so the badly strained rib joints on your breastbone just continue straining, with every breath you take. This will usually get missed, by doctors and patients seeing it in terms of a lingering COVID-19 infection, which it isn’t. So there’s an expectation it’ll just settle down, as the infection has. Statistically, most of it doesn’t. It seems that you only start off costo this way if the rib cage machinery around your back is tight before the coughing starts. Unfortunately that’s really common anyway. So many people now have the iHunch from much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones - see www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ The rib joints round the back get tight along with the spinal joints, and that sets you up for straining the rib joints at the front if you start coughing. We fix it, logically enough, by freeing up the tight rib machinery around the back. See the Costochondritis page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ There's a home test there which should show the rib cage restriction I'm talking about. And also how we fix that. Cheers, Steve August.

[@nicholaslowe2664]

I’ve had mine for 4 years and eventually found great content on this . I have frozen back which causes pain on front and I’ve been to An E 3 times out of.

[@chasitycaviness9057]

Finally! I thought I was going nuts my entire life. 😔 Thank you❤️

[@valhuan]

Hi Steve, First off I would like to thank you. I really appreciate all the time and effort you have put in in summarising all the available information on costocondridis. For me personally everything you have said makes complete sense. I woke up one morning with costocondridis around 4 years ago. I have struggled with a very weak thoracic & cervical spine for as long as I can remember. It appears I am the perfect candidate for someone to develop costocondridis. I have been using the backpod for the last couple months, as well as seeing osteo/physio & doing clinical Pilates/yoga. My spine is a lot stronger now. Being able to sit up straight for long periods of time whereas before I would be in pain after 10 seconds. Costocondridis is still present however there is a definitely improvement in pain and the amount it cracks. Initially I could only use the backpod with 2/3 pillows but now I am fine without any. Part of me was hoping there would be no more pain once I got down to 0 pillows. I will continue using the backpod but do you have any idea when all the pain is likely to go away? Damian

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Damian. Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might make sense, and doing the things needed to fix yourself. So, things are getting stronger and freer. All good. 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. For you still to be getting sore, even though you're stronger and freer, you might need some extra bits dealt to as well. (1) 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. (2) 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. (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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M (4) Lastly, and you may or may not need this, but you certainly could after four years with costo. What you can get with costo and especially Tietze’s 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 - same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid selling sets hard. This is just normal inflammatory response to 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 get a rock-like build-up of this stuff, often with a bit of fresh swelling on top if the mechanical strain is still happening. It’s a bit like running with tight boots causing a blister and NEVER STOPPING for years. (As the costosternal joints never get a rest as long as you breathe.) So you've still got some hardened swelling there where the ribs join onto the breastbone. It 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. Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play 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 adhesive fibrosis around, so Voltaren (diclofenac) gel or CBD cream like Penetrex. Penetrex seems to work better. Spend about 10-15 minutes every three 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 maybe sore - 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. Try all that. You've done a really good job on most of the problem - I'd be hopeful these will cover the remaining components. If not, please get back to me. Cheers, Steve August.

[@gernader8]

Steve, thanks for providing a great explanation and your research conclusions. Much of what you covered in this video resonated deeply. I've been dealing with costochondritis for nearly 4 months now, came on suddenly, and so far your explanation is the only working theory that has given me some relief. For nearly 3 months my doctor was adamant my chest pain would "simply go away" after all the cardiovascular tests came back clean. But I continued to have intermittent severe pain. I'd have 3-5 bad days, then 1-2 good days. Finally they sent me to physical therapy. It took the therapist a few visits to figure out a (the?) issue. They first found my major and minor pectorals were almost constantly contracted. This was the source of 90% of my pain. The therapist did some spinal and rip manipulation around T3 or T4, and had near instant relief. The pain dropped from a 7/10 to a 2/10. They have been on an exercise regiment focusing on the scapula, and serratus anterior muscles, hoping to strengthen them to "hold" the ribs correctly. On the side, I've been using the backpod to help keep my spine and ribs loose. Using the backpod along the middle of my spine, I have no problem stretching without pillows. (Sometimes I feel a weird movement in my upper back) If I move the pod to the right side, I have slight discomfort but its a good stretch. On the left side however, when I get to T3-T4, its unbelievable painful. Pain radiates to my shoulder and ear! I normally have to get on one or two pillows just to stretch that area. If I try to press on that area with my hand, no pain what-so-ever. With the backpod, it could make me scream! I am hoping this spot is the trouble area, and the can help work it loose over the next two weeks.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Good - that's all completely consistent, and it's getting better. For anyone else reading this I'd like to point out that gernader8's costochondritis is not, repeat not, repeat NOT an inflammation. The PT manipulation which freed up the rib and spinal joints gave near instant relief. You CANNOT get that if costochondritis is a "mysterious inflammation". You DO get that, all the time, if the joints are frozen and you bang them free with manipulation. Sigh. Okay, stick with it and keep using the Backpod. You'll be tightest at your left rib joints 3 and/or 4. The PTs should do a sitting knee-in-the-back manipulation here, to definitively unlock the hinges. Then use the Backpod lots to stretch free the tight material around the joints so they'll stay free. 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, and hopefully the PTs are already doing this, 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 I'm sure the PTs have got you stretching them as well. There’s also a good pec stretching video on KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Hang in there. If you haven't already, have a look at my Part (2) How to fix most costo KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU There's a home twist stretch for costo somewhere about 10.15 minutes in that I find the best for freeing up the rib joints. You may need to free up those tightest rib joints first, though. Incidentally, your doc is wrong about costo just "going away". One bit of published medical research (Disla et al) states that 55% of the costo patients they studies still had costo after a year, ongoing. I did a survey of 100 costo patients on patient.com, and the average time they'd had their costo was 2.2 years SO FAR, ranging from a few days to 35 years plus. They still all had it. Cheers, Steve August.

[@ArianasMultiverse]

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR THESE CONDITIONS!!

[@anette5468]

Thank you so much Steve amazing explanation 👍🏻 I have suffered from this for 10 year’s will try your suggestions 😀

[@thetruthdotcom100]

Thank you for even going out of your way to help us .. I appreciate you

[@supercalebmurray8426]

Thank you so much for your time on this video.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you very much.

[@CatherineHayford]

I love your videos Your back pod has changed my life!!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you, Catherine! If you haven't come across them, here are some further suggestions on getting the most out of the Backpod for costo, plus the other common bits that costo can need. Thanks for the approval! We are trying! 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@muhammedahmed9555]

Hi Steve. Really appreciate all that you've done for the people in need. My case is that 2 years ago i felt a strong sharp pain in my sternum in the ribs 2 and 3 while I was just getting in position to lift a heavy dumbell over my head. I was going to lay on the bench on my back while holding the dumbell in both hands and i felt this really strong pain in my sternum it felt like my sternum was being pulled apart. Since then i haven't been able to move my upper body without feeling pain in my sternum where r2 and r3 attach, do crunches, bend forward to pick up things from the ground and run without feeling tightness and restriction in my sternum. In the beginning it hurt a lot to take deep breaths but now i can breathe deeply. Have gone through treatments with NSAIDs, hot pack cold pack, breathing exercises and steroids but i still feel this pain in my sternum and somtimes on both sides of the chest.would you say this is costochondritis? All the tests regarding heart and lung come out fine everytime. I have ordered the backpod.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hello Muhammed. Yep, that's costo. You were already tight on your rib cage movement. Then when you lifted the dumbell that put a lot of load on all your rib cage joints. The ones round the back were too tight to move to take that load a bit, so the more delicate rib joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone gave instead - it's a lot like spraining your ankle. It hurts! It hasn't settled down in two years because the rib machinery round the back is still frozen, so the rib joints round your front are still moving excessively to compensate - every breath you take. Any treatment, including the medical ones, which doesn't deal to the frozen rib joints around the back which are driving the strain and pain at the front is just missing the point and won't fix the problem. You've found that out. Well done on thinking for yourself, deciding I might know what i’m talking about, and getting a Backpod. It's the single best tool for quietly stretching the tight posterior rib joints. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@muhammedahmed9555]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you for replying Sir Steve. I will surely follow the advice you've given. Just one more thing, about 3 weeks (start of 20202) before this injury occured i found out that i was able to crack my sternum ( audible satisfying painfree pops of the costosternal junctions) holding onto the chair or bench on which i was seated and leaning back while firmly holding the base of the chair or bench. And since i used to crack my back i also started cracking my sternum. Do you think this could've contributed to my initial injury of the sternum? I was very active at the time of my injury and before the injury felt no kind of tightness of the ribs, sternum and back. I was active and agile.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@muhammedahmed9555 Hello Muhammed. You were still tight in the rib cage joints. When a joint is moving perfectly, it'll just slide silently to full range. It won't crack. You get that when the joint's getting tight - like a rusty hinge. My own costosternal joints used to crack when i had my own costo - it's one of the indicators. They don't since I freed up the frozen rib joints around the back and fixed the costo - they just slide silently. They don't hurt either.

[@muhammedahmed9555]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Okay. Thank you Sir Steve for clarifying. I feel so relieved and optimistic now. The back pod will come soon. Super excited for it. After reading all the feedback u've received on KZbin im so hopeful for my recuperation. Hats off to you Sir. Wish you all the best in your endeavors.

[@rebeccatumilty7271]

Did it help you

[@norbertmarko6479]

One of the few doctors who treats the problem not the symptoms. He answered all my questions two years ago, been using the backpod since, and now I can finally do dips again on the rings which was the biggest boogieman with costo. It's not magic, but it is the only thing that adresses the real problem. I won't stop using it, I've incorporated it into my thoracic mobility routine, to stay limber while doing weightlifting / calisthenics. Thank You Steve!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thanks, Norbert, and well done. Actually if you're back doing dips okay, then you've done a really thorough job - those things cause more costo to trigger than anything else in the gym. So it is important to keep the rib machinery around the back really free, because it's a big load on the whole rib cage. I reckon it's best to do a Backpod session every day you're doing dips, and preferably before you do them. Just to keep things all free, you can get some more oomph out of the Backpod by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Cheers, Steve August.

[@norbertmarko6479]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank You! I'll make sure to experiment with your additional tips as well. I read the study you mentioned, where the doctors focused on manual therapy with the participants, and it says that the latissimus was tight many times. In your opinion is it just a coincidence or could be connected to costo? I ask because it could be just that these people were tight in the back unrelated to the condition, on the other hand, the lat cover a huge surface of the back.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Norbert. It's not a coincidence. I talk about the frozen spinal and rib joint movement around the back as being the specific driving cause of the costo strain and pain at the front - which it is. But if the hinges hav been tight or not moving for months or years, the all the muscle (including the last) around, between and overlying those hinges will also get tight and scarred - it's all the same patch of frozen rib machinery; can't separate out the specific bits in isolation on the real patient. Well done on going back to the original papers! I wish the popular medical sites on costo had done that! Cheers, Steve August.

[@lawstuddd]

Norbert Marko how long did it take for you to begin exercising and lifting again ? Godspeed

[@wagvice1]

Thanks for this excellent review and explanation, much appreciate your thorough balanced unbiased approach !

[@moiraberniegatt9491]

I was diagnosed 3 years ago but not offered any treatment. It settled down and suddenly came back 2 weeks ago. I have just realised why. I've been getting much stronger after shoulder surgery and much improved press ups (I'm 65 yr old woman). I did a side plank where you rotate into a front plank. Next day I could barely move my neck and I now have a very much raised and thickened sternoclavicular joint on the R. I have less than 45 degree rotation. Listening to you, I'm sure that's what has done it. Thank you so much for sharing

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Bernie. Mm - if you mean you now have less than 45˚ thoracic rotation then that certainly sounds like what I've been describing. Normal total thoracic rotation in sitting would be towards 90˚ usually, with your shoulders getting towards parallel with your thighs. So if you're only half of normal, then some and perhaps most of your thoracic and/or posterior rib joints just aren't moving. There's a description of how to test for this at home on the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ You can see if that's a fit with what you've got. Cheers, Steve August.

[@shad0wMata]

Got some serious costo from working out and lifting a month and a half ago. I developed some anxiety and serious insomnia because of it. After all the agony endured, I decided to invest in the backpod. Been using it for a week and a half and it has worked MIRACLES. I feel so much better. I do chest warmups and use the backpod at night. Tightness and chest soreness is gone. I just have the lingering back soreness which I know will go away soon. I feel 90% better and I'll be back to working out at 100% after December, I'll stick to cardio for now which really helps. It takes patience and tender loving care to free yourself from costo pain, no matter how severe it is. Just do chest exercises and GET the fricking backpod. IT IS A GODSEND. Thanks, Dr Steve!!!!! 70 bucks for a backpod is better than hundreds on medical bills and endless hours of insomnia!!!!!! I wish you all a speedy recovery and happy healing!!

[@dontworryaboutit3840]

Do you have any kind of chest exercises to recommend?

[@AKiddo-ls9de]

Hi Steve, I've had costo for more than a year now, or at least that's what I've been kind of diagnosed (kind of because the bottom line is that it remains mysterious for most doctors/health professionals). The symptoms are that I've had oppressing pain below, behind and above the chest for a year, on the right side. It appeared all of a sudden during a pilates class, I heard a noise in my chest similar to that when you unbottle a champagne bottle. That was followed by an intense pain. I couldn't bend and could barely move my chest. My doctor diagnosed a muscle tear. I got better after a few weeks, but this oppressing pain remained. After so many medical appointments, I discovered your video early July. I bought the backpod and started stretching with the help/advice of my osteopath and I got super super quick results. After 2 weeks of backpod use + osteo + chiro + acupuncture, I was almost pain free. Note that I was also using a small rubber ball on my osteo advice as I had very precise pain points that were hard to reach with the backpod only. I then did a postural class for dancing (I dance a lot even though I had to adapt my practice to match my physical limit due to the pain and not knowing what problem I had) where we mostly did stretching exercises of the whole body and light reinforcement. I didn't feel any pain during the class on most movement, a bit on some of them (torso rotations mainly) but whenever it was the case I stopped. The day after, the pain started to come back. I kept on doing my stretching with the backpod and the ball and, even if it kills the pain for a few minutes, it always comes back very quickly. The consequence of that is that I am stretching more and more the spine with the backpod and rubber balls because it is the only relief I have. The thing is, I'm wondering if I'm overstretching or not. Also, it feels like the right side of the spine is well stretched now, so I feel like it's difficult for me to reach the painful areas and get a relief. I just feel my joints are not so stiff anymore (I'm also stretching the left side, which is more stiff than the right side by now) but I still feel the pain, even though I get a partial relief when I stretch. I also do the non backpod stretching exercises you provided. Hence, I have a few questions: - can you overuse the backpod and get opposite results of what you're looking for, i.e an increase or stagnation of the pain? - even though the pain is on the right side of the chest, is stretching the left side playing a big role in decreasing the pain of the right side? - I have a clear pain point in the back. The majority of the pain is on the chest and it's by far the most painful one, because it also irradiates along the ribs and I feel completely trapped in my own body. Is it OK to press this pain point as hard as I can or am I just making things worse? - the pain is not only near the sternum. It is radiating on the whole right side of the chest. Pressing the chest does not hurt. Can there be something else on top of costo? (I did all the medical exams : scanner, x-ray etc, there is nothing visible according to doctors). Something to know as well: a chiro told me I had a straight neck and straight lumbars. He said that it could put pressure on the upper back. - I also feel I have a pinched nerve between the shoulder blades constantly. Is that possible, and could that be the cause of some of the upper chest pain? (Because even when the pain was very low thanks to the backpod, there still was a little something) Today, the pain is constant and I can't take it anymore. Its been 2 weeks. None of the painkillers I've tried work and I'm completely desperate. Every day that goes by is difficult because even stretching does not seem to work anymore. Both my chiro and osteo are unavailable this month. I'd be very happy if you had some hints about my situation. Also the other readers. I hope my English is understandable. Thank you for reading this whole thing. And thank you Steve for helping us all through that pain.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. It's obviously what I've been describing, because you got very good very quickly on the Backpod plus osteopath, etc. Also, all the medical tests were clear, and the docs are very good at those. (They're just not good on costo, usually.) You had costo for a year. So that means for at least that time, the rib machinery around your back was tight and frozen. It freed up nicely on the Backpod and osteopath / chiro manips. But - you cannot stretch out fully the very tough collagen of your ligaments, joint capsules, fascia, etc. in just a couple of weeks. Technically it takes six months (though you get way most of it in the first couple of months). So, it's tightened up again. It's not back to Square One. Firstly, talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing this home massage on you - it should help a lot. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5avhoSOZZh8pac Also, you're better seeing your doctor. You are getting whole right-side-of-chest pain now. Nothing says you can't have something else going on as well, unfortunately. I don't know your age or whether there's any chance of osteoporosis. You have been seeing both a chiro and osteopath, and I don't know what they've been doing. If they've been doing that body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back manipulation technique, that does strain the already strained rib joints on your breastbone further, every time it's used. There are other techniques that don't. I don't think you can overstretch on the Backpod - the floor stops you. However about 4% of thoracic spines are straight and hollowed. The Backpod used in the normal way won't help these - it's covered in the 'Warnings and precautions' section of the full 31-page user guide. I don't think that will be you case, or you wouldn't have got such a good improvement initially. However you could ask your doctor, or chiro or osteo. 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

[@katielemmer9450]

Hi Steve, love your work for the Costco community! I just got my backpod yesterday after suffering with costocondritis for 7 weeks now. I’m a new Mum and I overdid the baby wrap when my baby had colic, that alongside all of the other Mum tasks (lots of bending over & breastfeeding) led me to Costco. Doctors gave me the usual spiel about waiting and taking Panadol, eventually when I went back I got given three scripts for orphenadrine. I took one script and it worked (but only for the length of time I took it) Then one night in desperation I found your video and felt like I had some hope again as going to the physio and chiropractor multiple times, alongside remedial massages seemed impossible without help with my baby and a husband working full time . I used the backpod yesterday and might have gone slightly too hard (even though I told myself multiple times not to) *facepalm* but it just felt so good! Now my breathing is better but I’m having muscle spasms especially in my right shoulder blade. I’ve been doing your stretches which feel great but I guess my questions are: -do you have any thoughts on taking the orphenadrine script while I’m using the backpod to use the muscle spasms or will this ruin the progress entirely? - can you overstretch? Because right now all I feel like doing is stretching out the muscle knot in my shoulder blade but don’t want to overdo it. Thanks so much! 😊

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. If you stretch anything tight in the body too much in one go - it'll get sore. It's not a biggie. All we're trying to do is get people to start off gently, at least for the first week or so. Talk someone into doing this home massage on you. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades. That'll ease up the tight muscle overlying the tight joints, and also immediately make using the Backpod easier. You may ned other things for the costo. 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 Re the orphenadrine - can't really say if it'll help. But it's not going to fix your costo - it's just not that sort of a problem. It's a muscle relaxant - but costo is primarily a rib joint problem, not a muscle one.

[@spcrtmn01]

I am so glad you got this video up. Although I am not a physical therapist by trade, I am a researcher, who also suffers from chronic costochondritis and can attest to the dearth of literature on the condition. That 2017 article you reference was also the best study I could find in which the theory and empirical evidence seemed to fit just right, suggesting that manual therapy and joint mobilization was an effective treatment for costochondritis. Their results not only showed a significant reduction in pain but also a restoration of function among the participants. Of course, I am hoping to see more studies that will build on the results of that 2017 study in the future (obtaining more participants, experimental design, etc.), especially once that article by the British Medical Journal is finally published.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Yes, the disconnect between what the research actually says, and the popular medical and medical site view of costo - is pretty mad! I feel like the little kid pointing out the emperor actually has no clothes on. Re further research, we put in a proposal yesterday in Otago University in New Zealand for a preliminary study on costo and how we treat it; RCT to follow. To be honest, one reason it's never been done before in NZ is just that in my area of experienced manual physio, it was never seen as a question or a problem - we just fixed it and never thought twice about it; as I fixed my own costo over 30 years ago. It's easier than the average low back or neck problem. Good luck with the work on your own costo. I assume you've seen my Part (2) video on How to treat most Costo and Tietze's. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@MarcioASantos]

Im from Brazil. I've been suffering from this for over two decades ... I'm 41 now. At first, the costo (or tietze) came sporadically. But since 2017 things has become chronic. I am now treating generalized anxiety and panic syndrome to be able to move on. Last year I imported Backpod from the US, paid about $ 250 in fees to get it but I only used it once because give me a lot of pain for a few days. After that, I had a MRI and found that I have spinal injuries on C2, C3, C4, C5 as well a chest injury on T5, T6 that already existed. Then tried chiropractic that just screwed up. In the same period, a renowned expert analyzed my case and said that I have nothing to do that unfortunately I would have to learn to SURVIVE with pain ... These days I managed to reduce anxiety by learning to live with pain and things moving on my chest... I feel a lot of pain in the ribs below the armpit that radiates over the heart. I'm afraid to try backpod and make things worse, should I try again? About the medicines, I guarantee that nothing makes the pain go away, already tried all the existing anti-inflammatories, all the sprays and painkillers ... Today I take 300mg pregabalin to reduce the pain (I don't know if it resolves something too) but it helps to alleviate anxiety ... This MYSTERIOUS DISEASE that nobody knows around here is ending with me ...Sorry abou my english. Hugs and peace to everybody....

[@Backpod_Official]

Hi Marcio. I think you should go back to using the Backpod. It's not a magic wand - it's not goiing to disappear all the problems you've got. But what you're describing with the rib pain and things moving on your chest sounds just like the usual rib immobility around the back causing popping and clicking and giving at the other ends of the ribs on your breastbone. That's what the Backpod's the best tool in the world for. But go gently - you can't stretch this stuff out in one hit. It'll just get sore if you try to - it takes time, usually a few weeks or more. It's like having hamstrings so tight that you can't touch your knees. If you try and force down to the floor in one hit then sure it'll hurt. So you don't do that. You just do a bit of stretching daily and you get there in a few weeks. So just follow the instructions, and use enough pillows under your head so that the stretch doesn't actually hurt. It's just a stretch, and after so long, sure you can get some treatment tenderness afterwards for the first few days - that's completely normal as things start to move for the first time in years. It's not a biggie. 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. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.

[@Flavius89]

Please tell me how would you describe the pain: is it more like a pressure or a sharp pain when you twist/bend? Or maybe both? Do you still manage to exercise? I've had this for one and a half years, I'm 30 now. I get both types of pain, but the pressure always scares me, even if I had a cardiology consult. Sometimes the pressure increases after I exercise, sometimes during exercise.

[@promos319]

this guy is amazing.

[@ilyakarakurkchi6155]

Thank you! thank you for the information! you are absolutely right! by unlocking the thoracic spine, the pain in the sternum is gone !

[@kristieleboeuf6826]

Omg I am a super fit healthy 40yr women who has been dealing with this off and on since my teens! It gets so bad I just want someone to crack my sternum! Thank you for your info and knowledge if I could hug you I would. Sending love from Canada

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Good luck, Kristie. We like Leafies. (Slang in New Zealand for travelling Canadians, from the maple leaf insignia sewn onto their packs.) Cheers, Steve August.

[@LamaTheGod]

I crack my sternum everyday up to 15 times a day, the longer I wait the louder the crack. Sounds like 5 ribs and my sternum are cracking. It freaks everyone out. It gives me slight relief everytime I do it. Even though it seems to upset me for a second it helps so much.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@LamaTheGod Okay, that makes it definitively what I've been talking about. The cracking and popping and giving of the rib joints on your sternum is a mechanical problem - NOT an inflammatory one. Inflammation is silent and painful. The reason you're cracking your rib joints on the sternum is to release - very temporarily - the excessive load they're under. They're under that extra load because the rib machinery at the other ends of the same ribs where they hinge onto your backbone is frozen solid. You'll probably have a lesser pain back there too. So the way you fix the problem is by freeing up the tight ribs around the back. Anything else is just dabbling. Thoroughly read the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's New Zealand website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/backpod/ That should set you on the right track. Cheers, Steve August.

[@LamaTheGod]

@@stevenzphysio4203 I've been diagnosed with it 4 years ago. Recently been told I havnt got it though. Its my higher ribs as you were explaining which is tietze. I have doctors on Tuesday to talk about this and shed some light onto my symptoms and hopefully the doctor doesnt think I'm self diagnosing. Although I'm 99.9% sure this is what I'm suffering with for the past 4 years. Progressively getting worse to the point I have half the muscle mass in my left arm compared to to right. I'm immobilised and struggle to do anything. Working while not knowing what the problem is the worst, heart attack symptoms and feels like someone is stabbing my heart when I move the wrong way is so scary.

[@LamaTheGod]

@@stevenzphysio4203 and constantly 24.7 feels like someone is pushing on my chest. I also have a sunken chest in the localised pain. So there was alot of confusion over the years for doctors and myself. Thank you.. maybe my life isn't going to be like this forever

[@AgeRightDoc]

Thank you for this very information and succinct review of the literature and explanation of this common "dis-ease". I found your perspective on the proper management especially insightful and useful.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you. I'm trying to find time for a video specifically for ED doctors, cardiologists, rheumatologists, pain clinics and docs generally. I've been giving lectures to these groups in New Zealand, and the response has been quite amazingly enthusiastic. Essentially, there's a simple underlying mechanism which explains costo, Tietze's, precordial catch, slipping ribs and xiphoid process pain. This mechanism is well understood in my own area of New Zealand manual physiotherapy. But worldwide the medical view is skewed away from this understanding simply by the '-itis' ending of the term most commonly used, which implies it's an inflammation, therefore treatable by the usual anti-inflammatory approach. I suspect this would have to come from someone like me in New Zealand or Australia. It's a communication issue, and we're more egalitarian inside medicine over here. I've been very cheered at how receptive everyone's been, especially the ED docs who are swamped with this stuff daily. They're not nitpicking academics - they want practical stuff that works, and that's what we've got in my area. The supporting research is already there - it's just a matter of getting it known. Cheers, Steve August.

[@JLNATION_REACTZZ]

Thanks Steve I’ve been using my backpod for cosco for 7 days! And my back pain that I was having is going away! Now I’m Just waiting on the pain and swelling on the left of my sternum to die down! Imma keep using the pod!! I’m being patient with it

[@stevenzphysio4203]

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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@mehtapak-sisman3787]

You saved my life I have had it since 18, I am now 42 and it’s getting worse

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Mehtap. Unfortunately you're nowhere near the record. Costo can just stay indefinitely - statistically, most of it does NOT "just settle down." The record I know of re fixing costo was a lady in the UK who'd had it for 35 years. When I last heard from her, she was back walking daily, and starting quietly into the gym; no pain. It's a logical and readily treatable problem - it is NOT a mystery. Yes, i would suggest you get a Backpod. It's the only thing around that'll do an effective stretch on the frozen rib machinery round your back which is driving the ongoing costo strain and pain at the front rib joints. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@mehtapak-sisman3787]

Thank you Steve. My episodes which happen twice a year are very painful and nothing less then a heart attack. This time the attacked passed in 20 minutes as usual but the tightness around the ribs remained for several days. I have already ordered the back pod and started with the prescribed exercises. I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you a million times over 🙏🏼

[@CapturingChristianity]

I’ve been using the Backpod for 2.5 weeks for pain I’ve self-diagnosed as costo. I have back and chest/sternum pain when breathing in. Thoracic adjustments from a chiropractor helped temporarily but the pain would return after a couple days. I started using the Backpod and it seemed to start helping after about a week (as in no pain at all) but as of today, the pain is back. Not at the same intensity but pretty bad. I’ve noticed that my back is a lot more mobile since starting-it’s actually pretty crazy how mobile it is now-but that makes the return of pain all the more curious. Is it normal to experience serious setbacks like this using the Backpod? I use the Backpod about 15 a day with no pillows and switch up positions every 30 seconds. Is 2.5 weeks just not long enough? Is 15 minutes a day not enough? I need some reassurance.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi C.C. Keep going. Sounds like you're doing everything right, and getting the usual results - the costo pain on the front clearing as the rib joints round the back free up. You just haven't gone long enough yet. What you're stretching is the very tough collagen of your ligaments, joint capsules, fascia, etc. which has stiffened down around the immobile rib and spinal joints at the back. Collagen is stronger by weight than steel wire. You can stretch it out again, but it takes enough of long, strong, specific stretches to do it. A week isn't enough, though you'll clearly feel better just in that time. Three weeks will stretch it out mostly, usually, but depends how tight you are to start with. It's like stretching a hamstring muscle that's so tight you can't touch your knees. It'll take weeks before you can touch your toes. That's just how it is. Your chiro wouldn't have helped except temporarily. You can unlock the hinges with manipulation but you cannot, repeat cannot, stretch out the tightened collagen around the hinges in that same split-second stretch. That's exactly what the Backpod's for - so you get an improvement which lasts. When you no longer need a pillow, get more oomph on the stretch by raising your buttocks off the ground. Chase the tightest bits, which will be slightly out to the sides of your spine to stretch the ribs, and stay 1-3 minutes on them. Hang in there. This stuff just takes time. I do get comments from people who've had the problem for five years, used the Backpod for two days, then decided that since it hasn't fixed everything by then, it doesn't work. This is a bit dumb. Cheers, Steve August.

[@l44916]

Hi Capturing Christianity! I just posted about this same thing looking for feedback. How are you doing now if you don't mind me asking??

[@graaspurvstrand5988]

I was diagnosed with Tietze’s some 10 weeks ago. The pain was horrible. The doctor gave me a prescription for some anti inflammatory pills and basically wishes me good luck and told me it would go away on it’s own. I went home and waited for it to pass but it didn’t. I woke up more than once every night because of the pain. By chance I found this video and it made so much sense to me. I couldn’t find the back pod in Denmark so ordered it from the uk. It took a couple of weeks to get here because of the coronavirus but after using it for only a week I now sleep through the night and it’s not nearly as painful anymore. So I just wanted to say thank you for this invention. I am looking forward to feeling even better in the next weeks to come

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Well done on thinking for yourself. No, statistically most Tietze's and costochondritis doesn't "just settle down." It's another thing that the popular medical view unfortunately gets wrong. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 well out of lockdown, though. As well, if you can, 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@graaspurvstrand5988]

Thank you so much for your reply. I’ve worked as a programmer for 15 years so I am definitely an ihunch candidate. I will be checking out all your recommendations and hope the lockdown is lifted soon so I can get a sports massage. Thanks again!

[@lauriolivier6992]

Great information well presented. Thank you.

[@queena6303]

Hello Steve I spoke with you Months ago on a separate video regarding Costo & the backpod. I’ve been struggling with this since Fall of 2018, been to the ER 3 times thinking I had a heart attack, etc. I’m 23 years old & im a dental assistant in the USA. When we spoke, it was in May & I bought the backpod. It helped & most of the summer of 2019 I didn’t feel anymore pain so I thought it went away. I also went to see a Chiropractor for the first time. Anyways I became hopeful that I was Free of Costo & stopped using the backpod & doing exercises.. But Last weekend the Sharp stabbing pain came back & I started using the backpod again. The pain also prompted me to make an appointment w/ a New Chiropractor that used Acupuncture, Adjustments, & a muscle vibrating machine. It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve gone to do all this but my problem is that even tho I haven’t felt that strong Pain, I still feel some pressure.. especially when I breathe when I go to sleep. Would continuing regular visits with the Chiropractor help along with the back pod? Also would you recommend I do some Yoga at home to stretch? I’ve dealt with this for a year now & it’s very depressing. My anxiety has gone up as well..

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Don't get too worried - remember you did get it clear, and it stayed like that over most of the summer of 2019. So it's fixable, even if it's come back recently. It's not back to Square One. Let's just get it clear again, then this time stop it from coming back. There are reasons it's come back. Firstly, you're a dental assistant, so LOTS of bending forward over patients, on top of the usual bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones that almost everyone does these days as well. So what you'll have is costo on top of the iHunch, when the rib joints get tight enough around the back, as part of the spine getting tight and hunched. So that's an ongoing thing, so once we've got everything completely free again this time, you will have to continue with regular use of the Backpod and the other bits of the Backpod's program. It's not a big deal - like putting oil in your car or otherwise the engine would seize. I use my own Backpod now about once every three weeks, for instance. So do do all the bits shown in the user guide or on the iHunch page of the website - stretch, two strengthening exercises, two home massages, and posture as much as you can. Other possible factor as to why it's come back: have you been seeing a chiro regularly? Sorry, but I have become really disillusioned about US chiro treatment of costo. There are of course really good ones, but: (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. If you think any of the above apply, then I'd simply stop going to the chiro. You're much better to go to a sports massage therapist. Shout yourself a sports massage - preferably two, with a week off in between. When you've had costo for more than a few months, the muscles between and overlying the tight ribs around your back and sides, plus the pec muscles on your chest, also get tight and scarred. Massage is ideal for loosening them up. The pressure on breathing sounds like tight muscles around the rib cage. As well, if you can, 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M Go back to using the Backpod daily. I'm assuming you no longer need a pillow under your head to use it now. if so, 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. Yoga is sort of useful generally, but I think you'll get more benefit from what I've just described. When you don't need a pillow under your head on the Backpod (i.e. the joints are all moving pretty well), then start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the Part (2) How to fix most costo and Tietze's video kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU Try all that, and I think you'll come right fast. Then it's a matter of quietly keeping everything going - doesn't need a lot of effort but will need it 2-3 times a week, for the next six months anyway. Cheers, Steve August.

[@queena6303]

Steve NZ Physio Awesome thank you for replying. I will do as you instructed & see where that takes me. It’s very comforting to know someone understands what you are going through. I don’t “Look” sick so many people don’t believe me when I’m clutching my chest, frozen in my step, & holding my breath, just hoping that the pain goes away quickly. If I have any questions I will contact you again. Thank you & God bless!

[@queena6303]

Hello again Steve. It’s been a month since my chest pain Flared up & some weeks since we last discussed the treatment you recommended. Sadly my pain has not gone away even though it has been better than when it started again. Occasionally One out of 2-3 Flare up’s A day will be very horrible & painful but the rest are somewhat tolerable. Anyways I’ve continued the backpod & stretching exercises that you recommended but I started having questions. It’s Normal for the pain to be Worse.. before it gets better right? Bc after using the backpod i sometimes experience flare ups, more so than when I did not use the backpod. Also would you say that a woman’s Menstrual period could cause some flare ups? Sorry to be so frank but I find that when I have my period I experience more pain than when I didn’t have it. So I’m curious if you know if there could be any link between that? Also when I become sick, I experience more flare ups than when I’m not. I had strep throat earlier this month & managed to fight off a Fever but it seems that when I’m sick I also experience more chest pain.. of course I continue the backpod, etc. Just as we discussed last time but I had some questions. I’m praying this goes away soon, I’d like to start the new year being Pain-free & focus on my job without worrying I might fall on my patients.

[@ZedRN]

Easily diagnosed by 3 different clinicians nearly 20 years ago, heart/lung issues ruled out, flare ups on/off over the years as I continue to be in an aggravating job with repeat movements of the upper body. However, I have not needed to manage my pains with medications until last week-huge flare up, referred pain throughout ribcage, wondered whether I really had costo. or something else since all the medical references I had seen say it should last maximum 1 month and go away - I googled for long lasting costo and eventually found Steve August and others who have referred to him and his work on costo. I found info that resonated with my symptoms from other sufferers and Steve's explanations made much more sense to me- I am -planning to buy the backpod but meantime tried to imitate the treatment with a hand manipulation of the same areas and that worked great- I thought I wouldn't be able to report for first day of a new job when flare up started 3 days prior- but just 3 nights of the improvised treatment , deep relief gel after, and patches to back and chest during first 2 days of work, and I am in great shape already!! Thank you very much, you got this one right!!!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Yes - most costo does NOT settle down soon. There's only one actual published piece of medical research on this (Disla et al) and it shows that most costo will still be there a year later. However the abstract (summary) of the paper says it will spontaneously settle inside a year. This is extraordinary - I have never otherwise come across a paper where the abstract disagrees with the full paper. It's part of the misinformation on costo, and why it's so poorly understood and treated in most places. Well done on your DIY Backpod approach. It bears out completely my New Zealand view, and also what the best published piece of research says on costo. That is, forget the "mysterious inflammation" red herring - you fix it by freeing up the frozen rib machinery around the back, which takes the load off the straining and painful rib joints at the front. That's what you did, and that's why it was helped. You've had that patch of posterior rib machinery frozen for 20 years, though. We've fixed costo that's lasted longer than that, but it does take time and effort. If you want to do a full job, not just acute flare alleviation (not that there's anything wrong with that!) have a look over this long PDF I've done on treating costo. It's essentially a treatment plan for what we find works best, with explanations. It is wordy and detailed, and better read on a computer, not a phone. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.

[@ZedRN]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Wow, Thank you Steve, I am honoured you even respond to these comments🙂..and thanks for the link, I am saving it and will read it, I need to cure this ill if possible!! Can't thank you enough- and I will remember to update you with any progress!! Blessings!!

[@jacobkoch8322]

I've had rib pain, limited shoulder movement/pain/clunking feelings/sounds, problems breathing deeply(which affected my sleep a lot) and recently occasional chest pain (which was very worrying at first) and I've always attributed all of these to just not stretching/self massaging enough(stretching/self massage never really helped in the long run at all), and being out of shape but after using the backpod method using just a rolled up towel ONE time, the chest pain immediately got 70% better and I could suddenly breathe better than I could in YEARS. Thank you so much Steve! I'm now continuing with using the backpod + stretching and really starting to get my physical health/posture back to a better state. :) It's been 11 days of using the backpod and although I still have some discomfort it's much better. I can tell that I have some inflammation though, so it might take a while longer for me to fully recover. If only I could get used to sleeping on my back, I'm sure that would help speed things up a bit.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Jacob. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@jacobkoch8322]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks for the response. :) It’s been about two weeks now of using the backpod and those tight painful spots between my shoulder blades and spine no longer hurt when laying on the backpod! :) I’m actually now using a lacrosse ball on a thick mat in combination with the backpod to REALLY get in there and loosen things up even more which has made me feel even better. And yes, my costochondrosis was VERY likely caused by years of poor posture and sitting on computers/iPads/etc. I am doing the stretches for costo you recommended in another video as well as the neck stretch and neck strengthening exercises in the booklet. I’ve also started intermittent fasting (with a healthy diet + a variety of supplements) in order to get to a healthier weight and an also hour of walking total per day. My only real problem is that I’ve been getting pain in my neck and some slight nerve discomfort throughout my body occasionally, mostly in my arms (which I’ve actually had happen for a while, so the exercises likely aren’t causing it) it gets worse when I accidentally sit with poor posture for a while. I’m hoping that with time that this will resolve itself once my posture starts to improve. I actually felt great (less nerve discomfort, almost none actually) until I accidentally turned my neck abruptly and awkwardly while adjusting a pillow, which caused the nerve discomfort/pain to come back. Do you have any advice for neck pain or anything that I could do on top of what Im already doing? Ive also been doing chin tucks and the stretch where you put a towel around the base of your neck and lean back with good posture as recommended by bob and brad. Thanks again for sharing this information about costochondritis with the world, I really think MANY people could benefit from knowing this information. I only wish I had realized it sooner. But at least now I’m on track for improving my life and feeling better.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@jacobkoch8322 Hi Jacob. Well done - you're obviously working seriously to get everything sorted out. Necks are really a bit tricky to diagnose and recommend over youTube - the thoracic spine and rib cage are much less complex. Sounds like you're pulling yourself back after a long time getting really tight and a bit hunched. It's very common. I'd follow all the bits in my earlier reply - you will need the massages also. The walking is excellent. As the costo gets better, concentrate on swinging your arms and breathing in deeply down towards your stomach - it's a good gentle mobilisation for the rib cage as well as good cardiovascular work. Do the pec stretches - it's likely you're just a bit tight through the shoulder and arm muscles that the nerves run through. Ideally, do 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 sensations down the arms at all does tell me you were pretty tight to begin with. It’ll stretch (and massage) out fine.

[@jennyroberts5545]

wow Steve ... what a breath of fresh air and hope. I have been prescribed ibobrufen for inflammation, which I haven't taken. I will proceed to get some physio help... wonderful. Makes sense.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thanks, Jenny. Yes, it really does. I feel very much like the small boy pointing out the emperor has no clothes on.. Have a look at the Costochondritis page of the Backpod's website for some more practical info on what you're likely to need - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Cheers, Steve August.

[@niccolealexandria3875]

This is very helpful! Thank you so much

[@stephaniedenny7537]

yesssss ive been dealing with costo/tietze/ pre-chordial catch for the last 15 years!!! this is the first I've seen where you've described everything i deal with. ive see so many doctors and basically just learned to live with it

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Stephanie. Unfortunately that's a common story. We're trying to change it. Well done on thinking for yourself and not giving up. Have a thorough look over www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That should give you a clear idea of what's needed to fix it. Which is logical and not all that difficult - if you drop that "mysterious inflammation" nonsense. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August.

[@jcam783]

Hello Dr., I have been dealing with this condition for the last year or so . While I have had stretches of time with no pain , it keeps coming up every so often . My Doctor mentioned to me that she believed it was possibly Costochondritus , only because I had been tested for my heart ,and all tests came back fine . It is quite unnerving to say the least ,and definitely brings up the stress level . I would really experience pain a few days after an intense workout , especially after doing pushups .Glad to come across your videos . Thank you for all your research in this area .

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi. Yep, the strain at the rib joints on your sternum will settle down after a bit if you do nothing. But that doesn't mean the problem's just gone away. What hasn't changed is that the frozen rib and spinal movement around the back is still completely immobile. So as soon as you twist, lift, strain, spend lots of hours hunched over the computer, etc. those rib joints on the breastbone will just give again. It's not illogical or a mystery. Costochondritis is essentially strain and pain at the joints where your ribs hinge onto your breastbone, caused by immobility of the rib joints round the back under your shoulder blade. (That’s why you get a lesser pain and tightness round the back there as well.) When these rib joints round the back can’t move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively, every breath you take. So they strain, ‘give’ (usually with clicking and popping and often with sharp, scary, stabbing pain), get irritated and locally inflamed - and there’s your costochondritis. It is NOT a “mysterious inflammation” arriving out of a clear blue sky for no reason. So treating it like it is does NOT fix it. You’ve probably found that out. Put the effort in to understand what’s going on so you can fix your costochondritis yourself. It’s up to you - you are very unlikely to find a doc who can fix it for you. They haven’t so far, right? There is a specific reason for that. Also, no - it usually won’t “just settle down.” That’s just doc reassurance and it’s simply incorrect - the existing research shows most costo lasts for AT LEAST a year. There’s a specific reason for that too. Thoroughly read the costo page of the Backpod’s website, including watching the costo videos linked from it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Understand what’s going on and what actually fixes costo. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@jcam783]

Steve NZ Physio Thank you so much for taking the time to respond,and the link . Great to know that I can be proactive with this and do something about it .

[@NimmiCat]

In 2016 after a long bout of bronchitis a doctor suggested the rib/sternum pain I had was costochondritus. Of course I had to look it up. What I read was that it was inflammation, an easy thing to accept after coughing all night for weeks. However how mine resolved proved it wasn't inflammation. I was climbing through the pain of what felt like rebar in my sternum. My partner said she saw I was grimacing the whole way. I got to the top and was lowering when I realized I had no more pain! I knew then it couldn't possibly be inflammation to resolve like that. I surmised that however I happened to move released the ribs. I don't recall if I saw your video before or after I had the release but I do remember your bucket handle description making a lot of sense. Sure the coughing probably started the issue but no one said (including me, despite being familiar with chiropractic adjustments): you need a physical adjustment by a professional therapist (or DC). I haven't had it return to that extent but I am more mindful of my posture both awake and falling asleep. The way I would describe it to my climbing partners is: oh my rib is stuck again. And I would just stretch and adjust myself out of any pain. Sounds simple but I had to go through a lot of pain before I self adjusted on that climb and it was so eyeopening.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi - thanks for the comment. Yes, absolutely - it 's not inflammation if you can get immediate relief after mechanical loading like that. So, you would have had specific tightness at some of the rib joints around the back, where your rib cage hinges onto your spine. When those joints around the back can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone MUST move excessively to allow you still to breathe and move around. So they strain, give, get painful - and get called a "mysterious inflammation" just because that's what the "-itis" ending means. You get this with coughing, which is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. When the back joints can't move, then the front ones strain and hurt. What I think you did climbing was move with probably maximal muscle and joint action - enough to crank free much of the tight movement around the back. So the pressure immediately came off the sore rib joints at the front. Well done, but I doubt you got all the tight movement completely free like that - it'd be hard to do so just on a climbing move, no matter how strong. But it sounds like what's going on is clearly what I've been talking about in the video. To clear it all fully, I'd suggest two things: (1) Get a Backpod. It's going to give you much more leverage to quietly stretch free the remaining tightness out of your spine and rib joints. You simply can't get as much specific stretch force to the tight joints by any move or exercise you can do yourself. You could also use it as a warm-up for the joints before climbing, just like you'd stretch muscles. (2) Talk, bargain or bribe someone into doing this home massage on you. Get them to go hard down between your shoulder blades. This is for the muscle overlying the tight joints, which will also be tight and a bit scarred. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5avhoSOZZh8pac And keep climbing!

[@adamdavis307]

you are completely right. i've had it for 5 months now. bought you back pod. stopped using it after 2 months i must admit. but i just did what you said and I can twist my torso easily the full 90 degress to the right. but i only get 45 degress to the left and i DO actually feel the pitch in my mid thoracic. and i have increased left rib joint pain on my 6th rib left hand side today. I've got chiropractor tomorrow so i will let him know exactly the problem to be fixed. You are a legend!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Adam. Good. Well done on thinking for yourself. Good luck with the chiro - they do vary. The good ones are very good, and you certainly sound tight enough that unlocking the rib and spinal joints is going to help. But watch out for (1) the usual body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-the-chiro's-fist-in-your-back manipulation technique. This will further strain the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Also, (2), they do have a bias towards just manipulating the spinal joints and missing the rib ones, and these are the crucial ones with costo. I'm just saying. You can pass on those comments from me and note whether your chiro listens to them or not. Good luck. Stick with it. It's clearly what I've been describing, therefore the way out is to free up the rib machinery around the back. Cheers, Steve August.

[@MarkLiversedge]

You convinced me to seek out a chiropractor and sure enough he adjusted and got my 6th rib back in place yesterday and lo and behold today my acute pain is gone (still a little sore) and reckon its the answer. You are a hero.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hello, Mark. That's good, and thanks - but no he didn't. Your 6th rib was never "out of place" and it's not "back in place" now. That's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing real. You 6th posterior rib articulation - where your rib hinges onto your spine - was frozen, immobile, couldn't move. So the rib joint at the other end of the same rib - where it hinges onto your breastbone - was moving excessively to compensate, every breath you took and move you made. So it clicked, popped, gave, strained and got painful. That's what costo IS. So you do fix it by freeing up the immobile rib machinery around the back, which takes the strain off the rib joints round the front. You've just had a graphic example of that - and good. Manipulation - from a chiro, osteopath, manipulating physio or doc - CAN do a good fast unlocking of a frozen rib or spinal joint. It's like banging a rusted hinge with a hammer - breaks the rust seal and unlocks the hinge. That's all it does - it doesn't put anything "back in" or "into alignment." But it CANNOT in the same split second crack stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule which will have tightened down around the hinge. Collagen is seriously tough - stronger by weight than steel wire. It's what holds your skeleton together - muscles just move it around. So unless you also stretch the tightened collagen around the joint, it'll just freeze the joint up again - often within days. So manipulation is great for a short term unlocking of a joint, but it's not good for a lasting freeing up of the hinge. That's not just my own view as an experienced New Zealand physio - I've used manipulation where appropriate on my patients for over 30 years. It's also what all the research shows. And it's also physiological common sense. We do think the common traditional US chiro approach of just banging the same joints free indefinitely is limited, dumb, expensive and a bit of a racket for the chiros. That's what we built the Backpod for - to give enough of a focused stretch on the collagen around the joints so they can free up fully and stay free. It gets a valid mention with costochondritis especially because its small peaked shape can get between the spine and the inside edge of your scapula to actually stretch the tight rib joints. (A foam roller or large ball hasn't got the specificity for enough leverage - collagen is tough!) Anyway - good that you're feeling good at present. You have had a graphic example of what costo actually is - a "mysterious inflammation" could not respond in the same way. Hopefully it'll stay free. But if not, you will know why. It's not a difficult problem - just usually needs more follow-through than just the miracle manip.

[@MarkLiversedge]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks for that, as it happens I am using the backpod too, as well as some stretching on the length of a foam roller. My thoracic spine is also curved to the left, which doesn't help. I just wanted you to know that if I hadn't found your video I would have just waited endlessly for it to heal by itself. Message received about the initial relief not a lasting solution- but sitting here now it feels good to be taking a step in the right direction.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@MarkLiversedge Hi Mark. Perfect - the follow-through on the Backpod is ideal. The manipulation is stronger and more precise, but the Backpod has the longer stretching also needed - it's an ideal combination. Sorry - didn't mean to sound cranky. I get so many, many stories of chiros just continually banging the same hinges free ad infinitum that I'm a little raw on the subject. There are of course plenty of really good thinking chiros who don't just do that. But yes - pleased you got the idea from my video that costo isn't a healing problem, but a tethering one. Words do count. The whole medical red herring about costo being a "mysterious inflammation" which you therefore treat with anti-inflammatories, and which needs time to "heal" is driven by the term "costochondritis", implying an inflammation. If it was just called "pain at the rib joints on the chest" then there wouldn't be this incorrect approach to it. Now that your joint's been unlocked definitively, start (or keep) doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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. Good luck with the work!

[@MarkLiversedge]

@@stevenzphysio4203 No you were right, I had misunderstood and appreciate your lengthy response. I still have pain at the front and my rib is still not very mobile- it flares out and I have a lumpy inflammation just under my right pec. I haved used the backpod often during the day for the past week and sometimes it helps, sometimes not, I'm staying with it because I am a keen golfer and every day I cannot play is another day of agony for me (aside from the costo pain). Will keep at it.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@MarkLiversedge Hi Mark. Okay, that gives me a better picture. Golfers often get costo, because driving requires maximal thoracic and rib cage rotation. If you're getting a bit tight (and often a bit hunched too) in your thoracic spine and rib cage - which is enormously common - then when you swing, the rib joints around the back can't move fully, so the more delicate ones on your rib cage strain. And welcome to costo. There's a short video I put up on using the Backpod for golfers - see kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3u1eXuffrSFbJo S there's a carrot for you! Well done on thinking for yourself, gambling I might know what I’m talking about, and getting a Backpod. Here's the other stuff you'll likely need. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@davidcopperfield-notthemag397]

Dr Hansen, surgeon in West Virginia has invented a way to tie the ribs so they don't bang on each other. His videos are on KZbin.* Dr Hansen trained Dr Hansen, surgeon in Bend, Oregon to do the surgery. She did surgery on my lower right ribs and it STOPPED my #65 pain! It was minimally invasive and easy recovery. I suffered to the point of trying to kill myself for 17 years from those psycho spasms! Other doctors insisted I had a kidney stone. This doctor is very compassionate and the Pod he invented which I got helps. Thank you Doctor for posting this video!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Looks good, and a logical way to stabilise slipping ribs rather than cut the slipping bits (usually the costochondral junctions) out. However this is a surgical procedure for slipping ribs, not for costo. Slipping ribs are essentially the costochondral junctions giving repeatedly - like a floppy hinge. With costochondritis, the excessive movement is taking place at the rib joints on the sternum.

[@vickylazarevski6994]

I have been in pain for years with Costochondritis and have had the same results with western medicine like all viewers. I have spent considerable amount of time researching on Costochondritis and Steve August's theory definitely makes sense. I will be taking on board all of his suggestions and hopefully I will be finally pain free. I will keep you posted with any updates. Thank you Steve in advance for sharing your views on youtube.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Thank you, Vicky - go for it. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. We start people off on the Backpod 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 past COVID-19, 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@vickylazarevski6994]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanks Steve for replying promptly. I have ordered the backpod and will definitely follow your instructions. Thanks again.

[@vickylazarevski6994]

I forgot to mention that i am currently moderate inflamed and I am currently taken Voltaren 50mg. Do you suggest to see a chiropractor now or wait until the inflammation subsides with Backpod?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@vickylazarevski6994 Wait for the Backpod. You've had costo for years. It's flared up now but it's been that before. Here's your chance to do something different. Do you regularly see a chiropractor? If so, then he or she hasn't fixed you costo, have they? The good ones are very good, but I don't have a high opinion of the US ones for treating costo generally. (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) In my experience, they have a bias towards manipulating the spinal joints and (often) missing the rib joints - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing most costo. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive. Rule of thumb (ho ho) - if you're getting a temporary improvement with chiro (so it is a joint problem) then you should get a permanent freeing up on the Backpod. It’s particularly relevant to costo - the Backpod is the only thing we can find that will actually do an effective stretch on tight rib joints, and this is the crucial thing in fixing costo. Cheers, Steve August.

[@herbertbirkley5074]

Hey Mr Steve my name is Herbert I’m 28 years old . I came upon this video after researching everything for Costochondritis I been feeling mines for 7 months. My posture of my shoulder hinged forward putting pressure on my right side of my chest. Over time I was doing push-ups I don’t no if that was a safe excercise or if it made it worse. But my right rib side of my chest hurts and the right side of my spine. The doctor said yes I have costochondrites and gave me prednisone pills and told me to stretch. But after having a motorcycle accident a year ago than being a dancer and a gymnast the pain worsen. I been researching things to help get my life back cause as a farther and about to be a husband I want to be that true family man and active again. Hopefully this backpod will be the true healing for me. I haven’t been able to to go to a chiropractor at the moment so this is my main option here. I wind up catching bronchitis so I been coughing hard and it flared up more inflammation swelling. Is it possible I can do stretches and strength excercises while using the back pod. Or do u no any other thing I can use until I buy the backpod I been saving money for it I’m just trying to figure out what else I can do for my chest and rib pain until I buy it soon. 🙏

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Herbert. It's not a healing problem - it's a tethering one. As long as the rib (and probably also spinal) joints around your back stay frozen, then the rib joints on your breastbone will keep straining - just like spraining your ankle. The only way I know to fix it is by freeing up the frozen machinery around the back. The Backpod's the best tool for that - if your problem was a tight nut, then you would want a spanner. No, you can't train your way through costo - it's not like a muscle strain, say. The reason is that any exercise or stretch just strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone, way before you get a benefit to the tight joints round your back. You'll also have old scarring in the muscles after your accidents. This is part of the problem. 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. Have a thorough look over the Backpod's costochondritis page - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Good luck with the work.

[@herbertbirkley5074]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thanku soo much I’ll truly give it a try . I was thinking about buying the backpod this month I’ll definitely give updates on how great it works. And I’ll definitely try to get someone to massage the soar muscles between the shoulder blades. God bless you and Thanku 🙏

[@mimizcorner9063]

Well thanks Dr Steve I had a severe chest pain lately and I was almost breathless adding to it were sweating and heart palpitations.I had to rush to the hospital for I was suspecting something is wrong with my heart, I have done all the tests all were clear.I am now having panic attacks also suffering from anxiety plus many other problems depression, I have been to many doctors they are not telling me the real cause many of them came with different ideas like it might be a muscle spasm or just give me anti inflammatories but the pain is still there.I am suffering from it from almost 4 years.Its so frustrating that nobody is able to tell me the real cause.Its is a persistent pain on the front side and back.The video of yours is very informative.Thanks

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Unfortunately that long frustrating story is really common with costo. Have a slow look through this PDF on what costo is and how to treat it: www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Costo-treatment-plan-incl-Costo-and-iHunch-PDFs-19-July-2022.pdf I know it's long and wordy, but it should give you a clear idea of what's going on, why you still have it after four years, and how to get out of it. Good luck with the work.

[@mimizcorner9063]

@@stevenzphysio4203 one more thing sometimes it feels like a sharp neuralgic pain on the left side for a minute it feels like an electric current and then it goes away.Is it the case with costo?

[@mimizcorner9063]

Yes I ll go through it thanks.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@mimizcorner9063 Often, yes. Sharp stabs of pain lasting for only seconds or a minute is common with costo. I've had it too, when I had costo. It's rib joints on your breastbone straining - a lot like spraining your ankle, only at that rib joint. It happens because the rib joints on the same ribs around the back can't move. So it's the ones at your front giving. It's also a bit like pulling your finger back until it really hurts, and holding it on that for seconds. It hurts! So, you should have rib(s) jammed up around your back on the same side and level as the pain at the front. Try lying on your front and getting someone to feel and jiggle them. The left side will probably be obviously tighter and sorer than your right. You can also get nerve referral around your ribs to the front. That's not usually so short and sharp, though.

[@mimizcorner9063]

@@stevenzphysio4203 I have been to the neuro in the past as I was having this chest pain so one of the general physician referred me to the neuro he made an MRI scan and it turned out OK.

[@samwd5039]

I am fighting up with the pain for the past 6 years. Did heart test, endoscopy, cervical MRI, chiropractor, physiotherapist, psycatrist, and neurologist but didn't help. Now I am advised for shoulder and Thoracic MRI. They never checked for my lungs

[@rafaelmedeiros8164]

Thanks a lot for this, your description is so accurate and I couldn't relate more. I've been suffering with costo for over a year now. Have been to the ER several times, to "traditional" doctors, physiotherapist, chiropractic, acupuncture, massotherapist, and even though some helped none could heal completely this agonizing condition. I would love to give the backpod a try, but I'm in Brazil and I don't think there's a local reseller, or is there any?

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Rafael. Sorry, don't know. I'm just the physio who invented it. There's been a huge run on Backpods worldwide and we've only been able to make new ones in the last weeks as New Zealand eases out of lockdown. So they should be back on most Amazons quite soon - hopefully only days now. I'd keep checking Amzon.com.br Also simply try Amazon.com - maybe they ship to Brazil. Do watch out for rip-off artists out there on Amazon, eBay, etc. who are selling the Backpod for many times our official sellers' price in the hope they'll suck someone into buying it. It's nothing to do with us whatsoever. Don't buy one. It works like this: people spot that a product like the Backpod is in demand. So they copy our guys' ads and put a huge price on. They don't even have a Backpod in stock. Then if someone's desperate enough to buy one from them, they buy one from our guys at their much lower price, and send it to the person who's paid hugely for their one! The record so far is a Backpod on eBay for US$510! Unfortunately it's legal and hard to stop. But don't get sucked in. You're best to go to the Buy page on the Backpod's website and look through the options there - these are all legitimate. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/buy-now Those are our only official sellers. Just keep checking the link to Amazon.com You could also try emailing Scott Brundell at [e-mail] Scott's business puts the Backpod on Amazon for us. In the meantime, you can use some tightly rolled up socks taped up into a ball about 90mm across. Use that as we'd use the Backpod. The instructions are in the user guide - there's a pdf of it near the bottom of the Costochondritis page on the Backpod's website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That'll start you stretching the tight ribs. Yes, the Backpod is better - it's got much more specific leverage because of its unyielding core, and usually the joints need that oomph. But the socks will start you off okay. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@PineNewYorkWorld2024]

Thank you so much for this! God bless you! Been suffering for back pain (since I was in my teenage years) and now progressed to chest pain in my 50’s. Been sent to see cardiologist and told not a heart related pain. Almost to the point that I could sense, they don’t believe me when I complain about chest pain. The only noticeable relief is when I use a tennis ball to loosen the tightness between my right shoulder blade. Searching through you tube, various PT you tubers, the term ‘costochondritis’ came about that lead to your you tube channel. THANK YOU!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Marissa. Well done on thinking for yourself. Unfortunately that's a common story. I do sympathise. Okay, if just using a tennis ball between your shoulder blade and the spine gives some relief, then what you've got is the really common bog standard problem of tight rib machinery round the back driving compensatory strain and pain at the rib joints round the front. In that case - sure, it should be fixable. Get a Backpod. It's the single best tool for stretching free tight hunched thoracic spine joints and posterior rib joints. If the problem is a tight nut, then you want a spanner. 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 - there'll be a lot of tight, scarred muscle 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@PineNewYorkWorld2024]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you Steve so much for this detailed response. I did not expect it. I purchased a backpod before reading your response, but when I tried, it was very uncomfortable (rusty hinge ?). I switched back to tennis ball for some relief. Everything you've noted (rusty hinge, hunched back, bending over computers, - iHunch) applied to me. I've tried deep tissue massages and exercises, to strengthen the upper back, it did not solve the problem. I will try the backpod again. When it is safe with COVID-19 I will invest on a more regular sports massage. Thank you!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

@@PineNewYorkWorld2024 Hi Marissa. Yes - DO read the full instructions on how to use the Backpod I've referred to. Basically, it's not sore because the Backpod's hard - it's sore because your joints are frozen and can't move. It's just the same as trying to force down to touch your toes with one hit when your hamstrings are so tight you can't reach your knees - it'll hurt. So all you have to do is a bit of gentler stretching daily until you get there. When all the joints are moving freely, then all you feel on the Backpod is a satisfying stretch. That's what your joints used to be like and what you're aiming for again.

[@valphillips4167]

I suffered from COVID-19 in 7/20 and have been suffering from Costco since, had all the lung and heart doc check me out and all normal, I was told live with the pain, I’m ordering a back pod today I hope I his helps so I can get back to my lifestyle soon.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Val. Costo left over and remaining after COVID-19 is now a BIG problem. You are not alone. I’m getting so many reports and questions about this. Coughing is a classic trigger of costochondritis - from pneumonia, the flu, just a bad cold - and now COVID-19. It is not, repeat not, the infection itself that brings on the costo, but the coughing. With COVID-19, just the rib cage muscle spasm seems to be enough to set it off. Coughing is a surprisingly strong percussive impact on the whole rib cage. I’ve seen cracked ribs from it, and not just in little old ladies. If the rib cage joints around the back are frozen solid and can’t move a little to absorb that shock, then the whole jolt hits the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone. So they strain and give - with every cough. It’s a lot like repeatedly hitting a sprained ankle with a hammer. And welcome to costochondritis. It’s NOT a “mysterious inflammation” appearing for no reason. The costo can stay even after the infection that caused the coughing has settled. The immobile rib joints at the back stay frozen, so the badly strained rib joints on your breastbone just continue straining, with every breath you take. This will usually get missed, by doctors and patients seeing it in terms of a lingering COVID-19 infection, which it isn’t. So there’s an expectation it’ll just settle down, as the infection has. Statistically, most of it doesn’t. You only start off costo this way if the rib cage machinery around your back is tight before the coughing starts. Unfortunately that’s really common anyway. So many people now have the iHunch from much bending over laptops, tablets and smartphones - see www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/ The rib joints round the back get tight along with the spinal joints, and that sets you up for straining the rib joints at the front if you start coughing. We fix it, logically enough, by freeing up the tight rib machinery around the back. See the Costochondritis page on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ Well done on thinking for yourself and getting a Backpod. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 31-page user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. These are the best detailed instructions on how to use the Backpod. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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. Hopefully you're now safe, having had it, but even so. 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@cairoweller8964]

This video is so informative

[@meghanmosalisa4787]

Hi there Steve!! Firstly, I have a question that I truly hope you will be able to answer. I have had Costochondritis for about 7 months. It has been a crippling pain. I finally took it upon myself to research and have recently visited a chiropractor for the first time to help free up the joints in my back. I live in South Africa and getting the BackPod is very difficult here. Will visits to a Chiropractor work similar to the backpod? I am honestly at my wits end with this Costo pain, it really has taken over my life and I so badly want to find a way to end it. I just want to also say thank you for all the work that you have done in explaining and creating awareness around Costochindritis. It is honestly such a relief to know that this is not some kind of permanent pain I will always have to live with.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Meghan. Mm - depends on the chiropractor. The good ones are very good, but I don't have a high opinion of the trad US-trained ones especially for treating costo generally. (1) They usually use the standard body-slam-onto-the-patient-with-their-fist-in-your-back technique. This is simply a dumb choice with costo, because it just squashes and strains further the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. Every time. (2) In my experience, they have a bias towards manipulating the spinal joints and (often) missing the rib joints - and freeing these up is the irreducible core of fixing most costo. (3) All manipulation does is bang a tight hinge free. It doesn't put anything at all "back in" - that's just a nonsense phrase meaning nothing. I’m speaking as a New Zealand physio - I’ve used manipulation myself for over 30 years. It cannot in a split second stretch out the very tough collagen of the ligaments and joint capsule surrounding the joint which will have stiffened down around the immobile joint. So this just freezes the hinge up again rapidly. That's why we developed the Backpod - to stretch out the collagen so the joints can stay free and you get a lasting improvement. We think the chiro approach of continually banging the same bits free is silly and expensive. You've been in pain for seven months, so the joints have been frozen for at least that long, so they're not going to stay free no matter how many times they get banged, unless you actually stretch the tough, tightened collagen around them. 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. My suggestion would be get a Backpod. Just go to the Buy page on the Backpod's website and look through the options there - these are all legitimate and our ONLY official sellers. Link is www.bodystance.co.nz/buy-now I'm pretty sure the BuyBackpod.com site at the top of the list sells to South Africa; if not then just email them. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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.).

[@pearljameric]

I have this but never actually diagnosed. Amazing information. My chest will often click and I can pop it to relieve some pain. I do have mid back pain as well. Very interesting! 🤔 I've had this for many years. Roughly 20

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Yep - and that's not the record. It can continue indefinitely - it's not a healing problem requiring time to repair. Once you have that pattern of frozen rib joints around the back with straining and giving rib joints at the front - then it just keeps going. Until you free up the tight rib machinery around the back driving it. Had it for seven years myself, before fixing it.

[@CatherineHayford]

I have shared it on my health website so that when I explain my pain to doctors they can understand. I don't use the site for profit but to keep everything I have learned all in one place. also if someone else needs help so they can find the people and professionals that may help them.

[@anniegurton3720]

I've had the pain for 40 years (on and off - usually three times a year for 3-4 weeks at a time) and didnt realise that it was a 'thing' with a diagnosis and fixable. Hurrah ! In that time I've found my own fixes - Ibruproven is very helpful, plus certain movements and stretches.

[@eliaszimakoff]

Can the back still be the problem/cause of costochondritis even if it was a hard hit to my ribs/chest that activated the pain? Fell and landed on a metalbar 4,5 months ago. Have been through horrible pain since. dont have pain in my back. Dont struggle with with breathing anymore but all impact, movement and flexing my upperbody gives me a lot of pain that will take many days to get better. Got an x-ray and my ribs and lungs was fine. But it dosen’t seem like its going away by itself, its been so long and still the smallest jumps triggers it and I have to lay still for several days afterwards. My ribs/chest,shoulders and albows has started clicking all the time with movement, was never a problem before. Im a pro athlete and im completely powerless, any movement will set me back in an invalid situation. In my situation can it still be the back that is the problem and could working on the back to open it up still be What could fix my problem/pain even if it was a hit to the sideribs/right chest and not feeling affected in the back but the pain is most located in my right chest/sideribs and under. Please hope to get answer im super desperate. Thanks in advance

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Elias. Yep - front (or side or back) impact is a common route to starting off costo. A front impact doesn't stop at the ribs and muscles at the front - the jolt goes through to the rib joints at the back as well. The chest impact damage will mostly heal and repair, as you'd expect. BUT the rib joints round the back can seize up also - from normal repair scarring such as you get with a sprained ankle, say. (It's called adhesive fibrosis.) When the frozen up, immobile rib joints around the back can't move, then the more delicate rib joints on the breastbone HAVE to move excessively to compensate, every breath you take. So they 'give' (usually with clicking and popping and often with a sharp, stabbing, scary pain), strain, irritate, inflame - and there's your ongoing costochondritis. The frozen rib joint movement where the ribs hinge onto your spine cannot show on X-rays, CAT or MRI scans, because these are all essentially still photos, and simply can't show whether the rib and spinal joints can move fine, or are frozen solid and completely immobile. So it's nearly always missed. You have to free up this frozen rib movement around the back to fix costo. Any treatment purely for the painful front of your chest is not treating the ongoing cause of the strain and pain. Have a look at the Costo page of the Backpod's website, including the videos, for more info on costo and how we fix it - www.bodystance.co.nz/en/costochondritis/ That's the main answer. You can also have remaining scarring on the front of your chest, especially if you hit hard enough to get bruising or swelling here originally. All it is is intracellular fluid - the same sort of fresh fluid swelling that happens if you sprain your ankle. As with a sprained ankle, after a week the fluid swelling sets hard. This is just the normal inflammatory response of strained joints - there’s no auto-immune component. It’s a normal repair process, with fibrin in the fluid acting as a slow setting glue to hold everything together while the torn fibres and cells are repairing. So you often get some hardened swelling remaining there on the sternum, pec muscles, and where the ribs join onto the breastbone. This doesn’t just interfere with the normal free glide of the rib hinges, it also binds down the free nerve endings and receptors, tethering them and making them hypersensitive. It's not a matter of waiting for it to somehow "heal' - it's like hardened glue, so after a month or more it's become a tethering problem, not a healing one. Break it down. This is like working hard putty or play dough or cold pastry dough until it becomes malleable. You can do this yourself. Use something to let your fingers slide. Massage wax is better than oil - oil dribbles. Better again is something that will also reduce the irritation of working these sensitive bits around, like Voltaren (diclofenac) anti-inflammatory gel or the best is a CBD cream like Penetrex. You won’t weaken the scarring round the joints or any surgical scar, just make it flexible and not pulling on the nerves. Spend about 10-15 minutes every three or four days working your fingers through the hardened bits in all directions. Start gently - it’ll get easier as you continue. It will be tender and probably sore - it gets easier as it frees up. The first time is the worst. Just do what it feels like it can handle, and expect to feel it tender, especially to touch, afterwards. You’re also probably tight on your pecs as part of it all, so best to stretch them as well. There’s a good pec stretching video on KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M It takes time - probably a few or several weeks. But it’s easy enough to do. It’s the main answer to this specific bit of the problem. But just done on its own it’ll keep coming back, unless you sort out the tight ribs round the back driving the ongoing strain at the rib joints on your breastbone. Good luck with the work. You are not alone. This is very common after a car crash onto the steering wheel, seat belt or airbag, or after any other sort of front impact, and usually not accurately treated at all. Just treating the front pain isn't enough. Cheers, Steve August.

[@eliaszimakoff]

@@stevenzphysio4203 Thank you sooo much for such a long a detailed answer its highly appreciated! I will try to work and soften the front, I have both voltaren and traumeel not sure which is best. And I just recieved the backpod so now I have a toll for the back aswell. Im putting in the work and crossing my fingers so I can go back to my training again soon. Thank you soo much again 🙏😊

[@paulc1942]

Hi Steve, cannot share enough how grateful I am to come across this video! Without having ordered a BackPod yet or started any recovery process, just to hear your thorough and logical explanation of this condition made me laugh out loud with relief in realizing that there is an alternative to daily anti-inflammatory drugs. I've been struggling with Costo for 2 years now, and lately have been dealing with a constant pain/ache in my back/neck on the same side where I have tenderness along my sternum/costal joints. I also do notice very brief moments of shortness of breath. I hope everyone who struggles with this stumbles upon your videos. Basic question - as an endurance runner, I see a physical therapist from time to time to deal with tightness, aches, etc. Do you recommend seeing a PT as well as using the BackPod, or is seeing the PT and explaining the situation enough? Thank you so much!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hi Paul. I'd just get a Backpod, and I'm speaking as a physiotherapist with 30 years of experience. It's a matter of sustained leverage. You've been frozen up on some of your posterior rib joints and machinery for two years. So that means the VERY tough collagen of the ligaments, joint capsules, and fascia surrounding those posterior rib and spinal joints has tightened down around those immobile joints - like a grape turning into a raisin. No PT or physio technique or home or gym exercise can produce the strong, specific, sustained stretch needed to stretch this out again, so the joints can move freely as they used to. General exercises don't have the specificity needed - everything else just moves more, so you don't get the specific leverage needed for the tight bits. No hands-on PT, physio, chiro or osteopath technique does the sustained stretch needed to actually stretch the collagen so it can stay free - like you'd stretch a tight hamstring, for sustained minutes at a time. (Your fingers and thumbs give out if you try!) Manipulation can unlock the specific hinges, but it cannot, repeat cannot, stretch out the surrounding tightened collagen in the same split-second crack - which is why you get that mad chiro cliché of them banging the same hinges free indefinitely; collagen rebound just freezes them up again. We reckon it's daft. Enter the Backpod. It's got the specificity, strength, stability and small size to actually give an effective stretch to those posterior rib joints - that's what it's built for. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the user guide. If for some reason you haven’t got one, there is also a pdf copy of the full user guide near the bottom of the iHunch and Costochondritis pages on the Backpod’s website - www.bodystance.co.nz/assets/Uploads/backpod-full-user-guide-feb-2020.pdf. We start people off really gently because often they just do too much initially and get sore. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. You are starting to stretch joints that haven’t moved for months or years and you can get a bit of normal treatment tenderness for a few days. It’s a lot like stretching hamstring muscles that are so tight you can’t touch your knees - takes a while before you can reach your toes. When you no longer need a pillow under your head when you’re lying on the Backpod, get some more oomph out of it by lifting your buttocks off the ground, using the Backpod crosswise across the upper back (gives more leverage) as well as lengthwise and out to the sides a little (to get the ribs), and/or linking your fingers together and slowly moving your arms up over your head and down to your waist repeatedly; try that with just one arm as well. Chase the tightest bits and spend 1-3 minutes on each. Also, when you get to that point, start doing the sitting twist exercise I showed 12.54 minutes into the ‘How to Fix most Costo and Tietze’s , Part (2)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M 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. Last bit - here's a carrot. You'll run better when you fix your costo. The tight rib machinery round the back that drives your costo is also stopping you take a full breath in, hence less oxygen to your lungs and muscles. It's like running in a tight corset. Good luck with the work. Cheers, Steve August (B.A.,Dip.Physio.).

[@ocean104]

Totally agree with the synopsis. Best solution seems to be a chiropractor. After a back / rib adjustment from my chiropractor I immediately felt the pressure release from my chest.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Yep, I agree with unlocking the frozen ribs with manipulation. I'm speaking as a New Zealand physio with 40 years' experience in that. BUT the joints cannot stay free unless the costo is quite recent, or the tough, tight collagen which has stiffened down around the immobile ribs is also stretched free. Otherwise, this stuff just freezes the rib and spinal joints up again fast. You cannot - repeat cannot - stretch collagen out in the same split-second crack which temporarily unlocks the hinge. That's what we built the Backpod for - to give a long enough, strong enough, specific enough stretch to the collagen so that the joints can stretch back to full free lasting movement. We do not understand this trad chiro cliché of continually banging the same joints free, again and again forever. Don't they know about collagen? Or do they know, but just want the patients to keep coming back for more. It does my head in.

[@Code.Name.V]

I had great luck with a combination of the Backpod and Prednisone.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Sounds good - the Prednisone to suppress the general inflammation and pain, and the Backpod to free up the tight rib machinery around the back causing the rib joint strain and pain at the front in the first place. Can't go too far along the Prednisone track, though, as Prednisone will weaken your bones after a while. But hopefully you've freed off the underlying mechanical problem before it gets to that. Cheers, Steve August.

[@yaozuli546]

This video was very helpful, thank you Dr. August! I have been working with the backpod for about 2 months from now, and I do get relief from it. The pain would still comeback and I think it might be because I hunch all day in front of the computer and I need to stop doing that. I also see a comment telling us to not sleep on our side, maybe I should try that. I am thinking of making a Chinese tic tok video to spread the word if I really get away with the pain, since yea the doctors that posts video in Chinese tic tok said that costo is a small thing and just taking anti inflammatory will take away the pain, but under the comment section below, everyone seems to be suffering still and there are no good reviews. My new year's wish is to get rid of costo, and hopefully that becomes true.

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Hello Li. Well done on thinking for yourself. I'm pleased the Backpod is helping. Yes, the usual view of doctors is that costochondritis is not common, and will go away with some anti-inflammatories. Both these statements are simply wrong, as the actual medical research shows. Chest pain is the second biggest presentation to EDs (A&E departments) worldwide, and most of it is not the heart or anything else dire, but simply costo. Also, most of it does not just "settle down soon" - that's just reassurance by the docs and is also incorrect. Yes, putting a video on tic tok would be really worthwhile - there are literally millions of people worldwide suffering unnecessarily. I lecture on costo to doctors and physiotherapists in New Zealand. Our sensible and effective New Zealand manual physiotherapy way to fix costo is based on the actual published medical research. The popular medical explanation of costo as a “mysterious inflammation" is not. Yes, this is nuts. I don't think it matters really how you sleep. Sleeping often hurts with costo because you're lying on your rib cage no matter what position you're in. So that pushes on it and it tends to strain and give more at the already strained rib joints on your breastbone. It's like stretching an acutely sprained ankle - it'll hurt! However it'll go when you've freed up the tight rib machinery around the back which is causing the problem in the first place. We use the Backpod for that. Stick with it - it’s very tough stuff you’re stretching and it takes time. Do please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and the 'Warnings and precautions' section in the 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)’ KZbin video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjZlmmkg7uXjcU 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 KZbin - link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e5fIWOnb6Je6M It sounds like the reason for your 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.).

[@yaozuli546]

​@@stevenzphysio4203 Hello Dr.Steve, do you think going to a chiropractor would help in any kind? I have been working with the backpod for 5 months now, but I do not have much luck with it mainly because that my case is pretty severe and the backpod alone might not be enough to free up my rib hinges. I lie on the backpod every morning and night for about 15 min, and it gives me a temporary relief. However my rib cage tends to jam back together after a duration of 1-2 hours later no matter how good I keep my posture. In terms of massage my mom only knows 1 chiropractor, and before going I would like to hear your opinion about it.

[@crystals8604]

What about costo that presents at the back of the spine rather than the front? Feels like the rib head is sticking right into the back of the spine and as you described with turning to each side/limited ROM is the same presentation. Have the backpod and planning to start this week!

[@stevenzphysio4203]

Just treat it the same way as you would costo at the front. It's the same core problem - frozen rib joints and tight scarred muscle around the back of the rib cage. With costo, the extra is that the more delicate rib joints on your breastbone are starting to strain, give and get painful. But it's caused by exactly the problem you've almost certainly got - the frozen rib machinery at the back here your ribs join onto your spine. Since you're tight both sides, it's likely that you're also a bit hunched in your thoracic spine - this is sooo common with everyone bending over computers, phones and games. We call it the iHunch. That's okay - it's what we built the Backpod for. Just use it as the instructions say, and also do all the bits in the little straightening-up program which is also in the user guide. There's a bit of strengthening, stretching, home massage and posture as well as the Backpod. You are definitely not alone. Good luck with the work. The home program is also available as KZbin videos on this page: www.bodystance.co.nz/en/ihunch/