Sports Chiropractic Care For Common Baseball Injury: Rib Subluxation 

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Rib subluxation is not a frequently discussed injury, however, it is a common baseball injury due to the rotational nature of the sport. Rib subluxation occurs when the rib slips out of place but does not fully dislocate; it maintains some contact with the joint.

Symptoms of rib subluxation include:

• Mild, dull, achy pain in the area where the rib has popped out
• Severe stabbing or sharp pain in the back on either the right or left side that becomes more intense with deep breaths
• Tightness of the muscle in the area that the rib has popped out

In-Office Treatment for Rib Subluxation 

At Team Elite, we use a variety of tools and techniques to treat a rib subluxation injury. 

Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization: IASTM involves using a metal tool with a beveled edge that we slide or glide over affected areas of your body where tissues may be tight or inflamed. Using the tool, we place a specific amount of pressure on affected tissues to create a neurological stimulus that helps reduce muscle hypertonicity in that specific area. We will also combine IASTM with cupping and active release technique (ART) to introduce the body to different stimuli that further enhance its healing abilities. All three of these treatments work toward the same common goal of decreasing tone in the tissue, promoting healing, and reducing your pain. 

Adjustment: When a rib is out of place, we will do an adjustment to get it back in place. An adjustment is a high velocity, low amplitude, or a quick, small thrust, to get the joint moving to restore a normal range of motion. This adjustment allows the joint to function properly. 

Laser therapy: Laser therapy is used to reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation, and will even speed up your injury recovery time.

At-Home Treatment for Rib Subluxation

While in-office treatment is the fastest way to get relief and begin healing from rib subluxation, there are several at-home exercises and stretches to help speed up recovery and downtime.

Self Myofascial Release:

We recommend this upper back self myofascial release technique when treating a rib subluxation injury:

Mobility Exercises:

We recommend these cat cow and thread the needle mobility exercises when treating a rib subluxation injury:

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Stability Exercises 

For the stability exercises, we recommend these shoulder taps and pallof press exercises when treating a rib subluxation injury:

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If you are experiencing symptoms of rib subluxation you can book an appointment with our experienced sports chiropractic team.