Intercostal Muscle Injury

In the 3.5 months since starting golf I've gone to the range at least twice a week trying to get the right swing. Was happy to see all that practice begin to pay off. Then started feeling a niggling pain on the right ribs 4 weeks ago but ignored it.

Went to the driving range again late last night and sensed something was not right. But I played thru the pain anyway. Needed driving theraphy for all the stress at work.

This morning I nearly couldn't get out of bed. Even breathing hurts now. I'm a broken man

sounds familiar, i torn my muscle near my rid, 6 months ago, after trying to swing 120% on my driver.. very painful, rest for a month with acupuncture therapy.

after recovery, i practice less driver shots in range..

Acupuncture?!?

The same thing happened to me about twice in the past six months. Tried seeing a chinese physician but the pain would not go away. Finally went to the company doc who ordered me to stop playing and put me on a course of painkillers + koyok. Key thing is rest la

tried several treatment before, but acupuncture is the best, 3 session and its gone.. quite amazing

Ryan Lee wrote:

tried several treatment before, but acupuncture is the best, 3 session and its gone.. quite amazing

3 sessions?!!


Can let me know where you went for this? I hate needles. but that might be unavoidable with the discomfort I'm in now.....

legzbroken wrote:

The same thing happened to me about twice in the past six months. Tried seeing a chinese physician but the pain would not go away. Finally went to the company doc who ordered me to stop playing and put me on a course of painkillers + koyok. Key thing is rest la

Just read on the web that because blood circulation for that part of the body is not fantastic, healing might take some time.

I intend to rest and apply koyok for now. Planning a golf trip in June. Hope to recover by then.

how is this thread under jokes & humour??

Yep, I had the same injury about 3 months into starting golf too.

Took me about 6 weeks to recover, and I avoided doing full swings in order not to aggravate the injury. I also had a bout of flu during the period and every sneeze was pure torture.

I went for accupuncture and I felt it did help a bit, but ultimately it was just a lot of rest to get the pain away.

Try to stretch the muscles when you can, I did this by using my fingertips to press in between the ribs and taking deep breaths.

also known as costochondritis, or inflammation of the cartilage in the chest wall/rib cage.

i kena about 6 mths ago due to blunt force, kena elbowed in the ribs while playing football.
nothing happened for 2 weeks, all fine and dandy, then my ribs started to flare up, pain when taking deep breaths and sneezing/coughing.

i needed a course of arcoxia (anti-inflammatories) and rest for another 2 months before it slowly disappeared. one day it just didn't hurt anymore... thankfully hasn't recurred.

your doc should be able to prescribe the anti-inflammatories.

more info: http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sprainsstrains/a/costochondritis.htm

ghoonk wrote:

how is this thread under jokes & humour??

oops

Thanks Lenny and Elysium for sharing. You guys are right. Deep breathing, coughing, sneezing and laughing are all damn painful. At least now I know it will get better from here...

i am suffering from that too.. initially i thought it was my lungs, i thought it was my smoking but.. for me even turning around from 1 side to another in bed hurts hahaha!


does anybody know any exercises to strengthen the intercostal muscles?

clau wrote:

i am suffering from that too.. initially i thought it was my lungs, i thought it was my smoking but.. for me even turning around from 1 side to another in bed hurts hahaha!


does anybody know any exercises to strengthen the intercostal muscles?

I was told by my coach when he strained his left ribs, he thought he had a heart attack.

They say the best exercise for this muscle is deep breathing. Here's something I've found on the web:

http://www.brianvollmer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44:breathewhilesinging&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

The Intercostal Muscle Exercise
Stand erect, relaxed

Put your index finger half-way between your navel and your rib cage, in the middle of your solar plexis. Note**your finger is only there to help you stay mentally focused on that point. I’ll explain more later.

Purse your lips, as if sucking through a straw. You want to do this to control the amount of breath you are taking into your lungs. Do the exercise fairly slowly; if you rush through it you are defeating your purpose. By pursing your lips you will only be able to take in so much breath at a time.

With your finger in the middle of your solar plexis, imagine the air that you are sucking in through your pursed lips entering “beneath” your lungs and filling up an imaginary “inner tube” around your waist, almost as if your finger is the stem of the inner tube and the air is going to the bottom of your stomach or the top of your groin. Here’s where your ability to visualize comes into play as a singer. Obviously your breath is not going to the bottom of your stomach, but you want to imagine that it is. I try to visualize the breath filling up the inner tube as if it’smoke, and like it has weight to it-that it’s sinking right to the bottom of my stomach. Once again we all know that air isn’t heavy, we’re trying to “trick” our bodies into doing what we want it to do. Your stomach should start to come out on it’s own. You do not want to push it out. I also use the sound of the breath going through my pursed lips to gauge how fast I’m taking the breath in. It will feel as if you’re filling up your midsection with air from the bottom up. When it feels like it’s filled up to the bottom of your rib cage, stop and hold your breath.
Now you want to exhale your breath in 3 expulsions. Keeping your finger in the middle of your solar plexis and your lips pursed you want to blow out. The first two expulsions of breath will be short. Make them three seconds long but no shorter. The last expulsion of breath will be until all the air is emptied from the lungs. When you expel your breath, you want to imagine that the muscle directly under your finger is being pulled right to your back bone. Essentially what you’re trying to do is to empty your lungs of every last bit of breath so eventually when you are singing the “muscle memory” you are developing will kick in and your muscles will contract as you empty your lungs of air. Your finger is only to help you stay mentally focused on that spot. You can’t “push” a muscle to strength. However, you will find that by the time you get to that last expulsion of breath you’re going to be dying for a breath. Don’t be a wimp! Do this exercise like you mean it. Eventually, after doing this exercise over time, whenever you sing the muscle will automatically contract (muscle memory). You don’t want to try and contract these muscles when you sing-they will do it on their own if you have been exercising them.

Hihi

Just recover from a bad bout of muscle tear / strain on my left ribs too.

Started wearing SKINS to tighten the torso area, and managed to continue to golf.

What you would need too is ample rest.

Get well and start golfing again soon.

take care