Slipping Rib Syndrome .org
Slipping Rib Syndrome (SRS), also known as Cyriax Syndrome, occurs when the costal cartilage securing ribs 8, 9 and/or 10, breaks, and allows the rib(s) to sublux (partially dislocate), becoming hypermobile, and moving abnormally. The exposed tips of these ribs can slip under (Or in rarer cases over) the ribs above, sometimes producing a clicking or popping noise, causing discomfort and pain, and irritating the intercostal nerves. The 10th rib is the most commonly affected, and the syndrome affects mainly females. Overall the syndrome is considered rare.
Most cases of Slipping Rib Syndrome occur on one side (unilateral) but the condition can occur on both sides (bilateral). Slipping Rib Syndrome is known by several other names, including Cyriax Syndrome, Slipped Rib, Displaced ribs, and Interchondral Subluxation and was first described by Edgar Cyriax in 1919, however the condition is rarely recognised and frequently overlooked. Symptoms primarily appear in the abdomen and back, and pain varies from being a minor nuisance to severely impacting quality of life.
Certain postures or movements involving the ribcage and/or surrounding abdominal muscles can exacerbate the symptoms, such as stretching, reaching, coughing, sneezing, lifting, bending, sitting, walking, and respiration.
SRS can be brought on by sudden trauma to the chest wall, or can be idiopathic and have a gradual onset.
Slipping rib syndrome is often confused with costochondritis and Tietze Syndrome which are separate conditions that also involve the chest wall.
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WHAT IS SLIPPING RIB SYNDROME?
DR LISA MCMAHON DISCUSSES SLIPPING RIB SYNDROME
"Most people go to a doctor, have some tests, get a diagnosis, and get some sort of treatment.
What's different for many of the people with SRS is that we have to go to dozens of doctors,
have dozens of tests, get told over and over that there's nothing visibly wrong with us and it must all be in our head,
and then we search every corner of the globe for something to account for and validate all of the very real,
very physical, agonising and often disabling pain that we are experiencing before,
often after many months or years, and only if we're lucky,
we have that lightbulb moment and find the source of our anguish.
If that wasn't exhausting enough we then have to find a doctor with knowledge of SRS and how to fix it,
go back to our doctors, explain to them that we have something that they were never taught about,
and have probably never heard of, and tell them how to refer us to a doctor who can help us.
Many of us have to then travel to the other end of the country, or even another country altogether,
to finally get the help we've longed for. We go through surgery.
Sometimes several surgeries. We put ourselves through more pain,
but this pain is different, it's pain with a purpose. and is often the gateway to better quality of life"
Matt Deary - Founder