肋骨滑脱综合症.org
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LOGAN ALUCCI, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
经过近 6 年的寻找答案的旅程后，我希望提高人们对肋骨滑脱综合症的认识。
当我上大学时，我的左肩胛骨附近突然开始出现可怕的背痛。
疼痛如此剧烈，我感觉好像无法行走。在第一天之前，因为我住在纽约市，所以每天步行 2 到 5 英里，但那天之后一切都改变了。
由于我的疼痛始于严重的背痛，我的旅程让我找到了数十位肩部和脊柱专家。我被多次误诊。我做了几十次核磁共振、CT 扫描、X 射线、骨规格扫描、可的松注射、肋间神经阻滞……凡是你能想到的。这样的例子不胜枚举。我在“最好”的医院看到了“最好”的医生。多年来没有人知道出了什么问题。有人告诉我，这只是姿势不当，或者严重焦虑，或者当我说我的背部左侧有10/10的深度、撕裂性、衰弱性疼痛时，我只是夸大其词，现在已经开始辐射到我的周围了。肋骨。
最终我找到了一位新的脊椎按摩师，在我第一次就诊时，她告诉我我患有肋骨滑脱综合症。因为她是唯一能够给我任何帮助的人，所以我相信了她的话，然后我告诉另外十几位医生我患有 SRS。没有人相信它的存在。他们告诉我“肋骨不能滑落”。
快进两年了，我终于在西弗吉尼亚州找到了 Adam Hansen 医生，并进行了手术，我可以诚实地说，这挽救了我的生命。
肋骨滑脱综合症不仅会导致身体虚弱，还会在多年的痛苦和被告知这一切都是你的头脑后造成严重的精神困扰。在写这篇文章时，我已经术后 4.5 个月了，我感觉比手术前好 80%，我相信我会继续进步。我的身体和思想要完全康复还有很长的路要走，但我很庆幸终于来到了正确的地方。
永远不要放弃你的旅程。永远不要接受“不”的答案。相信你的直觉和你的身体。我希望这可以帮助其他人找到我们都应得的答案和验证。
要在此处观看 Logan 记录 SRS 旅程的视频，请单击这里。
JOSEPHINE LJUNGKVIST, NORWAY
从我记事起，我就经历过肋骨引起的剧烈疼痛和钝痛。当我还是个十几岁的孩子时，我去看了各种各样的医生、神经科医生、骨科医生、物理治疗师等等。我做了X光检查，首先告诉我要多运动，然后停止运动。没有人能够或愿意解决我所经历的神秘疼痛的问题。
有些人甚至告诉我这都是我的想法。
几年后，我放弃了寻求诊断和寻找摆脱痛苦的方法，我只是学会了忍受它。
当我 25 岁的时候，我在一次聚会上偶然遇到了一位 naprapath，他知道 SRS，从此开始了我被诊断的真正旅程。现在已经过去两年了，又做了一次手术。我在挪威奥斯陆的 Ullevål Sykehus 接受了手术。在撰写本文时，我正在等待对另一侧进行手术，以去除滑动的软骨。
您可以在 Josefine 的 YouTube 频道上观看记录她旅程的视频这里。
我从13岁起就患有背痛。
我8岁的时候从3米高的地方摔下来，我的脊椎骨有2块小裂缝。我是一名骑马者，有时也会摔倒。
2018年，我的肝脏因过敏反应严重发炎。因为生病，体重减轻了很多，那段时间我有一种想要伸展上半身的冲动，感觉下肋骨猛地一响，当时不痛，但过了一会儿，我的肋骨开始滑落。 ，它变得烦人并开始有点痛。在过去的三年里，我每天不得不多次将肋骨弹回原位，而且疼痛不断加剧。我见过很多医学专家，当我告诉他们并让他们感受发生了什么时，他们脸上的表情都很奇怪。有人告诉我这没什么，它会消失。
我在 Google 和 YouTube 上进行了很多搜索，在 2021 年初一段时间后，我在 YouTube 上发现了一些视频博客，其中一个视频博客讲述了 Facebook 上的“肋骨滑动综合症”小组。我很幸运，也很欣慰地找到了这个充满关爱的新家庭。通过这个小组，我找到了一位荷兰医生，他能够正式诊断我患有 SRS。这位医生无法按照我想要的方式帮助我，但到 2021 年底，我找到了另一位外科医生，并于 2021 年 12 月 20 日进行了手术。
我做了“肋骨电镀手术”。起初我们以为只有一根肋骨松动，但我知道还有更多的情况发生，在手术过程中他们发现我们有 3 根肋骨受到影响。
在写这篇文章的时候，我已经是术后 4 周了，我仍然有手术疼痛，必须慢慢来，但我可以看出情况有所改善，隧道尽头出现了曙光！
NICOLE VISSER, THE NETHERLANDS
我的症状包括肋骨、左乳房和背部剧烈疼痛。久坐或站立都会让我感到剧烈疼痛，但没有任何帮助。 2019 年 4 月 28 日，我在教堂被绊倒，落在一个木制长椅的末端，这接触到了我的左肋骨。
第二天早上，我做了X光检查，没有发现任何肋骨骨折。我花了几个月的时间进行脊椎按摩和物理治疗。由于 2006 年的一场车祸，我的上脊柱有两个突出的椎间盘，所以我的物理治疗师认为我的持续疼痛可能是由我摔倒时对椎间盘的损伤造成的。我们最终说服了我的工人赔偿保险，核磁共振检查是必要的，但它所显示的只是“关节炎变化”，这不会是由跌倒造成的创伤引起的，所以我们陷入了另一个死胡同。
然后，我的医生将我转介给一位专家，我于 2020 年 1 月见了他。他看了我最初的 X 光片，说我的问题出在胸腔底部。他告诉我，他旁边的大厅里有一位胸外科医生，他开创了一种新的肋骨修复技术，并把我推荐给亚当·汉森医生。
一个月后，汉森医生诊断我患有 SRS。简单的 5 分钟检查显示，第 8、9 和 10 根肋骨受累，他可以用开创性的缝合技术修复它。 2020 年 3 月 11 日，我进行了第一次手术。虽然手术前的疼痛立即消失，但手术后不久，我的胃开始感到尖锐的刺痛。汉森医生得出的结论是，缝线太紧，压迫到了肋间神经。 2020 年 8 月 10 日，我收到了 Hansen 博士的第一次修订。修改后，那些刺痛立即消失。
汉森医生修改了他的程序，这样其他人就不需要因为缝线太紧而进行修改。我很庆幸自己恢复到 85-90% 左右的正常状态。毫无疑问，这是一条艰难的道路，恢复也充满挑战。
我并不期望自己能有 100% 的感觉，但如果没有这个修复选项，我知道我的情况会更糟并且绝望。我在 SRS 战士中结交了朋友，我致力于帮助其他人找到解决这个问题的方法。继续为自己辩护，不要接受拒绝。它确实不仅仅存在于你的脑海中。
TINA VIAL, WEST VIRGINIA, USA
当我七年级时，我的问题就开始了。我的肋骨突然爆裂，呼吸不舒服，几周后它就消失了，但每隔一段时间它就会回来。当我九年级时，我的肋骨开始露出来，你可以透过衬衫看到它们。
我正在跑 5 英里，我的一根肋骨突然弹出，我呼吸困难，几乎要昏倒。我不得不跑回学校，给妈妈打电话，然后我们去了紧急护理中心。
此后大约花了六个月的时间才得到诊断，然后进行手术，但在那段时间我看了两打医生。我被诊断出患有肺炎、支气管炎、关节病、骨髓水肿、肋软骨炎、肋间神经炎和肋骨骨头脱臼，最后诊断为肋骨滑脱综合症。
到目前为止，我的症状是持续的刺痛、持续的烧灼感、压痛、严重的呼吸困难、针刺般的疼痛、昏倒和呕吐。我的 SRS 是双侧的，现在是我第一次手术后 14 个月，第二次手术后 7 个月，两次手术都是在西弗吉尼亚州的 Adam Hansen 医生进行的。双方现在的表现绝对令人惊叹。
我的鼓励之言是继续努力寻找答案，因为答案就在那里。肋骨弹出并不是心理问题，所以继续前进并不断寻求答案。
LINDSEY DARNELL, MICHIGAN, USA
我的主要 SRS 症状是肋骨爆裂以及腹部和背部肩胛骨附近的刺痛。
我患有 hEDS，是在 23 岁时进行第三次髋关节手术后被诊断出来的。我在髋关节手术中患上了复杂的区域疼痛综合症，这导致我在背部安装了神经刺激器，电池位于我的臀部。两次背部手术后，由于第一次手术失败，我出现了严重的背部和肋骨疼痛。
在多次尝试通过注射、输血、物理疗法来治疗背痛后，我找到了 SRS Facebook 小组，并通过该小组找到了汉森医生。 2021 年 3 月 10 日，我进行了第一次手术，矫正右侧 7-10 根肋骨。遗憾的是，2021 年 7 月 27 日，我在工作时（我是一名护士）移动 X 射线机器时松动了缝线。我对我的右侧进行了修正，他们在 2021 年 9 月 22 日同时修复了我的左侧，随着我的康复，我现在每天都在接受它。
相信自己的身体，即使想活动也要休息，并始终为自己辩护。
JESSICA TUCKER, WASHINGTON, USA
2016年2月，当我怀上第一个孩子四个月时，我的下胸腔开始剧烈疼痛。尽管这种疼痛多次将我送进急诊室，并且妨碍了正常活动和睡眠，但这种疼痛被认为是“正常的妊娠疼痛”和“只是肌肉疼痛”。生完孩子后，疼痛有所减轻，但仍持续存在。我确信，只要进行一些整骨治疗，我就能很好地应对再次怀孕。 2017年底/2018年初，我第二次怀孕。疼痛再次袭来，而且这次更加严重。到了妊娠晚期，我陷入了极度的痛苦，无法入睡，几乎无法行走或开车，需要全职帮助来照顾我的孩子。再次，没有人提供任何答案。
当我女儿四个月大时，我所见的哺乳顾问（碰巧也是一名全科医生）说“我们需要对你的肋骨做点什么”。这是两年来第一次有人真正听到我的声音。她送我去看一位疼痛专家，他恰好是澳大利亚为数不多的听说过 SRS 的医生之一。他立即对我进行了诊断，并将我送到一位整形外科医生那里，他进行了两次软骨切除手术（每侧一次）。我恢复得很好，以为那一章已经结束了，我继续我的生活。我们开始计划生第三个孩子，我很高兴能经历我希望的无痛怀孕。然而，在此之前，手术一年后，我感到下胸腔一阵熟悉的疼痛。几天之内，我又回到了 SRS 的痛苦之中。我想，至少这一次我知道如何解决它。
我向一位曾经治疗过 SRS 的胸外科医生寻求帮助。后来又做了两次手术，加上脱臼的剑突的切除，我的情况并没有像预期的那样好转。我的痛苦比以往任何时候都严重，而且情况一天天恶化。肋骨仍然感觉不稳定。有人告诉我这是不可能的，这只是神经痛。我知道事实并非如此，但我觉得自己别无选择，只能跟随医生的指示。在一次神经疼痛手术后，我的病情改善为零，肺部也被刺穿，我决定我需要更加努力。我在美国发现了汉森医生和他的肋骨缝合技术。他认为切除会导致进一步的不稳定，这对我来说是完全正确的。
不幸的是，这种手术在这里闻所未闻。感觉陷入了困境，我决定迈出一步，预订了 2020 年 6 月在西弗吉尼亚州向 Hansen 医生进行的切除后重建手术。好吧，我们都知道 2020 年发生了什么事，而我无法离开澳大利亚进行手术。现在我几乎完全卧床不起，无法照顾我的两个小孩，我绝望地求助于我的胸外科医生，手里拿着大量的信息。他咨询了汉森医生并同意进行手术。显然，这给我带来了很大的缓解，但封锁和获取所需钢板的问题意味着我不得不在令人衰弱的疼痛中等待，直到 2020 年 11 月才能接受第一次手术，2021 年 3 月才能接受第二次手术。恢复过程很艰难。由于我之前做过切除手术，所以手术比汉森医生的常规缝合手术更复杂。
两次手术后我都遭受了极度的神经疼痛，两次都在医院住了两周。我知道由于切除，我的肋骨永远不会是完美的。我于 2021 年 7 月植入了脊髓刺激器，以缓解持续的神经疼痛。我不会跑也不会跳，以后肯定不会跳伞，但我可以走路，我不会整天躺在床上，我可以照顾我的孩子，甚至可以带他们去简单的郊游。看起来和以前有些不同，但我又恢复了生活。也许最大的祝福是，我拥有了我们多年来梦想的第三个美丽的孩子，终于在我的肚子里安全地长大了。
我奋斗了六年，被忽视了，医生说“好吧，如果我戳我的肋骨也会疼”，并告诉我我的感觉“是不可能的”。我被迫强烈地为自己辩护，并经历了超乎我以前想象的痛苦，但不知怎的，我还是挺了过来。我非常感谢汉森医生给予我时间并分享他的知识，也感谢我的外科医生倾听并愿意学习新技术。
我知道带这个孩子来到这个世界的旅程不会是我曾经希望的无痛经历，但能够健康地怀上另一个孩子就足够了。这个婴儿和我的两个大孩子是我战斗的理由。
AMANDA BERMAND, AUSTRALIA
2019 年 8 月，我在我工作的一所学校打排球时发生了意外。我一生都从事高水平运动，但在 54 岁和患乳腺癌后，身体决定不再参加这项运动。我几乎忍住了，继续做事情，但几个月后症状逐渐恶化，我去看了医生。
18 个月后，我仍在寻找诊断。和我们许多人一样，我经历了大量的测试，被告知这是在我的脑海中，结果开始了焦虑/抑郁的过山车。
幸运的是，在一位 SRS 患者的帮助下，我找到了“肋骨滑脱综合症”Facebook 群组，并与 Conaglen 医生进行了预约，他是新西兰唯一一位使用汉森技术进行手术的外科医生。
尽管单程有 6 个小时的车程，他还是在 5 到 10 分钟内诊断出我的情况。我无法工作，不得不耗尽一生的积蓄才能生存。
幸运的是，我保留了私人医疗保险，所以在 2021 年 1 月继续进行了我的第一次手术，缝合了右侧的第 9 和第 10 肋骨。
我是一名工作了 21 年的前警官，患有抑郁症和创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD)，因此在我寻找痛苦答案的过程中，事情变得更加复杂。我现在的生活取得了很好的平衡。
我相信我的 SRS 始终是双边的，但我们一次只做一侧。另外，我并没有意识到事情到底有多么微妙，在手术后 4 周时我愚蠢地做得太过分了，我相信我对我的新修复造成了损害。
我正在做核心练习，以尝试在 2022 年 3 月 7 日第二次手术的暂定日期之前加强我所能做的事情。
我还进行了 3D CT 扫描，看看这是否有助于我的右侧翻修计划。我的外科医生将修改右侧手术并缝合左侧第 9-10 肋骨。
Conaglen 博士非常出色，并且非常支持 Hansen 博士的方法。
以下是我学到的一些教训：
1. 不要低估这种情况……我们正在参加一场漫长的比赛。即使您感觉良好，术后至少 6-8 周内也不要做任何可能导致进一步问题的事情。 （我仍然因为这样做而自责）
2.不要放弃。你是自己最好的倡导者，所以相信你的身体和你自己的直觉。
3. 接受帮助。隧道尽头有光。我们中的一些人经历过非常黑暗的日子（我仍然如此），但我们分享和谈论的事情越多，我们就越能帮助他人（也可能是我们自己）。这些团体在这方面非常棒。
4.善待自己
我从来没有对手术和随之而来的疼痛如此兴奋。为了某个目的，这将是痛苦。我也很紧张。我们中有很多人都有类似的问题，所以只要知道你在哪里，无论你是度过了美好的一天，还是在痛苦中经历了糟糕的夜晚，“Kia Kaha，Kia manawanui”（保持坚强，永不放弃）。
GINA SAMSON, NEW ZEALAND
我的 SRS 之旅始于 17 年前的 2004 年在英国。我有 4 个孩子，其中 3 个体重超过 10 磅，在生下 4 号孩子后，我注意到我的一根肋骨在右肋弓上无痛地进出。很快就变成了间歇性的深沉隐痛，感觉就像婴儿的脚被推到了我的肋骨下面，但我并没有怀孕。在接下来的几年里，我进行了结肠镜检查、内窥镜检查和多次上腹部超声检查。一切都恢复正常了。 “这一定是肠易激综合症”，他们说。
2009 年，我们搬到了加拿大安大略省，在那里我的症状持续存在。离开。我的新全科医生（家庭医生）派我去做更多检查。一切都很正常，但我的疼痛仍在继续。我尝试过用中药冲胆。胆结石已排出，但症状并未缓解。多次拜访整骨师、自然疗法师、顺势疗法师、营养师、脊椎按摩师和医生。物理治疗师。没有任何帮助。
2018年底，搬运重箱子后，我的疼痛更加严重。更多的诊断测试。然后有一天晚上我醒来时感到十分疼痛，感觉就像被刺伤了一样。这就是缺失的拼图，最后我在谷歌搜索中找到了“肋骨滑倒综合症”。哈利路亚！我兴高采烈地回到我的全科医生那里，希望他能了解有关 SRS 的一切。他只是茫然地看着我，并开了更多止痛药。值得庆幸的是，我的脊椎按摩师听了我的话，感觉到我的肋骨发出咔哒声，并同意 SRS 很有可能。
不幸的是，2019 年，我跨坐在汽车拖车的不安全牵引杆上时发生了事故。我被抛到空中，受了重伤。对我的肋骨也不好。 “物理治疗会有帮助”我的家庭医生说。
我的队医无法弄清楚为什么我没有进步。我提到了 SRS，他感觉到我的肋骨爆裂，同意我的观点，并写信给我的全科医生，建议进行神经阻滞。我的家庭医生因“腹痛”将我转介到疼痛诊所？！！没有提到我的肋骨。疼痛诊所医生说“我们不处理腹痛”。我在视频通话中泪流满面，医生查看了 SRS 并为我提供了神经阻滞。然后大流行开始了，神经阻滞从未发生过。
我请求转介给当地的整形外科医生。这是迄今为止我最糟糕的经历。在告诉我我不太可能患有“某种罕见的互联网状况”后，她说“我不做排骨”并解雇了我。这时候我已经绝望了。我的两侧持续出现剧烈钝痛、胁腹疼痛、胸罩带线周围的背部剧烈疼痛，两侧偶尔有尖锐的刺痛，并且睡眠困难。我的肋骨每天都会卡入/卡出多次，而且开车旅行很糟糕。
然后我在西弗吉尼亚州发现了亚当·汉森博士。哈利路亚时刻＃2！我还发现了 SRS Facebook 群组。突然发现一大堆和我有同样症状的人！我向我的全科医生发送了汉森博士网络研讨会的链接。之后的谈话就很轻松了。 “你可能是对的”他说！我给汉森医生的办公室打电话。
从加拿大前往美国并自己支付手术费用，我可以选择有一天进行诊断预约，第二天进行手术 - 非常可怕！如果我对 SRS 的看法是错误的怎么办？ 2021 年 10 月上旬，我们开车 8 个多小时到达西弗吉尼亚州。由于疫情导致美国/加拿大陆地边界关闭，这让人很紧张，但我们还是做到了。汉森医生非常友善和温柔，5 分钟内他诊断出我患有双侧肋骨滑脱。
我的手术比预期的时间更长、更复杂。我有双边第 9 次和第 9 次。第 10 肋骨软骨骨折伴胸壁畸形，SRS 和肋间神经痛。我的 9 号球头只能向后半脱位，而且很难够到。所有 4 根肋骨的软骨尖端均被切除 2 厘米，因为它们又长又呈钩状，然后是 9 号肋骨和 9 号肋骨。 10 号被缝合到 8 号，以重建稳定的胸腔。我在 10/10 的疼痛中醒来，需要大量吗啡和注射剂。我在康复室服用了芬太尼，但令我惊讶的是我终于可以深呼吸了。多年来我一直无法做到这一点。汉森医生说前两周会非常痛苦，他是绝对正确的！恢复就像过山车，这是肯定的。
现在，在撰写本文时，我已经术后 4 个月了。我正在慢慢进步，希望 6 个月后我会感觉很好。我非常感谢汉森博士的开创性技术。他、他的妻子丽莎和他们在西弗吉尼亚州 UHC 的团队都非常出色，我的照片是在手术后 1 周与汉森夫妇拍摄的。我的大头针就在我身后的地图上，还有其他数百人都在汉森医生的指导下接受过立体定向放射外科手术。
为自己辩护是很困难的。坚强起来，倾听你身体的声音，不要接受“不”的答案，我真诚地希望你尽快得到你需要的护理。
ELIZABETH LIDBETTER, ONTARIO, CANADA
当我 11 岁的时候，我第一次突然感到可怕的痉挛性疼痛，疼痛发生在我的肋骨、腋下、身体两侧和乳房下方。我希望这是一次侥幸，但我开始每隔几个月就会出现类似的症状，持续时间从几分钟到几个小时的剧烈疼痛，没有任何东西可以触及，因为疼痛我无法动弹，甚至无法说话。 ;
那时我进行了所有测试等，当然一切都检查正常。我找到了一位使用超级温和技术的脊椎按摩师，并进行定期调整，开始了一段几乎正常的状态。当我过度活动或扭转动作时，我仍然会感到紧张和刺痛，但在大约一年半的时间里，我基本上过着正常的青少年生活。
2021 年 2 月，一切都发生了变化。家里的一个奇怪的动作引发了持续几天的事件，这是有史以来最糟糕的事件。疼痛在持续几天后并没有消失，而是持续存在并变得每天都有。我不得不停止大部分活动并几乎不断地休息。
我做了所有的测试，所有的影像学检查，在拜访了当地的所有人后，我去了克利夫兰和印第安纳波利斯，但仍然没有答案。在互联网搜索症状后，我发现了“肋骨滑脱综合症”Facebook 群组，我突然意识到这就是 SRS。
两位不同的外科医生告诉我我没有。我确信我做到了。那里有东西在移动，我能感觉到，但没有人能证实。最后，我去年七月去了梅奥诊所，那里的动态超声检查仍然没有显示出太多信息，但动手检查却显示了很多信息。第二天突然手术，发现左侧第9、10肋骨脱落。梅奥的手术略有帮助。我的剧烈疼痛发作频率降低了，持续时间也缩短了，但这就是不对劲。
2021 年 10 月，我们前往西弗吉尼亚州看望汉森博士。他就像大家说的那样富有同情心和美好。他对我们很诚实，他不确定手术会发现什么，因为我已经缝合了，很难说事情有多安全。但他愿意竭尽全力，而这正是我们所需要的。
2022年3月2日，我接受了汉森医生的重建技术，在第8/9肋骨和第9/10肋骨之间进行了软骨尖端的板和移植，因此我开始了等待和恢复。
众所周知，这是过山车。恢复一开始就很激烈。现在，在撰写本文时，我已经进入术后 10 周了。有峰有谷。一段美好的日子之后可能会是一段痛苦的日子。
但。你注意到“好日子”这几个字了吗？因为我曾经拥有过它们！过去 10 周里的美好时光比我青少年生活的前一年还要多。与家人一起庆祝一整天的复活节，这在我后来说“我感觉很棒！”之前是不可能的。我仍然有阵阵的神经疼痛和肌肉紧张，这让我陷入了“假设”的境地，但我仍处于恢复过程的早期，这显然是迈向康复的一步。
我还没搞定。我将来可能会在右侧进行手术，并且可能会进行神经消融，因为第 8 肋骨上有一块奇怪的软骨，汉森医生在没有结构问题的情况下无法将其移除，但我感觉更稳定，和更少的疼痛。
仍在这个旅程中，但我想公开向汉森夫妇以及支持小组中的每个人表示感谢，感谢你们的持续支持和鼓励——即使您不知道自己正在给予支持和鼓励。它挽救了生命。
MAYA OYER, USA
JESSICA DE'O, ONTARIO, CANADA
当我 11/12 时，我开始出现 SRS 症状。起初，胸口剧烈疼痛，几乎无法呼吸。这种疼痛会环绕我的胸部并向上延伸至胸骨。大约一年后，爆裂声开始出现。医生说我患有肋软骨炎并让我服用萘普生。胸部X光检查始终正常。我什至做了骨扫描，这也是正常的。随着时间的推移，我想我的疼痛耐受力有所增强。我不再感到从胸部到背部的神经疼痛，但偶尔我会感到胸骨上的剧烈疼痛。我的胸部经常摸起来酸痛，甚至去做超声心动图也让我痛苦了一个星期。我的背痛非常严重，医生总是将其归结为“你的背包太重了”。多年来，我一直没有答案，服用大量萘普生，生活在痛苦中。
当我 18 岁的时候，我去看了一位脊椎按摩师，他首先告诉我有关肋骨滑脱综合症的知识。那时候，你真的在网上找不到任何关于它的信息。随着时间的推移，出现了一些像奥兹博士病人这样的事情，然后我看到了一些关于 SRS 增殖疗法的研究。我看了一位运动医学医生，我们做了超声波检查（这是正常的），并讨论了增殖疗法。最终，成本太高，他说这并不能保证，因为我的 SRS 已经存在多年了，而增殖疗法在他治疗新伤的实践中效果最好。
我又回到了原点。然后有一天，我找到了 SRS Facebook 群组，了解了 Hansen 博士的方法，但我在加拿大，无法前往 Hansen 博士那里。当我最初找到这个小组时，我不知道马塔尔博士是谁。直到 2020 年，我才从他的第一个 SRS 患者那里了解到了他，我觉得我终于找到了解决我生活了半生的问题的方法。
马塔尔博士和他的团队绝对是非凡的。尽管我小时候做过扁桃体切除术和一些牙科手术，但我之前从未做过手术，所以这非常引起焦虑。我有过在与恐慌作斗争时/本能地经历恐慌发作的历史，即使我精神状态良好。当我被麻醉时，马塔尔医生和他的团队握着我的手/让我放心。手术很快，第二天我们就花了 5.5 小时回家。那是我服用阿片类药物的唯一一天。
前三个月很艰难，我感觉很多人都这么说。三个月后，我不再怀疑手术是否成功，并真正开始看到手术的好处。在那之后，大部分时间都是下坡路，但仍然有一段时间我有很多炎症发作。
我现在已经退役一年了，我感觉自己棒极了。我能够做更多以前从未做过的事情。举起重物对我来说从来都不是一件容易的事，之后我会感到持续的胸痛。现在我可以举起一半体重而没有任何疼痛或不适。长时间散步时，我会因为胸痛/呼吸困难而不得不休息，但现在我每天步行 1.5-2 小时以上，并全职担任学前教育工作者，没有任何疼痛或不适。在我无法轻柔地触摸我的胸部而不感到疼痛之前，触摸任何地方都会感到疼痛和酸痛。
我没有做过任何高影响力的活动，但根据迄今为止的恢复情况，我现在感觉更坚强了。我之前背部疼痛如此严重的一个重要原因是因为我的 SRS 导致我的核心肌肉几乎为零。慢慢地，我通过做日常事情并尝试有意识地激活它来锻炼我的核心肌肉。我的右侧完全不困扰我，不会爆裂，也不痛。如果需要的话，我会立即再次进行手术，我永远感谢汉森博士为修复 SRS 创造的非侵入性方法所做的工作，以及马塔尔博士和他在渥太华的出色团队。
AUDREY THAIN-ARDIS, GEORGIA, USA
Hi, I'm Audrey, from Georgia, USA. My SRS journey started at least 13 years ago, but possibly even longer. Between a car accident when I was 18, overworking my abs as a teen (why did I do 200+ crunches most days?), being hypermobile, and finally 2 pregnancies in my mid 20s, my ribs have been painful for so many years. I started pursuing medical help for my rib pain during my first pregnancy in 2010, when the pain became unbearable. I was told it was probably round ligament pain and would resolve after delivery. When it didn't resolve, I went to many doctors for many years, most of whom told me it was all in my head.
When I showed them my lumpy deformed-looking ribs, one doctor even told me I just had an uneven fat deposit on that side! By this point, the pain and worry about not knowing what was wrong and imagining all the "what-ifs" had given me pretty bad anxiety. The pain made it hard to do my daily tasks, hard to sit on the floor and play with my kids, really hard to sit at all. Riding in a car or sitting anywhere for more than a few minutes was excruciating.
I got used to awkwardly telling people I'd rather stand when they offered me a seat, and always stayed flightily busy to avoid sitting. My lack of rib structure also made it very hard to get a deep breath. (Imagine trying to do pull-ups on a spring-- that's what trying to get a deep breath felt like!) Meanwhile I was still being told that my pain was all in my head. The lack of validation from this has such an effect on your confidence and mental health! Finally in 2018, late one night, desperately searching google for what could possibly be wrong with me, I saw something online about Slipping Rib Syndrome and it clicked! I knew this had to be it.
I saw a new local doctor who was just out of school and she agreed. Meanwhile, I had found the Slipping Rib Syndrome Facebook page and had started feeling so much more validated finding a whole community of people who understood exactly how I was feeling! (That little group is now over 5600 people strong!!). The Facebook group led me to Dr Adam Hansen at WVU in West Virginia, who had developed a new repair for SRS. We made the trip to West Virginia and Dr Hansen confirmed my diagnosis. My 9th and 10th ribs were fully detached, hooked, and jammed under the upper ribs. There's an intercostal nerve that runs between each rib, so that nerve was being constantly compressed, giving me pain from my abdomen all the way around to my shoulder blade.
I had Dr. Hansen's 3.0 surgery in February 2022 and have never regretted it! He spaced my ribs apart with cartilage grafts, loosely sutured my ribs together, and topped them off with a bioresorbable plate to hold things in place until my body could heal and develop its own scar tissue to keep itself secure. I woke up from surgery feeling much more stable, somehow taller (I didn't even realize how much I had been guarding and compensating for my ribs) and finally able to breathe freely!! Within a few months, I felt well enough to get back to daily life, travel, plant a garden, go kayaking, hiking, and generally enjoy life much more again! Now at 17 months post op, I'm so thankful to be doing pretty much anything I'd like to do and feeling so much better! If you're struggling with these symptoms, please reach out! There is hope!
KARI MORGENSTEIN, FLORIDA, USA
My journey started in 2019 when my husband and I found out I was pregnant. Around 5 weeks, I was vomiting 20 times a day and left fighting for my life and my daughter’s as well. At 8 weeks, I was diagnosed with severe Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). I was placed on a feeding tube through a PICC line as I was severely malnourished. I was vomiting 20 times a day until my daughter was born.
Around 6 months postpartum, I started to get a sharp, excruciating pain in the front of my chest near my Xiphoid. Any movement such as breathing or talking too much made it worse. This led to appointment after appointment from cardiology, rheumatology to gastro and pulmonology it felt like my husband and I spent every day either scheduling a doctor’s appointment or seeing a provider. Many providers told me nothing was wrong with me and I just needed to “push through”.
Luckily my husband and I were not willing to accept this. We fought tirelessly, day and night, to find answers to my debilitating pain that left me unable to care for our newborn daughter. I, fortunately, came across the Slipping Rib Syndrome (SRS) Facebook page and this led me to Dr. Adam Hansen and Ms. Lisa Hansen. We made the trip to West Virginia in January 2021 and I was diagnosed with SRS (9th and 10th rib on right side).
I am forever grateful to Dr. Hansen (and to so many SRS sufferers and survivors that I met on my journey) for giving me my life back and ensuring my daughter has her mommy. I am now 2.5 years out from my surgery and living life again. Pain free!!! My recovery was not an easy one, but it was totally worth it. To anyone reading this that is currently struggling with SRS or trying to find answers to your debilitating pain: You are stronger than you think.
Crying is a sign of strength. Let the tears flow! Lean on your support system and ask for help. Be kind to yourself. The SRS FB group is filled with many incredibly giving and strong individuals. We are all in this together. Use this group to support you at whatever stage you’re in. Keep advocating for yourself. Your pain is real. You. can do this. Take one hour, one minute, or just one second at a time.
HOPE WILD, MARYLAND, USA
My pain began around the end of 2016. It started out with an annoying pain on my right side liver area. I had imaging which found polyps in my gallbladder but that surgeon was kind enough to let me know he didn’t believe it was causing my pain because polyps typically don’t hurt, but the gallbladder had to come out due to their size and possibly eventually growing into cancer if they weren’t already. There were 3 and thankfully, they were benign. I went through years of pain, which over time turned into clicking with the pain. I think my right 10th rib started to come loose and eventually detached altogether.
The pain continued and my life began to decline more and more each day, which became years. I lost my mojo. Procedures I had: -Too much imaging (scans/X-rays) to count -Endoscopy -Pill Camera -Scoliosis diagnosis and physical therapy -Spinal injections to test for a Rhizotomy which I decided not to follow through with because I didn’t feel it would help -Colonoscopy -Whatever else I may not be recalling in this moment.
Because I was so desperate I asked my orthopedic surgeon to perform a spinal fusion at one point. Thankfully, he’s a great man/surgeon and talked me out of it because he knew it wasn’t causing the pain I was describing. I couldn’t work and had to give up my independence. I withered away because the rib pain was so bad, I could barely eat. I lived on Ensure. Not eating helped, but it still hurt all the time. My muscles atrophied and everything else began to decline due to the effects of losing nutrition and movement.
Eventually, I found some motivation and I got a job working from home, got on my own again and pushed through it. I kept losing weight and got down to about 92lbs. I started researching more and found out about SRS. I researched thoracic surgeons in my area to find a surgeon that appeared to have an open mind and would be willing to learn. The surgeon I chose was also an assistant professor and that gave me hope. I provided him with Dr. Hansen’s procedure information and he reviewed it, ordered ultrasound imaging and some other tests and we kept meeting and talking. He reached out to Dr. Hansen and scheduled my surgery. At this point, it was exploratory because when it came to slipping ribs, it wasn’t something he’s treated this way and when he looked into it, resection was the solution.
I said no thanks to that and kept asking him to look into the suturing procedure. I need my ribs to protect my organs and support my bone structure. I remember waking up from my surgery and him telling me “you were right!” My right side 10th rib was completely detached and free to float around. He used Dr. Hansen’s 2.0 technique and sutured it to the 9th. It was finally stable! That was January of 2021. I began to have the same type of pain again a few months later. I was happy to let him go back in to take a look around to figure out what was going on. It turned out that the very tip of my 10th rib cartilage had come loose and was flipping around so he snipped it off, added sutures and closed me back up. That was September 2021. I’m almost fully recovered. Recovering from the atrophy is the hardest part because like many SRS sufferers, I have other diagnosed problems like Hypermobility and severe scoliosis. I am a work in progress and I will get there! We grow through what we go through.
HEATHER DOBOS, MINNESOTA, USA
I fought SRS for 16 very hard long years of my life and I’m only 38. I can now say that it’s been 3 years of living and finally experiencing the life I have always wanted and dreamed of pain free. My journey of SRS was hard frustrating painful and so many emotions I can’t even describe. I can not pinpoint exactly how why or when this happened but my decline started in 2004 when my appendix ruptured. From then many GI related issues happened.
I have had all the tests you could imagine and they all would come back negative. Being told over and over again by doctors that nothing was wrong and that it is all in my head. I had fo fight and advocate over and over again to be heard by all physicians. I was losing weight and barley being able to eat or even drink water on my surgery day I was only 96 lbs and felt like I was whithering away. I kept my determination and strength up that I was going get on the other side of whatever was going on with me. If I hadn’t kept that mindset I wouldn’t be here today.
In 2020 while the world was shutting down is when I really started to go downhill with pain and frustration and lack of answers. I was going to a pain clinic and a physical therapist mentioned the words that I had already circling in my head from my own research of Slipping rib syndrome. She did a dynamic ultrasound and saw my flaring ribs very clearly on my left side and said to me “how has no one ever seen this?”
I burst into tears and wept in her exam room and thanked her for not thinking I was crazy. With that I went home and began my own advocating and determination to find a doctor no matter how far I had to go that would help me. I found Dr. Shiroff at University of Pennsylvania. I reached out to his office and I honestly didn’t know how much more time I could deal with this physically or mentally. After a week or so his assistant reached out and we got the ball rolling with zoom meetings and medical records being sent and within one zoom meeting he could see how bad my 8th, 9th and 10th ribs were for me. On July 27th 2020 I met my knight in shining armor, Dr. Shiroff who I believe saved my life and gave me my life back to share my story and help others in the process. It’s been wonderful to be able to experience life, food and and new experiences again. I was finally healthy enough to get pregnant with our beautiful daughter and happy to announce we’re pregnant again. A dream and experience I thought I would never see in my life. I get to be me again and it feels so good.
OLIVIA HEATH, COLORADO, USA
My daughter Olivia swam competitively for years. During her junior year of high school, she experienced intense back pain that worsened when she swam. She also regularly experienced a stabbing pain along the front of her abdomen, and she could trigger that pain by moving her lower ribs back and forth.
Olivia's weekly physical therapy only provided temporary relief for her pain. After her symptoms worsened, leading to her quitting swimming, I turned to the internet for answers. Thankfully, I stumbled across Slipping Rib Syndrome and the Facebook support group. I spent many hours gleaning information and encouragement, and it was immeasurably helpful. Olivia’s story would not be the happy one it is today without this group.
My internet searches also led me to Dr. Diaz-Muron, a surgeon at Denver Children’s Hospital who is familiar with SRS. In October 2022, he diagnosed Olivia with bilateral SRS through a physical exam. He also ordered a dynamic chest ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis. It was such a gift to have received an answer so quickly!
The techs were puzzled during Olivia's dynamic ultrasound because they had never seen or heard of SRS before. They did their best to decipher what we were all seeing on the screen, and in the end, they diagnosed her with bilateral SRS at ribs 8-9. Later we’d discover that they had counted the ribs wrong, and it was actually Olivia’s 9th and 10th ribs that were slipping. In fact, ribs 9 and 10 on both sides had become completely separated from her costal margin.
In December, Olivia underwent a bilateral intercostal radio frequency nerve ablation (8-10 R and 10-12 L) at Denver Children’s Hospital. While this helped with the pain a bit, it created an additional problem where she temporarily lost muscle strength and tone in her lower abdomen. Thankfully, she has a great manual physical therapist who helped her through that hiccup. Olivia also had an assessment at the Denver Children’s Hospital Genetics Hypermobility Clinic. They diagnosed her with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder but not hEDS (she got her hypermobility from her mama).
In January 2023, Olivia had a “normal” CT scan that, when converted into 3-D, revealed her detached ribs. Also in January, she had a consultation with Dr. Pieracci at Denver Health. We both really liked Dr. Pieraacci. He was kind, empathic, and communicated clearly. However, he was performing the Hansen 2.0 surgery, and through the group, I had learned that Dr. Hansen was doing a 3.0 version of the surgery. So, we decided to wait until we saw Dr. Hansen to determine the next steps.
In February, Olivia and I traveled east for consultations with Dr. Shiroff at Penn Medicine and Dr. Hansen at WVU. The consult with Dr. Shiroff went well, and we left with the sense that he is a skilled surgeon who successfully treats many SRS patients. However, he was performing a version of the Hansen 2.0 surgery, and we were eager to learn about Dr. Hansen’s 3.0 version.
Olivia’s consultation with Dr. Hansen was great—he was knowledgeable, professional, kind, and humble. He spent so much time addressing our many questions and concerns. Olivia felt seen, understood, and heard. But I won’t sugarcoat things—the surgery and recovery ahead were daunting for Olivia and left her feeling scared and overwhelmed. And as Olivia’s mom, I was terrified of making a wrong decision that could negatively affect her present and future. (I may or may not have sobbed in the bathtub when we got back to the hotel.)
It didn’t take long for Olivia, my husband, and I to agree that the 3.0 surgery with Dr. Hansen was Olivia’s best option. However, Dr. Hansen’s first available surgery slot was too close to Olivia’s first day of college. It wouldn’t allow for enough recovery time before she needed to do things like carry a backpack long distance. So, we put her on a wait list and hoped and prayed.
Over the next few months, Olivia’s pain became nearly unbearable. Simple things like sitting in class and driving in a car were extremely painful. The main thing that helped her was lifting weights; her muscle gains and the endorphins she got after each lift helped her to push past the pain, discouragement, and fear. She had been lifting for around a year, and Dr. Hansen told her that the muscle strength she had built would greatly help with her recovery. So, Olivia carefully pressed on in the gym despite her growing pain.
The day after Olivia graduated from high school, Lisa Hansen reached out with fabulous news. She said that if we could be in West Virginia in exactly one week, there was a surgery spot available for Olivia! The news was both exciting and terrifying. It was difficult for Olivia to wrap her mind around all that was about to change and around the long road to recovery, but she was all in.
Olivia’s May 24th surgery was a tremendous success! Dr. Hansen excised some costal cartilage from her 9th and 10th ribs on both sides, used the excised cartilage to create spacer grafts between ribs 8-10 on each side, sutured ribs 9 and 10 together with the grafts, and bilaterally placed bioabsorbable plates from ribs 7 through 10. The entire surgery took around three hours, and Dr. Hansen was really excited about how well everything went.
After a week at a nearby hotel, Dr. Hansen cleared Olivia to fly home to Colorado. Olivia's recovery was tough, even though she knew what to expect. Ice became her best friend, and she found ways to stay entertained and encouraged while being bed-ridden. Still, those three months were extremely difficult for her.
About those recovery months Olivia says, “Lifting was my mental and physical solace through my senior year, and to have it taken away was devastating. Those first months felt like purgatory, and recovery was filled with countless tears. SRS patients may feel hopeless during the initial months of healing after surgery, but I encourage them to make a list of all the ways their ribs held them back before the surgery so that they can check them off as they regain strength. Watching my progress kept me sane. I felt devastated right after the surgery, but in time I saw how it brought new abilities and reduced pain that I didn’t think was possible.”
As Olivia’s 3-month post-surgery milestone neared, she was feeling quite good. She no longer needed ice, could work as a restaurant hostess, and was back to being the social butterfly that she is. And three months after her surgery, she was back in the gym. Although she had lost most of the muscle she had built, she was determined to regain it carefully.
On August 30, my husband and I moved Olivia into her dorm to begin her freshman year of college in Arizona. To this day, we’re still in awe over the timing of her surgery. She had exactly three months to heal at home under the care of her family and without the demands of school.
With her four-month surgery anniversary just around the corner, Olivia says, “My body feels drastically better and almost normal, and I’m able to move without popping. Since it’s only been four months, there’s still some healing to be done and there’s still some soreness, but I’m able to do all the things I love. I can do so much more than I could do before my surgery with Dr. Hansen, and I don’t feel held back by my body anymore. Every minute of the recovery pain was worth it now that I get to be under a bar with a lot of weight on it again.”
Whether to have surgery, what surgery to have, and which surgeon to trust are weighty decisions. We believe that we made the right choice for Olivia and hope that the coming months and years yield even more healing and strength.
If you’ve read this far, I hope Olivia’s story has encouraged you. The road to wellness is hard, and conflicting information and experiences are discouraging. As someone who also lives with chronic pain, I know how difficult it is to keep striving for healing and pain relief. Hang in there. Keep doing the next right thing. Hold on to hope, and remember to look for the beauty around you.
ALYSSA LOWE, GEORGIA, USA
After suffering for more than 4 years from severe pain in my chest and abdomen, difficulty breathing, nausea, and fatigue, I had surgery to secure my slipping ribs.
I was scared to have surgery, because I read some horror stories online about how it didn't work or made things worse. I also worried about the risks and complications of anesthesia and infection. But I decided to go ahead with it, because I couldn't stand living in pain anymore. I found Dr. Christie, who is one of the surgeons in the US who specializes in slipping rib syndrome surgery.
He was very knowledgeable and compassionate, and he explained everything to me in detail. He assured me that he had a lot of experience and success with this procedure, and that he would do his best to help me.
The surgery went well, and I went home immediately after surgery. Dr. Christie removed the part of the rib that was causing the problem, and sutured the other ribs that were loose. He told me that I would feel some pain and soreness for a few weeks, but that it would gradually improve as I healed.
He was right. The recovery process has been amazing. Every day, I feel a little bit better. The pain is much less than before, and I can take less medication. I can breathe more deeply and easily, without feeling like someone is squeezing my chest. I can sleep more comfortably, without waking up in agony. I can eat more normally, without feeling sick or bloated. And I can do more things that I enjoy, like walking, reading, and spending time with my family and friends.
Dr. Christie really changed my life for the better, and I'm so thankful to him and his team. They gave me hope and relief, when I thought there was none. They treated me with kindness and respect, when I felt alone and misunderstood. They gave me back my health and happiness, when I thought they were gone forever.
If you have slipping rib syndrome and you're scared of surgery, don't let the fear stop you. Trust me, it's worth it. It's not an easy decision, but it's the best one you can make for yourself. You deserve to live without pain and suffering. You deserve to live your best life.
