This is a common complaint from patients when they have a rib out of alignment.
The pain is usually at the junction near the spine where the involved rib articulates with a vertebra (called a costovertebral joint), although it sometimes presents in the front of the chest where a rib attaches at the sternum (costosternal joint).
At the painful joint, the rib may be pushing into the vertebra or sternum, causing the joint to be compressed, or it may be distracted away from the articulation, causing an extension stress on the joint.
A correctly placed and precisely vectored adjustment with the Activator instrument brings relief.
