Bodystance Backpod - Backpod for costochondritis, Tietzes Syndrome, ‘slipping ribs and costovertebral (posterior rib) joints

The Backpod’s small peaked shape is designed to
give a strong, specific stretch to tight posterior rib
(costovertebral and costotransverse) joints. Foam
rollers and Swiss balls cannot do this. It is positioned
longitudinally 40-50mm (about 2 inches) out to
the side of the spine, over the curve of the ribs,
i.e. between the midline of the spine and the
medial (inside) border of the scapula (shoulder blade)
- see pages 3 & 4. This ability to stretch tight and
frozen posterior rib joints makes the Backpod ideal for
treating several conditions:
Costochondritis is a scary and confusing (but not
life-threatening) condition with pain where your ribs
join onto your breastbone. Tietze’s Syndrome is just
costochondritis with enough inflammation to cause
obvious swelling at the rib joints on your breastbone
- it’s not a whole different entity. The swelling is not
an auto-immune inflammation but simply part of the
normal inflammatory response to mechanical injury,
like the swelling of a sprained ankle, or of a foot
blister.
Important - any acute chest pain should always be
seen first (and urgently) by a doctor or Emergency
Department in case it’s your heart. Cheeringly, up to
half of presentations of acute chest pain aren’t the
heart or anything else dire.
Almost all the standard medical statements about
costochondritis have almost no evidential basis. It
is NOT a mystery, or difficult to fix. Ribs work like
bucket handles, hinging at the front onto the sternum
(breastbone) at the costosternal joints, and at the
back onto the spine (at the costovertebral joints). The
ribs lift up and down with each breath, and the rib
joints also move with any torso movement.
Now, if the posterior rib joints are tight or immobile,
then the more delicate anterior joints where the ribs
hinge onto your breastbone HAVE to work excessively,
just to let allow breathing. So they strain, get irritated,
then get inflamed - and there’s the costochondritis.
Unlike other strained joints, they can never get a rest,
as long as breathing continues. If they get inflamed
enough to see obvious swelling then it’s called Tietze’s
Syndrome.
This understanding from New Zealand manual
physiotherapy is the only, repeat only, one which
explains such specific pain just at the rib joints on the
breastbone and nowhere else in the body. All other
suggestions and treatments, including the medical
ones, miss the point in that they seek to suppress
an irritation/inflammation without treating or even
Backpod® for costochondritis, Tietze’s Syndrome, ‘slipping ribs’ and
costovertebral (posterior rib) joints
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Health Practitioner pages