Chest pain can become a scary thing especially when the pain decides to begin shooting down the arms! It can be common for people to have pain coming down the arm due to a muscular strain of the pectoralis muscle or a rib dysfunction that is stopping you from deep breathing without pain!
Some instances that may be causes include:
Pec Minor Strain
Symptoms Include:
- Pain down the arm of the associated side
- numbness and tingling into 4th and 5th fingers
- Chest pain and inability to apply pressure to area
- Changes to on affected side sensation due to pain
T4 syndrome
Symptoms Include: (“T4 Syndrome”, 2019)
- Restricted upper back range of motion with a referral of pain down to the hand
- Segmental joint dysfunctions found in thoracic spine with tight musculature in the region
- Affected activity and/or decrease concentration due to pain
- Heaviness in arms and hands with/without hand paresthesia
Thoracic Rib Dysfunction
Symptoms Include: (Foley, Sugimoto, Mooney, 2019)
- Restricted upper back range of motion and presents in an antalgic position
- Segmental joint dysfunctions found in thoracic spine and rib dysfunction noted with tight musculature
in the affected region - Affected daily activity and/or decrease concentration and possible shortness of breath due to pain
- Aggravated by rotation and/or hyperextension of the spine
*Beware that a GP should be consulted to ensure there are no abnormalities with blood pressure or changes to heart rate if you think there is more to your chest pain then just a muscle ache.
What Can The Melbourne Chiropractor Offer?
Depending on the severity of the Sprain or Strain our practitioners will treat accordingly to your complaint. Treatments that may be provided but are not limited to include:
- Spinal manipulation, Activator Methods, Drop Piece, SOT and other adjustive techniques can help alleviate joints that have restriction such as ribs and spinal segments (LeFebvre, Peterson & Haas, 2012)
- PNF/PIR/prescribed stretching – Stretching has shown to reduce pain, improve functionality of the wrist and hand also maintains strength and improves patients in both long and short-term outcomes.
- Prescribed exercises – produce more beneficial outcomes in terms of increased strength, improved function and reduced pain scores. (Fernandes, Pedrinelli & Hernandez, 2015)
- Dry Needling or Cupping to the surrounding musculature to help decrease tension and inflammation around the area of the hand and forearm.
