intentionally moving ribs- normal or not?

[ombili]

Sorry if I shouldn't make a new thread about this - but I noticed that sometimes when I merge with an old thread nobody answers my question...anyway, mods if you want to move this feel free...of course, not like you need my permission or anything.

I have been going to pilates and the instructor says to pull your ribs in and forward, not to stick them out, etc. This has led me to learn that I can move my rib cage quite drastically. I wish I could post a video or photo so you could see what I mean. To get an idea, if you stand and look in the mirror, then try to pull your ribs down and forward from where they usually are - mine move about 3-4 inches. I thought this was really fascinating and so I asked my OH to do the same and he said he can't move his ribs around (and naturally said, 'stop that!'). She always says to stop "sticking them out" but I am not sticking them out; that's where they normally are, and pulling them in takes effort. Are they supposed to always be down and in like that? Or am I doing something other than what's being asked? Is this amount of rib movement normal? Is it ok?

[Blaadyblah]

I'd an Alexander Technique instructor show me how far I coupld widen my ribcage as a whole (and how to do so) a few months ago. It was fascinating as you describe. Photos would be cool - I'm having trouble visualising the direction you mean, I don't think mine do quite the same!

A couple of points occur to me though. Like 'w' sitting and so on, I suspect I'm more comfortable at the extremes of my range of flexion/extension than in the mid range where I have less control. I've wondered if this contributes to the breathing issues I experience (namely failing to notice I'm not). My guess is that I could probably improve control of that too - though it isn't an enormous problem to me.

[ladyred]

Hiya

Not quite the same thing but I've noticed that sometimes if I suck my tummy in to make it look flatter, I have to rearrange my ribs cos it feels like they've moved and are sticking in me - I sort of have to stretch and twist to make them feel as if they're "home"

San x

[Finarda]

I have several times been told that I don't have asthma based on the test where you have to take a deep breath then blow it out as fast and hard as you can.

I always score over 100% - often up to 150%. I was reading an article about lungs and hypermobility and it basically said that not only are the ribs more hypermobile but the tissues are more stretchy and hypermobile people (at least HEDS) can have very large lung volumes. So it does make sense that your rib cage can expand etc more than others.

I'd love to see a photo of what you mean because I'm not sure if I'm understanding it properly.

Fiona

[ombili]

Ok. These aren't very good photos because I had to take them myself, and it's hard to photograph one's own ribs, but take a look:

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc16 ... rib001.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc16 ... rib002.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Spireite]

Hi Ombili,

I guess I'm the opposite end of the spectrum, in that my ribs were all rock solid rigid and I didn't realise. I suspect they used to be hypermobile and so the muscles went into spasm to stabilise them, and then the muscle turned fibrotic. I'm waiting for T8-T11 denervation to kick in (March) and that should release the permanent muscle spasm. In fact, before that I had T5,6,7 and T12, L1 L2 denerved in August, which kicked in a couple of months ago, and I noticed after that that I can do lateral breathing so many ratty physios have had a go at me for over the years cos I couldn't move my ribs at all. Now I can!! In fact, I've started to get worried that my heart rate monitor might slip down while running so I've started securing it with a safety pin to my bra, now I can exhale and my ribs go in!! This has never been an issue till these last few weeks!!!

When I did that lung capacity test years ago, mine was remarkably bad despite being a runner, and I had to redo it! Not that they followed up at all.

Not sure this answers your question directly but I suspect our ribs can move a lot, until the muscles decide enough is enough and to splint them and then they end up at the other extreme, being totally rigid.

[norfolkandchance]

Aaaaaaaaah! I've always wondered why on earth my lung capacity was so unbelievably huge! People have always assumed my very low blood pressure and large lung capacity were due to being fit. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. I've never been fit in my puff (scuse the pun! lol). I scared the pants off a nurse once because I can intentionally lower my bp using my breath. Teehee.

Does anyone else ever get that horrible feeling of not being able to take a deep enough breath?

Debbie xx

[Finarda]

Yes! It almost feels like you can't access the bottom half of your lungs. I end up yawning and other weird moves to try to get a full breath. It's not like when my throat swells up - it's totally different than that.

On the large lung capacity, I had to do an fitness assessment once and the guy assessing me said how he wished he could get more people like me - obviously never having smoked or had any asthma problems and obviously worked out a lot to gain such flexibility - LOL! At the time I was smoking a pack a day and having asthma and chronic bronchitis for most of the winter! I just got tested for lung capacity again on Monday and again it was 149%

Fiona

[norfolkandchance]

Haha! You should send him a picture of you standing with crutches, fag hanging out of your mouth and an inhaler on a string around your neck!

Debbie xx

[greenrah]

I had exactly the same on a fitness assessment. I blew in the top 2% for men and she said to me "obviously you've never smoked" and at the time I was on 20 a day! She couldn't believe it. She said she was going to suggest people took up smoking!

[AnnaH]

I had exactly the same on a fitness assessment. I blew in the top 2% for men and she said to me "obviously you've never smoked" and at the time I was on 20 a day! She couldn't believe it. She said she was going to suggest people took up smoking!

I have asthma, and when I was younger I used to have "brittle" asthma, with sudden, catastrophic attacks that came out of the blue. My normal peak flow (lung strength) was 520, which would be good for an adult man, let alone a weedy teenager. One time, when I was in my 20s, my chest consultant declared I had better lungs than him, I went home, and 3 hours later I had to be ambulanced into A&E with a severe asthma attack. My peak flow dropped to 120.

Now my asthma is largely stabilised, and officially classified as "mild". This is partly due to new drugs and partly due to luck. But my peak flow is still over 500 on a normal day, even when I have some wheezing. I just thought it was a weird thing about me. I didn't realise it was an HMS thing but that makes sense.

FYI I also move my ribs a lot and can dislocate them worryingly easily.

[Stone]

Aaaaaaaaah! I've always wondered why on earth my lung capacity was so unbelievably huge! People have always assumed my very low blood pressure and large lung capacity were due to being fit.

Likewise. I once blew 110% capacity and 75% expiration force and was told I had nothing to worry about while I had metastasised tumours in both lungs. Whoops.

Does anyone else ever get that horrible feeling of not being able to take a deep enough breath?

Yes. Blaadyblah mentioned the Alexander technique - after a demo from a public-speaking coach (work sent us on a management skills course ) I realised I habitually take very shallow breaths. Consciously breathing from the diaphragm does help but you might need to work on your core stability first: I did, anyway! At least it gives you a technique for clearing out the stale air at the bottom

Stone

[princesspeely]

I used to play the clarinet so learned how to take deeper breaths, useful for the hypnotherapy I have just started. I've never had asthma or anything like that.

My problem is that if I yawn or stretch without thinking, it feels like my ribs are unzipping from my breastbone one at a time, which is very painful and takes weeks to stop hurting. Does anyone else have this?

[mcbeauty]

Ah, that explains it! I had a lung funstion test and came out with the lung function of a non-smoking teenager, despite the fact I'm 37 and have smoked since I was 13 and am not the slightest bit fit!