One common reason for pain under your right rib cage is trigger points in your diaphragm muscle. The diaphragm is a large, flat muscle that runs across the bottom of your chest cavity and separates your chest from your abdomen. It is responsible for helping you breathe. Trigger points are small knots that form when the muscle becomes tight or irritated. When they press on sensitive structures or they remain tight for too long, they can cause discomfort and pain under your right rib cage. The diaphragm muscle can develop trigger points in response to stress, poor posture, or overuse. Fortunately, trigger points can easily be released with trigger point therapy, Active Release, myofascial therapy, or other soft-tissue manual therapies.
Another possible cause of pain under your right rib cage is a muscular imbalance. The muscle under right rib cage may be tighter than those on your left, resulting in pain and discomfort. This imbalance may be due to poor posture, repetitive motions, or an injury. Treatment typically involves stretching and strengthening exercises or foam rolling to correct your imbalance.
There are several other potential causes of discomfort and pain under the right rib cage, including costochondritis (inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the breastbone), heartburn, pancreatitis, and gallstones. If you are experiencing discomfort or pain under your right rib cage, seeing your medical doctor to rule out the more serious causes is important. If your medical doctor determines no serious causes, your next step is to see a chiropractor who performs trigger point therapy and myofascial release to release the trigger points and knots in your diaphragm muscle.
Remember, in most cases, you do not have a more serious condition. The majority of the time, the pain you are feeling is coming from a tight, spasmed, fatigued muscle under your right rib cage.
If you are in the San Mateo, California area, Dr. John Blenio of High Amplitude Health Chiropractic and Sports Injury performs trigger point therapy and myofascial release on the diaphragm.
