by Joanna Ruddick – Osteopath, and Cranial Osteopath
Now is the season of coughs and colds! Musculoskeletal problems may result from such illnesses, the most common being rib strains. Symptoms are pain on breathing in and twisting. Thinking about the mechanics of coughing can reveal how this happens.
A cough is a forced release of air, triggered when an irritant stimulates one or more of the cough receptors in the lungs. The cough clears away any unwanted and harmful bodies and so protects the respiratory system.
When we cough, we first take in a deep breath and the air is shut inside the lungs via the closing of the glottis (the opening between the vocal folds). The diaphragm, the intercostal muscles between the ribs, and various accessory muscles then act, pushing against the lungs and forcing open the glottis, which results in an explosive outflow of air.
This places intense pressure on all these muscles. It’s an action you repeat hundreds of times when you have a cold or the flu, so after a while these muscles become fatigued. When that happens the muscle can tighten and its function over associated joints become less controlled, which can then contribute to injury.
When the muscle is overstrained, it can go into spasm affecting the rib to which it is attached. The pull on the rib can then go on to affect how it articulates with the spine, resulting in “rib strain”, which is very painful indeed (can be misdiagnosed as a heart attack!)
An assessment and treatment from an Osteopath should be able to resolve this rib strain.
For self-help: once you have recovered from your illness, tune in to where you ache or feel stiff and run through a set of stretches in those areas (which we can give you), in order to prevent a predisposition to any future associated injury.
Other long-lasting effects of such illnesses are exhaustion, headaches, sinus problems; all of which can be very effectively treated with cranial osteopathy
