Nerve Pain
Question: I am wondering about what I think is nerve pain in my ribs. The latest episode began when I lay sideways on my right shoulder, then spread to what felt like a spasm pain in my left rib area. Since I have a severe scoliosis and wear a plastic body jacket to sit up, I can't get comfortable sitting or lying. I end up taking a low, short-term dose of narcotic pills (which I hate to do) to try and break the spasms until hopefully it goes away.
Dr. Bruno’s Response: You need a diagnosis regarding the cause of the pain. Is it nerve pain, muscle spasm or both? Scoliosis and wearing a body jacket are going to put pressure in different parts of your spine and joints that certainly can cause pain. Pain could be radiating from nerve entrapment in your right shoulder or pinching nerves in your neck. So, talking to your doctor about an MRI of your neck would be the first place to look.
If spasm is the issue narcotics aren’t the answer. Something like Valium could be more appropriate.
A proper head pillow and a body pillow may be of help to take the load off your ribs and shoulder, give you some cushioning and better positioning in bed. You may need a new body jacket, but again, diagnosis is the issue.
You don’t need a post-polio specialist to diagnose and treat this. A local physical medicine (physiatrist) doctor would be of help.