What Is Rib Flare? Symptoms, Causes, and When to See a Rib Flare Chiropractor in Michigan
Patients often hear the term rib flare in the rehab world. If you’re searching for a rib flare chiropractor in Michigan, this guide will help you understand your condition and know when it’s time to seek treatment. This condition can have many causes, but correcting the condition can improve a person’s breathing, posture, and core strength. Improperly aligned ribs and pelvis means you can’t properly engage with your diaphragm, reducing breathing capabilities.
Your core also won’t stabilize your spine properly due to not being able to create maximal intra-abdominal pressure. This restriction can lead to issues like back pain after the gym.
This condition can refer to two potential issues:
- Abnormal rib positioning: Look for a symptom like your ribs poking out. You can easily tell when reaching your arms upwards or when lying down.
- Rib angle changes: Check for rib angle changes by placing both thumbs along your ribs at your breastbone’s base. If your thumbs don’t produce a 90-degree angle, you may have rib flare.
What Causes Pain From Rib Flare?
An unstable spine causes tension and tightness in muscles like your hamstrings and hip flexors.
Unfortunately, many postpartum women become susceptible to this condition following pregnancy. During pregnancy, your body undergoes a multitude of changes. These changes include moving around internal organs for the baby.
As a result, your pelvis widens. Some women return to their normal pelvis and ribcage resting position, while others don’t.
Poor posture can also trigger this condition. It’s impossible to achieve a perfect posture, especially for the whole day. However, aligning your rib cage with your pelvis can help prevent rib flare.
Focusing on feeling relaxed and tense-free can have a huge impact as well. If you do have pain, a chiropractor for rib flare in Michigan can help you improve your posture, reduce pain, and restore core function. you achieve better posture and a neutral spine. A professional chiropractor can also help you by providing proper exercises.
How to Relieve Rib Flare
For lasting results, you may want to explore Michigan chiropractic treatment for rib flare, which addresses both symptoms and root causes.
Ideally, you should implement preventative measures to prevent rib flares from occurring in the first place. Sometimes rib flares can still happen without us realizing it or due to factors virtually out of our control, like pregnancy or genetics.
While rib flares can be frustrating to deal with and can cause further injury and breathing issues, you can find relief in a few ways. However, your first objective is to determine if you have this condition.
One way to find out is by lying down and taking a few deep breaths. Then, let your organs relax and have someone take a picture pointing downwards to your ribs. The angle your ribs come together should be around 90 degrees.
Specific breathing exercises can relieve this condition, but often only temporarily. The goal is to build your core strength. Doing so stabilizes your spine and prevents pain triggered by tightness and tension.
Exercises to Help Reduce Rib Flare
A strong core is instrumental in improving your rib’s health, thus eliminating, or preventing rib flares.
When people hear the words core strength, they automatically picture doing 100 crunches daily to develop abs. However, the abs are just one core muscle out of many that work together to establish your core.
You must learn to properly engage with your core to prevent using the wrong muscles and overusing the right ones. Many refer to this process as “pulling their belly buttons into their spines,” but that is outdated information that limits your ability to maximize your core stability and strength.
Once you learn how to brace your core, you can incorporate the following exercises:
These exercises can help you learn how engage and brace your core in other workout routines. We teach you all about the core and train you how to use and maximize it in our our online core and stability course.
Rib Flare Treatment | REACH Rehab + Chiropractic | Plymouth, Michigan
You can do different breathing and core strengthening exercises at home to address rib flares. However, treating this condition often requires additional professional help from a trusted rib flare chiropractor in Michigan . The right Plymouth, MI, chiropractor can help treat this uncomfortable condition and show you how to prevent it.
At REACH Rehab + Chiropractic, our chiropractors and movement specialists take a holistic approach. We are passionate about helping patients eliminate rib flare, no matter how severe.
Contact REACH Rehab + Chiropractic at (734) 530-9134 to book an appointment!
FAQ
Is my rib flare actually causing my back pain, or is it just a coincidence?
Common doesn’t mean normal! While many people live with rib flares without connecting them to their pain, that protruding ribcage is often the hidden culprit behind persistent back issues. When your ribs aren’t properly aligned with your pelvis, your core muscles can’t engage correctly, leaving your spine vulnerable during everyday movements and especially during exercise. Rather than masking symptoms with temporary fixes, we address this foundational issue to help you build lasting strength and stability.
How is REACH's approach to rib flare different from conventional treatments?
Most traditional approaches to rib flare focus only on stretching tight muscles or temporary postural corrections. Our groundbreaking method digs deeper by addressing not just the visible rib positioning, but also the breathing patterns, core engagement, and spinal stability that actually solve the problem at its source. We don’t just want you looking better temporarily-we want your body functioning better permanently by teaching you how to create proper intra-abdominal pressure that supports everything from heavy lifting to simply sitting comfortably.
Can I fix my rib flare on my own, or do I really need professional help?
While those YouTube “quick fixes” might seem tempting, they often lead to frustration when results don’t last. The truth is, effectively addressing rib flare requires both proper assessment and personalized guidance. Many patients come to us after months of attempting self-correction with limited success. Our chiropractors identify the specific imbalances unique to your body and provide targeted interventions coupled with at-home exercises that actually work. Think of us as your partners in reclaiming core stability, not just another appointment on your calendar.
I'm postpartum and noticing rib flare-is this my "new normal" or can it be corrected?
Your postpartum body deserves better than “just dealing with it”! Many women accept rib flare as an inevitable aftermath of pregnancy, but this simply isn’t true. The physiological changes that occurred to accommodate your baby can absolutely be addressed with proper rehabilitation. Our approach combines specialized breathing techniques, progressive core strengthening, and hands-on care tailored specifically for postpartum bodies. You don’t have to settle for discomfort or dysfunction-real restoration is possible, and it starts with understanding that pregnancy changes your body, but doesn’t have to permanently change how you feel.
How quickly will I notice improvements in my rib flare with chiropractic treatment?
Feeling stuck doesn’t mean you have to stay there! Most of our patients notice initial changes in how their ribs feel and move within a few sessions, with significant visual improvements following as your body adapts to new patterns. However, the real magic happens when you combine our in-office care with consistent home exercises-that’s when transformation accelerates. Unlike quick fixes that deliver temporary results, our approach builds sustainable change by retraining your nervous system and muscles to maintain proper positioning naturally.
