What can be the reason for the pain under the rib cage?
Patient: I have pain when I touch the area just under my rib cage on the right side. I went to a clinic in February because I was shovelling and jammed the handle into my stomach and the doctor said he didn t think it was anything serious and should get better, sometimes I don t notice as much until I push on it and it still hurts- any suggestions would be great Doctor: hi,thank-you for providing the brief history of you.A thorough musculoskeletal assessment is advised.As mentioned the pain is in the right side of the rib and your physician it is not a serious one, I still feel that you can take x-ray of the ribs and see if hairline fracture of the ribs is there. As this is common at times and recovery gets delayed. Also, post this, performing proper breathing exercises your muscles will become stronger and bone will also heal. As hairline fracture is not a big thing and bery little ortho can do due to the anatomy of the bone.Also, breathing exercises to perform are -* Deep breathing exercises* Purselip breathing exercises* diaphragmatic breathing exercises* abdominal breathing exercises* costal breathing exercises.To  note the important thing - while performing breathing exercises kindly place the hand over the paigul region to avoid pain triggering.In case, in 5-7 days you don't feel improvement than taking an abdominal scan is advised since you injured your abdomen region to see any systemic illness. usually in my clinical practice patient recover with breathing exercises in 5-7 days and continue same for 4 weeks further.RegardsJay Indravadan Patel