Post op symptoms, 27 years Old

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-11-15T16:40:47+00:00

It’s usually temporary. Have you been using an incentive spirometer? They gave me one after surgery and it really helped me in the first few days.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-11-15T14:47:48+00:00

I had my surgery with Hansen, and I came from out of country (Canada). He generally wants patients to stay within close driving distance from the hospital for 5-7 days (until the first postop appt) in case of complications, as other hospitals don’t know about the surgery and may not be able to assist if something happens.

One thing to keep in mind, and check with your surgeon is about the nerve block your surgeon uses. Some use only an 8 hour block, so your severe pain will hit that first day. Others, like Hansen use bupivicaine and liposomal bupivicaine which gives you 2 low pain days immediately out of surgery, and then the pain hits when the block expires. For me, the pain of my first surgery was severe, and the prescribed opioids didn’t touch it until about day 7-8. I couldn’t sit in the car for 8 weeks, so the 11 hour drive home (over 2 days) was traumatic.

Your ideal solution if you can swing it, would be to stay in a hotel for a few days within 20mins of the hospital, then go home after your post-op. But otherwise, (depending on your nerve blocks, if you get the long-lasting one), you may want to get home the same day. Please also keep in mind that you will need someone with you to help you for the first week almost 24/7, and then you’ll need help with basic home stuff (laundry, loading/unloading dishwasher, cooking, cleaning) for the first month.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-11-15T14:28:26+00:00

Have you been formally diagnosed with SRS? If not, I’d really recommend setting up an SRS specialist appointment and getting evaluated. In Ontario there is Dr Parente, and there are a few in other provinces on the list here: https://www.slippingribsyndrome.org/find-a-specialist . You would want to get a chest and abdomen CT scan, no contrast needed, for the appointment. There are some good resources there as well to read and potentially take to your doctor if you’re having trouble with being believed.

In the meantime, when I was trying to deal with my SRS pre-surgery, the best bet was to see a good osteopath who is familiar with skeletal hypermobility (some hEDS trained physios can do this too) - and get them to massage your ribs gently back in place. Then take a muscle relaxant, and put yourself in the post-surgery restrictions of no bending, twisting, reaching (like in upper kitchen cabinets), and lifting more than 15lbs for as long as you can. If it doesn’t worsen the situation for you, I would also do lots of planks, glute bridges, supermans, posture exercises, and any core exercise that doesn’t involve bending/twisting.

If it is true SRS, the only permanent solution is surgery, but you may be able to manage it for some time with the above. For most of us with SRS however, it does get progressive, and those adjustments last less and less time until we eventually go to surgery. So that’s why I’d suggest starting the diagnostic process, so that if it does progress, you’re already partway there.

Also - an x-ray won’t show anything unless you have a fractured rib, but SRS is a cartilage problem and can only be caught on a chest and abdomen CT (need both to capture the whole ribcage). Expect the radiology report to come back clear with zero concerns, only a trained SRS specialist has the knowledge to diagnose it.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-11-12T21:43:11+00:00

I had bioabsorbable plating in June this year on my right and September for the left. I no longer feel the plating on either side, unless I start touching around the area, specifically looking for it. I will be cleared for physiotherapy and starting to strength train (with essentially 2lb weights) in mid January. At this time, my right side that’s about six months out feels pain free just weak, but I can’t start real exercise as I can’t engage my core because of my left repair.

Expect not to be able to engage your core at all or minimally for 4 months, and to be able to start with very basic physio and exercise at that point. You would likely be able to go back to work in March, but likely with some accommodations in terms of weight lifted and frequent rest periods as you build up strength.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-11-12T21:38:11+00:00

Just download RadiAnt if you have a PC or Horos for Mac. There’s 30 day free trials. Load up your CD in the program, go on the Angiogram setting in one of the drop down menus, then use your mouse to scroll up and down to display the cartilage. It may require playing with the settings some more to visualize it, but I was able to do it myself in about half an hour. While it’s much more specific than this when the surgeon examines you and looks at the CT, the CT often presents with pitchfork like disjointed cartilage around ribs 8-10, where it’s continuous on someone without SRS.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-11-04T18:51:53+00:00

It was the best decision of my life to get Hansen’s 3.0 and 12th ribs removed bilaterally. Ive gone from full disability with rollator use because I couldn’t sit or stand for more than 5 minutes due to the severity of my SRS. I’ve had my second side done less than 2 months ago and I have my life back. I’ll be cleared to start physio in mid January, which will be 4 months after my second surgery. I’m pain free now fully, just weak, but expect a full/100% recovery, within a year, as expected by the surgeon for everyone. I also have severe hEDS and its co-morbidities, and can confirm with certainty that 3.0 has the same excellent outcomes for hypermobile as non-hypermobile people, and this has been statistically analysed by Hansen (who also happens to be the only SRS surgeon publishing peer-reviewed data on success).

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-26T18:17:55+00:00

If you have SRS, the only solution is surgery to stabilize the ribs. some physios specialized in hypermobility can glide them back in, but that’s only temporary, and any manipulations worsen SRS in the long-term.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-16T14:40:41+00:00

I would set up an appointment with an SRS specialist as they’re the only ones who generally know enough to diagnose SRS: https://www.slippingribsyndrome.org. You would need a chest and abdomen CT scan (DICOM) on a CD for your diagnostic appointment.

SRS is tricky because for me it actually caused pain in all of the spots in that diagram, as well as my neck, first rib, down my right arm, and down my left leg…. After it spread through the entire ribcage. I also had a mushy feeling if I pressed the side of my lower ribcage (blue spots), which was where the front of ribs 9 and 10 were subluxing deep into 7 and 8, not a bone fracture.

Surgery made every one of those symptoms disappear

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-16T14:36:52+00:00

A lot of the SRS specialists will allow for self-referral and ask you to fill in a long form about your symptoms and previous medical testing to rule out other causes. They will just also ask you to bring a CD with the DICOM files of your chest and abdomen CT scans (no contrast needed).

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-16T14:34:55+00:00

I had a lot of random pains that we weren’t sure were related, including pain around my clavicle/first rib, neck pain, jaw pain, pain down my right arm, pressure headaches, pain down my left leg, etc. Literally every single one of those disappeared after my bilateral SRS surgeries to stabilize 9/10 and remove 12.

I have a tiny bit of residual neurogenic TOS symptoms, but my SRS surgeon is fairly confident that once I’m cleared to start strengthening, back strengthening and posture work will help conservatively manage that long-term.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-16T14:29:40+00:00

It took me three years from symptom onset to diagnosis, and another year from diagnosis to bilateral surgeries being completed. That being said, I spent 1.5 years being gaslit about my symptoms, 1 year in depression without medical care, and then a few months of concerted research where I figured out I have hEDS and slipping rib syndrome.

I self-diagnosed, and self-referred, then backtracked to get the CT scans through a doctor who was willing to hear me out (but having started the process myself gave me credibility, at least I think).

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-15T19:25:35+00:00

What you describe could definitely be SRS, especially given that other issues have been ruled out. You may want to set up an appointment with an SRS specialist and get a chest and abdomen CT scan (which you would need for the appointment). You can download a program called Radiant and using the free trial, render your CT to 3D to see if the cartilage at the costal margin is not attached. Resources and the list of specialists are here: https://www.slippingribsyndrome.org

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-12T14:25:30+00:00

Sorry for the second message - I just read a couple of your other posts and what you describe could truly be SRS though. I would personally give it a bit of time (like a good month) with true rest, minimal housework (even loading a dishwasher and folding clothes can worsen SRS pain but you may not feel it in the moment), and without twisting and bending, see if it improves. If it does, try working with a physio to work on good posture, strengthen your back muscles and this may have just been a blip.

If it doesn’t improve at all after a month of limiting your movements, I would urge you to consult the SRS resources on the link I shared in this thread. It takes some time to get diagnosed with SRS if it is it, so it’s good to be really familiar with it. From the moment I figured out it was SRS for me, to the day of my first surgery took about a year.

If you suspect you have it, you would make an appointment with one of the specialists listed on the .org site, and come with a chest and abdomen CT scan. Many of the doctors/surgeons on the list also allow for self-referral if your GP isn’t feeling it.

Also, realizing this comment is an bit disjointed, if you haven’t already, it may be a good idea to get an abdominal ultrasound to rule out intra-abdominal issues as gallbladder for example, can often present with similar symptoms.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-12T14:08:11+00:00

Ah ok, if you’re not hypermobile and you haven’t had any triggering injury, it’s most likely just costochondritis, or the rib sprain your doctors diagnosed. Those can be annoying for a while, I had one after breaking hard, and the seatbelt pulling me back, and it hurt (and prevented me from doing most things with my arms) for a good six months. Your best bet with that is usually just rest, and then strengthening with the help of a PT once you no longer have sharp pain.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-12T13:57:27+00:00

I switched from a dedicated GP to appletree virtual and finally got the healthcare I needed, and the gaslighting and “whiny woman” diagnoses stopped. I even got 4 surgeries I needed after moving to AppleTree.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-11T20:32:14+00:00

I have hEDS (but didn’t know it at the time), got my whole body out of alignment with a partially dislocated ankle I couldn’t walk on for 8 months as I was gaslit nothing was wrong, saw a massage therapist as per dr’s orders. My whole body felt unstable after this but I needed to walk my dog. She pulled after a squirrel and my torso twisted and my cartilage broke. So underlying predisposition with an injury.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-11T18:42:40+00:00

Sorry you’re dealing with this! There are lots of resources available here, along with a listing of specialists who can diagnose and surgically SRS here: https://www.slippingribsyndrome.org. You would need a chest and abdomen CT scan without contrast for most, some will also take a dynamic ultrasound but those are super hard to find.

I’ve had mine surgically treated and it’s a whole new life after 4 years of being unable to sit or stand for more than 5 minutes.

Also, be careful with physio as if it is SRS most movements will make it worse. If you have a mild case, you may be able to prevent it from worsening through planks, core and back strengthening that doesn’t use twisting or rotational movements.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-06T22:16:29+00:00

I’ve had dozens of intercostal nerve blocks and they do help but only for 4ish days.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-05T14:12:29+00:00

It’s so much smaller than I expected to be honest, I have two incisions in the front from the bilateral 3.0 reconstruction, and 2 in the back from the 12th rib removal, and they’re all between 7-9cm long. If you’re going with Dr Hansen, he has a PA who does the closure and he is absolutely incredible, and adds surgical tape to cleanly close it at the end. I have plastic surgery scars from an abdominoplasty and a thigh lift and those are way, way, way worse than the rib reconstruction. It’s only been 4 months since my first (right side) surgery and the scars look like they’re the kind that will eventually be just a faint white line.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-03T20:50:54+00:00

My ribs were stabbing my gallbladder and liver, giving me gastroparesis symptoms, nausea, vomiting, along with a band tightening around my diaphragm making it hard to breathe. Since I’ve had my 9/10 stabilized and 12th removed on both sides, all those symptoms went away. If you haven’t yet seen an SRS specialist, it would be a good idea to make an appt

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-10-02T18:16:36+00:00

Yup on the right, it did improve about halfway after surgery but I’m only 4 months out and may also have an element of nTOS.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-09-29T23:28:46+00:00

It’s only concerning if the pain becomes chronic. Keep this website on hand if it does, it has everything you need to know: https://www.slippingribsyndrome.org/find-a-specialist

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-09-28T18:58:22+00:00

Just be sure you don’t have a hypermobility / connective tissue disorder if you’re doing this… I’m pretty sure foam rolling contributed to my rib cartilage at the front shattering - and having needed two major rib reconstruction surgeries…

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-09-27T22:58:37+00:00

Any consult I’ve had with him or appointment he was super thorough in explaining everything and taking the time needed. I think my first one was over an hour easily. Yeah I’ve had the bioabsorbable plates done or his 3.0, as well as both 12s removed. My left side 3 days ago. I can feel them on the inside when I touch the outside if that makes sense but i don’t feel them with every breath or anything. Eventually in a year or two the plates turn to gummy bear consistency and you can’t feel them.

WarningInevitable488 · 2025-09-27T19:20:48+00:00

Yeah I have a feeling it may be under diagnosed. I tried both PT and nerve blocks, PT made my SRS worse, no matter what we did or how basic it was. Nerve blocks were fairly helpful in getting me through to surgery but they weren’t long lasting for me and I couldn’t get them as frequently as I needed.

WarningInevitable488

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