Terrible Rib Pain

[Boggler]

Does anyone else have rib pain? I'm 25 weeks and the past 4-5 days I've been getting a pain all across by ribs which seems to be getting worse. If I sneeze or cough it feels like a thousand knives going into my rib cage - yes melodramatic but true. Is this just due to everything expanding and does it get better?

Hi hun, i can sympathise 10000% i had this at around 18 weeks and thought maybe it was indigestion as it seemed to be after i ate. The pain gradually became more and more frequent and sneezing, coughing bought tears to my eyes. All i kept thinking was this is only going to get worse & worse so I saw my GP. He explained as our tummy mucsles are starting to stretch to make room for baby its so easy to pull them without noticing and the reason the pain is transfering to rib area as this is now where the weaker mucsles are situated. As you have probably noticed your tummy muscles are non existant now and your using your back and neck & shoulders more.

The best thing to try is alternating cold & heat to the area put some frozen peas in a sandwhich bag and place on for 5 mins then apply some heat hot water bottle or even rest your cup on tea there for 5 mis then swap back. try to do this for about 20 mins in total do this when ever you feel the need. When moving about (especialy in bed) be careful not to jolt or jerk and make small gentle movements using the stronger arm muscles. Try to relax as much as you can for a few days and it will go away.

Ive not had any pain since doing this and just being aware of them has made me more careful. Also the hot & cold works for any aches & pains im now 37 weeks and ache free !!! Good luck, hope this helps XX

I'm not sure but if it is that painful you should call your midwife. Have you got any other symptoms? Severe rib pain, especially on the right hand side, can be a sign of preeclampsia or it could just be things stretching out, the ribcage does have a lot of expanding to do, but you should really get checked

hi, I had rib pain in both pregnancies, it's the rib cage expanding as baby grows. I have a relatively small and narrow ribcage, so was just more affected than someone with a larger build. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it - just got very uncomfortable for the 3rd trimester, but completely disappeared right after giving birth. Do talk to your midwife or GP if it gets really bad to be on safe side, they might also prescribe some pain relief. Good luck.

Oh god YES to this. It started really early too and is particularly bad after eating. Like I just don't have enough room. 20+3 so expecting this to get a whole lot worse too.

I find sitting up really straight and leaning back to open up the chest area helps a little.