Got aches, pains, or just curious about what a physical therapist REALLY thinks? Join Dr. Alexandre as he answers your burning questions about ribs, knees, necks, and more! Discover easy tips, real talk, and fun stories from 10 years on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe for more pain-busting advice and let us know in the comments what helped you most! #health #wellness #exercise #painrelief #physiotherapy
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@dralexandremota
0:00 - Introduction and Channel Purpose
0:29 - Addressing Rib Pain After Flu
1:46 - Rib Pain: Self-Massage and Relief Techniques
4:54 - Post-Surgery Rehabilitation Guidance
7:41 - Managing Neck Pain and Scapula Connection
13:30 - Referred Pain and Community Discussions
15:35 - Meralgia Paresthetica: Understanding and Treatment
17:43 - Pain Management, Exercises, and Community Support
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@dralexandremota
0:00 - Introduction and Channel Purpose
0:29 - Addressing Rib Pain After Flu
1:46 - Rib Pain: Self-Massage and Relief Techniques
4:54 - Post-Surgery Rehabilitation Guidance
7:41 - Managing Neck Pain and Scapula Connection
13:30 - Referred Pain and Community Discussions
15:35 - Meralgia Paresthetica: Understanding and Treatment
17:43 - Pain Management, Exercises, and Community Support
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It's been two months since my surgery. Can I do this? I have a roughy ternia and this pain in
00:05my
00:05inner knee. The physical therapist didn't do exercises like this. Interesting. I massaged my
00:11neck for the pain behind my eye. I got over the flu but the pain in my rib didn't go
00:15away. Guys,
00:16I suddenly felt like sneezing. It hurt to... I'm a physical therapist. I've been here on YouTube
00:24for 10 years and today I'm going to answer the comments you left here in the last few days.
00:30Jackson Jr. commented, I caught a really bad flu and spent the whole night sore coughing.
00:38Then in the morning when I coughed hard, I felt a really strong pain on the right side of my
00:44rib.
00:45I got over the flu but the pain in my rib didn't go away and has been with me for
00:50two weeks. It even
00:51bothers me when I sleep. That rib area is a really troublesome area. First, because it locks up out
00:58of nowhere. I've had many patients whose ribs locked up who had a rib issue, rib pain, just from sneezing
01:06or coughing like Jackson. There was even a time when someone locked up their rib by making a quick
01:12movement. Someone called them and they turned suddenly. They felt that sharp pain and it lasted
01:16for weeks. The second thing that makes this rib area annoying is that when the muscle goes into spasm,
01:25it gets tense, we stay still for a while and then the muscle relaxes and the movement itself helps the
01:31muscle return to normal. It's not like that with the rib. The muscle goes into spasm, it gets tense,
01:37hard, contracted and we can't stop the ribs from moving. We breathe all day and even at night.
01:43That's why it bothers us even at night. Oh, I have some suggestions for you, Jackson.
01:50Imagine that the ribs are here, okay? Look, we're going to look for the trigger point first,
01:55the sensitive spot between the ribs. You already know more or less the area of the pain.
02:00So you're going to come here with your finger. Look slowly, just looking for the spot that hurts the
02:06most, all right? I advise you to do this. Place your index and middle finger on top. You'll see that
02:12this will calm things down and your hand will get much less tired. So you're going to come here.
02:17Look slowly, looking for the most painful spot. When you find it, ease up on the pressure so the pain
02:25feels milder and simply relax. Try to breathe very slowly. Don't force your breathing, okay?
02:35You'll see that in a minute, a minute and a half, the pain will start to fade, spreading out until
02:40it
02:40disappears completely. Alexander, I can't find the worst spot. There are too many painful spots. It
02:46feels like everything hurts. And then comes the second option. Instead of looking for a spot,
02:52we're going to massage between the ribs, following this space here along each rib.
02:57I'm going to lift my shirt here. Excuse me, okay? I'm closer to me so you can see. You won't
03:04be able
03:04to see my ribs for obvious reasons. But imagine the ribs here. Look, in the same way.
03:12You follow along the path of the ribs. The idea here is to give a superficial massage.
03:17So you don't need to find any pain points, okay? You're just following along. Look.
03:23As if you were almost just rubbing over the skin, okay?
03:29So you do this on the rib in the most painful area as well for about a minute to a
03:34minute and a
03:34half without rushing and without hurting. The third option is for those people who even have
03:41trouble following along the ribs. Alexander, I don't know. I skip a rib. I jump. I don't know if
03:48I'm in the right spot. So you can do it like this. Do a kind of stretch.
03:53You're going to spread your hand over the spot where it hurts.
03:56You can even use your other hand as long as it's not too far back.
04:00And here you're going to let the weight of your arm pull your ribs down.
04:04Ah!
04:07Do it again. Take a relaxed breath.
04:11Try to exhale for a longer time
04:15with that relaxation.
04:17You can do this sitting like I'm doing standing or lying down, leaning against the wall.
04:24I think leaning against the wall or on a chair with a straighter back is best because you avoid
04:31moving your body. You just let your rib cage go down.
04:37And you also use the weight of your arms. Do this for a minute as well. That's more than enough.
04:44But what I recommend is that you do this for a short time, several times a day, whether it's the
04:50point, the stroke, or the stretch.
04:53Phenomenal!
04:55Enrique Cruz commented,
04:56Hi, my friend. I had a kneecap fracture and it's been two months since the surgery.
05:01Can I do this for rehabilitation?
05:05This question about surgery comes up in almost every video here.
05:11The general rule when we have surgery is that depending on the type of surgery,
05:15there is an expected time for each thing, for moving, for putting your foot on the ground.
05:20And that's something the doctor should tell you.
05:23The one who did the surgery will tell you what happens.
05:26For example, when we do patella surgery, for example, if there was a fracture in the patella,
05:34the average bone healing time is around three months.
05:39So after three months, it's expected that you can move freely and put your foot on the ground.
05:45But that's when everything goes as it should.
05:48And that depends on each case.
05:52That's why follow-up is important.
05:54The person who will tell you which movements you can do,
05:56the right time for you to start putting your foot on the ground, bearing weight,
06:01doing stretches,
06:02it's the physical therapist who's working with you and even the doctor as well.
06:06Because in those appointments you have after the surgery,
06:10he will always order tests for monitoring.
06:13An x-ray to see how the bone is healing and so on.
06:18The physical therapist will know how to assess whether you are able to perform this movement safely.
06:26But I know that most people don't have it.
06:28They can't get this follow-up after surgery.
06:32It's almost like once you've had the surgery, you're on your own.
06:35Do whatever you want with your life.
06:36Or else you just wait for a spot in physical therapy.
06:40For these people, I have a way to try to help more safely.
06:45It's what I call the golden rule.
06:48All the exercises I teach here are to help most people
06:52because you have to do each exercise only as far as feels easy and comfortable.
06:59Here, we won't push too hard or go beyond the range you can handle.
07:04So, test each exercise.
07:08See how far you can go up to where it feels easy.
07:11If it starts to bother you, if you start to feel like you're forcing something, you stop.
07:16You don't go past that point.
07:19Also, if there's any exercise where you already feel discomfort with the slightest movement, just move on to the next
07:25one.
07:25Here on the channel, there are over a thousand videos that I've recorded over these 10 years with different exercise
07:32combinations.
07:34Exactly, so you have plenty of options to choose from and see which one is best for you.
07:41I got the reference.
07:44And Carolina Souza commented, but someone with a stiff neck, guys.
07:48I really wanted to sneeze, but it hurts so much.
07:50Whoa!
07:54Carolina, here's the thing.
07:55This video is about a stiff neck.
07:56So, it's a situation where you're in pain that probably came out of nowhere and is really bothering you.
08:05Besides that, any part of the body has a lot of things mixed together.
08:08Any part of the body you look at has muscle, joints, tendons, ligaments, and nerves.
08:15The neck has a lot of things mixed together in a very small space.
08:21So, for example, in the neck, there are nerves that go to the arm.
08:26There are nerves that come from the head and go to the head.
08:31There are blood vessels that carry blood to the brain, that bring blood from the brain to the heart and
08:38to the rest of the body.
08:41So, there's a lot more than just muscles and joints.
08:44That's why we have to be extra careful when we talk about the neck.
08:49You're going to get a massage.
08:51You're mainly going to stretch.
08:52Guys, this is what I see the most.
08:55We learned about 10 years ago that you stretch the neck by pulling it to the side, forcing the movement,
09:04as if you were stretching an arm or a leg.
09:06And it's not like that.
09:07The neck has a lot of important structures.
09:10And when you compress them, it won't just cause discomfort at the moment.
09:14It can cause tingling.
09:16And it can even cause pain that lasts for months.
09:20So, when you want to help your neck get better, you have to be careful, especially when stretching.
09:26I've already made an entire video talking just about this and, of course, showing the right and easy way to
09:31stretch your neck.
09:32I'll leave a link to that video here in the card for you to watch.
09:35I know that you understand now.
09:37Huh?
09:38I know you understand now.
09:39Still talking about a stiff neck?
09:41Leandro commented,
09:42Just with the first exercise, the neck pain has already decreased a lot.
09:47Now, I need to treat my scapula because the pain has spread there.
09:51Look, Leandro.
09:52When we talk about a stiff neck, we're talking about this region of the neck.
09:57I just said that there's a lot of things together here.
10:00In fact, what we call a functional unit is a group of body parts that depend on each other to
10:05work properly.
10:08And a stiff neck affects one of these functional units which connects the neck, the cervical spine, the shoulder, the
10:16scapula, and the thoracic spine.
10:19So, it affects these three parts that need each other to function.
10:23The first step is to calm the muscle.
10:25To calm the part of the muscle that's in spasm.
10:28That's got the trigger point.
10:29You've already done this by following the exercise in the video.
10:32If the pain has moved down to the scapula, your body is telling you that.
10:37Besides the main problem, what was bothering you?
10:41The stiff neck probably came from the scapula.
10:44It happened because of the scapula.
10:47And then, the second step would be to loosen up the shoulder blade, free it up, get it unstuck.
10:54That's an exercise I really like, and it's super easy that we're going to do.
10:58The scapula is right here behind the shoulder.
11:02And what we're going to do is try to get under the scapula, slowly, with as little pain as possible,
11:09in the most comfortable way you can.
11:11Follow these steps.
11:13Come a little closer here.
11:14Look.
11:15You're going to put your hand on the other side if the stiff neck is on the right side.
11:19You're going to put your left hand here, below the armpit.
11:22You'll feel the ribs.
11:26And I want you to follow along the ribs.
11:28You see?
11:28You're going to follow the ribs slowly until you feel a firm barrier.
11:32Here, I'm at the shoulder blade.
11:37Slowly, try to go under the scapula as if you were going between the ribs and the scapula.
11:42I'll do it slowly here so you can follow along.
11:45Look.
11:45Hand on the rib.
11:47Start moving back.
11:49Find a firm barrier.
11:51Try to go underneath it.
11:54Slowly, looking for the most sensitive spot.
11:57Okay?
11:59Look for it.
12:00You'll find it.
12:01Easy.
12:01Easy.
12:02Be careful here.
12:03For many people, this is quite painful.
12:05So, that's even more reason for you to take it slow.
12:10That hand you're relaxing, you can cross it, rest it on your other shoulder, and just relax as much as
12:15you can.
12:16You'll be more or less like this.
12:18Look.
12:20Find the most painful spot.
12:22Gentle pressure.
12:26And just relax your body.
12:28Try to keep that same pressure from start to finish for at least a minute.
12:35You'll feel the muscle relax, so it will feel softer to your hand.
12:40The scapula itself will let you go in.
12:44Go a little deeper.
12:47And the pain will gradually decrease.
12:50I don't want you to force the pain to go away.
12:52Feel around for it.
12:53Go deeper.
12:54Let it be.
12:55Try to keep the same pressure.
12:57Naturally, your hand will go deeper because the muscle is relaxing.
13:02Because the pain is decreasing.
13:06Even if the pain goes away, keep it there for at least a minute.
13:10At most, a minute and a half.
13:12After that time, you will take your hand out from underneath.
13:16Let go of the top hand.
13:18And see how it changed.
13:20You can already feel right away that your arm is looser.
13:23That feeling of relaxation in your shoulder.
13:25And, most importantly, the feeling of lightness in your neck.
13:30I loved it.
13:31Hello.
13:31Good morning, Dr. Alexander.
13:33Coffee?
13:34Interesting.
13:35I massaged my neck for pain behind my eye.
13:38So, the one who left this comment was Eustachio.
13:42Eustachio is a sweetheart.
13:44Back when we used to do live streams every day or once a week, Eustachio was always there.
13:50And I think it's really cool how the live streams, how Aliviando Adora Vivo brought us closer.
13:57And I really miss our live streams.
14:00I'm eager to come back.
14:01But first, I need to have the space, the structure for us to do these live streams.
14:06Because, you know, I don't do live streams just standing still like this.
14:09I'm always showing exercises.
14:11So, I need a place to lie down, to sit.
14:15I need space to move the camera around.
14:17Sometimes more than one camera.
14:19It's not that simple.
14:21But as soon as possible, we'll get back to our live streams.
14:24And this thing about massaging your neck to relieve pain deep in your eyes is because of what we call
14:29referred pain.
14:31And this is a problem I see a lot of people struggling with for months, fighting the pain and insisting
14:36on something that doesn't work.
14:41Every time a muscle, or even the fascia itself, has a more sensitive, more painful, more injured spot, which we
14:47call a trigger point.
14:52It triggers referred pain, pain in another part of the body.
14:55And in the case of this pain deep in the eye, above the eyebrow, or even here on the side
14:59of the head.
15:03This pain could be referred pain from the sternocleidomastoid muscle, or the sternocleidoccipitomastoid.
15:11And then I see a lot of people insisting on seeing an ophthalmologist taking medicine for this pain, and the
15:17pain just doesn't seem to go away.
15:20Exactly, because it's a mechanical pain, so it's not medicine or changing your glasses that's going to make this pain
15:26go away.
15:28Okay, you need to address what's causing the pain.
15:31You need to deal with the problem.
15:33Okay, someone will defend me there.
15:36Karina wrote, I was diagnosed with Meralgia paresthetica years ago.
15:40I've done every kind of exercise and physical therapy and nothing worked.
15:44Help, help.
15:45Karina, this issue with Meralgia is a bit complicated.
15:49For those who don't know, Meralgia paresthetica is a numbness, a decrease in sensitivity, a pain that occurs here in
15:56the front and on the side of the thigh.
15:59It happens because of a nerve that is irritated.
16:03And then this pain can show up.
16:04This discomfort can appear out of nowhere.
16:06It can happen when you stay in the same position for a long time, or it can happen when you
16:11wear some type of clothing, a tighter belt or tighter clothes.
16:14There's even an interesting story.
16:17Sit tight.
16:18Here comes the story.
16:19Yeah.
16:21Because of a person with Meralgia paresthetica, I kind of won an argument and I became respected at a clinic
16:31where I worked for a while.
16:32Well, the doctor at that clinic was one of those doctors who only believed in surgery and medication.
16:39So every time I tried to discuss a patient's case with him, he always came up with that story, making
16:45it seem like what I did was just.
16:49It didn't work.
16:51It was just placebo.
16:52It only had a psychological effect.
16:54And because of a patient with Meralgia paresthetica, like Karina has had for years, I was able to show him
17:01that what I did actually worked.
17:05Like I said, this Meralgia happens because of a nerve.
17:08So if the nerve is irritated, we have to think about where the nerve starts and the path it takes.
17:14This nerve originates from the lumbar spine and passes near a muscle called the psoas.
17:21For us to be able to improve this Meralgia, we absolutely need to check how the lumbar spine is and
17:27see how the tension balance of this muscle is.
17:33I've even made a video talking only about Meralgia paresthetica and showing how to do some exercises focused on this
17:39pathway.
17:39I'll also link that video in the card.
17:44Look at what Clyde wrote.
17:45I have a herniated disc and this pain in the pes and serenus.
17:50The orthopedist just evaluated me and already knew what it was, which was great.
17:54He ordered an MRI with a report and prescribed me medication.
17:57However, the physical therapist didn't do exercises like that.
18:00Nothing specific.
18:03Clyde, I worked for 13 years in public service and I know I lived through this for a long time.
18:08I saw this for a long time.
18:12Which is the issue of lack of access to good professionals.
18:16The person spends a long time waiting for an appointment with a specialist and often when they finally have the
18:22appointment with this doctor, the doctor doesn't even evaluate them.
18:25Just immediately orders tests.
18:27That wasn't your case.
18:28Thank God.
18:29Or sometimes they just refer you to physical therapy without even telling you what you have, without explaining, without even
18:34trying to find out.
18:35Or that physical therapist who with 15, who every day just turns the device on and off, does the same
18:45thing with you, doesn't even care.
18:46He takes care to know if what he's doing is working or not.
18:51And then you do 10, 30, 50 physical therapy sessions and it feels like you're the same as when you
18:57started or sometimes even worse.
18:59So, this is one of the reasons why I've been doing this work here on YouTube for 10 years now
19:06and working with the bomb movemental programs.
19:11It's exactly to help more people more effectively and especially those who don't have access to good professionals.
19:17Okay?
19:20I've already made some videos talking about half-fit, talking about pesant-serine.
19:25I'll leave them here in the card and also in the description so you can see what helps you.
19:31Okay?
19:32I'll give you a tip.
19:35When we talk about pesant-serine, we're usually dealing with a problem, not in the knee, but in the hip,
19:42the pelvis.
19:43Take a look.
19:49Carmen commented, thank you very much, Dr. Alexander.
19:51Yes, I felt relief from the pain.
19:53Yes, I'll do it more often.
19:55You're awesome.
19:55That's your kindness.
20:00Carmen, look, there are two things I can comment on here.
20:03Actually, three.
20:04First, I want to thank you for your kind comment.
20:08And the second thing is, a lot of people don't know or sometimes are even afraid to try and exercise
20:14because they're not sure if it's good for them.
20:18If it's going to be good or if it worked or not.
20:21And there's a clear rule.
20:23What we do here is balance the body.
20:27Easy exercise.
20:29That doesn't require a lot of movement, so it won't strain you, but you feel the result right away.
20:36So, to know if the exercise is good for you, you test it.
20:39Remember the golden rule.
20:40Don't force it and see how you feel afterwards.
20:43If you felt after the exercise relief from pain, lightness in movement, the movement is freer.
20:49It feels like it loosened up and well-being, the feeling of relaxation.
20:55It feels like things fell into place.
20:58Relief, lightness, and well-being are your body thanking you and telling you that it needs this exercise, that it
21:04needs this movement.
21:06And then you said you're going to do it more often.
21:09That's what I want.
21:11The general rule is that you do the exercise that brought you relief, lightness, and well-being once a day.
21:17As long as it brings you relief, lightness, and well-being, right?
21:20As long as your body needs it.
21:22Or you can use this exercise to relieve the pain.
21:25Had a tougher day.
21:28You went down the stairs differently.
21:31Strained yourself somehow.
21:32Or slept in a bad position.
21:34Woke up with pain.
21:35Used the exercise to relieve it.
21:38I want you to use the exercises I show here.
21:43Each of these more than a thousand videos.
21:47To replace that medicine you take on your own.
21:49To replace self-medication.
21:53Everyone, culturally, has a little box of medicine at home.
21:56With painkillers, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants.
22:00So, instead of taking that, try the exercise first.
22:03If you already have one that brings relief, use the exercise.
22:06It works faster.
22:08It's much healthier.
22:09It doesn't harm your body, liver, or kidneys.
22:12And it's much cheaper too.
22:16Look at this comment from Rihanna.
22:18I've already saved this one.
22:20The one for the intestines.
22:21And a few others.
22:23Now I'm doing them every day.
22:25Today is the second day.
22:27Every day I'll open this playlist.
22:31Rihanna made this comment on a recent video.
22:33Sometimes I leave some videos with the whole sequence of exercises.
22:37The combination of exercises.
22:38So you can hit play and do the exercises along with me.
22:42Let me keep track of the time.
22:44Let me count the repetitions.
22:45Okay.
22:46It's a way to make it easier to create this exercise routine that your body needs.
22:52Radia's idea is amazing.
22:53You try out the exercises.
22:55See what works for your case.
22:57And make a playlist.
23:00This way you can give your body what it needs every day in a much easier, more practical way.
23:10There's no risk you'll do the exercise a little differently or forget any detail.
23:16In fact, those who are students of Bon Movimento programs,
23:20Ciaudono Du Joelo, Bon Movimento para Coluna Cervical, or Coluna Lev, already know what this is.
23:27It's what I call your Bon Movimento routine.
23:31You try the exercise, rate it from 0 to 10, and see how much it brings you pain relief, ease
23:37of movement, and a sense of well-being.
23:40And the first three you can do every day, you should do them every day.
23:45So use this video library we have here on the channel.
23:50It's 10 years of work to see what really works, what your body needs, and what helps the most in
23:55your specific case.
23:59Hey, that's pretty good.
24:01Comment from Ileana Silvera.
24:03Good afternoon.
24:05My husband couldn't stand the pain.
24:07He did these two exercises, and the pain improved by about 90%.
24:11Thank you very much.
24:12May God bless you.
24:13May he bless all of us, Eliana.
24:16This is a map of joy, folks.
24:18Look, every video I make here for the channel, I always put in a lot of effort right from the
24:22planning stage.
24:25I rack my brain a lot looking for combinations of exercises that I think can help most people.
24:31So, all of this is aimed at relieving the pain you're feeling, making you stop taking medicine on your own.
24:41And I want my goal, my second biggest goal, is for you to use this video to help those in
24:47need, to relieve the pain of someone you know.
24:50That's exactly what Ileana did.
24:53She showed it, sent the video link to her husband, and together we managed to help her husband, to help
24:59someone she cares about.
25:02So, I can ask you to do something with this video.
25:05It's not even about liking or leaving a comment, even though that helps too.
25:10But mainly, think about someone who is dealing with one of the pains I talked about here, or any other
25:16video here on the channel, and share it with someone who needs it.
25:19It's about paying that kindness forward.
25:22Of course.
25:23I'm loving replying to your comments.
25:25We feel so much closer, don't we?
25:27I'm almost getting that feeling we had when we used to do our live streams.
25:31Tell me if you also like this kind of content, this kind of video where I answer comments, so we
25:36can think about doing it at least once a month, right?
25:40If this made you think of someone who could be helped by something I said in this video, don't forget
25:45to share it with them.
25:46Pay that kindness forward.
25:49And as a gift for those who stayed until the end, I'm leaving here a playlist about knee pain.
25:54It can help Clyde and help many more people as well.
25:58I'll stop here.
25:59Big hug and see you next time.