Muscles
Intercostals Trigger Points
Symptom Area: Torso
Intercostals Trigger Points are explored here through their location and referred pain pattern. Muscle knots is an everyday term used for tender muscular spots; myofascial pain describes pain involving muscle and its surrounding connective tissue. Move ribs during breathing and stabilize the rib cage.
Where you feel it
When the Intercostals holds active trigger points, you usually notice it as front of chest pain, side of chest pain and thoracic back pain. Where the pain spreads: Sharp local rib pain that worsens with breathing or coughing. What often sets it off: Persistent cough, prolonged rotation, post-thoracic surgery, rib injury.
Overview
Move ribs during breathing and stabilize the rib cage. Trigger points here are common in everyday and athletic populations and frequently contribute to the referred pain patterns described below.
Trigger point locations
Between adjacent ribs.
Referred pain pattern
Sharp local rib pain that worsens with breathing or coughing.
Palpation & testing
Palpate the muscle belly along its accessible course. Reproduction of the patient's familiar pain on palpation supports involvement.
Common causes
Persistent cough, prolonged rotation, post-thoracic surgery, rib injury.
Self-care & clinical treatment
Rib mobility, breathing retraining. Clinically: needling along intercostal spaces, with care.
Treatment protocol
For Intercostals, the general protocol applies: sustained pressure release on the taut band, then stretch and active movement in the newly gained range.
Position and palpation: Palpate the muscle belly along its accessible course.
Regional precaution for clinicians: Over the rib cage the only safe needling direction is tangential or onto a rib; perpendicular needling of an intercostal space risks pneumothorax.
Primary Symptoms
Often confused with
These muscles cause the same primary symptoms, so they are checked together:
Related muscles in this region
Related articles
References
- • Travell & Simons — Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction
Medically reviewed by: Marco Aruffo — physiotherapist since 2006, specialised in myofascial pain · Last reviewed:
