> > I have 2 ribs above the collar bone
> 
> Good grief!  My collarbones are pretty-much at the top of my 
> shoulders, so I'm not sure where yours would fit (there's 
> never a skeleton around to check when thinking about this 
> sort of thing!)  Do they stick up?  Could be handy for 
> carrying a ladder on your shoulder... :-)


Apparently it's known as an 'extra first rib' (rib 0, God must use C
occasionally), and can cause 'thoracic outlet syndrome', which is basically
arteries getting restricted.  Go figure, I learned me something.

Found a picture here - http://tinyurl.com/yoz5y5.  They come from the back,
and get buried in the shoulder muscle.  I can feel them easily enough.

Never really bothered me, apart from ruining my dream of being a trapeze
artist, and neck massages actually hurt.  People wonder why I squirm away
when they try to do that.  Dang.

I only found out around 10 years ago when I had some x-rays done (accident).
The doctor looked at them, and then asked if my arms went numb when I put
them above my head.  I asked how he knew that, and he told me about the
extra ribs.  (I'd have never noticed them in the x-ray, they're hard for the
layman to spot.)  He offered to cut them out (err, no thanks), but I'm now
thinking they'd make handy ladder-carrying hooks if they were rotated 90
degrees.  Carry my shopping with both hands free!  Hmmm.

Tony

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