The rib nerves
Intercostal nerves · nervi intercostales
Nerves running along each rib that supply the chest wall and part of the belly.
What it does
Eleven pairs of intercostal nerves run in a groove under each rib, with a twelfth below the last rib. They supply the muscles between the ribs and carry feeling from the skin of the chest and abdomen, in neat horizontal bands.
Surprising fact
Shingles, a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, often appears as a painful stripe of blisters along one of these bands on one side of the body.
Why it matters
Because each nerve covers a band of skin, pain from organs sharing that level can be felt on the chest or belly wall, which is how heart trouble can cause chest wall pain.
Nearby
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Sources
Drafted with AI help; awaiting a human fact-check against these sources.
Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.