Q: I have a protruding chicken bone in the middle of my rib cage where the rib cage meets. When I’m surfing, the bone starts hurting from rubbing on the board. Have you ever heard of this before, and do you think that a pad placed chest high on my board would be workable? Thanks, Richard

A: Hey Richard, I’ve never heard of someone having this problem before but I’m sure there are a few options to remedy the situation and get you to surf pain free. I guess the easiest and quickest way to solve this problem would be to do exactly as you say and velcro a piece of padded foam to your deck directly underneath your chest (you should lie on your board and see where you need to place the pad). Another idea would be to talk with your local shaper and have him create a concave in the deck where your protruding bone rests on top of the board. It sounds weird but having the concave would not affect the performance of your board and would effectively allow you to ride pain free.

Has anyone else out there experience something similar?