Broken rib?

teamvic
teamvic Posts: 140 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, got smashed in to by a big stupid lump at 5-a-side football last week. Really sore ribs on left, painfull when coughing. No bruising. Anyone got experience of broken rib and how it felt?

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    It's painful and every move you make you will feel it. It's a long recovery and don't let anyone give bear hugs cuz you will have to start over. I know first hand. I hope you feel better soon.
  • starfishwendy
    starfishwendy Posts: 84 Member
    Sometimes I felt like I could hear them clicking as I breathed. It was weird. I had never realized how much you use those muscles. If you are having shortness of breath, I recommend going to see someone. I actually punctured a lung and didn't know it. I used an ace bandage to wrap around my ribcage for a few weeks and really tried to sleep on my back.
  • teamvic
    teamvic Posts: 140 Member
    starfishwendy wrote: »
    Sometimes I felt like I could hear them clicking as I breathed. It was weird. I had never realized how much you use those muscles. If you are having shortness of breath, I recommend going to see someone. I actually punctured a lung and didn't know it. I used an ace bandage to wrap around my ribcage for a few weeks and really tried to sleep on my back.
    Ouch, mine definitely not that bad. No shortness of breath. Thanks for response, think I'll continue and go to docs if it still hurts in s week
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    They don't recommend wrapping anymore, because it restricts your breathing and can lead to pneumonia, (especially if it already hurts to breathe.) I took a fall of some rocks (Hmmm...apparently post back surgery people aren't supposed to climb rocks... doctor was NOT happy with me! LOL ) and busted a rib two years ago, took about six months for it to stop hurting, and even then I'd get twinges every once in a while.
    Try some ice, anti-inflammatories and if you start coughing blood, or having shortness of breath, go to the ER. :)
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    It's painful and every move you make you will feel it. It's a long recovery and don't let anyone give bear hugs cuz you will have to start over. I know first hand. I hope you feel better soon.

    This. It hurts like nothing else.
    I had 3 broken ribs. I had a ginormous bruise on the backside from where I hit (slipped down some stairs wearing socks). No bruising on the front. Turned out to be two broken ribs on the back, one in front.
    When it happened I couldn't breathe for a bit. Definitely got the wind knocked out of me. Vomited from pain all the way to the ER.

    Definitely don't wrap.

    Hope it's just bruised.
  • tiny_clanger
    tiny_clanger Posts: 301 Member
    I'm nursing a badly bruised rib at the moment (fell out running and managed to wedge my garmin between my ribs and the ground :( ) . I've found gentle stretching very helpful - in the first couple of days I couldn't raise my arms above my head, but as the movement has gradually come back, I've been doing more and more arm/chest stretches and backbends. My biggest concern, as I'm asthmatic, is the breathing - shallow breathing is not good for me on the whole. I'm making sure I'm breathing through the pain at least once every 5 breaths, so doing a proper drop the tummy and full inhale, even though it feels like I'm being stabbed. This has actually really helped to keep the ribs loose and more comfortable.

    Not sure if asthma is an issue for you, but just in case it's useful for anyone, I found it really helpful to take a couple of puffs of my rescue inhaler a few times a day for the first couple of days. Not because I was in trouble, but just to open the airways and make breathing as easy as possible. In hindsight, I should have probably popped down to the chemist and got some steroid tablets that would have done the same thing.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,577 Member
    I've cracked my ribs.

    It was a really bad day ...

    In the morning, I rammed my left foot into a piece of furniture which left me hobbling around. So painful.

    After work, I decided to go cycling with a friend. We wear stiff-soled shoes when we cycle, so they offered some support to my very sore toes. All was going well until my friend stopped suddenly in front of me and I touched wheels, a situation that ensures a fall. We had been cycling so slowly that I should have been able to put my left foot down and balance myself, except that my brain screamed at me, "Don't put that foot down, it will hurt!" I fell over and landed directly on my left ribs.

    Off to the walk-in clinic where the Dr confirmed cracked ribs ... and a broken toe ... and then asked the question, "When was your last tetanus shot". I said, "Um."

    Wrong response!

    Next thing I knew I had a tetanus shot in my left arm thus completely disabling the left side of my body.

    I tried to ride my bicycle the next day but the pain was so bad, I felt ill. So I waited a couple days and then got back on the bicycle. I actually found the cycling position to be the most comfortable, with my ribs kind of dangling out in mid air.

    It was 8 weeks before I could lie on my left side.

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