I came off my mtb last monday and landed on my chest. It still hurts now so I’m guessing it is more than a bit of light bruising.

NHS website says don’t bother with hospital so I haven’t. Just taken painkillers as required which isn’t many. Riding outdoors is a problem, I can’t pull on the handlebars. I’ve been on the turbo a few times and it isn’t too bad while I’m riding but I feel sore a few hours afterwards.

I’ve got the national CX champs in mid Jan. I’ll be having a break between 23rd and 2nd in any case. I’m a bit worried I might not be fit enough in any case. Certainly no way I could do a cross race right now!

Anybody got experience/advice on whether it is sensible to try to continue training or if I should just stop now and hope for the best come the new year. Balance between losing fitness and not actually recovering in time.

Also how to stop the hiccoughs, they are killing me.

I broke a rib playing contact sports years ago now.

From what I remember, trying to do stuff too early set me back so my advice would be to do whatever training feels “comfortable” and don’t over stress. If it hurts, stop.

Also how to stop the hiccoughs, they are killing me.

Poke your stomach out, tense the diaphragm so it can’t spasm…

I did one earlier this year and was unable to do any “training” as it was painful to take deep breaths. 6 weeks or so before really exerting myself again.

I’d avoid getting on a bike until i’d fully mastered getting in and out of bed.

Also….Do NOT Sneeze.

Pro tip: avoid excessive amounts of drink. Vomiting with broken ribs is, well, it hurts. Quite a lot.

Try cracked rib + hayfever 🙁

Take it easy, you’ll struggle to win your race with a buggered rib so sack the training off and tuck into the mince pies. If you fancy racing on the day then go for it, but training can do one.

Oh, and don’t be surprised if it doesn’t stop hurting for 3 months.

I’ve had someone on one of my courses break a rib during an OTB moment. He was checked out by a doctor and advised he was fine to continue, just keep on the painkillers and may require increased rest breaks.

He was fine, didn’t stop him reaching for a smoke at every rest stop.

I’d avoid getting on a bike until i’d fully mastered getting in and out of bed.

I do seem to get stuck in the morning.

Once I’m on the bike it isn’t that bad. Getting my shoes on and getting on the bike are the worst bits.

I found that road riding was bearable with plenty of ibuprofen gel on the affected area, but couldn’t do all-out efforts as breathing hard hurt. Tried offroad once. Ouch.

Found first week impossible to do anything, but managed to commute to work again after that. It’s a good 6 weeks until the pain starts to go. Couldn’t pull on the bars, so climbing was all seated, including getting away from traffic lights.

Broke mine early 2016.
Get to gp for some Naproxen or the chemist for 400mg ibuprofen. Takes the edge of.
Do plenty of deep breathing exercise.
I rode my bike about two weeks after, just short road rides.

Broke ribs in early August ..did nothing for 5 weeks and then went back to riding (off road ) knowing full well that if I fell /landed on the same spot I would be in real trouble ..but I was going bat shit crazy with the inactivity so it was a risk I was prepared to take..
Four months later and I still have a dull ache each morning after sleeping on my side (* even though I try not to)..
I think my indicator was when it stopped hurting after coughing or sneezing ..your call but personally I would take a bit of a rest period ..
*There is a fine line between lying on my side and actually waking up the next morning or lying on my back when I snore loudly enough to wake the dead and risk joining them through suffocation by the missus ..

As others advise, do what you feel you can cope with and very gradually build up again.. Some folk can get out the next day on the road, others will be too sore to do much for a week or three. Off road is another step up but if you are careful, is achievable soon. I’ve bust a rib on at least 6 or 7 occasions, so speak from a lot of very hard earned experience.
Try to limit your use of Ibuprofen/naproxen/diclofenac type products. ALL NSAIDs are nasty, harmful products that are best avoided by anyone who is a) athletic and b) prefers to stay friends with their kidneys. Kidney failure is messy and can be provoked by combining exercise with these drugs. I’ve seen it many times in the ultra running world. They have also more recently been linked with increased risk of heart disease.

They have also more recently been linked with increased risk of heart disease.

All anti-inflamatories increase the risk of heart problems, but the absolute risk is still minuscule, so not worth worrying about unless you already have a heart condition.

I’ve seen it many times in the ultra running world

That’s gonna be a real issue for this forum’s average user…

Be sure to do some big deep breaths everyso often.

I also found lying on the sore area was the confiest position by far.

I’ve been on the turbo a few times and it isn’t too bad while I’m riding but I feel sore a few hours afterwards.

I’d be doing this to keep my fitness up. You are unlikely to be doing anymore damage or slowing your recovery down unless you are causing yourself excruciating pain. Some pain is to be expected unfortunately! So maybe stay off the offroad stuff for a bit and crack on with the road bike and turbo.

It sounds like it’ll be 4-5 weeks between the accident and your CX race, you should be feeling in considerably less pain by then.

I can’t pull on the handlebars

Can you push down instead (side to side)? I found this worked well when recovering from knackered shoulder syndrome.