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I've broken ribs before and they've ALWAYS taken 6 weeks to heal properly but were in the front rib cage and ALWAYS done on the bike (well I was when I fell off !)
But this time I've broken a rib at the back near the spine and is a lot more painful and WASN'T done on the bike but by falling down some concrete stairs.
Any suggestions about what to do. It took me 20 minutes to get out of bed this morning so I guess the bike is going to have a week or so off !!
Any suggestions about what to do
stop drinking?
Stock up on pain killers my ribs still hurt from a trip to Switzerland at the beginning of September 😥
Ouch! I've broken/bruised ribs falling off bikes,motorbikes,playing football and falling down the stairs whilst drunk.
Just be patient and keep taking the painkillers. Physios recomend the towel exercise. I tried it,but can't honestly say if it speeds -up the recovery.
I broke a collar bone and 5 ribs at the back coming off on the Marin trail. Took about 6 weeks before I was back on a road bike and another couple until I was confident the ribs were strong enough to take another fall of the MTB.
I takes a big impact to break ribs on your back so you've had a substantial trauma- I was kept in hospital overnight for observation. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do except tough it out with anti-inflammatories and paracetamol. However in my experience the anti-inflammatories the GPs hand out are rubbish.
One thing you must do is, no matter how painful, to make sure you take 10 deep breaths every hour fully inflating your lungs. If you don't do this you run the risk of a chest infection in the uninflated parts of your lungs.
If you need to cough or sneeze wrap a towel or folded sheet round your trunk for support- oh and try not to watch any comedy programmes.
Apart from that keep moving as much as possible- you won't make things worse as the pain will self limit you
You [b][i]have[/i][/b] been to the doctors / A&E haven't you? If you've had an impact that hard there's a possibility of a lung being partially collapsed. X Rays needed.
I broke 3 a couple of years ago in a cross country race.
Co Codamol is the only thing that helped. The doctor prescribed these as they are stronger than anything you can get off the shelf.
Oh and as above. Dont sneeze unless you want to a crying wreck on the kitchen floor!
If it has been diagnosed as a rib fracture then it just needs time and all the other precautions, pills etc.
If you have not been diagnosed then you need to get x-rayed or assessed by a physio or osteopath. A rib injury can cause the rib to be displaced from its articulating point on the vertebrae during impact. This can lead to long term chronic pain (speaking from experience :()
Definately worth making sure everything is alligned and will heal as such. Good luck
I managed to break two ribs in two places in my back at the same time during a chainsaw/falling tree adventure. Fekin hurt and kept resnapping (or at least it felt like it) for about 8 weeks. 10 weeks before I could move even slightly normally.
Some great advice there guys. Some I knew from the previous breaks but I never did any of the deep breathing stuff - obviously 'cos it hurt - but I've just done some and it was just bearable so I'll stick to that.
I had decided not to go to the docs but after reading qwerty12's post I think I will this time !
Cheers all !
When I busted my left scapular mountain boarding I was using
Ibupfrfen gel to put onto the area of pain.
Dont take to many tablet pain killers its bad for your Kidneys.
You need medical advice mate and x-rays.
Didn't realise you haven't been to a doctor. Like I said it takes a lot of force to break a rib at the back so you need to get an X-ray. This will also make sure you haven't damaged your lungs.
My ribs ended my rugby career. 🙁
There's really not a lot you can do beyond rest and (if they're your thing) some painkillers.
I was expecting a thread about Rigid Inflatable Boats...