how long for ribs to repair?

A couple of weeks ago on the delamere monday nite ice ride i came off heavy on my right hand side on ice covered tarmac, it still really hurts… I dont think they were damaged but i cant ride, how long should this last? it really hasn’t improved and i becoming peed off.

a couple more weeks yet at least depending on what the injury was at a very vague guess

6 weeks, be careful when sneezing and avoid laughter. its not at all funny

Don’t forget to breath deeply every so often as normally with broken ribs you take shallow breaths…

Unless you empty your lungs of stale air, you could be in line for some sort of lung infection.

I found a towel wrapped around me tightly helped when sneezing or going for a few deep breaths.

this is not making me feel any better you know…..

I’ve cracked ribs a few times, normally mine have healed up within about 2-3 weeks. The cracked ribs I’ve got at the moment have been a bit worse for some reason and they’ve not healed straight, there’s a definite lump there.

I’ve never actually properly broken ribs but from what I’ve heard (and my experiences with cracked ribs) it’s VERY painful!

I cracked my rib quite badly – couldn’t sleep on it for about 4 weeks but was riding OK after about 2 weeks

Not much you can do about it so just get on the pain killers – Co-codamol is a great help – spoke to doctor and she prescribed me some over the phone

I busted mine at Kirroghtree – gave it 4 weeks ish before riding (road bike) and another week before mountainbiking. **** sore – hurt on day 2, day 1 was spent worrying about my brain as I landed head first!

Was most painful on second week then got better fairly soon.

Dont risk riding too soon – 4-6 weeks is recommended.

I’ve suffered from cracked and bruised ribs a few times now. I’m actually repairing from my last fall 24/12 and still hurting a bit.
Doctors will tell you to breathe deeply to prevent infections, but may be worth going just to get them checked. I am not a doctor.
With regard to sneezing/breathing hard/coughing I found it quite useful to take pain killer/ anti-inflammitories (sp?), personal favourites are Acabel Rapid.

Recovery time should be between 4-6 weeks. Next time it’ll be easier!!!

thank guys, I guess I may have cracked them from your descriptions so I’ll just suck it up and get on with it…..

I broke one in a heavy fall skiing at New Year. Still hurts like hell when I sneeze or cough, but slowly getting easier. Still have to sleep propped up on pillows. I reckon about another week should see most of the ill effects gone.

I found this time it responded well to Ibuprofen tablets and warmth.

When I broke two a few years ago the pain was so bad I went to the doc and he gave me dihydrocodeine, which are wooooooooooo ane help you to sleep!

Hope you soon feel better

Broken ribs generally:
a – cannot be fixed… if you’re well enough to post on a net forum, you’re probably alright!
b – take ages to stop hurting! I know from personal experience as mine took at least 2 months to forget about!

Unless you have a flail segment (which you’ll know about! It goes in when the rest of your chest expands…), just man up, grit your teeth, and get back in the ring!

DrP

about 6 weeks IME.

About five weeks.
Though your as hard as me, you’ll just gaffer tape your chest up and finish the SITS.

Yeah I finished 10 Around Kirroughtree the first time I did mine. Have to say though, riding 8hrs with 2 cracked ribs wasn’t the most sensible thing I’ve ever done.
Went to A&E the next day and, after much prodding, poking and listening to my chest, the doc said "Well, they’re definitely cracked but you’ve not punctured a lung and there’s nothing we can do about it so have some painkillers".

I broke 2 0r 3 in a XC race a few years back. They were improving after about 3 weeks when I sneezed! How we laughed!