Broken Rib? It Hurts!

Last weekend, while visiting a friend’s cabin for the weekend, I managed to fall and land on my side. As I was falling, I tucked my elbow into my side in an effort to break the fall somehow.

The next morning it was sore, but not so bad I couldn’t move pretty freely. I just had to be careful and could get around fine.

Monday morning, same thing. Still sore…but not too bad. Then Monday afternoon, it happened. As I was sitting at my desk, a “sneeze” came on. I didn’t think that much about it, so I let one go with all the force I normally would. Bad idea!

At that moment, I both “felt” and “heard” a “pop” in my side! And the pain that followed was nothing short of excruciating! I started feeling that feeling you get when you think you’re going to faint. Light headed and your vision becomes a little blurred. It really had me scared.

I was the only person at the house at that time, so I called my wife and in what I’m sure was a frightened voice, I let her know what happened and that I was in pain. She said she would head my way as soon as she picked my daughter up from school, which wouldn’t be for a few more minutes.

I called my doctor and they agreed to see me if I could get there pretty soon…so I jumped in the vehicle and headed that way, favoring my ribs all they way there. I called my wife in the meantime and let her know I was on my way to the doctor.

After an exam and a couple of x-rays, the diagnosis was pretty much as I had expected. A fractured rib and no other apparent damage. The doc looked at the x-rays with me, and there was no question about the break.

So what now? Nothing really. The doctor prescribed some pain medicine and he let me know that this would really only take the “edge off” the pain. It wouldn’t make it go away. He explained that they do not wrap the ribs anymore as they want you to breath as normally as possible. Doing this along with taking some deep breaths throughout the day, will prevent you from getting pneumonia. So I wrote them a check for $150 and I was on my way.

A week later, here are some observations. Sleeping hasn’t been that bad, but I’ve been pretty limited on how I sleep. I’ve been able to lay in bed on my back and the opposite side that I hurt. This has worked out OK. I hear others who have had to sleep in a recliner for the first few weeks, so I guess I’m fortunate.

Coughing & laughing are two things you will want to limit or avoid completely! It’s actually good to cough a little to get that crap out of your throat and sinuses, but I think you will soon learn your limits! In my case, it helped to back up to a wall and brace myself. This limited the movement of the chest so it didn’t hurt, “as bad”.

Sneezing? Well…I haven’t sneezed yet, (knock on wood), and I’m praying I don’t have to for a while! Based on what it feels like to let out a little cough, I can only imagine what a sneeze would feel like!!! I’m blowing my nose regularly and clearing my throat as much as possible to avoid a sneeze.

Something else that I’ve experimented with, is taking a regular bath towel or something of that nature, and wrapping it tightly around the ribs in anticipation of a cough or sneeze. I think this would probably help…but it’s not going to help completely.

Overall observation…a rib that is actually broken, (not just bruised), is very painful! And there isn’t much to do but to try and get some rest and let it heal on it’s own. My doctor said I was looking at 4 to 6 weeks to recover, and he acted like it could take even longer.

So I’m just being as careful as possible. Chewing my food well and being conscious of drinking fluids, so as not to have a “coughing fit”. And of course, Heaven forbid I have to sneeze for a while!

Good luck!
Chris