cracked ribs... no spares

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

my son and i were playin toss with a football out on the perimeter of the highschool field, when he kicked a decent punt. i "knew" where the fence was, i thought, and took and extra step, reaching up over my head to make a stellar catch when WHAM. stopped cold.

four foot high galvanized corner fence post, no cap, just raw pipe.

i stood and walked away with clenched teeth, exhaling slowly and trying to control my breathing, staggering a bit, frankly.

wife, thoracic surgery veteran of cracked or broken (cut, more correctly) ribs along the anterior axillary line, set me up on the couch watching tv; football thru AMC's madmen. treatment? alternating cold compress, heating pad, and lagavulin every 20 minutes.

felt worse the next day, about the same today. a wave of panic comes over me when i have to sneeze, and every now and then i turn the wrong way and get a reminder.

she wanted me to get an xray, but they can't do anything anyway, and i have a deadline.

anyone else ever have cracked (or maybe just badly bruised) ribs? i have a bruise about 7 inches away from where it actually hurts. strangest thing.

kricks

Yep... been there done that. As has most recently my brother. Me a softball injury... some guy got me with his knee as I was diving to first and he (the batter) was running full out. My brother after going over a bridge while biking.

Assuming your lung isn't punctured... there is little you can do but clench your teeth and try not to sneeze and cough.

Both Dr.'s in our case said just give it time. They gave me an elastic wrap which was worthless.

That was my last softball game. I asked when I could start playing golf... the answer was "as soon as you can take the pain"

Bruised or broken they still hurt like hell... the latter just takes longer... 3 - 5 weeks depending.

Now imagine playing football with "bruised ribs"

2Fategghead

Jeff, I went multi trauma to Vanderbilt back in 1991. Among my many compound fractures I suffered from multi rib fractures (they never gave me a number). I know I took a hit to my chest as well as receiving CPR and also undergoing exploratory surgery. Now moving the clock forward 20 years I fell and landed on my belly and left side about 60 plus days ago. Let me tell you I could not breath deep because it hurt. I did not go to see a Dr. and I had trouble laying in bed. I could only lay on my back and no way on my left side and maybe briefly on my right side. To make a long story short it did take most of 3 weeks to heal where I could breathe better and roll over with out pain. Good luck. Wish you well. Tim :ohmy: :ermm:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i should say that i have nothing to complain about, frankly. i can't imagine what many other folks have been thru. my case is just weekend warrior-related stuff. i think they are just bruised, but my wife is the mother hen.

sorry to hear about your injuries. i obviously have nothing to complain about.

to this day (two aorta surgeries later a) both from the side/rear) my wife will tell me the little window they cut in her ribs has "popped" and needs to go back. yikes.

i'm a comparative wuss.

if i had no work to do, i'd be overacting on the couch, watching sesame street, moaning and hugging a pillow. hahahaha

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

...or baseball. i need to apologize to jacoby ellsbury. hahahaha

FlaPoolman

Many times and its not fun although when I run into a 4' fence I usually end up with a headache. Like you said no treatment just wrap and breath shallow. avoid fresh pepper and if beer makes you burp stick with the single malt

2Fategghead

Two aorta surgeries ain't nothing to sneeze at. So, will you wife have that fixed?

Have someone stomp on your toe. That may help your rib pain. :evil:

Just kidding maybe a couple of weeks for you.

2Fategghead

I suffered from ulna and radius compound and my elbow was bent backwards and compound all on the left arm. My left leg was worse my femur was compound as well as my tibula and fibula at my left ankle. I also had some other fractures and all at the same time. They told me my broken bones had broken bones. I was the worse they ever seen and I walk to day. I moaned very loudly for almost 4 weeks. I did not walk for over a year. I still ride a Harley but, no more drinking ever.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

don't lie, i roughed you up because you made fun of my shoes. it's ok. we're friends now.

but little steven better watch it... that's all i'm sayin'

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

just sneezed three times. i don't ever remember sneezing, now suddenly it's every hour. hahahah

fishlessman

i remember those days when dad would get hurt :laugh: kinda like a merit badge

2Fategghead

Never again. :ohmy: I warn that canada nooken as well! :blink: :laugh:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

there were three 8 year old cheerleaders there from the kids' early games. they were like "wow. oh man. mr? you ok mister? ...here's your ball"

hahahha

my son was a little freaked out. apparently dad is NOT superman

fishlessman

took a few hours dragging dad thru the woods once, seems he didnt know not to put his leg under a toboggan when air born. we just waxed that thing real good, wow was it fast :laugh: :laugh:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

lucky you had the toboggan. :laugh:

Little Steven

Yaeh,

I broke a bunch years back. Avoid getting a cold or laughing. They hurt

Little Steven

Or stitches in yer haid

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

..or falling bass-ackwards into a boat. :laugh:

Little Steven

If it was the faceplant on the boat you would have known it then. If they are not too sensitive you should be able feel the break or crack.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i hink it's a bruise... i just sneezed (again!) and although it is painful, i think i'd be virtually in tears if they were truly cracked or broken, no?

Little Steven

Well that would depend on how tough you are. Probably just a bruise.Hahaha

Little Steven

Ha,

With all the repair work you have had I could bend you up like Gumby.

FlaPoolman

I've had bruised and cracked and they hurt about the same but bruised healed faster. Most of the time they didn't even Xray just gave it a name wrapped and said don't cough :huh:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

hahaha

i knew that was coming

Little Steven

I knew you knew but it was a softball

2Fategghead

Oh no Mr. Bill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sxHFKz_kjg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osPM4v160so&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Little Steven

Tim,

They say the short term memory goes first. :unsure: Why did I forget Mr. Bill?

Steve

2Fategghead

What! :woohoo:

Fidel

Man up a little, wouldya?

Nothing you can do for it but alternate ibuprofen/acetaminophen every two hours and drink heavily to dull the pain.

Good news is they recover quickly if you take it easy for a week/10 days. Was an almost weekly pain during football season for about 8 years of my life.

The pain, at least for me, wasn't the bones, but rather the muscles/connective tissues between the ribs that were pulled and torn and otherwise injured as collateral damage.

Bacchus

I broke 2 ribs in a car accident in 1997. For me, getting by during the healing period was ok except for taking deep breaths, and coughing. Even exercising was ok as long as it was low impact and not to strenusous as to breathe hard. Unfortunately, I caught a bad cold about a month afterwards, and re-broke them during a coughing fit.

Adult ADHD

In an auto wreck, I broke my right wrist in several places. After it was stabilized and felt better, I realized my ankle and sternum fractured. Walking, eating was no problem. Coughing, sneezing, laughing, wiping my behind and brushing my teeth were another story. Ouch and awkward!
Nothing helped as much as ice and Motrin 800mg every 8hours. Get well soon.