Hi.
I went go karting before christmas, it was a team event and to say I was handicapped with a teammate without a driving licence is a bit of an understatement, but it was good fun none the less.

In particular, with the total number of laps out, I took it upon myself to get the fastest lap and thanks to some herculean late braking efforts, I managed to get it

Unfortunately it involved braking extremely late into the last corner where the start finish straight was and I ended up hitting thr tyre wall sideways. I felt my ribcage bowing in when I did it and a few days later I developed chest pains

They are at their worst when I breath in deeply and seem to get a lot worse when I lay down. Needless to say I have been having trouble sleeping

I have been to the doctor and have been for xrays and am awaiting the results, but I think its pretty safe to say that I have either cracked or broken a rib or two.

I was wondering what treatment is possible for this. I'm not liking the thought of a bodycast, has anyone else found themselves in a similar position and if they have, what treatment did it require? Did you need to have time of work to rest and if so, how long?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, it'd be nice to know what I'm in for in advance.
Ta,
astra.

 

Bruised ribs seem to hurt more than cracked/broken, in my experience Rhod.


Simon

 

I could be wrong, as I don't have experience myself, but if it does turn out to be broken ribs/rib, I was under the impression they werenow usually left to heal themselves. I thought you just had to take pain medication, but other than that, wait for them to heal themselves, something to do with bandaging possibly making breathing difficult, or increasing chances of lung infections iirc.

Feel free to ignore all that, as I say I don't have experience myself, just sure I remember talking to someone about it a while back.

 

Yes they fix themselves unless it's you've really smashed them up, which sounds unlikely. Best thing is to get some decent painkillers.

 

I cracked a couple about 10 years ago, god it is painful no treatment prescribed except painkillers.

 

I broke two on the left hand side of my rib cage, Hurts sooooooo bad, I have broken loads of bones and I can say thats the worst by a long shot.

However, The doctor left them to get better on there own, The pain eases up after a couple of weeks

 

Here's a suggestion, in true Astraboy style, to take you mind off it:

Have a w@nk

 

I got completely pissed up on an evening out whilst at the Nurburgring last year. had a bit of a play fight with another rather large s/net member

He fell on me and i felt an immediate sharp pain.

Couldn't be bothered with the docs, but they hurt to sleep, bend over, lift for about 3 months !

Pain killers helped a bit.

not much help to you, but grin and bear it

 

was that because of your mugging?

 

Had 4 or 5 broken ribs at the same time as a broken sturnum.
All I was was morphine for the pain until released from hospital.

I recall the doctor/staff in A&E discussing me while looking at the x rays, and towards the end of their chat I remember them saying, and he also has some broken ribs. But they were not a problem as far as they were concerned!

Only if a rib is a problem like sticking into your lung will they do anything with them.

6 years on I still can't sleep for long on my right hand side!

 

Yikes, that doesnt sound good, sleeping is particularly difficult atm, I just hope it gets easier!
Thanks for all the replies, I'll see if the xrays have turned up tomorrow then go in and find out what the score is. I'm not bitter.I may be paying for it now, but I got the fastest lap. A wise man once said, Pain is temporary, pride is forever
Thanks again,
astraboy.

 

At least you are looking on the bright side of things

Hope you feel better soon.

 

Did he wear a condom? Seriously, next time lube up a bit and take it easy.

 

that damn ScoobyTC - was like being flattened by a steamroller !

 

lol TC. I know that numpty from way back when lol.

 

I did three ribs in a bet involving standing on a table in an Aldershot pub, sticking on the Royal Marines Green Lid and accouncing that anyone in two para was a mummy's boy ******.

Got a right kicking. The downside was nothing could be done for my ribs they were just bandaged tightly and I was given pain killers.

The upside was a commendation from the boss and £15 from everyman in our troop!! happy days lol

The upshot is you'll be in pain for a few weeks but they will heal on their own.

 

Get a better team mate Get better soon mate and I need to catch up with you soon

 

i never got the honor to feel a broken rib/bone pain lol always wonder what it is like (to be in plaster )

bt i was stabbed once right in the middle of my chest.. and got away with it

 

I cracked a couple of ribs when I fell off a mountain bike at speed at last year

The hospital didn't even bother with x-rays. Just did a test that checked the oxygen levels in my blood and told to take deep breaths whilst they listened.
As there was no concern about a broken rib damaging my lungs I was sent away with some pain killers and told to take it easy (signed off work for a week).

Took about 6 weeks to heal......was bloody painful!

 

no instant cure im afraid, oince your doesed up with pain killers thats it, plaster imobilises broken bone and which means painkillers work, ribs can't be imobilised or you'd die from not breathing, strong pain killers and time are the only option im afraid

 

Sorry to hear about that Astraboy. I think that as long as there is no internal splintering which could damage your internals then you just have to wait until they mend themselves being a bit careful too.

It might be better to get them checked to be sure anyway.

Les

 

I can tell you a thing or two about bruised / broken ribs.

I've suffered twice with broken ribs and 5 times with bruised (which hurt more)- all from karate. A few years back i took a right beating and the bruising was pretty severe and limited how much i could inflate my chest, a few weeks later a pretty bad cold led me into a chest infection and then developed into pneumonia, which took almost 3 months to recover fully from. Couldnt work out where the hell i'd got pneumonia from until i busted my ribs again a year later and ended up seeing a physiotherapist.

He told told me that when you bruise / break a rib you generally dont use all of your lung capacity (as deep breaths are too painful) and as such the very bottom of the lungs can become infected leading to conditions such as pneumonia. He advised breathing as deeply at least once every 15 mins, so circulate the air and prevent a recurrence. Apparently this is a normal process that happens subconciously when you 'sigh', which us humans do every 15 - 20 mins anyway.

If the rib is bruised (which is more likely) then a good technique is to use heat and ice to speed progress. A heat pad for around 15 mins will encourage new blood to circulate the area, washing away the bruise and aiding healing, the ice pad can then be applied after to cool any swelling. Now use this technique successfully and heals much faster. Heat and Ice pads can be bought from chemists / Boots etc

I now wear rib armour when fighting, and, touchwood havent had any bruising for almost a year.

Hope this helps.

Neil

 

nice one, thanks for all your help chaps! I'll try the heat/cold thing tonight.
astraboy.

 

best thing for broken ribs is to get someone to kick you in the bollocks, or put chili powder/black pepper/something else in your eye. it really does take your mind off it. or painkillers are good too.

 

As everyone else has said no easy fix - I've done several ribs over the years. Sleeping is the biggest pain after the first few days and I found a couple of pillows lengthways either side of my chest while lying on my back to keep my shoulders turned up (if that makes sense) to be the most comfortable way of getting some sleep. All over in 4-6 weeks usually.