Broken/Bruised Ribs???

[QueBota]

Took a pretty bad slip and fall on muddy bank six weeks ago yesterday. Was heading to my deer stand. Hit a slick spot under the leaves, slid about four feet or so downhill hill, my feet flew out from under me, I was parallel to the ground and landed on my left side hard, primarily the lower ribs below the arm pit that would not be protected by shoulder pads. Was like a slip and fall you would see in a cartoon. Was carrying my 12 gauge pump with scope, was interested in protecting that. No time to just "sit down" during the slide, it happened so fast. I guess at 53 I'm not as nimble as I used to be. Shotgun came out fine, I didn't do so well. Knocked the wind out of me but good. Haven't been hit that hard since college ball. I layed there on my back for a good minute of so, trying to take it all in, trying to catch my breath, disoriented and a little frightened, the back of my head was the second contact point with the ground. I was able to roll over and get on my hands and knees and roll my back (like a cat stretching) and get my breath back. Interesting experience. Knelt there for a few minutes to get myself together. Slowly got back on my feet and made my way back to the house with my tail between my legs.

Talked to my Ortho doc on the phone and explained the situation. He told me not to come in, they can't do much for me due the location of the injury, too low on the rib cage to wrap. I had two rotator cuff repairs in the past year or so. This is much worse than that. Healing very, very slowly, easy to tweak the injury and cause a setback. Doc told me to take it easy, can't do that. I don't get paid to take it easy, to much to do at work and around the place. He told me it could take months for the pain to subside. Very depressing, I feel like half a man, have to sleep in a recliner, hard to get in and out of a car, hurts to do just about anything, forget about sneezing or coughing.

Anyone with a similar experience? Would love to commiserate, I just want to be pain free. Funny how you never appreciate feeling well until you don't. My dad always used to tell me "Don't get old son", makes more sense everyday.

Thanks,
Q

 

[BigBoyToys]

I had a rib injury a number of years ago. Broke 2, cracked and bruised three others. They found traces of blood in my urine...ended up being a silver dollar size blood blister on my kidney from the fall. Your doctor is right about not doing much for this injury. The "wrapping" of ribs in the old days is no longer done. The taping restricts breathing which leads to pneumonia. Make sure you try to take deep breaths to keep the lungs clear. It just takes time!!! Good luck!

 

[George2615]

Your Dad was right, the older you get the less pain free you are going to be.

 

[JimRB]

I cracked a collar bone and on the other side I did a partial tear of a knee ligament. I could lay flat on my back to sleep, or sleep on one side if I put a pillow between my knees. Other side was useless because of the collar bone. Getting in and out of bed was a challenge and painful. When I got around to going to the doctor he took an xray of the knee. Nothing broken and he said there was no point to taking a MRI if things seemed to be healing and hurting less.

I have cracked a few ribs at different times. Some of those hanging ribs down low and a few higher up. They heal in 2 months but certainly are annoying for at least a month. Heck, that ligament took a half a year or more to stop hurting.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Yes, deep breaths are very important. Think about how terrible pneumonia with a cough will be.
There are nerve blocks that can be done (paravertebral or intercostal) and a tiny catheter threaded to give local anesthetic pain relief. No one will want to leave thoes in for much more than a week though.

 

[Dftodd]

Tried snow boarding about 15 years ago in my mid 20's. Caught the front edge and face planted onto a moggle. Shoved my elbow into my ribs. Cracked one and bruised four ribs. After about 5 weeks I was feeling a lot better, till my girl friend at the time thought she would be cute and jump into my arms Caught her, felt a pop in my chest, and proceeded to drop her on her butt. The cracked rib cracked again.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Did something similar sliding home head first in a snowball league. Of course that was 30 years or more ago. As I recall, it was not as bad as your injury.

Just need to take it easy as the doc says. It will take time but you'll recover. In 20-30 years, you can post something like this for someone else. Good luck. Get well.

 

[BigBoyToys]

Think about how terrible pneumonia with a cough will be.

Well let me expand on my rib episode I mentioned earlier...I was sent home with percocet and told to take two initially and then 1 every 8 hours. Well I never made it past the first 2. If you think it hurts to cough when you have broken ribs...try puking!!!!

 

[oldpilgrim]

I broke 2. Weird feeling to feel the ends moving around. Dr said they would reconnect on their own in 4-6 weeks. One day they fused by themselves. Still hurt occasionally for over 5 years..

 

[PhysAssist]

I had a rib injury a number of years ago. Broke 2, cracked and bruised three others. They found traces of blood in my urine...ended up being a silver dollar size blood blister on my kidney from the fall. Your doctor is right about not doing much for this injury. The "wrapping" of ribs in the old days is no longer done. The taping restricts breathing which leads to pneumonia. Make sure you try to take deep breaths to keep the lungs clear. It just takes time!!! Good luck!

Too right there, we tell patients to take 10 deep breaths per hour while they are awake to keep their lungs aerated and prevent getting pneumonia or a collapsed lung just from not taking deep breaths.

Talk to your MD and see if they will rx you some lidocaine ointment, it can help by numbing the pain nerves in the area.

Be really careful with any narcotic pain medicine (besides the obvious risks of addiction) because they ALL depress respirations, making you less likely to take deep breaths spontaneously.

Finally, stick with ice rather than heat, because heat can make the (not quite inevitable) muscle spasms set in and be worse, even though it feels better when you are doing it (by increasing blood flow to already uncontrolled contracting muscle and fueling more contraction) in favor of ice, which constricts blood vessels, reduces inflammation, and actually will speed healing.

I always tell patients that ribs are slow to heal for the same reason that feet are, it's hard not to use them (and we hope you don't STOP using them) ;-)

Hang in there!

It will get better....

 

[zzvyb6]

I'm in an Over60 Hockey League and play 3 times a week. Even though its NoChecking and NoSlapShots, we all still get banged around a bit. Shoulder pads end about 1/2 way down your torso. So: Hot shower (hotter than you can normally stand) or tub to subdue the pain and get blood flowing and Aleve 12H gel caps. Make sure you don't have any ribs cracked because a punctured lung is deadly. Some of the guys wil wear a brace that looks like a corset to keep things from moving too much. Our locker rooms always smell like BenGay, but I'm not a fan of that yet. Try to stay away from Vicodin if its being considered. Save that for later in life when the real aches and pains begin.

It will take six months for you to return to normal.

 

[QueBota]

The muscle spasms around the injury were/are very odd. May well hurt worse than the rib injury which seems to be hurting less every day. I pulled/tore my left lat muscle trying to get out of the recliner, put to much stress on that side due to the nature of the injury. Lat muscle may be the second largest muscle in your back. Runs from just about your hip to you armpit. Seems to be involved in every back movement. When that spasms it will take your breath away, like a constrictor wrapping itself on the rib injury. Seem to be getting a little better every day at this point, which is a relief. There was a period of just not getting/feeling any better. I'm sure things would progress better if I could just take it easy. Can't do that, to much to do. Also, get really stir crazy from sitting around all day.

Thanks,
Q

Too right there, we tell patients to take 10 deep breaths per hour while they are awake to keep their lungs aerated and prevent getting pneumonia or a collapsed lung just from not taking deep breaths.

Talk to your MD and see if they will rx you some lidocaine ointment, it can help by numbing the pain nerves in the area.

Be really careful with any narcotic pain medicine (besides the obvious risks of addiction) because they ALL depress respirations, making you less likely to take deep breaths spontaneously.

Finally, stick with ice rather than heat, because heat can make the (not quite inevitable) muscle spasms set in and be worse, even though it feels better when you are doing it (by increasing blood flow to already uncontrolled contracting muscle and fueling more contraction) in favor of ice, which constricts blood vessels, reduces inflammation, and actually will speed healing.

I always tell patients that ribs are slow to heal for the same reason that feet are, it's hard not to use them (and we hope you don't STOP using them) ;-)

Hang in there!

It will get better....

 

[Gary Fowler]

I did an idiot move several months ago while cleaning my RV. The step ladder was a bit short so I used the RV ladder to stand on with one foot and climbed up to one step from the top on the step ladder. Well the ladder kicked sideways on me, I lost my footing and handhold on the RV ladder also and fell almost 8 feet to the ground. Landed kinda on my feet but off center from vertical which caused me to fall backwards onto my back and then crack my head on the ground. Funny thing is that my neck has so many vertebrae fused that when I am laying on my back, my head is about 3 inches off the ground. I did go to the doctor, but she said no need to xray to see if anything is cracked or broken since she couldn't do anything for it anyway.
I have been in pain for 5 months going on 6 now and still get stabbing pains occasionally. Perhaps if I quit doing things like lifting heavy objects and playing tug with my dog, twisting on rusty bolts etc. I may get well faster. That is hard to do living on an acreage tract and working with tractors, chainsaws and farm animals.

 

[RobS]

I was in a bike race in early November. A buddy of mine went down but he did finish. He looked really bad afterwards and didn't hang around for awards. I called him the next day and he said he was sore but OK. Just rode with him this past Saturday and asked how he was since his fall. Turns out he broke his collarbone and two ribs. Can't do much for either but 6 weeks later he was riding just as strong as ever. Hang in there, you'll heal!

 

[mark02tj]

Like you, QueBota, I'm 53. I don't like to think of myself as "old" but when I hurt something now, I know it! We bought a hot tub this past Spring and I get into a few nights a week.

Back when I was about 22 and still in school I was dating a girl whose dad was fairly wealthy. They lived on a little over 50 acres with a "grounds keeper" who used their bulldozer to make trails for their Jeep CJ-7 and her younger brothers Honda Odysseys. We were having some fun one night with her driving us around the trails like a crazy person in that CJ-7. Of course, in '82 or '83, we weren't wearing seat belts. She lost control on a curve and we went up an embankment and hit a small tree. The Jeep was leaning over fairly steeply to the passenger side and I busted through the canvas door and ended up on the ground on my back. She rolled across the passenger seat, out the door and landed right on top of me!! I never went to the doctor but I'm pretty sure a few ribs were busted or broke when she landed on me. Super sore, couldn't raise my arms too much, etc. Even back then, when I was young and fairly healthy, it took a couple of months until I was back to full activity.

I know it's tough, but you do need to take it easy, at least for a couple of weeks. I'm not a doctor, but I'd guess that the more you're aggravating those ribs, the longer it's going to take until you're back to 100%.

 

[BigBoyToys]

She rolled across the passenger seat, out the door and landed right on top of me!!

Looking back...WAS IT WORTH IT!!!

 

[mark02tj]

Looking back...WAS IT WORTH IT!!!

LOL!! Yup. :thumbsup:

 

[QueBota]

My Ortho doc is a good guy, he did both my rotator cuffs as well as a cartlidge cleanup in my knee. I see him a couple of times a year for alternating drain/injection on knees.

He tells me to "take it easy" all the time, I've been pretty rough on my body in 53 years. When he went in my right shoulder he said it was way worse than MRI indicated, he was able to fix without an open procedure; however, he did have to release my large bicep tendon. Right arm curl/overhead strength will never be the same, and my body building competitive days are over over, large void at the top of my right bicep, no more symmetry between biceps , my son thinks its funny, it does look odd.

I told him I'd trade jobs with him. He could work my job during the day and take care of my place nights and weekends and I'd cover his office hours. He just shook his head and laughed. He's around 35 or so, city fella, he finds me amusing, thinks I'm a crazy 'ol coot, he might be right.

My son works 60 hours a week, he helps out as much as possible, sometimes I have to do what I have to do, takin' it easy isn't always an option, plus I hate sitting around. Did enough of that post rotator cuff surgeries, still playing catch up.
Q

I know it's tough, but you do need to take it easy, at least for a couple of weeks. I'm not a doctor, but I'd guess that the more you're aggravating those ribs, the longer it's going to take until you're back to 100%.