cracked ribs

[anonymous]

My friend fell in the bathtub and thinks she cracked/broke her ribs.
Even if she did, is there really anything you can do for cracked ribs other than rest?

 

[JazzysMom]

Not really.......years ago they taped them to be like a "cast" of sorts, but I dont think they do that anymore.

 

[anonymous]

No, I suppose it depends how many are cracked though.

Charlotte<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">

 

[shinkdew]

I've cracked my ribs twice, they only thing they do for you is give you painkillers.

 

[dyza]

Havent cracked ribs but I damaged the muscels between the ribs, I think they are called the intercostle muscles.that was when i was playing rugby in school aged 17, I'm 39 now and I still get pain from it every so often. Yes so like the ribs there is hee haw they can do for it

 

[LisaV]

I'm not at all sure that it even matters how many ribs are cracked. I don't think they do anything ever.
My husband had 3 nonunion fractured ribs on one side. There was nothing they could do except pain killers. Taping at time of fracture would have compromised his breathing.
-lisaV

 

[anonymous]

I once hurt my ribs, I was carrying a huge load of laundry down the stairs and fell down the stairs. Ouch! It was so painful. I was sure I broke/bruised a rib. Not much you can do, they did not do an x-ray on me but i was told if I had shortness of breath, difficulty breathing to come right in the ER , this would be a sign of a pneumothorax. I never got short of breath. I did take Motrin and switch off with tylenol for pain. Plus used a heating pad for the soreness. I had terrible bruising on my butt!, but never on the ribs where I actully fell on, weird. i think the bruising must have been on the inside. Anyhow, if there is going to be a storm i can tell the night before because i feel it in my ribs.
REbecca

 

[Sunnie]

I cracked my ribs a couple of years ago in a car accident. It was a very painful experience. Anyways, the doctor couldn't do much. He let me know not to make sudden movements (might turn the crack into a break and cause the rib to twist) and prescribed painkillers. I couldn't sleep on my side like I normally do because that was the side the cracked ribs were. So I had a bunch of pillows on that side to keep me from rolling over.

 

[anonymous]

One should definitively see a doctor and let him check several times :
- the broken rib could hurt the lungs
- because of the pain you don´t breathe right any more, so you can easily get pneumonia ( that happened to my friend/no cf last year) after a few days

Uli,43,Germany,cf/cfrd