Posted: 5/19/2011 9:12:16 AM EDT
| I broke my rib about 3 weeks ago. Went to the ER two days after it happened and got x-rayed, sure enough I have a fractured rib. A few days later, monday the 9th, I saw my GP and he prescribed me 30 10mg oxycodone/tylenol 325mg. They provided me with some relief, but I finished the script after taking 3 of them per day, and now I am STILL in terrible pain, I cannot lay down, I cannot take deep breaths (but I am forcing myself to to avoid pneumonia) laughing is terrible, coughing is terrible, pretty much every movement I need to make, hurts like hell. So I called my doc today and got an apointment for tommorow, what else can be done for this? If I don't take pain meds, I cannot even fall asleep, is there any type of physical therapy that can be done? taping? or should I just look forward to another week or 2 laying around on pain medication doing nothing (if he is willing to prescribe a refill). I am getting frustated because I was on a good workout plan and now I can't even do a single pushup or situp, not to mention I have my open water diving certification coming up in a little over a week. |
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Quoted: I've been there with bruised ribs and that was awful. Doc did the same thing for me. Gave me some vicodin which helped but only for a few hours. It took 4-6 weeks for me to get back to full speed and I hurt like hell for about the first 2. -Foxxz Damn so I'm looking at a few more weeks of pain at least, that sucks. I hope my doc throws me a refill tommorow, I didnt sleep at all last night, I ended up having to sit in a chair and try to fall asleep sitting up, but I only ended up sleeping for a few hours on and off. Now today the pain is awful, and I have nothing but tylenol to take and its not doing a damn thing, I got the hiccups after breakfast and felt like I was going to pass out.  not to mention going to the bathroom isnt a very pleasant experience either
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Bruised the shit outta my rib by running a kart with a seat to small. Hurt like hell for a few weeks. Then I broke the fucker in my own kart with a properly fitted seat, even with wearing a rib protector. Couldn't hardly breath, sit up in bed, cough, laugh, turn all the way around while seated, it sucked.
Nothing but time and pain meds will help, good luck. |
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Quoted: Opioid medications (percocet, vicodin, etc.) are poor choices for rib fracture pain. NSAIDS work much better. I recommend naproxen instead of ibuprofen because you only need to take it twice daily. I tried that medication once a few years ago for a different injury, it gave me terrible stomach problems and made me edgey as hell, didnt do a thing for the pain either |
Three weeks just isn't enough time to heal, it's barely enough time for an immobilized bone to heal, let alone one that's movement is involved in a critical process (like breathing  ).
Pain management is important, don't be afraid to ask for more if its not cutting it. Rest is your only friend. |
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Quoted: Three weeks just isn't enough time to heal, it's barely enough time for an immobilized bone to heal, let alone one that's movement is involved in a critical process (like breathing ). Pain management is important, don't be afraid to ask for more if its not cutting it. Rest is your only friend. I'm young, 24 years old, I have a great primary care doctor and I wanna keep a good Dr/patient relationship. I feel a lil reluctant to go in and ask for a refill because I dont want him to think I am "drug seeking" but I am still in a lot of pain and want to be able to feel a bit more comfortable while it heals, sleeping in a chair sucks. |
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Having broken numerous ribs, all I can tell ya is they take about 3 months to heal. 1st month being the worst. No sneezing. can't sleep lying down, body has to be in 45 degrees or else pressure of your body once you relax will cause pain. No laughing. Depending on the severity of the break, going up and down stairs hurts too.
All I can say is, unless you want to get addicted to meds, suck it up. Hydrocodone is addicting, not to mention bad for your liver. Last I broke a rib was 2 yrs ago training for a tournament. A week before I caught a spinning back kick to my left side and fractured 1 floating rib. Still competed although I was wearing a chest protector and came in 1st place :) That night was the only night I took my Vicodin. Otherwise I just suck it up and deal with the pain. After a while (day or so) you get used to it and it only becomes a minor ache. |
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Three weeks just isn't enough time to heal, it's barely enough time for an immobilized bone to heal, let alone one that's movement is involved in a critical process (like breathing ).
Pain management is important, don't be afraid to ask for more if its not cutting it. Rest is your only friend. I'm young, 24 years old, I have a great primary care doctor and I wanna keep a good Dr/patient relationship. I feel a lil reluctant to go in and ask for a refill because I dont want him to think I am "drug seeking" but I am still in a lot of pain and want to be able to feel a bit more comfortable while it heals, sleeping in a chair sucks. I know the feeling, I get the same when saying I'm in pain. Good news is that doc's are pretty smart, and he's seen your x-rays. You SHOULD be in pain, and you are, and he'll treat it. It's when you keep going in saying it still hurts after it should have long ago healed and they see nothing wrong that might make them think you are exhibiting drug seeking behavior. You're in pain legitimately, go ask. |
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Quoted: Having broken numerous ribs, all I can tell ya is they take about 3 months to heal. 1st month being the worst. No sneezing. can't sleep lying down, body has to be in 45 degrees or else pressure of your body once you relax will cause pain. No laughing. Depending on the severity of the break, going up and down stairs hurts too. All I can say is, unless you want to get addicted to meds, suck it up. Hydrocodone is addicting, not to mention bad for your liver. Last I broke a rib was 2 yrs ago training for a tournament. A week before I caught a spinning back kick to my left side and fractured 1 floating rib. Still competed although I was wearing a chest protector and came in 1st place :) That night was the only night I took my Vicodin. Otherwise I just suck it up and deal with the pain. After a while (day or so) you get used to it and it only becomes a minor ache. I've been prescribed hydrocone after surgeries before, it never seemed to work as well for me as oxycodone. I live with chronic pain as a result of complications from 4 sinus surgeries which have left with me constant 24hr a day burning pain in my nasal cavities and face, with no relief in sight. I cope with it without meds and try to live my life like normal, toughing it out, I rarely get decent sleep as a result. But this rib pain... this is bad. If i can take pain meds while it heals, I'm not going to turn them down. I ran out of them yesterday, and today I cannot even get out of my bed because lifting myself up hurts too much.. I guess I'm gonna have to force myself to get up because I'm starting to get really hungry |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Three weeks just isn't enough time to heal, it's barely enough time for an immobilized bone to heal, let alone one that's movement is involved in a critical process (like breathing ). Pain management is important, don't be afraid to ask for more if its not cutting it. Rest is your only friend. I'm young, 24 years old, I have a great primary care doctor and I wanna keep a good Dr/patient relationship. I feel a lil reluctant to go in and ask for a refill because I dont want him to think I am "drug seeking" but I am still in a lot of pain and want to be able to feel a bit more comfortable while it heals, sleeping in a chair sucks. I know the feeling, I get the same when saying I'm in pain. Good news is that doc's are pretty smart, and he's seen your x-rays. You SHOULD be in pain, and you are, and he'll treat it. It's when you keep going in saying it still hurts after it should have long ago healed and they see nothing wrong that might make them think you are exhibiting drug seeking behavior. You're in pain legitimately, go ask. Only problem is, he didnt see my X-rays.. I had them done at the ER, but they sent them to the wrong frickin doctor. I did however provide my doctor with the post op care sheet that the ER doc gave me, so he knows that I have broken ribs, doesnt think I am lying, but he doesnt have a copy of my x-rays, I kinda wish he did. I was only worried about whether or not 3 weeks was a long enough time that it should have healed by now, and that he would think I was all better just coming in asking for drugs, which is not the case at all, it hurts like hell. It does feel better if I hold my ribs with my right hand when trying to lay on my left side (the injured side) but as soon as I take my hand off them, its very painful and I have to roll over. |
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Quoted: Broke a floating rib the exact same way. There was a guy in the dojo that was wicked fast with them. You knew it was coming and still got nailed. Having broken numerous ribs, all I can tell ya is they take about 3 months to heal. 1st month being the worst. No sneezing. can't sleep lying down, body has to be in 45 degrees or else pressure of your body once you relax will cause pain. No laughing. Depending on the severity of the break, going up and down stairs hurts too. All I can say is, unless you want to get addicted to meds, suck it up. Hydrocodone is addicting, not to mention bad for your liver. Last I broke a rib was 2 yrs ago training for a tournament. A week before I caught a spinning back kick to my left side and fractured 1 floating rib. Still competed although I was wearing a chest protector and came in 1st place :) That night was the only night I took my Vicodin. Otherwise I just suck it up and deal with the pain. After a while (day or so) you get used to it and it only becomes a minor ache. Best to learn to embrace the pain. It's good for the character. |
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not much you can do with a fractured rib. Ask your doc if he can up the dosage. They did the same thing to me. Dosage is too small. I knew this right away when my wife (half of my size) was given a much higher dosage of Vicodin after surgery, than when I had broken ribs. For the first day, I just used Tequilla. I didn't take anything after that. |
| FYI: you may have more than 1 broken rib. Is the pain located soley where you were diagnosed? I work in Nuclear Medicine and sometimes do bone scan imaging on fall or MVA patients with unexplained, persistant pain. It is very common to see multiple fractures that were missed on X-ray. I remember one fellow with 17 undiagnosed fractures with 0 seen on X-ray. There's still not alot you can do (don't run out and ask for a bone scan). I'm just saying your injuries may be worse than you know. Take it easy. |
| I feel your pain man, ive had cracked and broken ribs and at least two diffrent occasions. Nothing fun about it at all. The worst part is the soft tissiue damadge witch takes FORFUCKINGEVER to heal. The worst one was from getting jumped by a bunch of "amish yutes" as ARFcom would put it that pretty much screwed up my whole spring. Agin I feel for ya, just hang in there and ride it out. Take baby steps, do as much stretching as you can handle and catch up on your reading or something. |