Painful ribs after falling off

oneten · Post by **oneten** » 27 Jun 2015, 10:34pm

I came off doing after trying to do a slow tight turn on an unmade road, simply overbalancing due to lack of momentum. I'm quite a heavy bloke and my full body weight landed on the stones and gravel.Although winded,I soon go back on and rode a short distance home without being in much pain. Since then though, my right ribcage has been really painful and I can't sleep on that side. Went to local health centre, nurse suggested painkillers and rest, A week on it's no better and I keep putting on Ibruprofen gel and taking Co-codamol. This eases it for a while but it just doesn't seem to be getting any better.Coughing hurts but my breathing isn't too badly affected. The strange thing is that there is no visible bruising, unlike a similar injury I had before, so I'm a bit puzzled.
It's a nuisance as I want to use the bike but am worried about doing more harm.Any suggestions or advice please from a cyclist's perspective ? :?:

661-Pete · Post by **661-Pete** » 27 Jun 2015, 10:54pm

Sounds like you may have a broken rib. Something like that happened to a colleague of mine, in his case it was a motorbike he came off and he had a large cable lock slung across his shoulder, which dug itself into his chest. He was off work for some weeks. But in your case - I'd go and have it X-rayed, but there's probably nothing the medics can do - except advise you to go on with the painkillers and take it easy until it heals up. Good luck!

rualexander · Post by **rualexander** » 27 Jun 2015, 11:32pm

I fell on my ribs on tarmac about six weeks ago. Similar to you, initially it wasn't too bad just felt winded. After a day or so it was pretty uncomfortable and could only sleep on the opposite side, Had really painful muscle spasms for a few days. Breathing wasn't much of a problem but avoided coughing or sneezing as they could be pretty sore.
Just took Ibuprofen and Paracetemol for a couple of weeks until the worst of it eased off, but it was about four weeks before it was really starting to improve and now at six weeks I can still feel it a bit, particularly in bed, but mostly fine.
Also there was no visible bruising.
I didn't bother with doctor, as everything I read said that they wouldn't do anything, even x-ray is not generally performed as there is no benefit, other than painkillers anyway.
I doubt if you have broken a rib if you can breathe reasonably easily, so probably just internal bruising and damage to intercostal muscles etc.
From what I read it can take up to two months to recover fully from bruised ribs.
I was back on my bike after two weeks, and actually felt better following a ride.

Post by **Mick F** » 28 Jun 2015, 10:13am

I've been hurt like that a couple times, not by falling off a bike though.

My pains have been the muscles and things between the ribs, not the ribs themselves. Painful as heck! :shock:

You wouldn't think pain could be as bad as that, coughing an laughing was terrible and as for sleeping, it was almost pointless to try.

Maybe the pain lasted a week or two. Nowt you can do about it, just wait until it heals.

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 28 Jun 2015, 11:13am

I came off a MTB a few years ago in the Lakes. I totalled the bike and was left fitting on the track, such was the impact of the fall. I guess after a severe winding that's how the body 'reboots' your diaphragm. A piece of grass pierced my lip too. I went into shock and was ill in the gents at the pub at the bottom of the hill. Nice.

5 days later I wasn't well at all so I went into A&E where they found I had 2 broken ribs. I was given a telling off by the duty doctor and a pile of painkillers both for obvious reasons. I would get it checked out properly. A list of complications worth ironing out.

And for the record: The T Shirt I was wearing probably saved my life [emoji48]

freeflow · Post by **freeflow** » 28 Jun 2015, 7:57pm

Don't take ibuprofen for pain relief from broken bones. It can interfere with the bone healing process.

Vantage · Post by **Vantage** » 29 Jun 2015, 3:41pm

Sorry to state the obvious, but go see your doc or a&e and explain what's going on.
Mr Cameron and his satanic worshippers haven't killed the NHS yet so use it while you can.

Psamathe · Post by **Psamathe** » 29 Jun 2015, 5:07pm

I find that knowing what something is and how recovery might progress can make recovery a lot less frustrating. Having suffered an upper abdominal/lower chest pain since last Nov, it's driving me "up the wall" 'cos for a few days it seems less and I think great I'll be able to <do something I can't with the pain>, then next day it's bad again and I don't know what it is and thus have no idea if it's chronic and will go on for years or if it might be better next week.

And if you know what it is, you can be confidant that <doing something you want to> is not going to make it worse or that you be best to avoid <doing something you want to> for a few days/weeks to speed things up.

Ian

Psamathe · Post by **Psamathe** » 29 Jun 2015, 5:09pm

Vantage wrote:...
Mr Cameron and his satanic worshippers haven't killed the NHS yet so use it while you can.

Although in some areas it is getting pretty run-down. Earlier this year an ultra-sound scan saw something that should not have been there and I was told "you will be referred". Guidelines are max. 2 weeks and I had to wait 7 weeks. Then after tests I asked if I should phone my GP in a couple of days and they said they have a 2 week backlog on examining test data. etc.

Ian

oneten · Post by **oneten** » 29 Jun 2015, 8:34pm

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments and good advice. The nurse I saw was at our local A&E unit at a health centre and he had a good poke around asking where it hurt etc and said a broken rib was unlikely but even if there were a fracture or breakage, there is little they can do other than advise rest and painkillers.He said the only complications are when a rib goes astray and can puncture a lung, symptoms of which might include severe difficulty breathing, coughing up blood etc.

Sleeping on the opposite side is OK now, whereas I'd previously been having to sleep sitting up propped up with pillows.

I tried going for a short ride today (only 3 miles) and it was great being back on the bike and not as painful as I thought. The worst bit was going up a fairly easy hill; breathing more deeply did give a bit of gip. Going over bumps was sent minor shock waves to the affected ribs via my arm but it was just nice getting out. I was hoping to ride to visit my sister in London this weekend ( about 70 miles one way) but this seems likely to be a case of 'let the train take the strain' now.

The whole episode has made me wonder what people do when they are on long tours and have an accident of this type - let alone if they are trying to sleep in a tent. And how those guys just carry on when they have fairly brutal accidents in Le Tour is beyond me!

Flinders · Post by **Flinders** » 4 Aug 2015, 10:28am

I fell once onto a horse (okay okay, I was getting on, it played up, and I ended up falling across the saddle, with one of the sticking up bits of the saddle, the pommel for those in the know, getting me in the ribs).
It was a bit sore at the time, but nothing much really, got up and rode without any trouble.

Later in the day it began to get very sore, coughing and breathing hurt. So I looked it up. It seemed that it could either be bruised ribs cracked rib(s), or broken rib(s). From the books, if you are coughing up blood or froth, it's definitely broken and you need to get to A&E PDQ or you could end up with a collapsed lung. If you get any fever or feeling ill generally, the same would apply. I felt fine. However, once or twice when I moved too suddenly I could hear/feel a slight grating. So I reckoned I had cracked at least one. I could feel the ribs there easily and they all seemed straight and in line. They don't strap up cracked ribs any more, and as I have a bad phobia about hospitals, and ours had a very bad reputation at the time, I didn't go to A&E.
However, my reading suggested that it was necessary to cough, however painful, regularly, though you should support your ribcage when doing so. It seems that if you don't you can get fluid building up and ultimately pneumonia.
It all got better in due course, but was pretty uncomfortable at first, especially when lying down in bed.

I'd say don't do what I did, but go to A&E or at the very least ring the 111 number, where they ought to be able to tell you whether A&E is necessary and how to look after yourself if it isn't.

timdownieuk · Post by **timdownieuk** » 5 Aug 2015, 1:03pm

freeflow wrote:Don't take ibuprofen for pain relief from broken bones. It can interfere with the bone healing process.

I don't think it's at all as clear cut as you say.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3259713/

"There is no robust clinical and/or scientific evidence to discard the use of NSAIDs in patients suffering from a fracture, but equal lack of evidence does not constitute proof of the absence of an effect. The majority of the available evidence is based on animal findings and these results should be interpreted with caution due to the differences in physiological mechanisms between humans and animals. The need of basic science research defining the exact mechanism that NSAIDs could interfere with bone cells and the conduction of well-randomized prospective clinical trial are warranted."

Tim

lingy · Post by **lingy** » 5 Aug 2015, 1:11pm

True but I think there are unproven theoretical concerns as asserted. Simply put inflammatory processes are part of the healing process of many tissues. Some feel that as there is a reasonable alternative ( pain killers that are not anti inflammatory) it may be better to use these.
I know the current tendency to quote 'there is no robust evidence' but as far as I am aware there is no robust scientific evidence (RCTs etc) to prove that jumping out of flying aircraft without a parachute is dangerous.. Only joking but you know what I mean.

NUKe · Post by **NUKe** » 5 Aug 2015, 1:59pm

Vantage wrote:Sorry to state the obvious, but go see your doc or a&e and explain what's going on.

The only sensible answer here

Sorry guys but how can you diagnose someone over the internet.

Oneten I see you have gone to see a medical professional welldone

timdownieuk · Post by **timdownieuk** » 5 Aug 2015, 2:25pm

NUKe wrote:
Vantage wrote:Sorry to state the obvious, but go see your doc or a&e and explain what's going on.

The only sensible answer here

Sorry guys but how can you diagnose someone over the internet.

Oneten I see you have gone to see a medical professional welldone

A bit of common sense though can save you wasted time and avoid wasting NHS resources.

I've fallen and cracked ribs on many occasions and never bothered my doctor or A&E with them. Of course a medical training makes it easy for me to make that decision. With a clear history of impact, localised pain on inspiration and coughing and no breatlessness, there's really no need to panic. There is no treatment offered these days other than painkillers and x-rays are rarely offered or useful.

Tim

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