Damaged ribs

[cynna]

has anyone here torn there rib cartilidge? if so how long was it before you could ride again?

i have 2 and a half weeks before i have to ride up north and my doctor didnt think that would be enough time to heal - will have to wait and see how i go

[sels1]

Took about a month before I could laugh or cough without pain....but riding wasnt too much of a problem

[ManDownUnder]

ooo ow ow ow... been there and ... "far too long" is the answer.

I don't recall exactly how long becuase it happened 20 ish years ago... but the point is I can remember it still... it fooken hurts!

Good luck, and stock up on painkillers

[yungatart]

One of the guys that rides with us did that too!
He is going to an osteopath and has had better results than what his doctor said he could expect.
Worth a try maybe?

[klingon]

In May I fractured a rib and bruised several others. It took about 6 weeks to heal, and I still get aches sometimes.

The best advice I got was to dose up on the pain killers then just act as normal as possible. One of the problems with damaged ribs is that you tend to favour them and not move as freely as you should - then they stiffen up and take longer to heal, and also your lungs aren't being filled to capacity.

So take heaps of panadol, stand up straight, breathe deeply and try to give yourself the full range of normal movement.

Good luck with the healing. :doctor:

[tri boy]

has anyone here torn there rib cartilidge? if so how long was it before you could ride again?

i have 2 and a half weeks before i have to ride up north and my doctor didnt think that would be enough time to heal - will have to wait and see how i go

What type of riding? Competitive or personal enjoyment?
Big HTFU pill if you plan to compete in anything. Cartilage takes longer to heal than torn muscle mass apparently due to a lower blood supply.
I'm sure a nurse/doctor on here will correct me if thats wrong.:doctor:

[johnnyflash]

Took about a month before I could laugh or cough without pain....but riding wasnt too much of a problem

What Sels1 said, didnt stop the riding, just strapped up the ribcage and carried on as normal, just dont go to a comedy show..

[Grub]

... just strapped up the ribcage and carried on as normal ...

WARNING: - Don't strap your ribcage up overnight. Strapping does make life easier, but you must NOT leave the strapping on when you go to bed. Why? You get lung infections.

Strapping up used to be the standard procedure for ribs but they discovered that the tight strapping restricts the depth of breathing, particularly at rest when sleeping. This leads to low breath volume and the onset of lung infections ... like pneumonia. Pneumonia can not only hurt but it can kill ya too.

[johnnyflash]

WARNING: - Don't strap your ribcage up overnight. Strapping does make life easier, but you must NOT leave the strapping on when you go to bed. Why? You get lung infections.

Strapping up used to be the standard procedure for ribs but they discovered that the tight strapping restricts the depth of breathing, particularly at rest when sleeping. This leads to low breath volume and the onset of lung infections ... like pneumonia. Pneumonia can not only hurt but it can kill ya too.

Very true, didnt like sleeping in it, not comfortable, but it did aloow me to ride and do a normal days work..
Lung infections you say ! different incident but I got one of those while in NTH Shore Hospital with a collapsed lung, (incompetent nursing), it ate half my lung away and burn't the rest to my ribcage before they managed to get it under control (at a more reliable hospital.. Green Lane) and it darn near killed me :angry: So I now get by with only little more than one lung..
Just shows you how a little infection can mushroom eh wot...

[Macstar]

Very true, didnt like sleeping in it, not comfortable, but it did aloow me to ride and do a normal days work..
Lung infections you say ! different incident but I got one of those while in NTH Shore Hospital with a collapsed lung, (incompetent nursing), it ate half my lung away and burn't the rest to my ribcage before they managed to get it under control (at a more reliable hospital.. Green Lane) and it darn near killed me :angry: So I now get by with only little more than one lung..
Just shows you how a little infection can mushroom eh wot...

Jeez, well I ain't had that happen to me but I have had a fractured "floating rib' before (and jaw and nose at the same time) courtesy of a bunch of downtown bros. And bruised ribs on many occassion from my Karate days. I must have been lucky cause my rib didn't cause me much grief beyond a week or so (maybe a cartlidge injury is worse?).

I've got an 8 litre plastic box full of various pain killers from my injuries over the years... what do ya need?

[klingon]

I've got an 8 litre plastic box full of various pain killers from my injuries over the years... what do ya need?

Party at Macstar's place! :doobey:

[johnnyflash]

Jeez, well I ain't had that happen to me but I have had a fractured "floating rib' before (and jaw and nose at the same time) courtesy of a bunch of downtown bros. And bruised ribs on many occassion from my Karate days. I must have been lucky cause my rib didn't cause me much grief beyond a week or so (maybe a cartlidge injury is worse?).

I've got an 8 litre plastic box full of various pain killers from my injuries over the years... what do ya need?

heheheh, shall we start our own phamac.....:niceone:

[MVnut]

Broke 3 ribs, punctured a lung, slight fracture of a wrist bone & a foot bone, rode to Ackers about 3 weeks later, laughing didn't hurt, but coughing nearly kills ya. You'll be sore for about 6 to 8 weeks min but you can still ride, just be careful if you go to the gym or whatever. ciao:banana:

[Shadows]

I've done ribs on three occasions. Like most others have said, not a major, I just couldn't sleep on the affected side for a couple of months. It never stopped me doing anything else though.

[peasea]

I had some spare ribs once, they were yummy

[cynna]

thanks for the info guys

im not competing in anything just a lot of km in a few days. by the sounds of things i should be ok to do it. just hope i dont sneeze too much with hay fever

the painkillers they gave me work well coz i can tell when they wear off.... they wouldnt give me any the first night since i had had too much to drink. will have to start moving aroud more tomorrow tho

have learnt that laughter is the best medicine when u have sore ribs

[klingon]

...

the painkillers they gave me work well coz i can tell when they wear off.... they wouldnt give me any the first night since i had had too much to drink.

So... there must be a story in that... how did you hurt your ribs anyway?

[F5 Dave]

I broke a rib racing & didn't realise until the chiro pointed it out, sure did hurt & I figured something was wrong. Voltarin is your friend, but don't take more than one at a time if you are riding. I had to ride a GP on a kart track a couple of weeks after & 2 or 3 make you feel a bit surreal.

[cynna]

yep - got voltarin and codine

i did it at a punk gig on saturday night. dunno how but i remember the pain whenever i got banged into - wasnt going to miss the exploited for anything tho. when i went to go home afterwards i was in agony and had trouble breathing because it hurt so much. i doint think it would have been so bad if i sat down straight away but by the end of the night i had been knocked around quite a bit which probably made it worse

went to the hospital and waited for ages. got sick of waiting so decided to walk back to town. that was a bad idea as wheni started breathing heavily again i was in agony. ended up at the after hours clinic where for $55 i was told to come back tomorrow and get xrayed. wouldnt give me any pain killers then since i had been drinking.

after another long wait the next day i got xrayed and sent home - nothing broken just torn cartilage.

[F5 Dave]

Good grief! are they still going? Think I have an old LP from erm ~ 25 yrs ago.

Hope it gets better soon:doctor: