Broken
ribs
Overview
A broken rib is a common injury that occurs
when one of the bones in the rib cage breaks or cracks. The most common causes
are hard impacts from falls, car accidents or contact sports.
Many broken ribs are simply cracked. Cracked
ribs are painful. But they don't cause the problems that ribs that have broken
into pieces can. The sharp edge of a broken bone can harm major blood vessels
or lungs and other organs.
Usually, broken ribs heal on their own in
about six weeks. Pain control is important for being able to breathe deeply and
avoid lung issues, such as pneumonia.
Symptoms
The following can cause pain with a broken rib
or make pain worse:
·
A deep breath.
·
Pressure on the
injured area.
·
A bend or a twist of
the body.
When to see a doctor
See a health care provider if part of your rib
area is tender after an accident or if you have trouble breathing or pain with
deep breathing.
Seek medical help right away if you feel
pressure, fullness or a squeezing pain in the center of your chest that lasts
for more than a few minutes or pain that goes beyond your chest to your
shoulder or arm. These symptoms can mean a heart attack.
Causes
Direct impact — such as from a car accident, a
fall, child abuse or contact sports — is the most common cause of broken ribs.
Ribs also can be broken by repeated impact from sports such as golf and rowing
or from coughing hard and long.
Risk factors
The following can increase the risk of
breaking a rib:
·
Osteoporosis. This disease in which bones lose their bulk
increases the risk of breaking a bone.
·
Sports. Playing contact sports, such as hockey
or football, increases the risk of injury to the chest.
·
Cancer
in a rib. Cancer can
weaken the bone, making it more likely to break.
Complications
A broken rib can harm blood vessels and
internal organs. Having more than one broken rib increases the risk.
Complications depend on which ribs break.
Possible complications include:
·
Tear
in the main artery of the body, known as the aorta. A sharp end from a break in one of the
first three ribs at the top of the rib cage could pierce a major blood vessel,
including the aorta.
·
Tear
in a lung. The jagged end
of a broken middle rib can punch a hole in a lung and cause it to cave in.
·
Ripped
spleen, liver or kidneys. The
bottom two ribs rarely break because they can move more than the upper and
middle ribs. But the ends of a broken lower rib can cause serious harm to the
spleen, liver or a kidney.
Prevention
To help keep a rib from breaking:
·
Protect
from athletic injuries. Wear
protective equipment when playing contact sports.
·
Reduce
the risk of falls in the house. Remove clutter from floors. Wipe up spills right away. Use
a rubber mat in the shower. Keep your home well lit. Put backing on carpets and
area rugs to keep them from sliding.
·
Strengthen
bones. Getting enough
calcium and vitamin D in the diet is important for strong bones. Get about
1,200 milligrams of calcium and 600 international units of vitamin D daily from
food and supplements.
Diagnosis
During the physical exam, a health care
provider might press gently on the ribs, listen to your lungs and watch your
rib cage move as you breathe.
One or more of the following imaging tests
might help with the diagnosis:
·
X-ray. Using low levels of radiation, X-rays
allow the bones to be seen. But X-rays might not show a fresh break, especially
if the bone is only cracked. X-rays also can help diagnose a lung that has
caved in.
·
CT scan. This often can find breaks that X-rays
might miss. CT scans also make it easier to see injuries to soft
tissues and blood vessels.
·
MRI. This scan can look for harm to the soft
tissues and organs around the ribs. It also can help find smaller breaks.
·
Bone
scan. This is good for
viewing cracked bones, also called stress fractures. A bone can crack after repetitive
trauma, such as long bouts of coughing. During a bone scan, a small amount of
radioactive material is injected into your bloodstream. It collects in the
bones, particularly in places where a bone is healing, and is detected by a
scanner.
Treatment
Most broken ribs heal on their own within six
weeks. Being less active and icing the area regularly can help with healing and
pain relief.
Medicines
It's important to relieve pain. Not being able
to breathe deeply because of pain can lead to pneumonia. If medicines taken by
mouth don't help enough, shots can numb the nerves that lead to the ribs.
Therapy
Once pain is under control, certain exercises
can help you breathe more deeply. Shallow breathing can lead to pneumonia.
Preparing for your
appointment
Because car accidents often cause broken ribs,
many people learn they have a broken rib in a hospital's emergency department.
There's no time to prepare. But if you break a rib because of repeated stress
over time, you might see your primary care provider.
Here's information to help you get ready for
your appointment.
What you can do
Before you see your primary care provider,
make a list of:
·
Your
symptoms, even those that
seem unrelated to why you made the appointment, and when they began.
·
Key
personal information, including recent
accidents.
·
All
medications, vitamins and supplements you take, including doses.
·
Questions
to ask your care
provider.
Take a family member or friend along, if
possible, to help you remember the information you're given.
For broken ribs, questions to ask your
provider include:
·
How long will I be in
pain?
·
What treatments are
available, and which do you recommend?
·
How can I best manage
this with my other health conditions?
·
Do I need to restrict
my activities?
Don't hesitate to ask other questions.
What to expect from
your doctor
Your care provider might ask:
·
Where is your pain?
·
Are your symptoms
constant or do they come and go?
·
How bad is your pain?
·
Did anything happen to
cause it?
·
Does anything you do
make the pain better or worse?
0 Comments