Table of Contents
How does a bruised rib feel?
The main symptom of bruised ribs is chest pain. This pain may feel worse when you inhale. It may also hurt when you laugh, cough, or sneeze. Bending over or moving into other positions may also cause sharp chest pain.
How do you tell if you have a cracked rib or pulled muscle?
Check if you have a bruised or broken rib
- strong pain in your chest area, particularly when you breathe in.
- swelling or tenderness around the affected ribs.
- sometimes bruising on the skin.
- feeling or hearing a crack if it’s a broken rib.
What are the signs and symptoms of bruised ribs?
The main symptoms are pain, swelling, and skin discoloration.
- The skin overlying the bruise may turn blue, purple, or yellow.
- The bruised area is tender and sore.
- You may feel pain both when you move and while at rest.
- Breathing, coughing, laughing, or sneezing can all cause or increase pain.
What happens if you leave a bruised rib untreated?
When untreated, rib fractures will lead to serious short-term consequences such as severe pain when breathing, pneumonia and, rarely, death. Long-term consequences include chest wall deformity, chronic pain and decreased lung function.
When should I worry about a rib injury?
If a person with a recent bruised or broken rib experiences any of the following symptoms, they should seek medical attention right away: Severe pain that continues to get worse. Increasing shortness of breath or trouble breathing. High fever.
Is bed rest good for broken ribs?
If you’ve broken a rib (or several), one of the best things you can do is simply rest. This will not only reduce some of the pain but also help your body navigate the healing process.
Can you have bruised ribs without a visible bruise?
An injury may damage the rib but not cause a bruise that you can see. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a rib is bruised or broken. The symptoms may be the same. And a broken bone can’t always be seen on an X-ray.
What does a rib stress fracture feel like?
People with a stress fracture of a rib commonly complain of increasing chest pain that has developed over a period of weeks. The pain is usually localised over the site of the stress fracture and is worsened by exercise. At first the pain may have only been present after activity.
What is the fastest way to heal a broken rib?
What’s the Treatment?
- Take a break from sports to allow yourself to heal without hurting yourself again.
- Put ice on the area to relieve pain.
- Take pain medicine like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
- Take deep breaths to avoid pneumonia.
- Don’t wrap anything tightly around your ribs while they’re healing.
How should you sleep with a broken rib?
Sleeping While Sitting Upright Ideally, this is the best sleep position for patients with a broken rib. This position can help your ribs heal quickly than lying down on the bed. Sleeping while lying down may exert unwanted pressures on the spine, which might be transferred to the ribs.
What is a hairline fracture of a rib?
Stress fractures, also called hairline fractures, are tiny cracks in a bone. They can be caused by repetitive force, often from athletic overuse. Stress fractures can also arise from normal use of a bone that has been weakened by a condition such as osteoporosis.
Why does it hurt to lay down with a broken rib?
Lying flat makes the pain worse because the chest has to rise against gravity to get that deep breath in and sitting upright takes gravity away.