Doctor says I have 4 laterial fractured ribs on the right side. (# 5, 6, 7 & 8) I got a script for pain meds and was told to take it easy for 8 weeks. Since this is the first time I have done this, does it really take that long to heal?

...maybe longer
It may bother you for months. Mine did.
What did ya do?

I had to lay down my Harley when a car pulled out in front of me stopped and then took off. Thanks for the real world info. I am going to take next week off of work and see how I feel.

I had a buddy accidentally run himself over with a van and he broke some ribs, he said it hurt to do everything! Laughing, laying down, bending over, etc.

The worst part was it was the SECOND time he had run himself over that month.

Alchohol can cause stupid things to happen....

Vicoden 5/500, the doctor wrote 60 of them. So he must think it is going to hurt for awhile. I have just been taking one a day so far.

It does hurt doing all those things. I slept in the chair last night so that I could get up eaiser. Tonight I will try the bed. I am sure that will be a adventure in pain when I try and get up.

The ribs will be tender for quite a while. You will be feeling fine, then bend or move wrong and you will feel llike they are still broken. Don't forget to stay away from anyone who has a cold.
Having a cough right now will make your life even more painful. Sorry to hear about the bike too. Same thing happened to my Dad, car pulled out into the road and stopped. He was on the brakes, the front end washed out, then the car took off.

Hope you don't have hayfever, sneezing is a bitch.

Broke 6 of them.  Took about 3 months to feel right.

As far as injurys go I think it is about the worst for how long you are in pain, when I cracked mine I ended up with some granola munching doctor that would not give me any pain meds. The worst thing was trying to sleep and waking up every time I tried to turn over be carefull because you will start feeling better and try and bend or lift something and make them worse again.  I was about 3 weeks into getting better and feeling pretty good and fucked them up again. Take it easy.

Fractured one 10 days ago playing basketball, damn it hurts.  

Crown Royal with beer is a proven stool softener in the right ratio to water intake to avoid dehydration.



Like most things, it's a balancing game.

I laid mine over in august, I had 3 broken ribs. It will hurt for a LONG TIME! months. It takes along time to heal. the first month will be hell. jost move slowly, and try to stay relaxed. Good beer helps at the end of the day. When my pain meds were gone, I didnt go back for anymore, I just tried to take it easy and it did get better. YMMV, Best of luck to you.  

How is the Harley?

I think most of us knew that...

I bent the right foot peg, scraped the exhaust pipe and scraped the handle bar on the right side. It is not really to bad and there is a small scratch on my helmet. How did you guys do at work? I am going to take a week off but then I little concerned about continueing to hurt it at work. I do a lot of lifting of small items and also alot of reaching up high and low. Doctors offices emailed me my Xray report below. Thanks for all the help, at least I will know why it still hurts in a couple of months. No alcohol for me as I stopped drinking years ago. I will just have to go with the meds.

NarrativeXR RIBS 3+ VIEW WITH CHEST RIGHT, APR 28, 2011 06:10:00 PM

HISTORY: A 49-year-old male with trauma and pain in the right ribs.

COMPARISON: None.

TECHNIQUE: Radiographic evaluation of the chest is performed with an
anterior projection obtained and oblique projections of the right ribs
obtained.

FINDINGS: Multiple right lateral rib fractures are present involving the
fifth, sixth, seventh, and possibly eighth lateral ribs. No underlying
pneumothorax is present. No pulmonary contusion is present. The heart is
normal. No pleural effusion is present.
Impression

CONCLUSION: Multiple acute right lateral rib fractures involving the 5th
through 7th ribs, and possibly 8th lateral rib.
General InformationCollected:4/28/2011 6:40 PM
Resulted:4/28/2011 6:40 PM

I was drunk and stepped out of a second story door onto a deck that did not exist.

Ah, those are the worst kind of decks.



 

I only took the day of the accident off from work. I went back in the next day. The pain was the same for nearly a month straight. Your not going to make an impact sitting on your ass at home (unless you do a labor intensive job, then your screwed.

With cracked or broken ribs, sneezing, coughing, vomiting, laughing, bearing down, hugs, and damned near anything else hurts alot.  (19 years of jujutsu= lots of damaged ribs)  There really isn't any shortcut to the time issue, unfortunately.  With as many damaged ones as you have, my guess is that you will be using all the pain meds, and be very grateful for each and every one of them.  

Did the doc tell you about the breathing exercises that are supposed to help you avoid problems from too much fluid in your lungs?  No fun, but they have to be done.

No he did not say anything about breathing exercises. He did tell me that I should not where a belt around my ribs because it might cause pnumonia. He said that was old school to wrap the ribs. And you our right everything hurts. So much for doing anything for a couple of months.

I wrapped mine anyways(doubled), only way I could function.  Doc told me 6 weeks off, I went to work 4 days later.  Wow that hurt.

When I Cracked mine the doc said to make sure to breath deeply for  a few minutes each hour, this helps clear moisture that can collect in your lungs from breathing too shallow.

If you have any "friends" who are out to get you, they will bring over beer and comedy movies to get you laughing...

If you have any "friends" who are out to get you, they will bring over beer and comedy movies to get you laughing...
Laugh, laugh, OWW !  (that is when it really gets funny)

Mine said the same, He told me it would hurt but would help avoid getting pneumonia. The moisture would add up and things go down hill from there.

Thanks guys for all the info. My doctor did not tell me very much about what to do or expect. Just gave me some pain meds and said I will get better in time. After some discussion with my wife I am done riding and the bike is going up for sale (cheap). Since I am on blood thinners for the life the risk is just to great anymore.

IIRC, the basic breathing exercise was to blow out as completely as you can so you expel absoutely every possible bit of air from the bottom of your lungs.  Yep, it hurts like hell during the last 25%, but apparently, that is where you get the most benefit.  Some physical terrorists...err, therapists, have a little device with a ball in it that you blow into to move the ball up, or out as far as you can.