Bruised ribs anyone?

[O Town]

Okay well I have done some research on the net and found a lot of people in the same predicament as me ATM, and learned quite a lot but I thought I would post here to see if anyone has had bruised, broken, or cracked ribs in the past and what their experiences were.

So I fell off my bike about 8 days ago and hit the concrete HARD on my left side. Screwed up my 2nd toe on my left food pretty good, but its well enough to walk on now just a little bruised still. But now my ribs are a whole different story.
When I hit the ground my arms were out as I was gripping the handle bars of my cruiser, so when I fell I slammed directly onto my ribs and let out the weirdest sound, lol. Didn't seem to be in that much pain at first but the next day it was clear my ribs are badly bruised. The upper left, right above and around my heart which is kinda freaking me out a bit.
You can forget about letting any kind of air out your body, whether it be a cough, hiccup, god for bid a sneeze or even a toot hurts. Sleeping is a nightmare and getting out of bed just as bad. Last night I took 600 mg of Ibuprofen before bed and slept much better, but still very sore and hard to move around. So my question is this, if you have had bruised ribs how long did it last for you and what did you do to help alleviate the pain? It seems as though it is getting worse instead of better, and everything I have read is saying 5-6weeks of this. I am not a wussie by no means and general don't complain about pain, but holy crap bruised ribs are no joke.

[Miss Mary]

OTOWN! Oh my gosh, hadn't realized you injured yourself recently until I read this topic. My mom has bruised/cracked ribs after falls (over the past several decades), on ice, in the winter. They seem to take forever to heal. Coughing, moving about in bed, just getting comfortable on the couch to watch TV is all a real challenge when your ribs are healing. She's told me how very painful this type of injury can be.

I hate to tell you this but I think it took my mom at least a few weeks to feel normal again and have stretches during the day without pain. I want to say 3 weeks?

You're 8 days into this though. So you do have one week down already. Try to think positive here.

Wishing you better days ahead.

[Dionne]

Have you sought medical attention yet?

[vbhoutex]

Have you sought medical attention yet?

That is my question too. If it is not improving at all I would get checked by a doctor. X-rays may be in order to be sure there is nothing broken and sharp that could tear into something else, etc. Please get yourself checked.

My Mom once broke a rib laughing at a party(this is not a joke even though she was laughing at one-I'm still not clear as to exactly how it happened)and IIRC it took several weeks for the pain to subside and things to get back to normal.

[O Town]

Mary- Not what I wanted to hear, lol. But thank you for the input.

No I haven't seen a doctor because 1. I don't have insurance and 2. No money to pay for treatment. If I thought or begin to think its really bad I would obviously go, but as of now I believe they are just bruised and even if they were broken, not much they can do for that anyways. Like you said David the only danger would be a sharp edge puncturing a lung or something. But I think I would feel movement if they were really broke. Still hurts like h-e-double hockey sticks. Its funny because as I type I feel fine its only certain tasks that kill. I can't wait till I can sneeze a full sneeze, I didn't realize that I sneeze at least once a day till now. lol.

[Cookiely]

My grandfather had severely bruised and cracked ribs and was laid up for at least two months. It was when I was a little girl and I knew my grandpa was hurt because he was never a person who sat down much. He was always busy doing something. I am so sorry that you are hurting. Have you tried getting a rib belt at the pharmacy since you don't have insurance to see the dr. ask the pharmacist to help you. Also, remember to take an acid reducer when you are taking the ibuprophen. I was taking mega doses for pain in my knee and ended up with a bleeding ulcer. Take some pepcid with the ibuprophen.

[Stephanie]

My Mom had a couple of cracked ribs when she had her car accident in 2005. It took her a long time to heal, but she was rather immobile anyway since she was wearing a neck brace due to a fractured vertebrae.

Did you check out Webmd? Here's a link for fractured ribs;

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/frac ... c-overview

[artist]

I have had cracked ribs twice, it is no fun and you feel like you can't breathe without pain at first. Moving your arms can be painful. If it doesn't ease some in the next few days at least a little I think I would go even though I know you don't have insurance. I could not feel my ribs move either, but they were cracked. Do get a wrap for your ribs. It will make it at least somewhat bearable. Good luck to you OTown!

[JonathanBelles]

No injured ribs here, just wanted to wish you well!!

[tropicana]

yeah, same as Fact, ive never broken or bruised any ribs here (i did break my hand when i was 11 though but that wasnt painful, it was actually fashionable and cool back then to actually have broken something) haha

but yeah, just wishing you a speedy healing and recovery. It cant be easy. But its been 9 days now so thats 9 days closer to being recovered . YAY

-justin-

[Dionne]

If your lucky.....it was just your ribs. Remember that your ribs protect vital organs. You may have internal bruising. Years ago I got hit by an 18 wheeler. I ended up in the hospital. Thought it was ribs. Turned out it was deep internal bruising where the seatbelt caught me. It took months to heal.

If you don't start showing some improvement soon......irregardless of insurance or money you should see a doctor.

Good luck. We wish you well.

[Miss Mary]

We have medical insurance coverage but I avoid doctors. I have been for over 8 years now. We have a family of 4 and each of us have individual $2500 deductibles before they'll cover 80% of charges. Our co-pays are $30 to $60 for office visits. Our ER co-pay? $250. Cha-ching. Our prescription co-pays? $30 to $50 for each prescription.

So what I'm saying is I can relate to OTown.

Even when you have (and I use that word "have" loosely), you're hesitant to see doctors.

Each time I fight for our ins. co. to pay a bill, you have to go thru 15 min. of verifying all of our info, date of birth, address, etc., etc. Then they want to know if any of us out of 4 have other insurance. I want to scream by now saying - and do you think that if we did have other insurance I would be calling you right now to pay for this bill? I don't think so....

They'll send me letters saying - for your optimal health, you need a colonoscopy.

Then you book it and they won't pay for it!

For 2008, we paid over $4000 in medical costs our insurance would not cover.

So I understand where OTown is coming from. Going to a doctor is SO EXPENSIVE!

I'm done now.......I am so long overdue for a pap, mammogram, physical that it isn't even funny anymore....I know I'm taking huge chances with my health for we still cannot afford for me to see doctors. Not until we get our daughters out of college.......

[Stephanie]

Miss Mary! You REALLY need to get at least that colonoscopy!

I hate the fact that people need to make a choice between getting the help they need for their health and other basic necessities.

[Miss Mary]

That I had. $1500.

I'm skipping the rest. My Gyn always suggests surgery - hysterectomy - but I can't even think about that. My uterus is dropped, has been dropped for years. It hasn't plopped out yet though (my SIL's has!). So until it's sticking out, I'm keeping it. LOL He always says with my chart in his hand - you have insurance - as he's walking out the door - and I'm saying - ha, what insurance! This isn't the 80s or 90s.......this is when people who have insurance really don't have insurance. When insurance companies balk at paying anything. When they look for one tiny item to reject a claim.

So don't worry I eventually had the colonoscopy. I was 18 months overdue for that. And if you can believe it, I haven't had anything to worry about in 10 years, back when I had my tumor. 1999. Each scope since? Clean! Which is great news but each time, I have that bill facing me and there wasn't anything in there to start with.

I'm just venting and trying to back up O Town.

Something has got to change in this country with insurance coverage. The small company my husband's employed at cannot afford to offer insurance premiums they once offered to employees, they've gone up over 4 times they amount they cost back when I had my surgeries. Back then I paid a total of $1400 for two 19 day day hospital stays. $1400! Today, I would cringe knowing I'd be responsible for at least 1/4 the total amount. Our ins. would nickel and dime us saying we had to pay for it. I know they would.

So even if you "have" insurance these days, it doesn't mean a thing. I might as well not even have it.

[Stephanie]

Oh, I know what you were trying to say to O-Town, I just knew that you had the colon cancer and I was hoping that you weren't going to put it off for too long.

I totally agree with you with the health care. I do have a good plan but even the thought of putting out any money right now is scary for those even with a job. It's just BAD out there.

[Miss Mary]

It is a scary time. I understand where she's coming from. I think a lot of people in this country are self-diagnosing their medical conditions right now. Probably more than ever before!

At one time we had $3 co-pays for our prescriptions. Now that was when my girls were babies - back in the late 80s to early 90s. Those days are history!

[CajunMama]

Hey O'doodle...checking in here to see how you're doing. Hopefully your pain is subsiding. Stay away from chat. We might make you laugh and that'll hurt!

I wish we had any kind of co-pay on our insurance. Our deductible is up to $6000. But i'm thankful for even having insurance these days. If something drastic were to happen (knock on wood that it doesn't) i'll be thankful for even the $6k deductible. I actually ended up meeting our deductible on Dec. 31 last year.

[abajan]

Mary- Not what I wanted to hear, lol. But thank you for the input...I can't wait till I can sneeze a full sneeze, I didn't realize that I sneeze at least once a day till now. lol.

Yes but until those ribs heal, you really need to stop laughing out loudly!
Seriously though, get well soon, O Town. I'll pray for you, as I'm sure other S2K members will.

[Miss Mary]

We sure will.

How ya doin' OTown?

[O Town]

Well today I feel a SLIGHT improvement. Its so slight its hard to tell. I am finding out that this isn't like typical injuries where you wake up one day and say....wow I feel a lot better today. It happens so gradual, I believe, its kinda hard to tell. But like I said I can feel a slight change today. I can half cough instead of quarter cough. Sneezing still hurts badly. I am trying to wean myself of the Ibuprofen to get a sense of my "real" pain level. But tonight before bed I will dose up, because that seems to be when its at its worse. I am still staying active, biking 30 minutes, and walking 30 minutes a day. I worked in the yard all day today preparing for the garden and trimming back everything that the freezes we had killed. Like I said some things don't hurt at all, and then other times you feel like your going to die. I'm grateful that its not a 24/7 pain like a toothache and or ear ache.....those are the worst!!!
Thanks everyone for your input and concern, and I agree with you Mary and Stephanie about this whole health care crisis in our country. Its really a shame when you feel you have to wait every ache and pain out till you can't take it anymore before you finally break to see a doctor. Its freakin ridiculous!!!!!!! I am hoping that they come out with an insurance similar to what my kids have. Its state ran and it cost me $15 bucks a month. $5 for well visits and $5 for ER. Scripts and sick visits are free, its so awesome. Its called Florida Healthy Kids. And I heard a year or so back they were going to do similar for adults, I appreciate the fact that my kids are taking care of, but WE ALL need to be taking care of, preventive care is the key. God I hope we can resolve this before my kids are parents......*sigh*

*OTown sneaks into chat and pokes mamadoodle in the rib with a big large trout

P.S. taking that walk tonight with my 3 kids bout killed me. I was already feeling a little air restricted and my kids were being...well....buttwipes. lol. And I can not yell at all with out feeling sharp pains, it takes too much air. he he. I never realized how much I yell their names throughout the day, not just for them being in trouble but just basic tasks like setting the table, getting in the shower, ect.... I am always calling someone. We so need an intercom system in the house. That would be sweet.