Broken RibStrut

4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
edited September 2012 in Strut Central
Sitting here in the waiting room for final diagnosis, but yeah it is highly likely I have broken a rib on my right side in a surfing accident.

Though this is hardly my first broken bone, it is my first broken rib. Any advice, experiences etc would be very helpful, considering it seems there is hardly anything they can do for me. Holler.

  Comments


  • damn...man my old school buddy broke/fractured a rib sneezing (no schitt), they sent him home as well and didnt do anything for him...couldnt sneeze, cough, even drinking water hurt..only good thing was that he quit smoking during this time only because it was too painful..

    brutal man...

  • 4YearGraduate said:
    Sitting here in the waiting room for final diagnosis, but yeah it is highly likely I have broken a rib on my right side in a surfing accident.

    Though this is hardly my first broken bone, it is my first broken rib. Any advice, experiences etc would be very helpful, considering it seems there is hardly anything they can do for me. Holler.

    My buddy had one. There is no treatment really you just have to wait and let it heal. Don't laugh, cough, or sneeze.
    Or you may re-break the healing bone. Sleep on your back. Yeah it pretty much sucks for 3 months.

  • Drugs...And try really hard to stay away from sick people and wash your hands a lot. You do not want to get a cold with a cough. If you have kids, good luck.

  • I appreciate the responses, it's crazy that you can have a broken bone and there is literally nothing to do about it.

    I don't normally sleep on my back so this is going to be brutal. I guess I was hoping for some overlooked Tibetan Hopi Brazilian mystical miracle cure!

  • Oh yeah, this one's a good one. My sincerest condolences.
    Acetominophen + Ibuprofin in combination will take the edge off, though will give you heartburn after a few days (take them with food). If you're like me you won't want to take a codeine-based painkiller for weeks on end.
    It does get completely better, though it takes so fucken long you'll start to absorb the dull pain into your personality. And it may curb your bedroom activities. Joy!
    Bummer (though, it could always be worse, right?).
    Good luck, man.

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    I'd send you a bunch of your alcoholic beverage of choice. But I don't think mixing with meds would be wise.

    Just for future reference tho, what might that be?


    I cracked a rib playing soccer once. It was not fun...

  • Collar bone break is kind of the same too. I could feel the bone grind every time I moved my arm. Only two bones I ever broke and they couldn't do shit for either. Smoking dope helped a lot and didn't have all the side effects of some of the heavier narcotics they give you. Don't you live in CA? Get a prescription.

  • I've broken a rib twice. I'm a pretty shitty skater. Ibuprofen in a large dose first thing in the morning to get under the pain, then yeah, weed.
    I even started doing yoga breathing exercises to get my breaths slower and shallower after the second one, as it was a complete break with grinding ends,
    Sorry to hear, makes for a very long and uncomfortable month or so.

    Curious, how does one break a rib surfing?

  • Soul Zilla said:
    Sleep on your back.

    I fell off my bike and cracked a rib last year; the one thing I couldn't do was sleep on my back. Not only was it incredibly painful, but if I did manage to lie down it was a hell of an ordeal trying to get back up. I ended up sleeping sort of half sat up.

    And of course sneezing, laughing or even taking a deep breath are no fun.

  • Oh, and let me say I'm talking edibles not smokeables here,
    coughing in that condition is to be avoided obviously.
    The more body-centric properties of a fine hash brownie is
    preferred over giggly blunts for this situation.


    Three Hundred Thirty Three posts, I'm halfway to evil!

  • neil_something said:
    Soul Zilla said:
    Sleep on your back.

    if I did manage to lie down it was a hell of an ordeal trying to get back up..

    Oh God, I remember this. Bracing myself, then pulling myself up using my bent knee to hold onto.

  • Gottdamn having a broken rib sounds horrible!

    :shitty:
    based on what you all are saying here.

    Thes... I wish you a speedy, (as) painless (as possible) recovery.

    b/w

    Damn! You can't even sneeze without suffering? Now I know the Marilyn Manson rumors are fake!

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    vinylstalker said:


    Curious, how does one break a rib surfing?

    Obviously, someone threw his carborator at him off of Pacific Ocean Park Pier.

  • Thanks DOR, i appreciate that. Private Beers and Red Wine for future reference .

    I turned down the painkillers (yes weeks on that shit does not seem like a plan - i watched too many House episodes to be down with that) and am going to rock through this on 600mg Motrin 3 times daily as needed (hopefully). Setting the calendar for to get back in the water exactly two weeks from now if all goes as planned. Might need to get a card for this too. I guess I finally have a good enough reason.

    Absolute could be worse, i'm really thankful i didn't drown. If anything i think it's funny my body is telling me to chill a bit, I still think of myself as if i'm 20 years old. But then again, I guess we all do. Talking to alot of cats i look up to who are older than me and they all told me 34 was when their body started to feel the effects. As far as how it happened, I surf regular stance - was sitting in the lineup and a huge outside set came in, probably 4-5 foot backs which translate to well overhead on the face. Passed the first wave, passed the second wave, final wave, and biggest came through and I was right on the shoulder (or so it seemed). I decided to paddle into it but was hesitating as I did thinking i'm not going to make the drop. Sure enough that split second of hesitation held me up at the highest point of the wave and the lip began pitching forward. It was as if i was laying on the roof of a house and someone was for quickly pushing me over the edge. The left (which is my backside) was still open so I angeled off really sharply to avoid taking the full drop but the wave was too big and hollow and i was too high up on the face. It began pitching my, my board straight out - I decided to ditch my board and threw it in front of me (why i did that I do not know..so stupid). I saw my board shoot out and down and instantly it was 6 or 7 feet below me right where the lip of the wave was preparing to slam me down. I curled up and put my arms around my head to protect my dome and was thrown down towards my board hitting it on my right side. as soon as i hit it I was sucked back up the face and slammed down again this time into the sand. I think it was the one two punch that did it.

    God damn hesitation.

  • Hesitation is at the root of most 'boardin slams.
    While awful, your slam sounds visually rad.

    Get a card, you earned it.

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    i broke all the ribs on my left side in a mountain bike wreck. I also dislocated my shoulder and had a severe head injury, so the rib thing seemed like the least of my problems at the time. a few months later though, i was all healed up except for the ribs. I remember sneezing being the most excruciating, and knowing it was about to happen was terror. You'd feel one coming on and just rub your nose and close your eyes hoping it would go away. It was the equivalent in pain to getting your hand slammed in a car door. i think one rib would be something you could live with. They make an ace bandage that goes around your torso that provides a little comfort, but you're gonna mostly just benefit from time.

  • This saturday I recracked an almost healed rib. It's no fun, sneezing/laughing and movements that you'll never expect to hurt are the worst.

    Yeah it'll be a month or 2. Good luck, I'm in the same boat you are.
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