![]() ![]() Take a family member or friend along, if possible, to help you remember the information you're given.įor broken ribs, questions to ask your provider include: All medications, vitamins and supplements you take, including doses.Key personal information, including recent accidents.Your symptoms, even those that seem unrelated to why you made the appointment, and when they began.What you can doīefore you see your primary care provider, make a list of: Here's information to help you get ready for your appointment. But if you break a rib because of repeated stress over time, you might see your primary care provider. Preparing for an appointmentīecause car accidents often cause broken ribs, many people learn they have a broken rib in a hospital's emergency department. Once pain is under control, certain exercises can help you breathe more deeply. If medicines taken by mouth don't help enough, shots can numb the nerves that lead to the ribs. Not being able to breathe deeply because of pain can lead to pneumonia. Being less active and icing the area regularly can help with healing and pain relief. Most broken ribs heal on their own within six weeks. It collects in the bones, particularly in places where a bone is healing, and is detected by a scanner. During a bone scan, a small amount of radioactive material is injected into your bloodstream. A bone can crack after repetitive trauma, such as long bouts of coughing. This is good for viewing cracked bones, also called stress fractures. This scan can look for harm to the soft tissues and organs around the ribs. CT scans also make it easier to see injuries to soft tissues and blood vessels. This often can find breaks that X-rays might miss. X-rays also can help diagnose a lung that has caved in. But X-rays might not show a fresh break, especially if the bone is only cracked. Using low levels of radiation, X-rays allow the bones to be seen. One or more of the following imaging tests might help with the diagnosis: Get about 1,200 milligrams of calcium and 600 international units of vitamin D daily from food and supplements.ĭuring 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. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D in the diet is important for strong bones. Put backing on carpets and area rugs to keep them from sliding. Reduce the risk of falls in the house. ![]() Wear protective equipment when playing contact sports. But the ends of a broken lower rib can cause serious harm to the spleen, liver or a kidney. The bottom two ribs rarely break because they can move more than the upper and middle ribs. The jagged end of a broken middle rib can punch a hole in a lung and cause it to cave in. 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 the main artery of the body, known as the aorta.Having more than one broken rib increases the risk.Ĭomplications depend on which ribs break. Cancer can weaken the bone, making it more likely to break.Ī broken rib can harm blood vessels and internal organs. Playing contact sports, such as hockey or football, increases the risk of injury to the chest. This disease in which bones lose their bulk increases the risk of breaking a bone. The following can increase the risk of breaking a rib: Ribs also can be broken by repeated impact from sports such as golf and rowing or from coughing hard and long. Causesĭirect impact - such as from a car accident, a fall, child abuse or contact sports - is the most common cause of broken ribs. 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. 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. The following can cause pain with a broken rib or make pain worse: ![]() A broken rib occurs when one of the bones in the rib cage breaks or cracks. ![]()
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