TIME TO HEAL: 6 weeks like any other fx
unless one doesn't have good bone healing.
I had several sore ribs from a fall back in
2002. I asked a friend who has done all the male macho stuff how long they
would hurt, he said 2 weeks if not broken, 6 weeks if broken. The pain
quit at week 6. Same as when I fell in a shower in Qatar. Did not go
to doc for 3 days as was on R&R. I did all the activiities planned
included a wild ride in the desert on 4x4 RV. When the aspiran and tylenol
and benadryl did not help the pain, I figured it was broken. The doc said
it was hard to see it on the XR.
I did not go to doc for the first incident but rode
a 50 miler the next week. Wrapped my ribs with a couple of ace
wraps. Took lots of tylenol and motrin and a beer on the way out to the
next loop. When tylenol, aspiran or motrin do not help the pain, there is
high chance it is broken.
Treatment is control pain so the patient can
breathe normally and keep lungs cleared to avoid pneumonia.
The biggest potential is that the ribs displace and
puncture a lung. The other, besides pain, is that whatever caused the rib
to break can bruise the lung or the blow to cause the lung to collapse.
Bull riders know a lot about this.
