Cracked rib or just bruised?

[Aggie_Ama]

ON 1/2/09 DH endoed pretty ugly and bruised his chest. He said it hurts like heck to cough and doesn't tickle to lift things at work. It was a pretty nasty wreck judging by the number of cuts and how much dirt he emerged from the trail wearing.

If he goes to the doctor can they even tell or will he have to have X-Rays? They can't do anything for a cracked rib can they? I think a deep muscle bruise would hurt pretty bad for over a week but am I just being dismissive?

[Biciclista]

sounds like a rib. Nothing will help it except time. I went to the dr when I cracked a rib and they essentially told me to go home and take it easy until it didn't hurt so much. (a waste of my time!) It really can be excruciatingly painful, it's not like muscles. what's worse is sometimes the rib moves AFTER the accident and that pain is even worse (probably because of muscle spasms) so be very kind and don't make him laugh too much for a few days. In two weeks he should be a lot better.

[lph]

ahhh, poor guy. cracked a rib once and it hurt for AGES.

[solobiker]

You are right, there is not much they can do for injuries to the ribs. I would suggest that if he needs to cough or sneeze is to hug a pillow. That is supposed to help a bit. Good luck to him.

[Aggie_Ama]

Thanks ladies! He apparently discussed with his boss they same question and they self-daignosed it as a cracked rib based on his boss' experience with one. It is hard for him to take off work so he didn't want to go to the doctor if it wasn't necessary. Poor guy!

[Pedal Wench]

I crashed last summer -- luckily, my next door neighbor is an ER doc. He met me on the driveway, poked to make sure my kidneys and liver seemed okay and I hadn't punctured a lung, then said basically what everyone else said -- just take it easy, try not to laugh/cough/sneeze/breath deeply. Mine took about 6 weeks to get better. Didn't know if it was cracked or bruised, but didn't seem to matter.