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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 3, 2012 - 12:10am PT
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I took a hard fall into the wall at the gym and broke a rib. It's incredibly painful - intense muscle spasms. Anyone have any experience with this? How long before you could run or bike? When could you climb again? When could you sleep again? Any hints?
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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couple months and maybe longer if yer old! Don't laugh, sneeze, cough, poop hard or have sex. sleep on the opposite side and GUD luck.
Peace
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Don't watch anything that will make you laugh for about three weeks.
Seriously!
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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No advice here, but I'm sorry for your pain. :-( Heal fast.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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oh Mike!
ribs aren't fun to deal with... jerked one around on a surprising fall outside and had it nag me for about 3 weeks... doubt it was even broke...
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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the good news is: you won't be sneezing for some time.
The pain-- as your lungs start to expand to sneeze: will block the sneeze.
Other than sneezing, I was amazed what I could, or could not do with a broken, and on other occasions, cracked rib.
Don't breathe deep and anything is possible-----or not.
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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 3, 2012 - 12:32am PT
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Thanks for the advise. TGT I totally get that. Coughing is really bad too. It doesn't feel all that good trying to sleep on the opposite side either. Seems like I can only lay on my back. When will the muscle spasms go away. They take my breath away they're so intense.
I'm heading to Europe in May. Hope to be healthy and somewhat fit by then.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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use a knife to cut the rib, apply kc masterpiece, consume, then
procure a moist towlette.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can. Three years later, there’s a knock on the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says "What the hell was that all about?"
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Ol' Skool
Trad climber
Oakhurst, CA
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Took a whipper and busted mine up- recall having a good month of discomfort (though it gets better)- and weird occasional twinges for several years after that- (maybe tore some connecting tissue?)
The hard part was trying to fake good health when my folks passed through town. In fact I knew I couldn't pull it off and fabricated some excuse for not being able to get together.
As mentioned, try sleeping on the side that hurts least and pray for no respiratory illness in the next month. You'll be semi-normal in no time.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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A Jew, a Black guy and a Preacher walk into a bar,
the bartender says,
"what is this, some kind of a frickin joke?"
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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Hey Mike...
Remember that OW roof we were trying to do in Josh and then that hideous noise came out of my torso and we sorta thought the rangers shot me with a rubber bullet? That thing took about 6 months before I stopped feeling it or thinking about it. Still not sure what it was, but it was rib or xiphoid related... unless those damn tools did shoot me. Every now and again, doing the same kinda move, it still hurts or feels like it might go. What was that.... three years ago?
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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A hundred prostitutes in Washington D.C. were
asked if they would ever sleep with President
Clinton. 60% said, 'Never again!'
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Rolfr
Social climber
North Vancouver BC
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Twice climbing, twice falling off ladder or scaffold, once on a mountain bike. I found old school taping up of the injured area helpful, and managed to climb within two weeks, but no high steps and definitely at an easier grade.
the more interesting question should be "how many bone have you broken over your climbing life"
I'll start a new thread.
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Ol' Skool
Trad climber
Oakhurst, CA
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only exceeded by Marion Barry- who incidentally is interested in your crack offer...
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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first. Bouldering...he said. "I got ya Dude". and then I was looking up from the Curry village dust at the cig dangling from his stupid, slack jaw, as he asked "Dudeman, are you okay?"
second- tele skiing in a whiteout on Acid, listening to Gates of Delirium on the yellow Walkman in the chest pocket of my parka. landed on it hard and heard the crack over the din... Good times...
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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I climbed the Kingfisher with a broken rib. Fell in the bathtub of the Furnace Creek Ranch, where I departed from my family en route to Moab.
At first it didn't hurt so bad, leading me to suspect it was just a contusion.
But, by the top of the 2nd pitch, a chimney, I could feel the raw edges scraping against one anther. One over the Moenkopi capstone roof, the final pitch goes free, with an 5.8 undercling. Nice to do it one armed!
For some reason, broken ribs hurt far more than they should! Definately stay away from sick people - if it hurts too much to cough, you'll be looking at pneumonia.
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SGropp
Mountain climber
Eastsound, Wa
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I've broken them twice.
The first time, falling on my framing hammer on a job site. Really painful for a couple of weeks.
The second time being dragged down the deck by a line on a purse seiner in Alaska. I hit the the running backstay hard . The stay was made out of chain but it kept me from going overboard.
It hurt like hell for a couple of weeks, hard to work and hard to sleep. The only thing that seem to bring relief was leaning up against the hot exhaust stack running up through the galley.
Sometimes that old break hurts so much when the weather changes that it keeps me awake for hours, even 25 years later.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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At least you didn't do it on the first day of a month long trip to Patagonia!
That really hurt! :-)
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corniss chopper
climber
breaking the speed of gravity
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A man and his wife were lying in bed when she was pleasantly surprised to
find his hands beginning to roam over her stomach. Then he went to her
breasts, and all over until she was thoroughly aroused.
Suddenly he stopped and lay back with a sigh of satisfaction.
'Why have you stopped, love?' asked his wife.
'Its OK, I found the remote,' he said, switching on the TV.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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I broke four ribs and punctured a lung. The doc said 6-8 weeks for the ribs to heal. I tried taping with little relief. The doc was right on the money and about 6 weeks in it started feeling better and by 8 weeks I didn't notice it. YMMV
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em kn0t
Trad climber
isle of wyde
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Sorry you're hurt, Mike. Hope you heal quickly.
You might consider using a rib belt, a wide elastic band that fastens with velcro around the lower chest/waist. Inexpensive & easily available online.
Although with some caveats (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2643965);, I found that using a rib belt for climbing while recovering from a dislocated rib (different injury but similar treatment, i.e. rest, tincture of time) was very helpful.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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maybe adam (OT) will post up.
~stands for old testament right?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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What everybody else has been saying was pretty much what I would say.
Laughing ain't funny. And sneezing... Don't even think about sneezing.
Another thing I learned from the two broken ribs I've suffered through was how to get out of bed without using my abdominal muscles. Learned something about pain tolerance, too, because I broke the first one right at the start of a renovation job that could not be put off.
But, yeah, time will pass and you'll recover.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Popped a rib once while trying to open my Bear Vault on a cold morning. It was so dumb. I was laughing and writhing in pain at the same time, each making the other worse.
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ArminHelbach
Sport climber
St Johann,Germany
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I broke two ribs Jan 6th. The first two weeks were very painfull, I started climbing again after 4 weeks and I'm about to be fully back now. So no worries about May!
Best wishes, Armin
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Hey Mike, Gary from the Woodson gig,
Holding a pillow/arm against the affected side helps splint the ribs, especially when you know you have to cough, etc. I posted in an earlier thread that I too, busted a rib, my seventh rib on my right side, while twisting really hard to hold body tension on the Animal Mantle finish to the Dead Animal Traverse, out at Santee Boulders in 2010. I didn't fall nor strike anything but I felt two pops and knew it was over as I took a controlled fall down to the pads below. It felt as if a tree branch was sticking out of my chest which was the worst part, along with the intermittent spasms. I had a video of myself doing the same problem back in 2007 saved on my phone so I was actually able to show the Doc the mechanism that caused my injury. She, the doc, said that that was a first.
I was back out at the boulders in three weeks GENTLY pulling on stone again but didn't fully recover for two months or more. To this day I'm still scared to repeat that body position and don't know if I ever will after twenty five years of doing it.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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i had 10 months to build our house,
my wife was + pregnant
and we were homeless and she
wanted a home birth
so i hatched myself a new soul
and attacked reality like god
and started my project
fell thru the floor joists the first
month and broke a rib
but no insurance allowed me recover
and time has never been on my side
so for the next nine months every
swing of the hammer and dive of the
spade growed me a little closer to
a beautiful death,
i got the final inspection done
two weeks prior to our home birth.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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I had 7 of them broken, each with 2 separate fractures almost 2 years ago in Eldo.
(1) Don't sneeze!
(2) Don't even THINK about sneezing.
(3) Laughing causes tears of mirth to become tears of anguish.
(4) Don't get constipated. That means no Percocets! I mean it!
Other than it fuks you up, no long term problems; I went climbing in The Ditch 4 months later. Of course...I couldn't climb worth schitt.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Like with most injuries, time. Don't rush yourself on any injury, as it may/will haunt you years later if you rush it. Get it healed correctly the first time, even if you have to sacrifice activities, otherwise, you may reget it.
I have had a number of breaks (and torn muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc etc) over the years (I'm accident prone, or as my late mother used to say: "An accident waiting to happen").
Two ribs are included in my list of broken bones. Perhaps the most painful fracture is a rib (though a broken clavicle or scapula is/are not very pleasant, I know - and when I was ten I was hit by a car, suffering a compound fracture of my tibia - six MONTHS in a wheel chair, arggh).
As mentioned, stay away from comedy acts, don't catch a cold (coughing/sneezing is on par with laughing for pain reasons), no butterfly strokes in the pool, and...
... and you should be fine in six to eight weeks. Just don't rush it.
EDIT
As for the spasms, some sort of muscle relaxant may be in order (just don't overdo it), but quinine (in tonic water with your gin or vodka, heh heh) is also believed to help relieve spasms, and I have found that Co-Enzyme Q10 (Co-Q 10) relieved big time the muscle spasms (Charley horses) in my legs from taking a statin (Lipitor in my case, up to 10% of statin takers report muscle cramps, usually in legs), which can rob the body of this valuable co-enzyme.
Once I started taking Co-Q10 along with my Lipitor, those regular (almost every night), very painful foot and calf spasms stopped immediately. I thank my pharmacist for putting me onto the statin/cramp/Co-Q10 relationship and helping to solve the problem. Though my GP at the time, an excellent doctor, could not figure out the cramp problem, the pharmacist (excellent one) did.
Perhaps ask your doctor or pharmacist about Co-Q 10 and if it could help your spasms. I convinced Jennie's hospital team/doctors (and subsequently her GPs) when she was in the hospital most of summer 2010, that several studies have shown that Co-Q 10 may also help foggy brain (in Jen's case, Korsakoff's), so her docs have had her on it since.
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Speaking of things not to do, while waiting in the ER waiting room I was so hungry that I made the mistake of taking a SLOW walk over to eat a taco at Rubio's and, as usual, put some picante hotsauce on it...BIG MISTAKE! While eating it, walking back across the parking lot, some chile got too close to my trachea and WHAM! I was on my knees in the parking lot with the taco all over the place!
Here's the video/climb again that I broke my rib on, trying to hold the position at 1:13, just before I throw out to the edge:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKzlM-8t87I
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Hoh man! I just saw this. I've never broken a rib, but dislocated one bad, doing a front flip over an upraised fire grate in josh while evading smoke, swilling lucky lager, and meditating on a bottle cap rebus...
I thought that thing would Never, heal, at least a month before I wasn't constantly aware of it (I climbed bikini whale the next day) probably two months before it stopped hurting when I climbed. A year before I forgot about it.
No laughing, hunh? Don't call Dingus! Whatever you do, don't see Dingus and Captn America together, you will perish!!
This has not been your best 12 months!
Did you line up a cat sitter?
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Daphne
Trad climber
Mill Valley, CA
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Hey Mike, just a get better soon wish. Yeah, like Jay says, not your best year in terms of injuries and recovery periods, huh? Im sure you'll be happy in May if you invoke your full sanity for this recovery. big hug
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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i think we lost mike.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Just sent you an email mike, check out Manny's chest epic on fb, maybe he'll send more vibes here!
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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^^^^^
Silver's right, Epsom Salt baths, great for sore muscles and it also helps relieve my eczema.
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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 5, 2012 - 10:00am PT
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Thanks for all the tips, and for the positive energy. I really do appreciate it. No more jokes! I've been doing epsom salt baths. Don't know if it helps the broken rib but it really makes me clean. I've been eating a lot of Kale (more calcium than dairy). I'm sure Russ will have something to say about that!
One Supertopian emailed me that he did a lot of situps and pullups while recovering. I can't imagine that. Like Ghost, I've figured out how to get in and out of bed without using my abs. Any abdominal muscle contraction brings out intense muscle spasms. I gave up on the stationary bike for the same reason.
What I wonder about now is if the pain subsides and I can tolerate things like running and/or skiing, will it set me back? Seems like circulation would be a really good thing. I do have a bad habit of trying to do too much after injury however and don't want to do that this time.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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One thing to keep in mind with getting some kind of cardio workout, if there's a chance you could fall on the injured rib, there's a good chance it could puncture your lung. After a 5 day stay in the hospital for mine, I would seriously recommend you avoid anything that might result in you taking a spill.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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I broke one rib once;....took 10 days until I could climb again....and I started back slowly.....it hurt like hell too.....it will slow you down, no doubt;..but you will be mint soon enough.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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No advice, just wishing you quick healing.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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Mike, I have broken ribs on three different occasions.
In each case it was a full break, not just a crack.
The first two times, with one rib involved, I felt totally healed at six
weeks.
I could climb before that, though not at the standard you'll be pining for,
but riding a bike uphill (standing) or sprinting to beat a stoplight took
the full time for recovery.
After my more recent injury, which involved several ribs, I still felt
discomfort and weakness at around eight weeks, but could climb pretty hard
at ten weeks.
The muscle spasms were totally gone within five days for me.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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If you go running or skiing then you deserve whatever you get. ;-)
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Inner City
Trad climber
East Bay
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Broke a ride mtn biking once. Hurt like hell. Couldn't sleep lying down, had to borrow a friend's lounge chair and spent the second half of each night in the reclined chair...not fun but bearable. About 3 mnths to feeling fine again.
Good luck.
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burp
Trad climber
Salt Lake City
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Hiccups are torture! One is praying for them to end. Not sure how to avoid though.
Cracked mutiple ribs 2x playing indoor soccer. I was the oldest guy out there ... had enough of that!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Not even Kale jokes?
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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I've got no advice other than to wait it out, your body will tell you what you can and can't do.
I've broken eight ribs and a sternum on four separate occasions.
A couple of years back I dislocated two ribs. It took a week of serious pain and then, I took a deep breath and felt an agonizing pain. Instantly, there was a huge shift followed by an audible thunk, and my ribs were back in place.
Where are the broken ribs, front or back?
Be grateful that it wasn't a sternum, that one gave me pain for over a year.
Best of luck.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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I broke a few in early December after crashing a big/heavy XR650R baja rally dirt bike.
By the end of December I was riding again but still in pain so I took it easy.
Same deal. I could only sleep on my back. I got used to it.
Getting out of bed or sneezing was VERY painful. The first 2 weeks were bad.
For me it was about 3 weeks until I was ok to climb as long as I took it easy. After 2 months I felt fine.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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A really long time ago in a different life I hit a guy with a solid side kick and broke a coupple of them ;)
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Heal quickly Mike.
Jaybro, that vision of flipping over the fire grate while pondering bottlecap rebi (rebuses?) had me thinking of Luke's jedi training with Yoda on his back.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Kind of like that, it was.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Mar 11, 2012 - 06:23pm PT
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Mike, as in Curly Kale? One of my favorites. It's sprouting in the garden (greenhouse, after all, this is Ireland) now. Transplant time soon. Kale as in Kale or JJ Cale.
EDIT
Jaysus, Brandon, sternum? I've been there. And tail bone too. Who asked for the Count de Sade?
NB (My) Jennie is improving, sort of (she still has issues with her child abuse by her father, understandably), but I just want to add that I think, without reservations (wait a minute, let met think about that one), the Taco Stand has been the best tonic I have come across.
To all of you Supertopians, best wishes [and safe climbing... free falling, BASE (what, are you nuts? I'm jumping off this?), surfing, kayaking, smoking joints (what?), scuba (which I am finally learning), sailing, hang gliding... whatever], just be happy... and careful.
PS Politics is the trickiest activity, avoid if possible.
And I thought the one-and-a-half dive off of the third pool at Three Pools (down from
Rainbow Pool on 120) was tricky... I'd never be a politician, my conscious gets to me too much.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Mar 11, 2012 - 08:12pm PT
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^^^^^^
Lolli, it hurts, actually, yeah it hurts (I was trying to think of something clever to write, but no, ouch). It gives one a new perspective on seating arrangements, so to speak.
EDIT
I wish I could come up with a better reply, but when one has a 'pain' in the butt like I have had, oucchhhhh.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Mar 11, 2012 - 08:19pm PT
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My mom busted her tail bone when she was 7 months pregnant. Sounds rough.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Mar 11, 2012 - 08:34pm PT
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Crimpie, rough? It's a "vital organ", so to speak. What can I say? "Where to sit"?
Okay, it is not an organ, but a busted one is not pleasant. Take my (and your mom's) word for it, oucccchhh.
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