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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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