Broken ribs

Hi,
Just a little advice if you could...
I had a motorcycle accident a couple of weeks ago, and broke 5 ribs, on the side under my right arm, 2 - 6. The A & E said my bones would fix themselves and he was most concerned about my lungs. I was sent home after 3 days, with painkillers. I've had no advice from them or my own doctor about how I should behave. Should I be moving my right arm about as much as possible, or be as motionless as possible? I can feel a click when breathing after trying to settle in bed (propped up on several pillows). Should I sleep in my comfy chair?
Sorry for all the questions, hope you can point me in the right direction.
Cheers,
Bill

Hi Bill,
This isn't uncommon at all. Did you get a chance to see a physio while you were an inpatient?
The main advice we give you as an inpatient is 1. ensure you have adequate pain releif 2. Do breathing exercises regularly during the day.
The Ribs aren't the main problem - like the doctor said they should heal - its the risk of pneumonia that comes with hypoventilation as a responce to pain.
You should be moving around as much as pain tolerates, don't be alarmed by the clicking of the ribs (yes it is the bones moving), it's normal/common. Moving helps to move sputum from inside the lungs (phlegm is sheer dependant - if it's vibrated it becomes thinner and easier to move).
Sleeping upright will help you to breath easier in the night, but you don't specifically have to do this unless you are having trouble breathing in the night.
If you get pain with coughing you can get a pillow and place it under your shoulder and splint the ribs during the action.
The shoulder will loose some Range of motion without use. So try to move it through it's range at least once a day - but if it causes you pain dont' worry too much you can dig into shoulder movement when the ribs are healed (though it's easier to just not loose the movement in the first place)

If start to feel unwell, get a fever or you start to cough a lot more and produce green aromatic (not in a good way) sputum then you should be revisiting your GP as you likely have a pneumonia and the antibiotics you should be on aren't cutting it.

Best thing you can do is get on with your life while maintaining a level of analgesia adequate to let you breath normally.
Have a great one,
Puddin'

Thankyou pudding_bowl for your full and informative answer.
I didn't see a physio, no.
I was told to practise deep breathing regularly, which has gone OK. I had a problem with dizziness which I was told could be caused by the codiene (well, dihydracodiene) that I was taking, so I stopped these, and I've been dizzy free since, and comfortable enough with just Paracetomol and Ibuprofen.
Accident was on 2/10, and I'll go back to work on Monday (25/10) doing light duties. I build laser cutting machines, but I'll be able to sit at a desk and build sub assemblies. I'll travel by train. Should be OK?
Thanks again,
Bill

fine to travel by train... best to just keep up the breathing exercises and wait out the healing time.

Hi Bill,

I just read ur thread and wanted to find out how you were doing almost two months after ur accident. On 14 Nov, i came off my bike and broke a couple of left hand side ribs. The pain was unbearable. I was discharged from hospital the following day. I wasn't given any details on recovery excercises nor any appointments to see the physio and was told that the ribs will heal thmeselves.

Its been almost 4-wks and although the pain is not as much, my back is still in some pain especially when sleeping and turning in bed.

I'm just anxious to know what your progress is so far, considering we have similar injuries.

Jay.

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Originally Posted by BillTDM

Hi,
Just a little advice if you could...
I had a motorcycle accident a couple of weeks ago, and broke 5 ribs, on the side under my right arm, 2 - 6. The A & E said my bones would fix themselves and he was most concerned about my lungs. I was sent home after 3 days, with painkillers. I've had no advice from them or my own doctor about how I should behave. Should I be moving my right arm about as much as possible, or be as motionless as possible? I can feel a click when breathing after trying to settle in bed (propped up on several pillows). Should I sleep in my comfy chair?
Sorry for all the questions, hope you can point me in the right direction.
Cheers,
Bill

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Jay, get an xray to check everything healed ok and then if it has go and see a physio to get your back looked at. you likely would benefit from mobilisations as you'll get stiff with teh reduced movement that happened when you were in pain.