Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Broke my rib(s) Owwwwww!

Sorry to learn of your injury. All the best. I have heard that broken ribs are really painful.

Craig

Hey Russell
Sorry to hear about your tumble. I know exactly what you are going through.

As Kevin said docs no longer wrap broken ribs for the reason he gave. But I little trick I have used is whenever I needed to move or take a deep breath, or heaven forbid sneeze, is to tightly hug a nice big pillow against your ribs. Works for me.

Take care!

Russell, Oh - the pain - do not laugh - sneeze - or twist - do take care.

I am sending some gentle cyber hugs. I am sure they will not cause any more pain, than what you are already having.

Hugs
Gerri

Hey Russell

I can relate to breaking a rib.I know it hurts like heck.I cracked my ribs several times just working my trade. I took two or three weeks to heal.There is really not much you can do except extra pain meds.I hope you heal up soon.

Ray

Hi Russell,
Don't take my advice about the rib belt without consulting any doctors first. The others here mentioned that things like this may not be a good idea. The rib belts may have only helped me because they were only fractures and not actual breaks.
I wish you wEll,
Take care,
James.

Edited, can't seem to spell rite today

Ohhh Russell - Commisserations. V. painful. No, nowt you can do. Clasp a pillow to you as suggested, is about all, and, taking pain meds.

Have done it twice. Both times coming off a horse. Broke two in my first fall and three with a dislocated jaw in the second fall. Both my own fault, first time I was not paying attention, and my Icelandic horse spooked with sun glinting of standing rain water, and bolted into the forest - good I came off or I'd have been wrapped round a tree! Got him back, turned him round and rode the 4 miles odd home - was way out in the depths of the New Forest. Took a couple of months to heal.

Second time, whilst mounting. Did not check the ground around, and up flew a pheasant right into my Tennessee Walker's bum... He spooked and off I went with one foot in the stirrup and other foot barely hitting the ground, with my jaw smacking into the side of my big Orthoflex saddle at every stride...eeeewwww Of course, the more I bounced the more he panicked. A no-win buckeroo situation, until he calmed down. Yep, he was OK. Turned him round and off we went for our ride. Though WAS horribly painful.

Took a long time to heal - about three months thatta one!

Hope yours heals soon. Take care man.

Thank you all sooo much for the very good advice, I Love you all for taking time to relate your experiences and well wishes.
I am praying Wednesday morning comes soon and that my pain management doctor will be generous w/ the pain med this month!
I am willing to take methadone but am afraid Fentanyl patches are so strong with so many side effects that I would rather avoid those.
Thanks again, I feel richly blessed to recieve all your good wishes and concern.
Many hugs to all,
Russell

Hey, Russell:

Really sorry about the broken ribs! VERY painful and they object to any movement at all. I just bruised my ribs sliding down the stairs, but don't think any are broken. A month on and still hurting.

MS Contin is about the strongest I know of. I have been taking Percocet off and on. It is a little better in some ways--easier to function, but the cottonmouth is killer.

Good luck in pain management and especially quick healing,
John

Hi Russell,

Fentanyl patches are the strongest but I didn't find they had any worse side effects than the quick release opioids. ALL of them can be difficult to withdraw from if you're on them for any length of time.

Fentanyl would probably only be suitable if you were expecting to need them for more than a month - the patches are definitely a longer term solution. However, if that's the kind of pain relief you need, they are less addictive because you don't experience any highs and lows from them - they provide a steady stream of the narcotic - so you're also less likely to develop tolerance and have to up the dose.

For short term relief, here's a link to an opiate comparison chart:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiate_comparison

MSContin is a time release version of oxycodone so it's longer acting.

Hope this is helpful. I did lots of research when I was on strong pain meds last summer and then needed to detox from them in the fall.

Oh Russell, how awful! Please take care of those ribs, OK?

Hugs,