Question on injuries

When my mom cracked her ribs in a car wreck, she expected the doctor to wrap them like you see in the movies. The doctor said they don't do that much anymore because it restricts the person's breathing and can lead to pneumonia because they can't draw in a full breath. So the only treatment she was given were pain meds/muscle relaxers and rest. They hurt worst on days 3-4, then started healing up. It took a couple of weeks of not picking up anything heavy and not lifting her arms high, but that was it.

I'm really glad you asked this question, TypoSlayer, as it applies to a chapter of my trunk novel, which I'm going to be re-writing completely next year.

And Cyia; thanks for replying. I had heard they no longer tape ribs up, but didn't know much about timescales and other treatment.

Depends on: the number of cracked ribs; the severity of injury--cracks with splinters, vertical vs horizontal; location--like around the sternum, spine, or sides; and the age and general health of the patient.

My Dad once hugged my grandma (then 60ish) so tight he cracked a couple ribs on her--took 2-3 weeks to heal with light painkillers, rest and no binding.

More severe cracked ribs could involve 2-3 weeks of bed rest, like a wide ace bandage wrap, and physical therapy to overcome the debilitating effect of bed rest.

Mom had to practically live in an easy chair for a week (it hurt too bad to lie down) and the meds were pretty strong. However, she had other injuries from the accident, so I don't know if the med strength was common or not.

(Oxycodone - that sort of thing)

A simple fracture will hurt like hell for a couple of weeks. Tip! Do not sneeze. The doctors claim a wrap does no good, but it helped me (at least mentally.) I've had two broken ribs (one at a time) and sympathize with fellow broken ribbers

Pains pills? 800 mg motrin two to three times per day.

I'm also glad you asked this! It totally applies to my WIP

Don't laugh, either. Laughing hurts as bad as coughing.

Broken ribs might keep you from sleeping for 2-3 weeks, and hurt for six weeks. The kind of pain meds you get depends on your doctor - most people will be comfortable with 800 mg ibuprofen every 6 hours, but they *believe* in narcotics, so doctors give them narcotics. Cyia is right - wrapping up the rib cage might make you fell better when you cough or sneeze (or laugh or breathe or move), but will make you more likely to get pneumonia, so don't do it.

For me the worst part of lying down was the having to get back up again.

I had both broken and cracked ribs from a car accident. The constant pain was for a couple weeks, the occassional reminder was a couple more weeks after that and then for some time I could have a bad sneeze and have to sit down while the pain wave passed.

I then cracked another rib when I did an awesomely spectacular crash on a bike years later (and very recently). Same thing there...sitting up from lying was worse, taking deep breaths were sharp, reaching too far to the side was really, really bad.

I was on Vicodin for the first set of rib cracks/breaks but also had a fractured pelvis and other injuries from the car accident. Was given a prescription for the second cracked rib but basically just took ibuprofen when it was too bad.

Rabe...