12. Heat on the Fracture Site
If you have sustained a break or fracture, pain isn’t the only initial symptom that you should look out for. You are also likely to experience tingling, numbness, bruising or heat around the fracture site that can often help to identify which rib has been broken. With this, it’s also likely to be more tender to the touch than the areas around it that haven’t been affected.
If you have sustained a knock to the ribs and feel any kind of heat coming off the area, consider it a potential fracture even where any other signs of the injury aren’t present yet. Shock can often hide the signs of an underlying injury until a few hours after the injury has happened, and further injury is very likely during this time.
Visit the emergency room for x-rays if you have been in any kind of accident or situation that caused an impact to your ribs: Even where heat escaping from the site is the only symptom at first, it can still point to a break.