{"id":11736,"date":"2019-09-01T10:55:04","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T10:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/?p=11736"},"modified":"2021-05-05T16:12:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T16:12:55","slug":"14-known-symptoms-of-a-broken-rib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/14-known-symptoms-of-a-broken-rib\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Known Symptoms of A Broken Rib"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Broken ribs are one of the most common types of fracture-related injuries out there, and they can happen in a multitude of different ways that includes injuries sustained as a result of a car accident, injuries sustained in an assault \u2013 sometimes broken ribs can even happen due to a consequence of receiving resuscitation when the pressure of massaging the heart through the chest snaps the ribs or sternum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a broken rib, symptoms such as bruising, pain and swelling are considered very common \u2013 although the appearance of the symptoms will vary from case to case depending on how many ribs are fractured, at which angle and just how the injury happened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any discomfort or pain should be reported to your doctor as soon as possible. In severe cases, broken ribs can lead to more serious health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 8 known symptoms of a broken rib that you should be aware of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Extreme Initial Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the first symptoms that you are likely to experience if you have broken, fractured or sprained anything in your body is pain; everyone experiences pain, although the way you experience it can tell your doctor a lot about the type of injury you have sustained \u2013 and when describing any type of pain to your doctor, make sure you describe it as best you can. A stabbing pain, for example, can tell your doctor something different than a throbbing or pressure-related pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other symptoms are likely to occur together with the extreme initial pain, including immediate bruising around the site of the fracture together with swelling and tenderness <\/a>to the touch. Pain is likely to \u201cflare-up\u201d with certain activities that place added strain on the ribs, and might easily be worse when breathing, too. Careful to keep as still as possible until medical attention can be reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Bruising of the Ribs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most breaks and fractures take place due to a sudden and severe impact to the affected site, which can be enough to burst blood vessels around the area; this is what causes most of the initial bruising that you will see in the case of a rib fracture \u2013 and the bruising is likely to spread and be painful to the touch, as well as being darker than the normal type of bruising <\/a>that you would have expected to see from a slight bump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you notice any bruising, swelling or pain after a traumatic rib injury \u2013 even if the initial injury didn\u2019t feel as bad, to begin with \u2013 see your doctor as soon as possible. X-rays can help to establish the extent of the injury and how it should be treated in order to ensure that you don\u2019t injure yourself further in the process by over-exerting the existing injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Swelling of the Fracture Site<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you experience any swelling of your ribs, you can almost automatically assume that it\u2019s a fracture if it has happened after a traumatic event. Ribs aren\u2019t the type of body part that can be sprained, so in the case of severe symptoms, a break can be assumed.\u00a0 Swelling of the ribs after an event means that you should get to the emergency room as soon as possible to have the possible fracture site looked at \u2013 not doing this can mean that you make your injury <\/a>worse, and swelling could easily point to a rib that\u2019s about to poke into an organ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the best results, ice the fracture site immediately after the accident or traumatic event has taken place for the swelling to go down in the most natural way. During the healing time, ice packs can also help to cool down the area,, and will last comparatively a lot longer than ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Pain While Breathing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pain at the initial fracture site isn\u2019t the only way and place that you can experience pain if you have fractured a rib. You are also likely to experience added pain when moving or breathing as a result of the expansion of the ribcage \u2013 and this can also be dangerous for the injury because of the fact that the ribs can move, displace, or poke into things that they aren\u2019t supposed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you experience pain while breathing, get to the emergency room immediately. Sometimes difficulty breathing might signal that the rib fracture is worse than initially thought, and it puts you in automatically more danger because of the fact that fractures can poke through on the inside (and remain unseen from the outside). X-rays<\/a> are the first step to establish the extent of the injury and what should be done next in order to help the injury to heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Added Strain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The added strain <\/a>felt in the ribcage is a common symptom of a rib injury that is likely to go together with some of the other symptoms that have been mentioned on this list, including extreme pain, swelling and bruising of the fracture site. The added strain is something that you are likely to notice during any activities which use the muscles around the ribs, including moving around or breathing \u2013 and this is very likely to continue throughout the six to eight week healing period after the injury has taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduce added strain as much as possible right after the injury until medical attention can be reached, and follow the doctor\u2019s instructions in order to ensure strain is reduced for the healing period and that you do not injure the same area again. Some small adaptations will likely have to be made \u2013 including taking time off work for this period \u2013 so ask your doctor for a signed letter for your employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Internal Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With most cases of a broken or fractured rib, most of the pain will be focused around the actual fracture <\/a>site together with most of the swelling and bruising \u2013 but it\u2019s also true that this isn\u2019t the case with all types of fractures, and there are many instances where there might also be pain extending far further than just the ribs. Sometimes there is also associated internal pain after an injury which caused a broken rib, and this pain should be taken as one of the most serious symptoms of them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated internal pain after a rib fracture or break can mean that there\u2019s a risk for internal bleeding or injury that wasn\u2019t apparent before. Visit the emergency room as fast as possible after the initial injury to have it examined and establish just how bad the injury really is from there. Report back to your doctor if pain at all changes or worsens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Chest Tightness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chest tightness and difficulty (and pain) while breathing are some of the most characteristic symptoms that you are likely to develop if you have a broken or fractured rib; this is also likely to go together with many of the other symptoms that are mentioned in this article, including pain at the fracture site and severe bruising <\/a>(usually darker than the average bruise sustained from a bump \u2013 and heavily dependant on the severity of the individual injury).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you experience tightness of the chest after a rib injury, get to the emergency room for x-rays as soon as possible: It can be potentially fatal to wait. If you experience this symptom during your healing period or outside of the circumstances surrounding your injury, report it to your doctor \u2013 sometimes chronic chest tightness that happens without broken ribs present can be a symptom of an underlying heart condition that\u2019s best officially diagnosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Grinding or Popping<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are many different ways in which an injury can lead to a broken rib or fracture, and it also happens to be the type of injury <\/a>which can happen to one or several bones at one \u2013 there are, of course, several ribs that make up the ribcage and any of these can be subject to a fracture. Depending on how the injury happened and what\u2019s going on under the skin closer to the injury you might experience additional grinding or popping together with the symptoms that have been mentioned on this list.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinding or popping felt when exercising or using the rib muscles are considered common in some types of fractures and breaks, and warrant immediate medical attention to establish the extent of the injury and whether there is an additional danger, injury or risk of internal bleeding or organ rupture. Sometimes it can also mean that a fracture has not set right \u2013 if it happens while in a cast, revisit your doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. Fever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A fever <\/a>is the body\u2019s natural way of guarding it against illnesses and infections that it encounters every day. When the body develops a fever, it\u2019s usually trying to drive the symptoms of something else out of your system \u2013 and this can often make you feel worse while the body tries to run the virus out of town with a fever. There are many times where the body can mistake its own cells for an intruder, and times, where the body is under a great deal of stress, can sometimes cause this.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a recently broken rib (or where an older injury is flaring up again) you are likely to experience fever as an associated symptom. Simply, it\u2019s your body\u2019s way of attempting to deal with what has been a very traumatic event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fever can be very dangerous where it\u2019s left untreated for too long. See your doctor if your fever doesn\u2019t go down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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10. Shock<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The term shock is used to describe a physical condition that the body goes into when it has been exposed to a severely traumatic physical event. People who have been in accidents or have been victims of crimes enter this state and people who have been through surgery might emerge from the operating room in a slight form of shock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the symptoms that can be associated with shock include a fever, shaking, the feeling of coldness throughout the body and physically shaking. These symptoms of shock are likely to go together with a recently broken rib and it\u2019s likely to drop your blood pressure <\/a>\u2013 which can happen to the point where it\u2019s very dangerous for your body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where you have had a recent injury and you experience the body going into a state of shock, urgent medical attention is needed, and the old trick of \u201csugar water\u201d commonly given to people for shock can actually do more harm than good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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11. Generally Impaired Movement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have broken or fractured a rib, one of the first things that you will notice is the fact that you don\u2019t want to move the affected body part at all. The pain associated with moving a fractured rib or accidentally putting pressure on it through means like wearing a shoulder bag or turning over in your sleep can increase your risk of damaging the way the break or fracture heals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ribs <\/a>cannot be braced or splinted in the same way as traditional types of fractures and breaks. This means that it can be harder to keep ribs in one place properly for the duration of the healing period, which usually lasts for six to eight weeks after a fracture has been set.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people out there feel pain in different ways than others: This sometimes means that breaks aren\u2019t felt immediately, and even though the movement is impaired. It can also lead to further risk of injury. See your doctor where this might be the case.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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12. Heat on the Fracture Site<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have sustained a break or fracture, pain isn\u2019t the only initial symptom that you should look out for. You are also likely to experience tingling, numbness<\/a>, bruising or heat around the fracture site that can often help to identify which rib has been broken. With this, it\u2019s also likely to be more tender to the touch than the areas around it that haven\u2019t been affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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13. Arthritis Flare-Ups<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Arthritis <\/a>is a common condition that affects thousands of people every year, and it can affect anyone regardless of their age even though it\u2019s commonly associated with older people. If you have any form of arthritis, you can expect flare-ups that can get triggered when the body is under vast amounts of stress or when environmental factors like colder weather come into play when the seasons change.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking at closer you will notice that arthritis isn\u2019t just a bone and joint condition, but instead an inflammatory condition. This means that it\u2019s possible for traumatic events that happen to the body such as broken ribs that can trigger an arthritis flare-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs and symptoms of an arthritis flare-up include heat to the touch, pain and a reduced range of movement for the affected body part. Where combined with a broken rib, medical attention is needed \u2013 although anti-inflammatory compounds and medications might help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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14. Fainting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A broken rib is an obviously traumatic event for the body, and it can be associated with effects that go far beyond pain. In cases where a rib has been broken recently, the pain can be so extreme that it might cause fainting <\/a>as an associated symptom. It can be very dangerous by itself, and it might even cause further injuries if someone falls on an existing fracture site after they have fainted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What causes the fainting spell is a combination of the body\u2019s reaction to extreme, intense pain and the likelihood that the blood pressure will suddenly drop as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people have fainted or lost consciousness after large accidents. It can also present with the additional danger of passing out in an environment that\u2019s still considered to be in the so-called \u201cdanger zone\u201d of an accident, such as in the middle of the highway in the event of a car accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n

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