What can you do to help heal a broken rib?

Answer 1

I get cortisone injections and use a rib belt

The best thing to do is to have an evaluation by a primary care provider, like a medical doctor or a chiropractor to make sure there nothing more serious going on, like a fracture or a complete dislocation. The chiropractor may try to adjust it and put it back in place. But most often, the best treatment is time. The rib will naturally find its way back into its spot after the muscles associated with it have stopped being in spasm. Massage will probably not help, either. If you are having problems with activities if daily living, like putting on your cloths, eating, brushing your teeth, etc, then it probably is a good idea to see a primary care provider, otherwise, let nature do its thing and it should go back in place in a few days.

I don't know if this is an "improvement" to the answer, but here's what worked for me. I couldn't breath deeply without some serious pain. I was dealing with a head-and-chest cold and needed to have productive coughs to clear my chest. That wasn't a problem, as I didn't need to breathe deeply to be able to cough that way. But one time, unexpectedly and involuntarily my body forced me to breathe deeply on a cough, and it was sharply painful, so much so that I forgot to cough, but as I breathed in deeply quickly, I felt a "pop" exactly where the pain was. At first I thought I hurt myself further, but immediately thereafter I was able to breath deeply on demand and with zero pain. So all I can say is, what worked for me was a quick, sharp, and full breath sucked in. It popped whatever was out of place, into place. Purely by luck.

Unless there are contributing factors, the usually resolvey naturara methid.

In addition to what the person above me said, I dislcoated my rib about 3 months ago and went to both an urgent care clinic (M.D.) and my primary care physician (M.D.) They both diagnosed me with a strained trapezus muscle which did not make sense with the type and duration of pain I was having. I then decided to go to a sports physician who was a D.O., who immediately diagnosed me with a dislocated rib and started performing readjustments. Due to my rib being out of place for so long, the surrounding muscles have become accustomed to the new position, so my recovery may take up to a month with ongoing readjustments. That being said, after a couple readjustments I can definitely see improvement, I can take a deep breath with no pain now, I can even to some light exercise! Moral of the story: Go straight to a chiropractor / sports physician because they are trained with things like these! Also, Google this back position that promotes proper alignment, its called "Static back rest". You can do it at home, all you do is lay on your back on the ground, arms comfortably spread out, and rest your legs on a chair at a 90 degree angle. It apparently takes all the pressure off your spine and promotes proper alignment of your back. Whenever I have some pain, I do this and take a deep breath, and 4/5 times my back will pop and feel much better! Although this isn't a substitute for back readjustment, it can help speed up recovery and provide some relief. Also maybe look into getting a heatpad, it helped relax the muscles and made my back feel better as well.

Answer 2

A blow to the rib cage can cause either a fracture or bruising to the membrane that covers the bone (periosteum). Both can be very painful, and it is very often hard to distinguish the difference, even with a X-ray. Either way there is really very little that that a massage therapist or any other health professional can do to help. It generally takes about 6 weeks for either injury to heal & the pain to cease. The client may want to try over the counter medication for pain relief in the meantime.

Answer 3

- I was diagnosed with Costochondritus for 5 years, my doctor just brushed my complaints of chest pain off.. "oh, chest pain is normal.. it will go away on its own." It never did. So i finally switched doctors, and I learned that a few of my rib heads become easily dislocated, and I have whats called slipping rib syndrome. My question is, does anyone know of a way that I could put my dislocated rib back in place, without having to go back to the doctor or physical therapist? This happens to me about 1-2 times a month and I absolutely dread the doctor, not to mention its getting expensive. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Answer 4

There is not much you can do to help heal a broken rib. The main thing to do is to try to minimize your activity level and move carefully to allow the rib to heal.

Answer 5

You can't do much all you can do to help it is rap it up!

Answer 6

Leave it alone and supported, in about six weeks.