Rib fractures are quite common. According to statistics, they make up 5-15% of all diagnosed cases of fractures in general. The most common causes are falls and bumps, chest compressions. Rib fractures may not pose a direct danger to the patient's life, and may be deadly. In the article, we will analyze in detail what to do when the ribs are broken.
Reasons
Why is this happening? Most often due to all sorts of injuries, falls, emergency. In some cases, the age of the patient, certain diseases of the bone tissue can contribute to the fracture. Both age and these pathologies contribute to the fact that the bones become more fragile.
The most common reasons are:
- accident. During a collision or sudden braking, the driver hits the steering wheel hard, which can lead to broken ribs. It is dangerous for pedestrians to fall on the pavement or the hood.
- Household injuries. Here you can break the ribs during the fall. Such injuries are most common in older people.
- Sports and occupational injuries. In many sports, injuries like broken ribs are common. The same can be said for professions that require active physical labor, work with large loads, work at height, etc.
What to do when the ribs are broken, we will analyze in detail later.
Symptoms
How to determine that you have a broken rib or several ribs at once? There are several main symptoms:
- "Aborted breath". This is the name of the state when a person cannot fully inhale the air - during this process he feels a strong, sharp pain in the area of the ribs. Therefore, the victim has rapid, but shallow breathing.
- Pain in the area of the injury. It can be aggravated even with slight rotation of the trunk or muscle tension.
- Swelling of tissues at the site of the alleged fracture.
- Hematoma, if there was a fact of mechanical impact on the chest.
- The person tries to lean in the direction of the suspected fracture.
- When inhaling slowly, you can hear a small click, which also indicates a fracture.
- Depending on the location of the injury, in some cases you may notice that the side of the chest where the ribs are fractured is slightly behind the neighboring side in breathing movement.
When is an ambulance needed?
What to do when brokenribs? Seek qualified medical help as soon as possible. Of course, in the event of a fracture of 1-2 ribs, the condition of the victim does not pose a threat to his life. However, it is unrealistic for a layman to determine whether a fracture has hit internal vital organs.
You should be alerted by the following condition of the victim:
- Gradually, signs of suffocation appear: it becomes more and more difficult for a person to inhale and exhale air, the skin of his face, his lips gradually take on a bluish tint.
- The victim notes a strong thirst, begins to complain of dizziness or even loses consciousness.
- Blood comes out of his mouth when he breathes or coughs.
In these cases, you should try to call an "ambulance" as soon as possible. The victim's life is in danger.
First Aid
What do you do when your ribs are broken? How to treat? In this state, it is dangerous to engage in amateur activities. You need to go to the hospital, and if you have alarming symptoms, call an ambulance.
What to do if a person has broken a rib before the arrival of doctors? Try to give him first aid:
- Help me take the most comfortable position from an anatomical point of view. This is sitting or reclining with support on the back. Make sure that the victim sits upright, does not lean towards the injured part of the body.
- If several sections of the chest are damaged at once, the victim is shifted to a semi-lying position, and rollers are placed under his head so thatshe rose 5-10 cm.
- If the victim complains of severe pain, you need to offer him an over-the-counter pain reliever from the list of those drugs that he has already taken before - Analgin, Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, etc.
- Provide fresh air to the victim's area.
- If the fracture is closed, apply a tight bandage on the incomplete exit to the damaged area. This will prevent the sharp ends of broken ribs from moving, which could damage vital organs.
- When the fracture is open, it is necessary to stop the bleeding and try to keep the wound clean until the ambulance arrives.
Medical help
What to do with broken ribs? The first step is to come to an appointment with a therapist, traumatologist, surgeon or at the emergency room at the hospital. To determine the severity, location of the fracture, the fact of damage to internal organs, the specialist will first refer the patient to diagnostic examinations:
- X-ray.
- Ultrasound.
- MRI.
What should I do if my ribs are broken? If the internal organs are not damaged, then active treatment is not required. Within 1-2 months, broken ribs in a he althy person grow together on their own. To alleviate the patient's condition, he is prescribed over-the-counter painkillers. If organs are damaged, surgery may be required. If they are slightly affected, the matter may be limitedconservative treatment - taking anti-inflammatory drugs.
If you fall and break a rib, what should you do? Contact a doctor as soon as possible. If the injury does not pose a threat to life and he alth, but is accompanied by severe pain, you may need injections of corticosteroids. These are prescription drugs that are not dispensed from pharmacies without a doctor's prescription.
Such medicines help to get rid of pain and inflammation, facilitate breathing, increase body mobility. But do not forget about the side effects of these drugs:
- Bleeding.
- Development of infections.
- Local atrophy of ligaments and muscles.
- Nerve damage.
- Weakening of the body's immune forces.
Injections of agents that block specifically the intercostal nerves may also be prescribed. Medicines seem to "freeze" the nerve endings. Thanks to this effect, a person does not feel pain for 6 hours after the injection.
Home Treatment
If a rib is broken, what should I do at home? All necessary recommendations are individual - they should only come from your treating doctor.
In the past, in the case of such fractures, doctors advised patients to apply compression bandages to the affected areas. But today this method was abandoned - the immobilization of chest areas led to the development of pneumonia, the spread of infections. The bandage is applied only for a few days to stabilize the position of the ribs,reducing pain and inflammation. But you should not tighten the ribs for several weeks with a compression bandage - shortness of breath does not contribute to recovery. Do not attempt to apply the compression bandage yourself. This should only be done by a medical specialist - a doctor or a nurse.
To ease the pain a little at the fracture site, you can apply cold compresses to it - with ice, a special gel, or even a bag of ordinary frozen vegetables. In the first two days after the injury, the procedure is repeated every hour. The compress is applied to the injury for 20 minutes. In the following days of treatment, it should be applied for 10-20 minutes three times a day.
Exposure to cold will help relieve pain and prevent swelling. This home treatment is effective for all types of rib fractures, as well as other musculoskeletal injuries.
If the ribs are broken, what to do at home? Turn to cold compresses. Before applying to the skin, be sure to wrap with a thin layer of natural tissue. This will reduce the negative effects of cold on the skin and muscles. If you have bruises at the site of injury (a consequence of vascular damage), swelling, then cold compresses will help to cope with this problem. In particular, they will reduce pain.
Medication
What to do if a rib is broken (or a crack in a rib)? Of course, an urgent appeal to a medical institution is necessary. If the injury is not serious, then you will be prescribed outpatient treatment. In most cases, the ribs fuse on their own - no special compression dressings are needed.
However, during the healing process, many patients experience pain. To cope with it, it is enough to take over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that effectively fight pain:
- "Aspirin".
- "Ibuprofen".
- "Naproxen".
In this case, it cannot be said that these funds will promote healing and tissue repair. But here their use is different - they help to deal with unpleasant painful sensations. And this allows the victim to quickly return to their usual life, do household chores, or even return to work after a couple of weeks (if the internal organs are not affected, if the labor activity is not physical).
But you need to remember that these drugs have a number of side effects. In particular, they can negatively affect the functioning of internal organs - the liver, kidneys, stomach. Therefore, the course of their admission should not exceed 2 weeks. In addition, you need to carefully follow the instructions for use, observe the dosage.
Aspirin is contraindicated for children under 18 years of age, as it can cause Reye's syndrome. An alternative to the above drugs is "Paracetamol" and its analogues. But these drugs do not relieve inflammation. And they can negatively affect the liver.
Lifestyle recommendations
If the ribs are broken, what to do at home? First of all, you need to make adjustments to your usual lifestyle. Try not tomake movements that can affect the peritoneum, chest. But with musculoskeletal injuries, doctors advise doing light gymnastics, because such movement increases blood circulation, speeds up healing.
But still, in the first two weeks after the fracture, you need to give up cardio loads. They speed up breathing, increase blood circulation. And this can lead to the opposite effect - cause inflammation at the site of the damaged rib.
It is necessary to refuse rotations, twisting of the upper body, from tilting towards the location of the fracture, until the tissues are completely restored. If the ribs are broken, what should be done? Give up physical labor (both at work and at home), try not to lift weights and play sports. At the same time, working at a computer, driving a car, walking are not contraindicated.
The doctors advise you to return to your previous lifestyle only when you can breathe deeply without pain, when the unpleasant painful sensations stop bothering you.
If the left rib is broken, what should I do? The same as in the case of damage to the right. Pay attention to these practical tips:
- If your work is somehow related to physical labor, sudden movements, you must definitely take sick leave for 1-2 weeks, depending on the severity of your condition.
- Stay away from difficult housework - ask family members, relatives or friends to help you while you recover from injury.
- In case you feel like coughing or sneezing,Be sure to have a pillow handy. Pressing it against the affected area while coughing or sneezing will help minimize pain.
- If you have a serious fracture, make time for breathing exercises. Every few hours 10-15 minutes try to breathe deeply. This simple exercise will prevent the collapse of the lung and the spread of inflammation.
How to sleep better?
You also need to find a comfortable position for sleeping. A little difficult if you are used to sleeping on your side, stomach, or often tossing and turning in your sleep. When ribs are broken, it is best to sleep on your back (more precisely, on the spine). So the load on the ribs will be minimal.
In the first nights after an injury, experts advise sleeping in an unfolded chair in a semi-sitting position. In this case, you need to take care of the lower body. In order to relieve tension from the legs in this position, an additional pillow is placed under the half-bent knees.
You can also put extra pillows under your back, sides and head if you decide to sleep on the bed. This will prevent you from rolling over in your sleep.
Attention to nutrition
In order for damaged bones to recover faster, you need to take care of your nutrition. It should be complete, saturated with minerals and vitamins necessary for he alth:
- Favor fresh food, whole grains and dairy products, lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Try to drink plenty of clean water.
- Eat rich in mineralsfoods: cheese, yogurt, beans, tofu, bacon, nuts, broccoli, sardines, salmon.
- Give up alcohol, fast food, carbonated sugary drinks, products containing refined sugar. They slow down tissue healing. Smoking has the same effect.
- Refer to taking additional mineral and vitamin complexes containing calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, vitamins D and K. Pay special attention to calcium: try to get at least 1200 mg of this element daily - both from supplements and from food.
When a rib is broken, a visit to the doctor is mandatory. In particularly difficult cases, you need to call an ambulance. Home treatment is allowed only with the approval of your doctor. It no longer consists in taking medication, but in following a certain lifestyle, correcting nutrition, bed rest.
