Foo - Pain in the ribs.

It turns out I have either a hairline fracture or a severely strained or pulled muscle on the right side in the thorasic area. I did not have an accident causeing such an injury but I did have bronchitis for about 3 weeks, I got over it about a month ago. I'm talking severe coughing, the kind that makes your gag reflex activate to where you could throw up if you had anything in your stomach & coughing that hard can cause you to pass out, I almost did, more then once.

Along with that apparently I coughed so hard & so severe I either strained or pulled the muscles in this area on the side of my chest or I have a hairline crack in one of my ribs.

The pain started shortly after I was over the bronchitis. I knew I would be sore from the coughing, but the pain in this area has not gone away yet. I went to the dr. he gave me darvecet. It has not even touched the pain. the other night it was so severe I went to the ER. I now have naproxen, some kind of a muscle relaxant & an anti-inflamatory, 3 pills.

Because I was at the ER. until 2:00 am the other night I stayed home from work yesterday. I'm a lot better now.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them? If not from coughing how did you get a cracked rib?

I would not wish this on anyone, no matter how much I may dislike them. I have never felt pain that bad before.

I got broken ribs once sparring. Got kicked real hard. Several months later I was tent camping, and I rolled over on my stomach. There was a little rock that poked up into my rib, and my friend and I both heard a loud crack followed by me proclaiming "OOOOOUCH". Ribs seem to bust and then rebust pretty easily. I suppose I could see coughing messing them up.

Bronchitis is nasty. I would get that a lot the past 5 years, and it was horrible especially when trying to fall asleep. I havent had anything like that but I did have this one pain ordeal on my ribs, I believe it was from the muscles around there but it was very sharp and isolated on the lower left part of my ribs. If I was crouched/slumped over when biking/sitting it would hurt like a mother...I couldnt even breathe in all the way without extreme pain. Apparently if I leaned and arched backwards the pain went away almost instantly. Maybe try an stretch backwards to help relax the muscles?

It turns out I have either a hairline fracture or a severely strained or pulled muscle on the right side in the thorasic area. I did not have an accident causeing such an injury but I did have bronchitis for about 3 weeks, I got over it about a month ago. I'm talking severe coughing, the kind that makes your gag reflex activate to where you could throw up if you had anything in your stomach & coughing that hard can cause you to pass out, I almost did, more then once.

Along with that apparently I coughed so hard & so severe I either strained or pulled the muscles in this area on the side of my chest or I have a hairline crack in one of my ribs.

The pain started shortly after I was over the bronchitis. I knew I would be sore from the coughing, but the pain in this area has not gone away yet. I went to the dr. he gave me darvecet. It has not even touched the pain. the other night it was so severe I went to the ER. I now have naproxen, some kind of a muscle relaxant & an anti-inflamatory, 3 pills.

Because I was at the ER. until 2:00 am the other night I stayed home from work yesterday. I'm a lot better now.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them? If not from coughing how did you get a cracked rib?

I would not wish this on anyone, no matter how much I may dislike them. I have never felt pain that bad before.
Greater likelihood is that it's a a pulled Intracostal muscle (between the ribs). That actually hurts worse than a full on broken rib, not to mention the pain level of a hairline fracture of the rib (Less than a fully broken rib). I feel for ya man! I've pulled intracostals before and I can sympathize! If you have a heating pad, moist heat will help, and if you can take it, Ibuprofen may be a more effective anti-inflammatory than Naproxen. (Not medical advice, just personal experience!). Take it easy for a few days and don't lift if you can avoid it!:(

That sucks...One thing right after another...feel better

I've broken quite a few ribs biking.

To the point where I don't even have to go to the doctors to know if it's been broken.

*raises hand*

I injured my thoracic area in '97. About midway between the spine at T3-T4, and left shoulder blade. Had been coughing like crazy with the flu, and had a lingering cough for the next 13 months. While changing the sheets on the bed about a week after recovering from the flu, I felt/heard something kinda snap or crack in that area. I was in immediate and severe pain. I'd had another thoracic injury in the 70's in the spine, but this was a different spot, and was excruciating. I went on Darvocet and Soma for four days. Gentle stretching helped, but coughing made it worse. Had to have physical therapy (ultrasonic therapy with electrical stimulation). Also had an MRI. No one ever could tell me what exactly the injury was, but it was definitely there. And about once a year, each of the two old injuries rears an ugly head (fortunately, so far, not together), and my best solution is Darvocet and Soma for a day or two, and basically doing nothing but stretching. Exercising and keep my back strong seems to help keep the episodes down to once a year.

Good luck finding anything out there on thoracic pain. :rolleyes:

And good luck getting over this. ((hug, but no too hard)) :)

My wife went to the doctor with the same kind of pain after having bronchitis. The doctor also said it could be a fractured rib. Didn't stop her from dancing at a ballroom competition one day later. She's very determined when she wants to be. Me, I'd be whining away while laying in bed.

Bronchitis is nasty. I would get that a lot the past 5 years, and it was horrible especially when trying to fall asleep. I havent had anything like that but I did have this one pain ordeal on my ribs, I believe it was from the muscles around there but it was very sharp and isolated on the lower left part of my ribs. If I was crouched/slumped over when biking/sitting it would hurt like a mother...I couldnt even breathe in all the way without extreme pain. Apparently if I leaned and arched backwards the pain went away almost instantly. Maybe try an stretch backwards to help relax the muscles?
That's like what I had. I tried to lift something over my body weight and I strained something in my back. I had to crawl around and leaning back would relieve the pain. Now everytime I shower when I get out my back starts aching in the same spot.