SteveE

Last Friday I took a spill about a half mile from my house. There was some water flowing across the road --- maybe 20 feet before a hairpin turn. I thought that I would be OK because the pavement was dry at the turn. Well, the pavement was dry but my tires were still wet! This being California, it hasn't rained for a couple of months, so there was a surface coating of oil on the pavement. Anyway, as soon as I started to make the turn my wheels slid right out from under me!

I ended up with a bit of road rash on my elbow, my knee, and my hip which wasn't too bad. However, I landed with a big thud and l got my ribs pretty good. My ribs have been hurting pretty good since then.

So how long should I expect it to take before the ribs heal?

Trek Rider

I've bruised my ribs mtb biking and also broke them getting hit by a car. If they are just bruised you're probably looking at a month or so before all the discomfort is gone. If they are broken; well with mine, I could still feel twinges 6 months later. According to my doc (she does tri's so she understands my cycling desire better), the pain was from either calcium deposits around the breaks, or scar tissue in the muscle near the break.

531Aussie

Very painful. One time I was hit in the ribs with a measly cricket ball, probably
only going about 75 mph, and I was sore for about 6 weeks.

Another time I stacked my bike, and the doc said he thought he could see a tiny
crack in my rib (only on one of the xrays). I was in bed for a week, and was sore for
at least three months. I still have some weird clicking going on.

Apparently it's possible to have cartiladge damage without knowing it, which is
much more painful than bone bruising because there are more nerves there.