Rib fractures are common injuries that occur when one of the bones in the rib cage breaks or cracks. They are often caused by car accidents, sports injuries, or other traumas. The most common causes are hard impacts from falls, car accidents, or contact sports. Many broken ribs are simply cracked.
Diarrhea can result due to inflammation of the intestines, and it is important to investigate and rule out any rib fracture that may cause these symptoms. It is associated with intra-abdominal solid organ injuries, but rarely is itself a cause of hollow viscus perforation.
Bruised ribs involve muscles, cartilage, tendons, fascia, and other soft tissues surrounding the ribcage. Broken ribs involve fractures of the bones of the rib and sternum. Both can usually be diagnosed with a review of symptoms.
Rib fractures can cause internal damage to these organs, causing tummy or back pain (rarely, pain may travel to the shoulder). If there is internal damage, symptoms may include frequent diarrhea (7-8 times per day) and a weight loss of 7 kg.
Cracked ribs are painful, but they don’t cause the problems that ribs that have broken into pieces can. The sharp edge of a broken bone can harm the affected area.
When to go to the emergency room (ER) for rib fractures, it is essential to recognize the signs and symptoms of a broken rib. These include trouble breathing, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, pain that gets worse over time, chest injuries such as rib fractures, diarrhea and vomiting, eczema, influenza, and food poisoning.
In summary, rib fractures can result from major trauma, such as car crashes, and can cause life-threatening complications. It is crucial to investigate and rule out any rib fractures that may cause symptoms, such as diarrhea and abdominal cramping, to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Broken or Bruised Ribs: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment | Rib fractures have the potential to cause internal damage to the organs in question. The symptoms may present as abdominal or back discomfort, though in rare instances, the pain may radiate to the shoulder. In the event of internal… | patient.info |
| Cronkhite-Canada syndrome associated with rib fractures | B. Yuan, 2010. Cited 14 times. Two months later, the patient was readmitted to the hospital with frequent diarrhea (7-8 times per day) and a weight loss of 7 kg. … | bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com |
| Broken ribs – Symptoms and causes | A fractured rib is a painful injury. However, they do not result in the same complications as those observed in fractured ribs. The sharp edge of a fractured bone can cause injury. | www.mayoclinic.org |
📹 Rib Pop vs. Broken Rib
Rib Pop vs. Broken Rib? Did you pop your rib or do you have a broken rib? Grab our Rib Pain Fix Program!
Can rib pain make you sick?
If the pain is severe and accompanied by symptoms such as radiating pain to the arms, back, or jaw, as well as nausea, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, or feeling extremely unwell, it is crucial to seek emergency medical attention at your local Accident and Emergency department, or by dialling 999 for an ambulance.
3) Costochondritis. Costochondritis refers to the inflammation of the cartilage connecting the ribcage to the breastbone (sternum). While this condition doesn’t lead to long-term complications and typically improves on its own within a few weeks, some individuals may experience relapses. Symptoms of costochondritis include:
- Pain during deep breathing, coughing, or sneezing
- Increased pain when pressure is applied to the chest
- Worsened pain when lying down
Can an injury cause diarrhea?
Car accident injuries can also impact soft tissues in your body, like muscles, ligaments, and tendons. If your body was jolted around or twisted during the car accident, it can cause pain if these soft tissues become strained or sprained. You might experience soreness, discomfort, and bruising in your abdominal area. Any inflammation or swelling in your abdomen can put pressure on nearby organs, causing stomach pain, diarrhea, and other symptoms.
Potential Causes of Stomach Pain from a Car Accident. Abdominal pain after a car accident can be caused by a variety of factors, including:
- Physical Trauma: The impact of a car accident can cause trauma to the abdomen, leading to internal injuries ranging from bruising to organ damage.
- Stress and Anxiety: Car accidents can be emotionally and psychologically traumatic, leading to stress and anxiety, which in turn can affect the gastrointestinal system and cause symptoms like diarrhea and stomach pain.
- Seat Belt Injury: While seat belts save lives by preventing more severe injuries, they can also cause abdominal bruising or other injuries upon impact, leading to stomach pain and discomfort.
- Medication Side Effects: If you’re taking medication for pain or other injuries sustained in the accident, side effects such as upset stomach or diarrhea may occur.
- Food Poisoning: It’s possible that the symptoms could be coincidental and not directly related to the accident. If you consumed contaminated food before or after the accident, it could lead to stomach pain and diarrhea.
- Pre-existing Conditions: If you have pre-existing conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the stress of the accident could exacerbate your symptoms.
What are two physical symptoms that you notice with bruised ribs?
The main symptoms are pain, swelling, and skin discoloration. The skin overlying the bruise may turn blue, purple, or yellow. The bruised area is tender and sore. You may feel pain both when you move and while at rest. Breathing, coughing, laughing, or sneezing can all cause or increase pain.
A rib contusion, also called a bruised rib, can occur after a fall or blow to your chest area. A bruise occurs when small blood vessels break and leak their contents into the soft tissue beneath the skin. This causes the skin to become discolored.
Common causes of bruised ribs are car accidents, sports injuries, or falls. Severe or prolonged coughing can also cause bruised ribs.
- A rib bruise due to a blunt force may cause bleeding and injury to the tissues under the skin.
- Depending on the force of the blow, you may have other injuries, such as broken ribs or damage to the lungs, liver, spleen or kidney. This is more likely in car accidents or falls from a great height.
What are four signs and symptoms of a rib fracture?
Symptoms include:strong pain in your chest area, particularly when you breathe in or cough. swelling or tenderness around the affected ribs. sometimes bruising on the skin. feeling or hearing a crack if it’s a broken rib.
Bruised or broken ribs can be very painful, but usually heal by themselves.
Check if you have a bruised or broken rib. Broken or bruised ribs are usually caused by a fall, a blow to the chest or severe coughing.
- Strong pain in your chest area, particularly when you breathe in or cough
- swelling or tenderness around the affected ribs
- sometimes bruising on the skin
- feeling or hearing a crack if it’s a broken rib
Can a broken rib puncture your bowel?
There are numerous reports about foreign bodies in any part of the GI tract and about various therapeutic modalities that deal with their removal. 1, 2 However, a foreign body that does not enter the GI tract through the mouth or rectum is a clinical curiosity, and reports about those cases are rare. 3 This is the first reported case of a fractured rib fragment penetrating the intestinal wall, impacting in the lumen and remaining there for several years without any signs of serious illness in the patient.
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Management of foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract: an analysis of 104 cases in children.
Can a slipped rib cause stomach issues?
3. 2. Clinical Presentation and Diagnosis. Slipping rib syndrome often presents as the lower chest, flank, or upper abdominal pain. It is usually a clinical diagnosis while imaging studies are often required to rule out other potential causes including rib fractures, costochondritis, and cholecystitis or hepatobiliary pathologies . Pain is reproduced by performing hooking maneuver , first described in 1977. It is a simple test where the clinician places his fingers in the subcostal area and pulls in the anterior direction ( Figure 1 ).
Pain or clicking indicates a positive test. The positive hooking maneuver test is usually followed by a nerve block. Relief of pain on the nerve block after positive hooking maneuver is highly suggestive of slipping rib syndrome. Dynamic flow ultrasound, as performed in our patient, is sometimes helpful in visualization of the ribs slipping against each other potentiating the diagnosis .
3. 3. Management. Reassuring patients about the benign nature of this disease helps in relieving their anxiety and fear of having serious underlying illness. Reassurance and conservative measures are the key management options for patients having mild symptoms . Avoidance of specific movements or postures triggering or aggravating pain is associated with favorable outcome ( 2, 6 ). In more refractory and severe cases, nerve blocks should be performed. Our patient is currently being managed with nerve blocks repeated every 2 to 3 months. In very severe cases, resection of the slipping rib and accompanying cartilage is performed to alleviate symptoms .
Can broken ribs cause stomach problems?
Tummy (abdominal) injuries. The lower part of the rib cage is near the liver, spleen and kidneys. Rib fractures can cause internal damage to these organs. Symptoms are tummy or back pain (rarely, pain may travel to the shoulder). If there is internal bleeding, this can cause faintness or a feeling of being very unwell. Urgent surgery may be needed.
Chest infections. Rib fractures or bruising often make it difficult to breathe deeply or cough properly due to pain. This can make it difficult to clear mucus in the chest, leading to chest infections. Good pain relief helps to prevent chest infections. (See ‘How to treat a rib injury’, above.)
Even with good painkillers, some people may develop a chest infection. Medical advice should be sought for symptoms such as cough, high temperature (fever), chest pain, shortness of breath or increasing phlegm (sputum) following a rib injury.
Can rib pain affect your stomach?
Slipping rib syndrome refers to pain in your lower chest or upper abdomen which may be present when your lower ribs move a little more than normal.
Your ribs are the bones in your chest that wrap around your upper body. They connect your breastbone to your spine.
This syndrome usually occurs in the 8th to 10th ribs (also known as false ribs) at the lower part of your rib cage. These ribs are not connected to the chest bone (sternum). Fibrous tissue (ligaments), connect these ribs to each other to help keep them stable. The relative weakness in the ligaments can allow the ribs to move a little more than normal and cause pain.
- Injury to the chest while playing contact sports such as football, ice hockey, wrestling, and rugby
- A fall or direct trauma to your chest
- Rapid twisting, pushing, or lifting motions, such as throwing a baseball or swimming
Is it normal to have diarrhea after a concussion?
Here is a brief discussion of the symptoms you might have from post-concussion stomach issues, along with possible causes of each specific symptom. GI dysfunction resulting from head injury can cause nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea and constipation, vomiting, development of food sensitivities and allergies, bloating and gas, heartburn and acid reflux, vitamin deficiency, abnormal weight loss or weight gain, and mental health issues.
Nausea. Nausea is one of the more complex post-concussion symptoms. It is not necessarily caused by issues with the stomach. It’s often triggered by certain situations (rather than being omnipresent) and does not have to be accompanied by vomiting.
Nausea could be caused by dysregulated breathing that results in an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your bloodstream, blood pressure changes (especially with exercise), SIBO, digestion speed, vestibular dysfunction, and more.
Can broken bones cause diarrhea?
However, severe or persistent symptoms require immediate medical attention to rule out serious internal injuries. In some cases, even seemingly unrelated injuries like a broken bone can cause diarrhea because of how the body responds to trauma.
Is it better to sit or lay down with broken ribs?
Sit Upright. Some patients notice that the pain and tenderness increases at night when they are in bed trying to go to sleep. In these cases, it can be helpful to avoid lying completely flat. Try sleeping sitting up in a chair to ease the pain. Upright positions can also help with breathing. When coughing, some people find it helpful to hold a pillow against their chest to absorb the sudden movement and steady the torso.
Breathe Normally. The pain of rib injuries may make a person breathe more shallowly and avoid coughing. However, breathing normally and coughing when the need arises are important for preventing complications. Doing breathing exercises throughout the day can also help.
Avoid Smoking. Reducing or stopping smoking will benefit the healing process after a rib injury, especially if breathing is affected.
📹 What a Messy Stool Can Reveal About Your Health
If you’re having trouble wiping, Dr. Anish Sheth reveals what your messy stool could be saying about your health and body.
Urgent Care said it was a Pop. I was doing hack squats and on the second to last rep I felt a pop on the ribs. It didn’t really hurt. I finished my last 2 reps and went on to curls. Didn’t hurt either. Then I went to RDLs and immediately, I felt a bad rib stretch pain. I went to the treadmill and after 2–3 minutes my ribs cramped up. Went to urgent care, they said don’t work out for a week. I did that. Today was the first day back. I didn’t lift. I walked 4 miles. It felt good. I still have minor discomfort, but nowhere near as bad, I had last week. I just took a deep breath, maybe a 0.5/10 type of pain. Barely felt some sort of discomfort, but nothing big.
I do windshield washer movements on the high bar and I heard a pop yesterday. No bruising/bleeding at site, not actual skeletal rib fracture, dislocation/perhaps subluxation(?). Pain. Cartilage stretch/disruption seems correct. I’ll try the taping. Thank you again. I’m going to talk to an athletic trainer on Monday.
Thanks for these rib articles. This is something that is common in BJJ and there is not good info for jiu jitsu and how to get back on the mats. I fractured left 8th rib doing a triangle and having an elbow dropped. I’ve been out for 3-weeks and frustrated that most medical professionals don’t know how to advise or help understand what is happening. These are very helpful.
Thanks for the advice Dr. One thing I would mention from my experience getting cartilage and muscle tears several times, “A little rest” ain’t gonna fix it, It could take weeks! And I have found the pain gets much worse when trying to sleep. I’m talking pain level 7 discomfort. As my day progresses the pain eases up considerably. As I said though it could take several weeks to heal. AND it can get reinjured more easily in the future. I once reinjured an old rib injury while under my car twisting off the oil filter. I could actually feel it pop.
Thanks for the content and the resources! Based on your description I feel like I’ve had slipped rib syndrome in both ribs from separate injuries 2 and 3 years ago. Day to day there’s no pain anymore but they poke the ground sharply if I lay flat, I tap early all the time just from uncomfortable twisted positions, and occasionally doing gardening or other odd things like reaching down to grab something off the floor from a sitting position gives me a sensation of “hell no, don’t do that!”. Even so, I couldn’t imagine doing surgery to fix it, it just seems extreme, very specialized and costly. Everyone says it will heal soon enough but I don’t believe them either. I just figure, this is how it is, and to take it easy.
I’m glad I found this article. Recently “popped” my rib while getting stacked by a heavier rolling partner, and I made a mistake by turning while still being slacked and pop! Got xrays done, they said looked clear. The pain for sure has subsided. What’s funny though is that I still feel the “pop” though not as painful 2 weeks ago but I only feel it now in the morning rite when I wake up and trying to get out of bed. After about an hour it’s gone. Idk why. Really strange to me. I also feel what feels like either tissue or cartilage forming where the pop originally occurred. Feels like I have a bump now. Thanks again for this article. Will be sharing your website with my gym mates.
I was getting work done on my lower back for compression of the lower left back, just above the pelvis area. Upon my second treatment as I;was on my stomach I felt a niggle /pain in front of the rib(about 3 from the bottom) . I was getting deep tissue massage where he was working along my spine-middle to upper,on 2 knots., and my neck. A few days later I went to lift my left arm to pick up a bag of meat from the butchers and I felt a big POP in the front of rib cage and excruciating pain. It’s been about 6 days now and it’s still giving me hell. I can feel the pain at the back near my spine and rhe front of the rib below the breast. I had a fall upside down a few yrs ago, landing on my neck/head from about 3 feet & hurt this area. I feel that the deep tissue manipulation aggravated/moved old injury. I couldn’t sleep, lie down comfortably or breathe for the first couple nights. I had to repeat to myself – let go, let go, let go to release the tension enough so as I could relax enough to try to get some sleep. Ribs are a nightmare of an injury. I haven’t done anything with them to help recovery, won’t be going back to BIG THUMB MASSAGE AGAIN.
Thanks for making article and mentioning jujitstu speciffically. Ive played football and wrestled and never had a rib injuring until rolling. I sustain some type of rib injury while rolling in the area you described. It was odd bc it was a twisting force while rolling almost like my abs produced enough force to pop my rib. I felt a pop and pain and soreness for a few weeks hoping it heals on its own.
Very helpful information. I searched for rib injuries, not even specifying BJJ related ones and this popped up 😅 I injured my ribcage from a JJ tournament two days ago I’m determining the next step of action as I believe it is the cartilage and exactly in the spot you mentioned when it is the soft tissue and not the actual rib itself.
Amazingly helpful article! I just subscribed to your website. I popped a rib 2 days ago for the first time ever…just sitting up in bed and reaching forward to get something out of a box on my bed.I heard that “pop” for the first time…weird sound and immediate pain… that is getting worse. I also have a slipped disc in my back, going unchecked for 10 years next month. It affects my walking when slipped out. I really need to get to the hospital and get x-rays on both areas. Thanks so much for your expertise and recommendations! Barbara.. from Newfoundland Canada 🇨🇦.
Thanks Doc, hahaha wrestling these big monsters at St Louis Highschool on Oahu. Me being 55yrs young, I’m helping coach my sons 7th grade Intermediate grades, no real threat. So, after practice I go roll around with 3 big monsters varsity, doing well, handling my own UNTIL, don’t really remember but I think I was Grammy-roll and had the biggest one going over we where battling who was gonna win the roll. Boom I remember in my body I felt and heard internal “pop.” Exactly what you said just below my left nipple, near sternum…adrenaline stayed on so after ironmen w big sol’es/Hawaiians, I started to feel that pain when breathing. Mahalo for your articles, YES, no rolling around with any wrestlers just gimping around and pointing out corrections until cartridge is solid healing and even after that, as much I have a tenacious wrestlers heart….ahhh maybe I’ll just demo moves for the bigger weights…Mahalo Again. Blessing no major hot skin, or catching breath, pretty much all the symptoms of cartilage issue Dana Ps I’m starting those breathing rehab laying down, the sitting up w good posture…in matter of hours of injury doc, can I immediately start rehab breathing ?
Really helpful article. I’m going to recommend your website to everybody at my gym. I believe I have a cartilage disruption based on your article. I felt it pop trying to escape side control on the top right part of my rib. The pain honestly on a scale of one through 10 is about a four so I kept on rolling. I feel no pain honestly but sometimes I do a specific crunching type movement and it pops out again and I have to stretch it and pop it back in. It’s been about a week and I’m starting to feel that fibrosis you said. My question is, even if it pops out again here and there, is it still healing or am I back to square one every time I feel it pop? Should I still ice it what else could I do to help out healing process?
Hi thanks for this article. I don’t do contact sport, I’m 43 & a gym rat, 225lb. I was showing someone hanging side leg raises on a chin up frame when I felt a bad pinch & narley pain in my side. (I havent done these in a few years..) My first thought was that I pinched muscle between my rib & hip during the contraction. Next few days really hurt to twist in bed etc. Now 2 weeks later doesn’t really hurt, only when I sneeze. Lower back rib area. Any help is greatly appreciated cheers 💪🏽
I was escaping out of a mount and heard a pop and had to stop immediately, it is not close to the spine like you mentioned. It is on the back left side, a little bit below halfway on my ribs. I can press on the certain area that hurts and it’s definitely not where you said the “popped” rib would be. I’m experiencing all the other stuff, painful breathing and coughing. I literally just sneezed and it was incredibly excruciating and it felt like something shifted a little bit
Location is left side, would say more left side of my heart…. 5 years ago i fell badly while doing soccer with my elbow straight there, a year ago a jujitsu put his weight and it started again… and lately a punch… the feeling is as if the Rib go inside my body… and hurt… right now when breathing fully i feel a pop move.. It happened only 3 days ago.. so i am in healing process the pain is fading everyday… I am bother that it comes easily again over and over . perhaps Ineed some exercice to make myself a muscle block that just stop ALL hit going there
Well, great 🙃 It’s been 2 months now, about 20 different pops throughout that 2 months, I can only get half-breaths, and now shit is getting weird like my whole left side cramping and having to curl up in a ball. I think messed myself up pretty bad in this one guys. FYI, this from a Muay Thai kick to the ribs, then a few knees to the same ribs 1 month into “recovery”. Lesson learned… let your body fully heal before going back into full training. 😞
I popped a rib on the top upper left side. I went to my family doctor and she ordered an x-ray and said everything was fine I have a little arthritis in both shoulders and clavicle. I kept insisting to my family doctor this is a little bit more than a crick in the neck,because the pain was God awfuI. I was in hell for 6 months. When I would rest at night the swelling in my shoulder would ride up to my neck. I finally went to the spine Joint Center and they said I had popped this rib and he popped it back in place. I’m a bit sore but I had instant relief from that hard nagging awful pain. Thank you for putting this information out there to help people. I really appreciate it. ❤💕👌
I really hope you help me with this. More than 2 years ago, I was at the gym when I was doing shoulder raises and felt some pain in my upper back, the kinda pain that makes you go “let me stop”. A few days later, I start getting very sharp chest pain, like a needle almost. That lasted for like 2/4 weeks. I went to see a doctor, gave me a bs name for an “inurable disease”. I just ignored it and the pain subsided. About less than 2 months after that, I started feeling some sort of chronic pain in my upper right back, which I couldn’t explain where it’s coming from. All my upper back (right side) had tenses up so much that it even got to my neck. And the worst part was that sometimes at night I couldn’t breathe. I went to plenty chiropractic and physiotherapists, each giving me a different diagnosis. Nothing helped. I couldn’t spend more money on this so I just lived with it. Now, I got a small golf ball and have been rolling my back on it only to experience INTENSE pain… so many knots in my upper back that I just don’t know where they’re from. The pain is giving me headaches at this point, and I really need help. Do you have any idea what I’m experiencing? And what I could do about it?
Thankyou, Thank God . ThankYT. I really panicked about this movement in my rip with untoldable pain, I thought it was a fracture but after seeing yours article it’s exactly poped condition and it’s settling down slowly but if I do anything a little bit hard again it will get popped with heavy pain 😢. What should i do now? I have been going through this for 3 days. How long it would take to recover????
Thanks man. Thought it was broken. Turned out it was just massive pain due to cartilage hahaha. Also i was recovering from a lung infection when it happened. I was in full expectorate mode while healing. Ughgggg so much pain but i think it relocated my ribs and helped me to heal faster. We will see. Was 2 weeks ago tomorrow
I was sparring about a week ago and during that spar, I felt a pop just underneath my right breast towards the middle of my chest sternum area. I don’t have any pain when I breathe or when I cough. I can inhale deeply and exhale deeply with no problem. The problem is when I am rolling and I use my right side and I use or move to a certain positions, it hurts to the point that I have to tap myself out. I believe it’s like you said the Cartlidge portion of the rib. My question is will a compression band on my ribs help me limit the pain while I roll.
this has been the best explanation ive found. Thank You ! Im almost 100% sure i got a carttilage dirsuption on 3 ribs. Luckily, the pain went away in about a month & can now do a situp with no pain. How long would you say id have to wait, to workout comfortably? or should i just start now, but with very light weight.
Thanks for the information!!! I the as out for 6 weeks, then come back 1 week and the ribs pops again. Since then I’ve been 3 weeks out of the mat and the pain hasn’t improved. X-rays didn’t show much, and the only advice that I got is to rest. What can I do by my end to improve it and get back to the mat, I’m desperate.
I found your article really helpful diagnosing i have a popped rib. Popped a rib yesterday at a tournament…it has not been very fun this morning as I continually feel it popping out of place if i do certain movements. With some rest and relaxation how long do you think this will persist? Trying to figure out at what point I should go see a doctor if needed. Thank you for your help!
I popped or rolled ? a rib years ago moving a heavy musical organ down into the basement and it took forever to heal. The other day I was pulling a intake off a truck and the force of pulling up and having my ribs on the front of the truck I heard a loud pop. I’m not looking forward to how long this is going to take to heal again. Probably one of the worst injuries I’ve had, besides C2 fracture lol
I got a rib crack from jiu-jitsu two weeks ago and it is nt getting better with time (my partner knee was right in my stomach – we are both white belt and clumsy). I stopped attending classes of course for now. The most problem is I don’t really know the right position to lay on bed when sleeping and I always wake up with more pain. Some days I would avoid laying in bed at all 😅 I can sit and work on my desk for 10+ hours but not laying.
Hi a noela and i was at the gym today and after workout my coach laid me on my back nad belly up bringing my knee closer to my chest and then he pushed it down on my belly and then i head a pop around my left rib side so far i dont have pains while breathing but i tried to locate the area and i felt a little pain qhen i push with my finger
Great article. I tripped and fell backwards a few days ago and landed very hard on the shoulder blade area. Then searing pain ran around one of the ribs and ended up under my breast. A lump has since formed there. And there’s popping and crackling going on. Must be a rib pop. It’s really hard to get up, bend over, etc. I truly hope it heals sooner than later. Never knew a blow to the back would set off pain in the front. Very upsetting – I need to catch a plane in a few weeks.
Hi Josh, thanks so much for these informational articles about rib injuries, especially about Jiu Jitsu specifically, it’s so hard to find reliable info. I popped my rib about 7 months ago when someone sat hard into a mount on top of me (x-ray looked fine and the ER Dr. said just rest it). It was incredibly painful for at least a few weeks, maybe a month or more. Now after 7 months I still have a bump where it popped. I am largely pain free and back to many things (kettlebells, calisthenics, etc), and am doing some Jiu Jitsu, but am very mentally sensitive to re-injuring that area. I am writing because I still have a bump or lump where it popped, and it still occasionally gets irritated and causes pain for a few days/week from time to time. After 7 months…is this common for torn rib cartilage? Thanks again, really appreciate it.
it’d really help if someone did a article discussing how to tell the difference between a bruised rib and a fractured rib, – my right rib hurts just where it meets the sternum, hurting to move (sit up when i’ve been laying down), cough, breathe and ibuprofen hasn’t helped at all. – even stretching is difficult and i have a high plain tolerance.
I ate a knee to the ribs in Muay Thai class and my ribs made a popping/cracking noise but nothing seems to have moved out of place that I can feel and I can take deep breaths no pain but sitting up hurts and it hurts to the touch. I think it was probably just a soft tissue injury, it seems like it’s further out to the side than the cartilage and it’s on one of the higher ribs. No bruising though. Weird
What kind of test will show damage to cartilage? Would an ultrsound work? It takes too long to get any other test. I took a hard elbow to the right side of my ribs just under my breast last sunday. The hot searing pain took my breath away and i dropped to the floor screaming and trying to get a breath. I went and got xrays done the next day and it showed no fracture and no bruising on my skin. The dr did not even touch me other than to listen to my lungs. The pain has now spread all the way front and back and if i cough or bend over something feels like popping. I still cant get a deep breath without hurting. Trying to sit up in bed makes me almost scream. I can not touch anywhere on that section front to spine. If im standing it feel like i have a big rock or hard something on the inside of my ribs. So cartilage does not show on xray, what would show what is going on?
My underwire bra aligned perfectly with a metal rod in the arm of my couch as I stretched over it to grab my phone that fell on the floor the two pieces of metal somehow worked together I think separate my ribs and it is wildly painful from my sternum to my back all the way on that side. from a bra ffs
Doc, I did a front flip to escape an armbar and my rib popped. So it’s been a week. I don’t have pain when I breathe or anything. The pain is when I bend forward, and also like how you mentioned, there’s a small indention, and there also like a lump protruding right next to the indention. Like maybe the ribs slipped outta place or something like you mentioned. I’m going to get it checked out, but do you think it’s just cartilage damage? Why is my rib sticking out slightly like this?
I was playing rugby over the weekend guy landed on me between the ball and the ball was positioned by my rib I got up went to the trainer we are doing exercises I’m hearing a pop fast forward I went to the clinic yesterday for an X-ray they said nothing was broken nor even a bruise but it was swelling that could be seen. So I’ve been taking painkillers and icing it’s been 4 days how long do you think I’ll be having this problem and will the popping sound go away once the swelling is down the area it happen was the left middle anterior rib
It’s been almost a year after popping some part of the costal catilage on lower right. When I bend or lean I feel a section pop in or out, it’s not bothersome, just annoying. My worthless doctor just says there’s nothing he can do, no explanations or solutions, just dismisses me and off to the next patient $
Thanks doc. Heard 3 pops during roll with a 300lb guy (I’m 170) yesterday. Also felt a tingue of pain in the anterior left rib cage approxiamtely ribs 5-8. Paused for sec, but kept rolling. Woke up today really tender to palpation, but no pleuritic pain with breathing. Should I just rest a week and see how it goes?
Can I get some tips and advice? i started jui jitsu just about 3 months ago. the first class I rolled with a white belt twice the size of me and he jumped on me to mount. rib was gone. then I waited a month and half for it to heal, in that time I hurt my obliques because of poor technique. Then finally started feeling almost 100% again then yesterday first roll another guy threw me in a take down and full body landed on my chest, hurting the same rib that was hurt before. I am desperately googling and trying to youtube how to protect my rib when I am thrown or I am on my back but nothing comes up. do I need to tuck my elbows in? do I pull my knees and hope they land on my knee instead of my chest? how do judokas, wreslers and BJJ fighters not constantly have rib injuries. Or am I just the biggest softie? Thanks for the answers
My ribs get injured so easily. So much more than other people. The slightest blow or throw can injure my ribs. It keeps happening, and it’s very painful. It keeps me out of action for at least 4 weeks every time. Do some people have weaker ribs than others? Why can some people take the blows and yet i can’t? It’s so frustrating!
I had a slipped rib on the lower right for years. After doing P.T. for 9 months, it got much worse. A few months later, a CT scan showed a Chronic fracture in the right 10th rib about an inch from my spine. That was a year and a half ago and its still fractured. Orthopedic keeps telling me it’ll heal, but I’m trying to figure out something else that can be done because its becoming unbearable with activity.
Dr Josh, Great set of articles. I am new to BJJ (under a month) and popped a rib in class a few days ago. I initially went to my Chiro and he sent me to urgent care. You can feel a pretty aggressive protrusion on the low left side of my sternum. It “pops” in and out with not much pressure. It will also “pop” with deep breath’s. At urgent care they did x-ray and CT with contrast and said “everything is fine”. It has only been 4 days since the injury at this point. Pain is lower, but definitely cannot take a deep breath, cough/sneeze, or bend over comfortably. How long should I wait before going to see someone else? Should that someone else be a Chiro like yourself with BJJ experience, or should it be a surgeon? Thank you for your time…
My pain starts just below my under arm and comes around to the Brest bone but not to the chest. Little painful click like feelings are almost constant and I’m not sure what this may be and I have been treating with ibuprofen and ice but no relief at all. I am sure mine starts just below the underarm and nothing around the back. I am having big spasms and constant flickering like pain
I bruised and popped my rib a week ago (boxing). I can now breathe comfortably, and it’s slowly getting better, but if I turn with strength or do a sit-up, or move wrong it pops out. If I sneeze, it hurts, and holding the rib while I sneeze helps. I can stretch that side to get it to pop back in. Question is, do you recommend reccomend some tapping or some wrap around the ribs to help keep it in place? Any recommendation for how to do this? Thank you for the article!
I have a question what if you don’t do that sport and you are just playing around and you have someone who is heavier than you are and you hear an extremely loud pop and and crunch then an instance amount of pain now it hurts to breathe and it’s very tender to touch lower front left side I’m not someone who runs to the hospital for everything because it might just be a bruise my friend even heard it and said WTH was that 😮
I got hard pushed with shoulder on my ribs left side under nipple, i can breathe normally, sneezing makes me some pain, can sleep only on my back. Lifting/ reaching with my lef hand makes pain as well. No bruises on outside when touch there i can feel nothing different from other side. I keep going to work because im okay till im moving specific way. Any ideas what can be wrong? Thanks for response.
i do muay thai, after sparring i was sore but it took a day or two to really start feeling my rib. i got x-rays done thinking it was a fracture. they said it must just be bruised. i went home and tried to massage it and i felt something click. currently unsure what to do. just hoping it’ll heal up and be fine.
Hello Dr.Josh I am Giannis.I watch your articles very carefully the last days. I had an accident 20 days ago.I try to run and a friend grab me from the back, with his hands to touch in the front side in my belly..Instantly I heard a Crack in my 10th rib afront,but no much pain at the moment.The pain becomes more the 2nd day and stay like this for 15 days,the last 3 days I pain a lot,but a bit less.I did CT and XR and my rib in not broken…I am afraid that I broke the cartilage at that spot,is the 10th rib and the rib looks out of the position, More out than the rest..Also afront where connect the rib with the cartilage is pop up something hard.Makes the place to look swollen but is hard,like the cartilage change position..I am wandering if the rib or the cartilage will go back in the normal position?And how long it will take.?.This is my biggest fear as I see this days,i am afraid the rib it will stay out of the position. I will be super thankful if you answer me and you tell me your opinion. Thank you!
Was playing basketball. Got elbowed hard. It hurt briefly but was able to play through the rest of the game with minor issues. Pain went away next day. 5 days later played again got hit in the same spot and now it hurts the next day. Felt a little pull this time. Back hurts a little bit, pain is minor but feels sore and I am able to press down and feel the specific spot of the injury. No issues breathing, deep breaths. No pain twisting or bending. No pain when stretching. What do you think the issue is and what would you advise I do?
Hi Dr., I had a chiropractic adjustment with the activator tool seven months ago, on the left side of T4 or T6, which may have been set too high. It felt like a hard hit and popping sensation. I was always an active person, running, pullups, weight training, but started having many issues, such as burning sensations and chest spasms. I had a cardiac check to rule out any heart issues. After 4 months of pt work, it seemed to get better, but then developed scapular diskinesis and shoulder clicking on the left side-not my dominant arm. A article by the PT showed I was running with my left shoulder higher. I never had that issue previously. When I do certain stretches, like hands behind neck, pulling back, I get cracking sounds. Taking a deep breath with the upper chest, also produces discomfort at the back, same area, between the scapula and spine. I usually stretch in the mornings. I don’t know if this condition will heal. Whether I need to stop training overall. Everyone I have seen, PT or chiropractor tells me to stay active. It has caused a lot of anxiety and depression. I just want to heal this and return my prior condition. I appreciate your knowledge and advice and beg for your help. I would very much be thankful.
My upper rib has popped/subluxed multiple times from just twisting and stretching my body. After the last couple of these subluxations I’ve been having a popping/clicking on my left rib just under my chest (next to sternum) for over 4 months. It’s usually popping more often when I breathe in and can be very uncomfortable and hard to breathe. I think I have torn or damaged the cartilage. I could actually see a raise/bump in the area when it subluxed then popped back in. Do you have any suggestions?
Can a symptom of these be the lower front side of the rib sticking out more than usual? I was rolling about almost two weeks ago and and got into a scramble situation and my right side of my ribs landed/rolled over my partners fist and I felt a crunch and it took my breath away briefly. I know it’s not broken because I’ve broken ribs on my left side before and couldn’t do anything. I can move around but twisting motions hurt and ab/core exercises hurt. The lowermost rib on the front right side is sticking out more so than normal and more so than compared to the left side and is very tender all around that area
I know this will most likely get lost in the comments, but I have a question. I have neither of these two issues, but on my right side, My 2nd or 3rd to last rib bone protrudes significantly from my rib cage (i can literally grab it and wiggle it with zero discomfort), always has, my whole life, and I can find no explanation for it. Any ideas?
So… the lower-floating ribs on my left side have always been kind of pushed in a little bit compared to the rest of my rib cage, but there has never been problems or discomfort because of it, so I basically never addressed it… About a month ago I started to feel a lot of discomfort in the area (pressure, trouble sleeping, intestinal discomfort?) and also noise in the same spot (sounding like stomach growls, or air pockets). I was also constipated for about 4 days, and these symptoms basically lasted about that same time…. I figured this was all because of a stomach bug or something like that and it eventually went away… A month later (now), the discomfort is back, And so is the constipation, and it’s worse, the pressure is constant. Again, these lower ribs have always been like that, and just by looking at me you can identify the slight bulge/ indentation on that side… After perusal this article I’m almost certain the cartilage is damaged and these ribs are dislocated/ relocated and that I’ve just been living with it for all these years… I’ve always had a bit of shortness of breath But nothing too crazy… I played football my whole life & thru college and I would often get hit on that side as a right-handed quarterback. It’s adding up and looking like these ribs are causing issues… I appreciate the light you’re shedding on the subject. I don’t have a primary doc but I think it’s time for one as I am 30 years old, And this rib thing is starting to feel like an urgent matter.
I fell taking my moms trash can to the curb and felt a pop under my left breast area…Its the worst pain i have felt…cant move…hurts to take deep breath…cough…sneeze…stand up…bend over…pick up anything…sleep…its been a week still not any better….xr-ay didnt show anything but my doctor said because of inflamation sometimes its hard to see a fracture…feels like a was kicked by a horse….still don’t believe its not broken
So i Train muay thia got kicked while sparring in the ribs. (using shin guards) been about 3 weeks still have it smh. Got kicked there a few times after the injury because i thought I could avoid it since the rib injury doesn’t stop me from running, shadow boxing, jump roping etc.. Just when I get tapped there it hurts like hell and I get dropped. I guess it’s bruised rib since I can do much even breathe and sneeze and cough just fine. Anyway hate it smh.
I did leg press yesterday. 2nd set at 7-8th Rep I went deep down and touched my chest and i heard something split in my left abdominal just like a popping sound. I thought I got a hernia, but continued and did 13 reps. Then I did the third set with 12-13 reps. Then I did 3 sets of lunges, 3 sets of calf raises. However there is no pain, neither during exercise yesterday nor today. I felt feverish in the morning with dried lips and mild stomach upset. I am worried and heard about rib popping during leg press exercise but there is no pain associated at the moment. Can anyone suggest what happened to me ?
I actually got my ribs hurt by a chiropractor a few days ago I was laying on my stomach and he was doing an adjustment when I felt a pop and then instant pain it doesn’t really hurt when I cough but when I move a certain way or use my left arm to support my self to stand up or sit I need to mention I’m a pretty big guy what do you think it’s been 6 days ago
I felt a little pop (center upper chest where rib meets sternum) while rolling a few days ago. Minor pain to the touch for 3 days. Today it happened again. Now it Feels like my rib keeps clicking when I breathe heavy or lean to the side like “I’m a little teapot”. No pain unless I put pressure on the exact spot but the Rib clicking is freakin me out a bit. Any idea as to what is going on with me?
Injured my ribs in Jiu-Jitsu last week. I felt a popping sensation and instant pain in my lower to mid front ribs. I’m a week into my recovery, I don’t feel much pain now, but I feel my rib randomly pop in and out of place as I twist my body or bend down. Will this slipping/ popping in and out heal on its own?
I was sparring, and my teamate was on sidecontrol trying to turn me over to get to my back and as he tried turning me, he put all his pressure from chest into my rib, and as my body was turning, my ab and rib collided, its been a month but hasnt healed fully yet, is it normal to have a lump/bulge? i can move a lot better but my ab looks wierd because of the lump. Would you say its inflamed or its something more serious? i dont have a hard time breathing and i can move besides if i try to grapple it will bother it.
I wish I had done this doing bjj, or something else like that. Nope I popped, or cracked this one at work trying to push a stack of 16 foot long by 16 inches wide white oak boards. Certain motion when I drive where it feels like the ends of a broken bone rubbing aginst each other. Like a rough grinding. Strange sensation to feel in my side. I’ve done this probably 6 times in the past 15 or so years. Always work related stuff. Maybe one day I can explode out, or triangle someone into a popped rib. Can always hope.