Recovery from bruised ribs/chest wall pail

Mark Hickman

Just curious what the recovery period for chest wall pain is like for others.  Crashed the bike on Christmas day; thought I had punctured a lung it hurt so bad...not with anyone so had to call an ambulance.  No broken ribs, but diagnosed with chest wall pain and a broken index finger.  Quite painful to take deep breaths, especially in the morning before the drugs kick in.  Was going into JOS with some excitement, so this speed bump is a big bummer.  

 

Mark

Steve Ross

Hi Mark I am a little step up from a bruised contused chest wall. Basically a lot of fractured ribs and abd trauma. But for yourself with your pain on inspiration and movement. Keep up the deep inspiration/cough exercises a couple times a day( after meds). Start some sort of core/upper body with or without weight as tolerated. I started with a small tennis ball and now am up to 50 lb wts in differ exercises. The goal here is to stay mobile as much as possible. Once you feel a change less pain more movement that is the tell tale sign your on your way to healing. My guess is you would be ready for JOS with a little modification to get you started. Good luck on your rehab and play safe !

Ralph Butler

Mark,
I took a fall 6 weeks before B2B a couple years ago. Cracked a couple ribs couldn't run or swim due to the pain. I actually used KT tape on my chest wall and was able to swim and run about 7-10 days later. The tape helped stabilize some and probably also had a bit of a psychological affect too. In the first week I could ride m trainer at a z3 pace without much discomfort.

Mark Hickman

Thanks all...after about 9 days now, I can ride the bike okay, but still can't imagine running. bouncy stuff hurts:o) so I'll just keep on doing what I can do for now. Guess that could mean good things for my bike fitness...