Does rib fracture hurt? Here’s what you need to know

Fractures are obviously painful for many people, and many people want to know whether rib fractures are painful or not. Rib fractures can cause many complications, and rib fractures can also cause obvious pain. The degree of pain is closely related to the severity of the fracture.

1. The broken ends of rib fractures can stimulate the intercostal nerves and produce local pain, which is aggravated by deep breathing, coughing or turning the body position. Chest pain causes shallow breathing, weak cough, increased respiratory secretions and stagnation, which can easily lead to atelectasis and lung infection.

2. Fractures of multiple ribs will cause the local chest wall to lose complete rib support and soften, resulting in abnormal respiratory movements, that is, the softened area of ​​the chest wall collapses inward during inhalation and bulges outward during exhalation, also known as flail chest. In severe cases, respiratory and circulatory failure may occur. Patients should be encouraged to cough and expectorate and get out of bed and move around as early as possible.

3. If it is a rib fracture, it will be very painful regardless of whether you take a deep breath or not. It is probably a soft tissue injury. Massage with safflower oil 24 hours after the injury. The duration of pain caused by rib fracture should be adjusted appropriately due to individual differences. Don't worry, usually one week is the safe period.

4. The ribs surround the body and are divided into front ribs and back ribs. If the back ribs are fractured, it will manifest as pain in the lower back and waist. When the ribs are fractured, the surrounding soft tissues are usually damaged as well, and pain symptoms may also occur. If you don't take a photo of your lumbar spine, you can't rule out a lumbar fracture, but a rib fracture is likely to cause back pain, and the pain lasts longer, and you may have discomfort symptoms after a month, but overall you are recovering, so there is no problem.