There are few home based things you can do to allow ease from pain and healing of the injured tissue. This is will help prevention worsening of the condition as well as faster recovery.
Unfortunately injuries are unavoidable. However much you try to protect yourself, it’s not about if you get injured, it’s about when. Luckily, our bodies are built with in build resilience at multiple levels. Resilience at skin level, your muscle level, your bone strength and last bit not the least, joints.
The anatomy of our body provides us various ways to either absorb the traumatic forces around us like missing a step or bumping into the wall.
However, let’s say that either you got a strong hug from a friend/family or that you tripped and landed on rib, there is an easy chance you will have rib strain, sprain or even fracture.
First thing to do to assess how many ribs and the location of the rib where the injury has occurred.
You may do that by, examine your skin in front of a mirror and looking for any bruising.
Other things to do is taking deep breaths and focusing on the exact location of pain and does the pain change with breathing.
Next, palpating the area to check how much tenderness do you have and if it is local or it’s more regions that the area of breathing pain?
Pain relief:- You abound try using ice to help with pain, decrease swelling and even help speed up the bruise recovery.
Patching the area/strapping the are with ace wrap can be used as a short term relief.
Deep breathing practicing diaphragmatic breadths about every 3-5 reps , 3-5 times a day.
Local pain relief cream, ointment, CBD cream etc. – Recommendations.
Shoulder rolls and scapular retraction.
Walking.
Postural exercise.
If the symptoms worsens, doesn’t improve for over a week or you notice any breathing issues or worsening pain with coughing, call your doctor to get it Xrayed.
If the pain has been around for more than 2-3 weeks even after seeing the doctor and ruling out any lunch injury, or fracture or even post fracture, call your local PT
Sarvar Pathan