View Full Version : From broken ribs to carrying a pack?
Ok question for anyone who has had broken ribs. How long was it till you could put a pack back on. I got hit by a car last week I broke rib #11 plus another one and bruised everything else. I am wondering if my entire hiking season is stuffed. I do not want to rush it and can't right now anyway due to the tire hitting my heel but I have been hearing estimates from regular people of 6 weeks to a year. The doc has just been smiling and saying nothing. I am not looking for medical advice just your experience thanks
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orthofingers
04-02-2017, 07:27
I've had broken ribs twice. It hurts to breathe, to move, to laugh and just about everything. In both cases, the pain lessened every week after the initial break. By week three or four, I could still feel it but, I could pretty much get on with my normal routine. I wouldn't have wanted to face Mike Tyson in the ring by week four but I wouldn't want to face him anytime.
Keep in mind, every rib fracture is different and your pain level will reflect that. I don't think there is any exercise or PT that you can do to make the pain go away sooner . . . Just time.
It will heal on its own in four to six weeks. If you can breathe, you can hike. If it hurts to breathe, hiking wont be very enjoyable, now will it.
I broke a rib on the Long Trail a couple summers ago. Face-planted on wet rock, but because I didn't poke my eye out, I was actually relieved and didn't really notice it till a day or two later. But that's hardly the same as having been hit by a car...
colorado_rob
04-02-2017, 10:47
I've had broken ribs twice. It hurts to breathe, to move, to laugh and just about everything. In both cases, the pain lessened every week after the initial break. By week three or four, I could still feel it but, I could pretty much get on with my normal routine. I wouldn't have wanted to face Mike Tyson in the ring by week four but I wouldn't want to face him anytime.
Keep in mind, every rib fracture is different and your pain level will reflect that. I don't think there is any exercise or PT that you can do to make the pain go away sooner . . . Just time.All ditto, two broken ribs here as well. Very painful, laughing, coughing, BREATHING, but after say, 4-5 weeks of healing, though it still might hurt, it's no longer a medical concern, so my breaks have never kept me from hiking and climbing. "Suck it up buttercup" has always been my mantra. I don't always succeed....
Slo-go'en
04-02-2017, 12:13
I would wait at least the 6 weeks and at your age, it might take longer.
I broke my collar bone about your age and it was a year before I could carry a pack again, but that's where all the stress is so no big surprise there.
How long til your bone heals? Depends on so much. Give yourself enough quality sleep and rest, good nutrition with bone broth if possible, collagen or gelatin supplements if not, avoid medicines which slow bone healing- NSAIDs such as vitamin I are the main overlooked ones. (All recommended by Mds and extensive web searches).
Take it easy friend! 4-6 weeks should be enough. BTW, I got over fractured spine and foot, what a drag! Glad you "only" got a fractured rib.
nsherry61
04-02-2017, 13:23
I've broken ribs on three different occasions.
My first strong recommendation is to get a rib belt or get good at wrapping your chest tightly in an ace bandage to stabilize your rib cage and make breathing, laughing, caughing, and general moving much less painful. The bandaging doesn't help the healing process, so if it doesn't make you feel better, don't keep doing it. But, if it helps reduce pain, it is a truly wonderful thing.
Second, after the first couple of weeks, as pain allows, do what works. Don't be stupid and do hard activities that might re-injure your ribs, but, if carrying a pack isn't painful, go for it. Don't go doing technical climbing for 6 weeks or so, but walk and carry a moderately weighted pack to your heart's content.
At 55 years old, you should heal up enough to resume whatever activities you want after 6 weeks, even if a bit painful still.
Good luck.
Thanks Everyone, I have encouraged me. 4 to 6 weeks I can handle. 2 years ago I nailed some vertebrae and it took 18 months for the bone bruises to go away so I could put a pack on. (Hubby became my beast of burden). The first thing I thought after being hit was, "there goes the season."
QuietStorm
04-02-2017, 17:44
Which rib? I've broken several and the most problematic are near the costachondriel joints. The best therapy after the acute phase is movement. Slack pack for a few weeks and then add weight
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I would think it will depend on how severe the break. Is the rib flopping around, as in you can feel two distinct pieces of bone? Or is it just cracked? Last year I was getting out of my tent in the pouring rain and my dog bolted as soon as I opened the tent door...I held onto the leash and he pulled and I tripped over the lip of the bathtub floor. Fell down hard and tore my rotator cuff and cracked a rib. 5 weeks later I never knew the rib was broken. Took more than 5 months for the rotator cuff to heal.
illabelle
04-03-2017, 11:35
On a little 20-mile section hike this weekend, we shared a shelter with a handful of thru-hikers. One of them was carrying an immense pack and said he had fallen on a rock recently and thought maybe he had broken a rib, sore and hurt a lot when climbing a hill. But he had no trouble laughing and horsing around with his friends, no problem making miles the next day. In this case, a broken rib - if that's what it was - didn't impede his progress much at all.
Looking at a diagram of the ribs I am now seeing why this would be a problem...if I looking at it right, the number 11 rib is a floating one in your lower back. The one I broke was on the chest just below my breast.
Sleeping on the ground may be more of an issue than hiking.