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Broken rib - too optimistic?
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Broke my 7th rib (left side, almost exactly where my arm touches my side) on Thursday. I had an uncomfortable swim and a surprisingly good FTP test Saturday. I ran 11 on Sunday - the first half mile hurt, but then it was fine.

Went to the doctor Monday and got x-rays. They said it was a clean break, and that I was clear to do basically any tri stuff I could stand.

I biked outside and had a better swim today. Reading some threads on here, it sounds like people had it much worse than me. Now I’m second guessing a bit - am I doing too much? Overly optimistic?

Sleeping had been okay. Sneezing sucks, but most everything else is tolerable. Doctor just gave me ibuprofen. Maybe I just got a...lucky break?

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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I broke my 3rd and 4th left posterior but also had a broken clavicle (double displacement requiring surgery) and partial pneumothorax all at the same time, so my experience/recovery was different as to when I was cleared to do things like swim/ride etc. What was similar though with the ribs was trouble sleeping as it has hard to get comfortable. Sneezing sucked. Worst though was puking when I had a reaction to the meds I was on, could feel my ribs move where the breaks were.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Fiancee is a PT, asked her bc I was curious. Basically confirmed what you're experiencing and what your Dr said. 8-12 weeks for the bone to heal, but not a major fracture. Keep training but keep an eye on it. Deep breathing is obviously painful & the bone moves more than something you can set in place. 7th rib is relatively a good one to break since your sternum sort of keeps it in place too
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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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I had a crash and broke a rib or ribs I'm not sure as I didn't get it checked but having broken ribs before and after you know a broken rib when you sneeze... I was right in the middle of an IM build so sucked it and ran the next day continuing on my training which was uncomfortable but not terrible.

Now wait until week two where the rib that had been flexible at the break starts to heal losing that flexibility and hurts much more so with movement or breathing during exercise. I found it by far worse than the initial pain and I had to suck it up pretty hard to get through that period of another week to two. Tumble turning in the pool hurt too much so I had my coach give me open water swims as I lived by the ocean. Alas I got through it without compromising my training too much.
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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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Wow, sounds a lot luckier than my rib fractures. I had a punctured lung as well, so I had a longer process to get back into training. I had to wait 3 weeks for the lung to heal up before I got similar guidance myself.

Based on my n=1 experience, I'm guessing you might be a little bit over-optimistic. For me, I felt ok for a couple weeks (ignoring some pain) and then I realized I was running too much. I think it was around 2 weeks back into running that I started to feel a new ache where the breaks were healing. My sense this was vibration stress that wasn't helping the situation. It was in the offseason, and I just swapped in more time on the trainer instead of running time for a couple weeks, which then seemed to help a lot.

I'm not any sort of expert, but I would think that pushing too hard through that pain might just draw out nagging symptoms. If you are a typical triathlete, "do what you can stand" might not be good advice for your personality. You might be willing to stand more pain than you really should. I was really motivated to maintain fitness myself, and it was tempting to just ignore it... I'm surprised you are doing FTP tests for example (but much respect for giving that a go with a broken rib). That doesn't sound like fun to me. This is an injury that can heal 100% and have no lasting effects at all on performance, but IMO it is possible to overstress it and needlessly drag out the recovery.

Hopefully you are also younger than me and will experience some faster bone healing. (I was told my progression was typical for middle age). Good luck with it.
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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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MD here.
The healing time is slow with rib fractures and they are pretty sore.
Important that there is no underlying pneumothorax but that should hopefully have been picked up by your own doc.
I would take things a little easier personally, the trauma required to fracture a rib is pretty significant and it will take some time to recover.
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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [Deedubya] [ In reply to ]
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Not that young - 43...

The FTP test was before I knew it was broken. It didn’t actually feel very uncomfortable - I’d do an FTP test every day if it would allow me to avoid sneezing!

Great feedback so far from everyone. I didn’t think about the aspect of it getting more rigid when healing. I’ll just be extra-conservative and will try not to prolong the healing process.

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: Broken rib - too optimistic? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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I've broken ribs twice. The first time, while.i thought it was bad, I was back riding, swimming and running, with some pain, in less than 2 weeks.

Second time was a whole other level. For days I could not lay down at all and had to sleep upright in a chair. For 2 months, sleeping was always painful and I would wake several times every night. I could not run at all for at least 8 weeks (exacerbated by a broken pelvis, but that healed a lot faster than the ribs)

So it depends. And really it's all based on pain. If you can run, you're doing pretty well.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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Last edited by: RowToTri: Mar 10, 21 7:35
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