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Long lasting rib injury

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phoebe00683
phoebe00683

Hi, I was hoping for some opinions on what's going on with me... I apologize in advance for the long story. So, almost a year ago now I got quite sick with chest infection like symptoms. I was coughing so much I managed to hurt my ribs... The about of pain I was in was un describable and I was stuck in bed for a pretty long time. At the time I got an X-ray which came up with nothing but I was told that rib fractures are hard to see and they gave me panadene fort to help with the pain. Since then I have also lost 40kg ( I was quite big before ). Not sure if this I relevant but thought i'd mention it. From there it took a long time for the pain to come down a bit. I've been going to the doctor a lot recently (almost a year later) trying to figure out if there is any serious reason behind my weight loss and also investigating my ongoing rib pain. So about a month or two ago I got another X-ray on my ribs after finding a lump in that area and the X-ray showed 3 still healing ribs with balls of scar tissue surrounding them on my 6-8 ribs. I still get a deep ache in that area as well as sharp pains that bother me really often and even to the point of tears.. STILL! I gave it ages to heal and didn't do any sports for or anything straining on it for at least 8 months and from my understanding it should take about 6-8 weeks for a Brocken rib to heal. I'm only 18 years old so you would think I would heal fast, I do smoke but I would imagine that shouldn't stop ribs from healing still after this long. Why is it taking so long to heal and do I maybe need surgery to help them? Help!

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • melissa91009
    melissa91009 phoebe00683

    Posted

    Hi. I don't know about the need for surgery etc but just wanted to let you know, I snapped one of my ribs off the cartilage and the X-ray it hospital didn't show it. I was is agony and was discharged home with the diagnosis of muscoskeletal injury. Which in my mind is a fancy name for, we don't know. I had a bone scan about 5 months later and it showed the fracture was barely healing. That was 3.5 months ago. I still get pain but otherwise it's generally better. When I was in hospital, I had pin prick bleeding under my skin and swelling plus 10/10 pain when I tried to breathe. Suffice to say, I was peeved when I found it not only was it broken and they missed the non X-ray symptoms, but that it was also a bad brake. Have you been to a thoracic surgeon for an opinion?

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