Broken or bruised ribs

Broken or bruised ribs are usually caused by a fall, a blow to the chest or severe coughing. Symptoms include: strong pain in your chest area, particularly when you breathe in or cough swelling or tenderness around the affected ribs sometimes bruising on the skin feeling or hearing a crack if it's a broken rib Ribs cannot be easily splinted or supported like other bones, so they're usually left to heal naturally. There's often no need for an X-ray.

Broken or bruised ribs usually get better by themselves within 2 to 6 weeks. There are things you can do to help ease pain and speed up healing. Do use painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen gel (or ibuprofen tablets if needed) hold an ice pack (or a bag of frozen peas) wrapped in a tea towel to the affected ribs regularly in the first few days to bring down swelling rest and take time off work if you need to breathe normally and cough when you need to – this helps clear mucus from your lungs to prevent chest infections hold a pillow against your chest if you need to cough walk around and sometimes move your shoulders to help you breathe and clear mucus from your lungs regularly take slow, deep breaths to help clear your lungs try to sleep more upright for the first few nights Don’t do not lie down or stay still for a long time do not strain yourself or lift heavy objects do not play any sports or do any exercise that makes your pain worse do not smoke