Remove clutter from your floors and clean spills promptly, use a rubber mat in the shower, keep your home well-lit, and put skidproof backing on carpets and area rugs. Wear protective equipment when playing contact sports. Protect yourself from athletic injuries.The following measures may help you prevent a broken rib: These symptoms can indicate a heart attack. Seek medical attention immediately if you feel pressure, fullness or a squeezing pain in the center of your chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or pain that extends beyond your chest to your shoulder or arm. See your doctor if you have a very tender spot in your rib area that occurs after trauma or if you have difficulty breathing or pain with deep breathing. The pain associated with a broken rib usually occurs or worsens when you: But if you break a lower rib, the broken ends can cause serious damage to your spleen, liver or a kidney. The bottom two ribs rarely fracture because they have more flexibility than do the upper and middle ribs, which are anchored to the breastbone. The jagged end of a broken middle rib can puncture a lung and cause it to collapse. A sharp end of a break in one of the first three ribs at the top of your rib cage could rupture your aorta or another major blood vessel. Complications vary depending on which ribs break. The risk increases with the number of broken ribs. A cancerous lesion can weaken the bone, making it more susceptible to breaks.Ī broken rib can injure blood vessels and internal organs. Playing contact sports, such as hockey or football, increases your risk of trauma to your chest. Having this disease in which your bones lose their density makes you more susceptible to a bone fracture. The following factors can increase your risk of breaking a rib: Ribs also can be fractured by repetitive trauma from sports like golf and rowing or from severe and prolonged coughing. The most common cause is chest trauma, such as from a fall, motor vehicle accident, child abuse, getting CPR or impact during contact sports. A jagged edge of broken bone can damage major blood vessels or internal organs, such as the lung.
#Broken or fractured rib symptoms cracked
While still painful, cracked ribs aren’t as potentially dangerous as ribs that have been broken into separate pieces. A broken rib causes rib fracture pain, which is a common injury that occurs when one of the bones in your rib cage breaks or cracks. Your ribs protect soft, fragile organs like your heart and lungs.