Rib injury & recovery

MrRed

New member
HI All,

Managed to crack / bruise a rib in a totally unrelated to archery incident recently.
Have been to the doctor who has confirmed this, without xrays - I can go back in 2 wks and get an x-ray but his treatment would be exactly the same - i.e. rest and rehab.
From what I've read it can take 3-6 wks to heal.
Does anyone have experience of recovery from such an injury and the type of low level exercises performed following week3-6 to get me back to archery?

I'm obviously looking forward to getting back into archery , but am quite cautious having read other threads of injuries ..

cheers
Mr Red
 

clickerati

The American
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
American Shoot
Just bear this one thing in mind...you will feel better (low or no pain) before you are completely healed, and may therefore assume it's ok to go back to archery (and other activities). So whatever you do, DO NOT, be hasty in your return to archery. Make sure you get an all clear or you may be doing yourself harm.

Best of luck with your recovery :cupcake:
 

Rabid Hamster

Well-known member
Ironman
if its any consolation ... I cracked 2 ribs playing american football (300lb-er speared me on the ground) and was out for just 2 weeks. Admittedly I was on painkillers that would have allowed someone with 2 broken legs to audition successfully for Riverdance ... but hey, I was young and stupid on serious medication! :)
 

Mickle

New member
Been there, done that. Broke a rib in a bike accident a few years ago and was able to shoot 4 weeks later. I used some girly weight limbs though to ease me back in as the rib wasn't the only injury.

To conclude; borrow some really light limbs, take off most of the stabilisers, pop some pills, and have a go. Just stop if it starts to hurt too much.
 

Desbob

New member
Just recovered from a broke rib myself (water park, slides, over enthusiasm etc..)

Took 6 weeks to stop hurting

I managed to keep shooting, although gave some discomfort, worst part was trying to get comfortable in bed!

If realy bad then painkillers help
 

MrRed

New member
thanks for the input folks.
Think i'll give it another 2wks and then set the bow up and do some drawing in my house to see how it feels first.
I'm in my first week of recovery and the pain is definitely receding. Main issue was actually lieing down and turning over in bed! , plus putting the car in reverse as its a rib on my left side.
Managing to steer clear of strong painkillers though which makes me thinks it must be more bruised than cracked..
Anyhow I have a plan for 2wks time, its what I do in the meantime to keep myself active.

cheers
 

Mickle

New member
I spent 3 weeks sleeping on the sofa 'cos I couldn't lie down without pain. Though that meant I was closer to the remote control so it wasn't all bad!
 

MrRed

New member
Evening all,

Was field captain today at my club and despite not shooting due to the rib injury did manage to put the bow together with a longrod only and draw it a few times, whilst the others where shooting. Didn't experience any pain or discomfort, so that bodes well for the future.
Out of interest all those who have responded who have had rib injuries, what did you do in in the interim, apart from lieing on the couch :) ?
Hoping i'll be back in time for the Indoor which kicks off mid October.

cheers
 

clickerati

The American
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
American Shoot
Didn't experience any pain or discomfort, so that bodes well for the future.
just remember that pain disappears well before the body is healed and this gives people a false sense that they can return to sport. make sure you get the all clear before going back to shooting otherwise you'll find yourself on the sick bench a lot longer!!
 

Desbob

New member
I have had broken ribs on 3 separate occasions, each time being different as far as pain levels go...

Your body is programmed to tell you what's right under the circumstances - if it hurts, back off.

ribs take weeks to heal and there is nothing you can do to expidite the process.

If you can draw a bow then fine, get shooting, if it hurts, wait a while more...
 

arutha

New member
I cracked two ribs about 10 years ago. I was working as a Train Conductor at the time and an old dear had dropped her umbrella onto the track btween the train and the platform. I dropped down to pick it up. Not being yer normal "posh spice" build, clearance was an issue. Hurt like bejasus and I had trouble holding back my "impromptu French lesson from the lady's delicate ears".

Pain is a message from yer body to yer brain to tell you that there is something wrong. Believe me, yer body normally knows what it's talking about.

It'll take a while but there's nothing out there for a quick fix when it comes to rib injuries like this.

The gold will wait for a while. Any macho nonsense will just aggravate it but thankfully it doesn't take forever to heal.
 

MrRed

New member
Hi,

Appreciate that it may take time to heal - whether its 3-4wks or longer i'm prepared to do so rather than risk further longer term injury.
Thing is what did you folks do in the interim period?
Some light stretching? i've got a yoga /pilates DVD (well it's my missus's
but i have used it before..)
Bit of walking? Swimming?

I'm a tad bored out of my mind not being able to do archery or any other form of exercise ..

:poulies:
 

clickerati

The American
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
American Shoot
Pain is a message from yer body to yer brain to tell you that there is something wrong. Believe me, yer body normally knows what it's talking about.
but this is what i meant in my previous post. it DOES hurt upon initial injury and through the first parts of the healing process. BUT the pain goes before the injury is healed. this why so many people go back to their activity before they are properly healed and actually make it worse. you THINK you're ok because the injury is no longer painful, but that doesn't mean you're healed.

i'll try to find the diagram that illustrates this and post it here so you can see.
 

clickerati

The American
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
American Shoot
Hi,

Appreciate that it may take time to heal - whether its 3-4wks or longer i'm prepared to do so rather than risk further longer term injury.
Thing is what did you folks do in the interim period?
Some light stretching? i've got a yoga /pilates DVD (well it's my missus's
but i have used it before..)
Bit of walking? Swimming?

I'm a tad bored out of my mind not being able to do archery or any other form of exercise ..

:poulies:
Mr Red, have you seen a physio? If so, did they not give you any exercises? it will depend on what kind of rib injury you had and where.
 

MrRed

New member
Mr Red, have you seen a physio? If so, did they not give you any exercises? it will depend on what kind of rib injury you had and where.
I was seeing a physio for a separate issue a few months ago, but not this cracked / bruised rib. The money kind of all adds up after a while.

I will consider seeing a sports physio next week after payday..
 

MrRed

New member
but this is what i meant in my previous post. it DOES hurt upon initial injury and through the first parts of the healing process. BUT the pain goes before the injury is healed. this why so many people go back to their activity before they are properly healed and actually make it worse. you THINK you're ok because the injury is no longer painful, but that doesn't mean you're healed.

i'll try to find the diagram that illustrates this and post it here so you can see.
thanks Clickerati...
 

arutha

New member
Just to qualify my last piece of useless advice----->

Don't sit on yer #### eating McMuffins all day!

...but.........
 

MrRed

New member
An exciting update folks..
Saw a physio after 3wks and he said that it unlikely to be a cracked rib , more like a muscle tear as the pain had diminished so much.
I am now back to archery - admittedly starting from a low number of arrows - just the 6dozen rounds but thats cool, and the indoor for me starts next week .

happy days :poulies:
 

JLT

New member
Hope you are on the mend...

I think the best course of action is to ultimately rest from painful activity... however I would probably still do a light bodyweight workout, or a simple dynamic warm up to keep the body from tightening up.

I've had a couple of muscular injuries before, and found by keeping moving with my normal workouts but with zero weight made the recovery pass quickly.

All the best, I hope you are back to full fitness soon.

JLT
 
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