State of play

[ewx]

Getting up is worst. I can sleep relatively comfortably; if I'm lying down and still there's no pain (but even turning my head can hurt). Turning over hurts, though, so I've been doing much less of that than usual. Once I've managed to get up though it's mostly occasional twinges rather than constant pain, usually in reaction to doing something rather than just random. Typing seems to be OK but pretty much anything that uses upper-body muscles more than that seems to be risky.

Replacements for LNR's MP3 player and camera seem to be in the pipeline but we're still awaiting a call regarding the laptop.

Comments

[keirf.livejournal.com]

Have they given you any pain killers? I had some codeine and paracetamol for a cracked rib a while back which worked really well.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I have ibuprofen.

[keirf.livejournal.com]

You may want to get something stronger to help you get comfortable enough to sleep.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Co-codamol?

At prescription strength, that's pretty effective. When I went bumping down the stairs and strained every muscle in my torso, it was Co-codamol that the doctor prescribed.

(There's a non-prescription formulation that's somewhat less effective.)

[keirf.livejournal.com]

Tramacet. Similar kind of thing.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

The last time I had prescription co-codamal I was sufficiently high I bought a trumpet. Still can't play the trumpet...

[aldabra]

What they said. I think I have a large pill somewhere left over from the episiotomy; there's seriously powerful stuff available if OTC pills don't cut it.

It sounds like you should be on sick leave rather than working from home, too. DVDs and Civ are the order of the day. And chocolate.

You haven't had an X-ray or anything yet? I know there's not much they can do to help it heal, but if you could say "broken my rib in three places, here's the photo" the sick leave should be automatic and retrospective. imho.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I am sleeping! See above.

For Halloween give her a trumpet

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Comment of the week!

[armb.livejournal.com]

My mother-in-law had the same thing for a dislocated shoulder.

(When I had toothache recently that was keeping me awake I was alternating aspirin and paracetamol because ibuprofen didn't do much. My mother-in-law did give me one of the paracetamol and codeine, but it didn't seem any more effective than straight paracetamol. But all these things vary from pain to pain and person to person. I think if ibuprofen works it's supposed to be the safest option (though child doses of ibuprofen seem to be relatively new and rare compared with Calpol (paracetamol)).)

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

I mentioned to people in karate why you weren't there, C promptly looked very guilty and asked if it was her wotdunnit, V said she thought it was C that did it, and that she (er, V that is) had also had very sore ribs all last week after that session as well.

Since I was the one who already *had* a damaged ribcage at that point, I can only assume that either:
1)Everyone else felt the need to compensate for missing one person's ribs and decked everyone else to make up.
2)There's something going around.
3)I'm channeling the rest of you (this *so* wouldn't be the first time!)
4)Karate is dangerous and ribs are easy to mess in.
5)Everyone is copying me ;-) *ducks*

Any idea whether you have broken it or (like me) done some damage to the chest wall? Not that that alters the treatment or prognosis :-/. Is it LHS lower ribs that you've hurt?

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was C. I think 4 is it, but 5 did occur to me l-)

The doctor was talking about time to heal by comparing with broken limbs, which I took to mean she thought it was broken. But if as you say the practical effects are all the same, she might have taken the view that an exact diagnosis was redundant.

It's the lower RHS; I think 4th or 5th, from shoulder-surfing my doctor's notes after she'd prodded me, but I don't know whether that's conventionaly counted from the top or bottom.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

The doctor was talking about time to heal by comparing with broken limbs, which I took to mean she thought it was broken. But if as you say the practical effects are all the same, she might have taken the view that an exact diagnosis was redundant.

*Nods*. I don't think either time that I've hurt my ribs I've been given a precise timescale for how long it will take to get better. But, when I broke it and when I broke my collar bone, I was told I should use it as much as I could (ie breathe deeply even if it hurt in the case of ribs), and that it would be pain that dictated how much I could use it.

But since they also said both those times and this time with my ribs that rest was the only treatment, it's not what you might call a crystal clear treatment plan ;-). As far as I can tell what they probably mean is "it won't get worse with exercise, but it'll hurt too badly to do anything, so whatever really" ;-)

It's the lower RHS; I think 4th or 5th, from shoulder-surfing my doctor's notes after she'd prodded me, but I don't know whether that's conventionaly counted from the top or bottom.

*Thinks* Oh, that's right, we were doing left and right sides, weren't we, so it would be easy to get clobbered either side. I think V was the same side as me (left side).

[ewx.livejournal.com]

breathe deeply even if it hurt in the case of ribs

My doctor didn't mention that but I've seen it in web pages on the subject.

My memory says that it was a RH gyaku zuki, but that could be completely wrong, it was over a week ago now. Whatever it was if it hit ribs then I think it was off target!