Posted on 02/15/2010 10:00:00 AM PST by VA Voter
During a fall last Wed. night, 2/10, I completely broke two lower ribs in my right rear quadrant. The pain getting in and out of bed was excruciating. For some reason as the day progressed the pain decreased and was somewhat tolerable.. The doctor gave me a prescription for some heavy duty pain pills which were helpful except for getting in and out of bed which was still about the same.
Saturday night when the thought of getting in bed was really daunting, I chose instead to slept in a semi-sitting up position, at about a 45 degree angle, with my feet on the floor*.
Getting up Sunday morning, the pain was orders of magnitude less than the prior morning and was at about the same reduced level of pain from the prior evening. I slept the same way last night with the same result. It’s like a little miracle.
I have not taken or needed the prescription pain pills since Saturday night.
This sleeping technique was not suggested by my doctor and is probably not a part of the protocol. I’m passing it along for FReeper benefit.
Good sleeping.
* I used an extra seat cushion on a sofa so the sitting height was raised up.
Get well soon!
I’d recommend elevating your feet while you sleep. Footrest, table, another chair. Other than that, what you are doing, and minimize pain while waiting it out - 2 to 4 weeks.
All I know is it felt better when taped. My injury also involved inserts in my upper ribs due to the bones being crushed. Maybe the tape I remember was actually bandages.
Anyway, I would still ask for the muscle relaxers. They have an anti-inflamatory in them too. I hope you heal quickly. Not fun.
Sleeping sitting up is not at all painful. With no movement there is no pain. My body stops all normal sleeping movement. I sleep with so little movement my self-winding watch stops.
Take your pain meds!
In order to use less Rx meds, (Lortab 10) Doc advised to chase with two beers. He said that I would still be in a little pain, and discomfort, but I wouldn’t care. LOL! He was right!
Recite your favorite prayer over and over again. Do it out loud or silently in your mind. This can help. All things must pass
If you don’t have such a prayer pick a Psalm. In fact reading the book of Psalms helps
“Pain? Go to California and get a medical marijuana prescription. Stay high and listen to Jimi Hendrix until you heal.”
Bong hits with busted ribs ?
I only had bruised ribs, and could not lie down without severe pain for a couple of months. I slept in a recliner. Not much pain that way. And whatever pain meds the doc will give you that don’t screw you up.
Otherwise, suck it up and deal with it. Thats about all there is.
Hiccups aren’t good either.
Been there and done that. I bought my first Lazy Boy because of busted ribs. Playing with teenagers in the pool. I took Vykadan. Although I slept well in the chair the drugs made me feel bad. So I quit. I got the chills so bad that I put my hunting suit on for about 4 hours. But the chair did the trick. I could actually get up and down. I would have never done it in the bed.
Adam and Eve had belly buttons?
I have not experienced a broken rib, but I have another tip for you to try.
I had to do these things after heart surgery.
-Sleep with upper body at about 30 degree incline.
-When getting up or coughing, hold a small pillow against your chest. Hold this by ‘gently’ “crossing your arms” and placing your hands on opposite shoulders.... actually, just below and forward your shoulders.... your wrists will cross at center chest.
While this is for recovering heart patients, I can’t help but think that it would help you. I had to do this for nearly 6 months due to complications with my surgery.
Be careful with the pain meds.. take them, but be careful. After 2 solid months in the hospital and 3 months of being in bed at home, I became addicted to Morphine and Oxys. I went though some very tough weeks with a withdraw from that stuff.
-For about $20 (my insurance paid for it), you can buy a lift that attaches to your toilet seat. This keeps you from having to sit down so far and makes it easier to get up. Don’t make me explain it.. just trust me. LOL
Try the crossed armed pillow thing... good luck.
Here’s a bit more on getting out of bed, if you have a helper at home.
Try to scoot to the edge of the bed. Have your helper move your lower legs such that when you are brought to a sitting position, they will slip over the edge of the bed. To get to that seated position, place allow on your chest, cross your arms and have your helper gently lift you to a seated position by guiding you up from the rear of your shoulders. The point is, mostly, not using your arms to get up. The less that you use your arms, at least for the first few days, the better you will feel.... I couldn’t use mine for about 4 months and they would let me drive either.
Cheers....
would let me drive either. = wouldn’t let me drive either.
Thanks but I violently disagree.
Each small movement hurts nearly as much as a larger one. Therefore the cumulative small movements necessary to use your techniques hurt more than one sweeping swing into a standing position. The small movements constitute unmitigated torture. Trust me on this point, I KNOW.
The helper makes it easier to do the sweeping motion but you can set up straps to do arm pulls instead. This gets the pain over much faster. The pain is just as accute but of much shorter duration.
If you have the opportunity to do your technique to someone again, please don’t. You will be doing them a big favor.
The thought of this torture is what led me to the sitting-sleep solution which is vastly superior to any other alternative.
As I clearly pointed out, I have never suffered from a broken rip.
I also made a point to make it clear that these suggestions offered for your consideration, came from my experience of recovering from heart surgery.
It’s unfortunate that your reaction was to violently disagree.
Heck, here’s another tip... Take a couple of swigs from a bottle of whisky and stuff a piece of leather into your mouth before you get up.
Didn’t mean to tick you off or minimize your situation.
Moving just one leg over the edge of the bed is excruciating.
The whole bed thing involves raising, lowering, twisting and stretching with as many as three in combination.
I am trying to help anyone who might benefit from an alternative that reduces the angular aspect of the whole bed experience.
Yeah, that was the kicker - the transition from laying down to a standing position, too damned many minute movements. If I could’ve used one of those inversion tables and a rope, I would’ve.
Rolling over from one side to another was no picnic either, I think I remember popping up and flipping over while in the air (and inch or two above the mattress - I know it sounds jarring, but if memory serves it was the arm/shoulder movement that was the rub.
I had 2 ribs broken during cancer surgery. I second most of the tips passed on here today. The only one I would add is I went to my Chiropractor. His adjustments worked the ribs back into proper position so they could heal correctly.
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