Dislocated Ribs????

[mcclos10]

Back in the beginning of March I injured my ribs when my husband fell on me full force.  He weighs 240lbs to my 125.  We thought immediately that my ribs were badly broken.  I was in extreme pain and my left ribs at the sternum were sticking way out.  I was seen in the ER x-rayed and told they were not broken but displaced and it would just take time.  Since then I have been followed by my family doctor and the pain has been managed with 10mg hydrocodone.  This many months later my ribs are nowhere near going back into place.  Orthopedics in my area won't treat ribs in fact so far I haven't found anyone who says they will.  Everyone just keeps treating the pain and says time.  My ribs look pretty badly deformed, the pain is chronic, and I can't find a medical specialty to help me everyone just says it's not their area and passes me on to someone else.  A recent ER nurse practitioner went as far as to tell me that there was no such thing as dislocated ribs to begin with but had no explanation to why mine are sticking out so far when they never had prior to the injury.  I am even starting to get spider veins around the dislocation where it sticks out.  After the original injury and for about the first month if I did a sit up they would level out a bit but now they seem to just be stuck where they are and won't budge. If my tibia looked like my ribs someone would be doing something about it for sure.  This is obviously getting very frustrating for me so if anyone can offer any advice or point me in a better direction it would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Tikwood]

I am very angry with my physician for prescribing Vicodin for a broken rib pain- Vicodin causes stomach cramping which causes significant pain when you have broken ribs.   I'm to the point of sueing it hurts so much.  need to see another doc if they suggest vicodin.

[jamie2004]

I was born with a small rib cage. My rib cage used to always do this clicking type of sound. The two sides of my rib cage would pop in and out. Recently, in the last two years its been popping out and getting stuck, with the left side higher up than the other side. It burns really bad, and I have shooting pain up and down my body, and get a cold sweat. I breath in and out and adventually it gets back in place. I also have restrictive lung disease and asthma, (Pulmonary hyposplasia). I was with this HMO insurence, and no doctor could help me. They all would tell me they couldn't think of anything. I then tried phsycial therapy, but in my opinion, it made it worse. It now gets undone a lot more and is ten times more painful. Im with a new insurence now and am finally seeing new doctors at a hospital that is in the top 10 in this state. I'm seeing my new pulmonologist tomorrow, and he was rated in the top doctors for this state two years in a row. Im hoping so much that he will know what to do. The problem now is when it pops, my pain killers aren't working. I try to sleep on my left and right side and my rib cage pops. I can't bend down, or put my arms on my head without it popping. Above all I now have a hernia again. I had one when I was younger. Well, when I know what they will do, and get help and answers and a cure, ill let all of you know. Thanks for listening! ~Jamie~

[Hartogold]

How much longer?  I had a bad fall at the end of August and broke two ribs and bruised my sternum very badly.  I also got a concussion.  Since then, I've had 9 falls injuring various parts of my body such as a broken humorous and torn rotator cuffs on both shoulders.    I keep asking doctors why I've been falling so much.  I think that the concussion has affected my equilibrium.  I am on pain meds, but they don't seem to work very well.  I've always had a high tolerance for pain meds.  I always tell the doctor to use an elephant tranquilizer because I've woke up during a surgery twice.

As far as my injuries are concerned, every time I think I'm getting better I start doing things like cleaning the house today.  I ended up almost fainting from the pain.  It felt like I was being stabbed in the chest over and over again.

I qualify for in home health services, but haven't had any of my 10 calls have been returned.  The nurses at the hospital have also tried to light a fire under their behinds but they are getting the same...no response.

I also have FMS which is flaring up more because of the falls.  Ok..I guess I should stop complaining and I'll say a prayer for all of us who are afflicted with this horrid ****.  God bless us all.
Sandy  

[healthyforlife]

I was experiencing major rib pain.  My doctor suggested a chiropractor who uses MyoVision, which produces a thermal computerized reading of your spine. He found three pinched nerves, one at the base if my neck, another at my hip, and one in my left shoulder.  He also found three dislocated ribs on my right side and two on my left. He adjusted my ribs by starting at the disc and work out to the ribcage.  The procedure was not painful, but for the next two days I used a heating pad to relieve any pain.  I feel like a new person.

[mauideb]

In April I  broke 8 ribs...there's nothing they do for it except pain killers.  They don't wrap anymore because higher chances of pnemonia.  Dr told me, no matter how they heal is ok because they're still protecting your internal organs.  

Good luck