Broken Ribs -- How long 'till ski season starts again?

[Mark_151]

Ok, this really, really blows with this incredible weeks we've had. On the 10th, during that ice storm we had, I was careful all the way from leaving from work until getting home. Then, I had a momentary lapse of reason and went to throw a box out and went sailing down my back stairs. I came down hard on a concrete stair corner with my full body weight on my middle back, just missing my spine and cracking a rib or two to the left of my spine. I ended up taking an ambulance ride to the emergency room, but of course, there's nothing that can treat this except time. I missed every day at work last week excpet Thursday, which I was somehow able to drive in for. I was supposed to take Friday off and go to Okemo, and I'm going to miss out on Monday's bonanza somewhere.

Almost a week later, I'm just starting to get some mobility back, but it still hurts bad when I move wrong. Does anyone have an estimate for how long before I'm skiing again from their own experiences? I've broken plenty of ribs, but never in the back, this is incredibly debilitating.:-(

 

[Breeze]

Ouch. Sorry, man. HURTS~ to breathe. I know.

Can't positively answer the question for you. A lot of it is going to depend on what you want to risk for re-injury in a fall and what your pain threshold can handle.

Best guess is 6 weeks down AT LEAST , and if you push that, you will pay on all accounts. YMMV.

So you miss the flat light/short days and get to celebrate the Blizzard to Bluebird late February/March/April.

Feel for you! That is a pain I do remember.

Take care!

Breeze

 

[severine]

So sorry about your injury. I was given the advice on here that taking arnica will help your bones heal faster. (It's homeopatic.) I've taken it for bruises and muscle pain, but it does seem to help my foot, which is still achey 6 months after breaking my 5th metatarsal.

I'm no expert, but it will probably be at least 2 months before the break is healed, then it will probably be sore for a while after that. There is a somewhat high risk of re-injury if you ski before it's healed (it probably wouldn't take much of a fall). Have you consulted with an orthopedic just to find out what they think as far as how long it will take to heal?

 

[Mark_151]

I think I over-reacted. They told me at the ER that I didn't break anything, but Saturday was absolute HELL -- the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I thought they had done the x-ray too low. Now, two days later, and I've got almost all my mobility back. It was a little tough getting into the truck this morning to drive to work, but after the ride I actually felt better when I got out. I still get a "bite" every now and then when I move wrong, but I've improved so dramatically since Saturday that I think the ER was correct that it was just the Mother of all Bruises. I still can't lay down on my left side though -- hopefully soon, that'll be the next big sign I'm still in one piece.

 

[severine]

Definitely get your hands on some arnica then. It's meant to help bruising heal faster, and it really does help with the pain. Good luck!

 

[dmc]

This thread made me hungry for ribs..

Cooking some now...

Carry on....

 

[Mark_151]

This thread made me hungry for ribs..

Cooking some now...

Carry on....

If this was two days ago, that'd have made me hurl......uke:

 

[lloyd braun]

I think I over-reacted. They told me at the ER that I didn't break anything, but Saturday was absolute HELL -- the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I thought they had done the x-ray too low. Now, two days later, and I've got almost all my mobility back. It was a little tough getting into the truck this morning to drive to work, but after the ride I actually felt better when I got out. I still get a "bite" every now and then when I move wrong, but I've improved so dramatically since Saturday that I think the ER was correct that it was just the Mother of all Bruises. I still can't lay down on my left side though -- hopefully soon, that'll be the next big sign I'm still in one piece.

Did you really break them? I only ask because you can dislocate ribs, which is equally painful. I did last year and the chiropractor got me back on skis in 2 weeks. The treatment is painful but it does work in re-setting the rib back into its socket (not really a socket but best term I could come up with). If they are broken time should heal them in about 6-8 weeks. You can tape them also which will help with stability. and yes mine were in my back and front. sorry to hear about it, heal fast!

 

[Mark_151]

No, right now I really don't think I have a break. The muscle in my left lumbar is tender and it feels like a tendon tear or something right now. There is a rib in the spot I described that is a bit tender when I press it, but noting like it was Saturday when I thought it it was broken. We'll just take it as it goes and get back out there when I feel right. I don't generally ski downhill during Christmas week, so I've got a good chance to rest up.

 

[Mark_151]

Update on this -- a little over 3 weeks since the fall, and I'm now just about 100% today. I'm glad I didn't break anything, but it sure was pretty bad getting from there to here. I'll be skiing tomorrow for the first time since the fall. Now I sit back and wait for the $1000 deductible to kick in for the ambulance ride and the emergency room visit......

 

[KingM]

Great recovery and glad to see you up and skiing again. Take it easy your first couple of days.

 

[Mark_151]

Thanks! I'm going to start on alpine tomorrow. When I feel safe enough to fall again, I'll switch over to the tele gear!