Duration of a bruised rib
Introduction - what is a bruised rib?
A bruised rib is an extremely unpleasant clinical picture for the person concerned. There is a minor trauma to the bones and bone membranes, which is basically harmless and can be treated conservatively, but often takes on a protracted and painful course.
Even if the bones are not broken and permanently damaged in the case of a bruised rib, minor injuries can occur in the skeleton, on the bone surface and the periosteum, which take a long time to heal.
Inquire about general information about rib bruises at: Bruised ribs - what's behind it?
How long does a rib bruise last?
How long the individual healing phase of a bruised rib takes is accordingly influenced by various factors and is difficult to generalize. These factors include concomitant hematomas, periosteum injuries, cartilage damage or other small accompanying injuries to the bone.
In clinical diagnostics, the exact extent of the rib bruise is rarely examined in more detail, as the treatment would not differ. For this reason, it is often not possible to clinically estimate the exact duration until healing.
However, a three to four week healing phase can be assumed. Depending on the age of the person affected, the extent of the injury, as well as the underlying illnesses, the duration can be significantly delayed and several months can pass before symptoms are completely free.
An existing bone disease can also significantly reduce the time it takes to completely heal a bruised rib. Find out more about these diseases at: Overview of bone diseases
Duration of pain and symptoms associated with a bruised rib
In the course of the healing phase of a bruised rib, the symptoms of the injury usually improve in different order. In addition to the cough and breath-dependent pain that are characteristic of a bruised rib, in some cases there is a bruise and swelling on the affected rib.
Any bruises and swelling that may occur will usually heal much sooner. Depending on the extent and therapy, these symptoms can no longer be seen within a week.
If the bruised ribs develop due to coughing symptoms and the cough persists, this can significantly delay the healing time.
The pain is the main symptom of bruised ribs and, despite this relatively harmless disease, can be very severe, restrictive and protracted.
The periosteum in particular is very sensitive to pain and is impaired if the rib is bruised. Even if the bone is not broken, the periosteum may be injured and torn or stretched and under pressure from bone edema and bleeding.
The pain only subsides when the periosteum has regenerated or the bruise and bone edema have resorbed and broken down. This can take several weeks, so that the pain can persist for weeks.
With the help of pain medication, however, the pain should be reduced as much as possible in order to allow possible breathing restrictions as well as coughing and normal movements.
In the case of a slight bruise in the ribs, the pain and the healing of the bruised bone can already be over after 2 weeks.
A bruised rib is considered healed when the pain has subsided without taking pain-relieving medication. Symptoms should only be treated for as long as they persist. This can take a different amount of time depending on the age of the person affected, the extent of the injury and any influencing diseases. A complete resolution of the pain can be expected after three to four weeks.
If symptoms get worse over time, it is advisable to see a doctor so that they can rule out any bruised rib complications that are responsible for the symptoms.
Find out more about what you can do about bruised rib pain at: Bruised rib pain - what can I do?
What can be done to reduce healing time?
The most important measures to reduce the extent of the bruise in the ribs and shorten the healing time must be taken immediately after the injury. Rest, compression and cooling are worthwhile within the first 48 hours. With these measures, bruises and other swellings can develop less and the cooling prevents major bleeding. The extent of injury to the bone and periosteum is therefore less, which also shortens the duration of symptoms and the duration of healing.
In the healing phase that follows, little can be done to accelerate healing. It is primarily important that the ribs are spared so that the symptoms do not get worse.
Conventional painkillers also often have an anti-inflammatory effect, which can also contain and reduce local inflammatory reactions on the bones.
UV therapies are also rarely offered to accelerate healing. However, a benefit has not yet clearly emerged.
forecast
The prognosis of a bruised rib is generally very good. In most cases, a bruised rib will heal completely in three to five weeks. However, certain factors can contribute to a rib bruise leading to serious complications. For this reason, it is advisable, if a rib bruise is suspected, to have it confirmed by a doctor and to begin appropriate therapy.
In particular, bruised ribs, which result from severe coughing, have a worse prognosis. The healing time is significantly delayed by the mostly persistent cough. There is a risk of developing pneumonia when taking cough suppressant drugs, which is why these drugs should only be used in certain cases.
Ultimately, individual factors determine the prognosis for the injury. Age in particular plays an important role in the prognosis of bruised ribs. The extent of the affected ribs can also greatly affect the duration and prognosis of the injury.
It becomes problematic, of course, if one does not notice the bruised ribs when coughing and only associates the pain with the cough. To avoid such a situation, also read: Pain when coughing - that's behind it
Duration of treatment for a bruised rib
Treatment of bruised ribs is almost always symptomatic and not causal. This means that the actual bruise and the potential injuries to the bone cannot be treated in a targeted manner, but only an alleviation of the pain and discomfort is possible. The bruised rib does not benefit from any causal treatment, so it is necessary to wait for the bone to regenerate itself.
First of all, it is advisable to take a few weeks' rest from exercise.
Pain relief with medication or ointments should be used when the pain becomes too severe and even restricts breathing. Taking pain medication is therefore often the only therapy for bruising the ribs and must continue until the symptoms subside and become more bearable.
If the rib is slightly bruised, symptomatic treatment can often be discontinued after a week.
Severe bruises in the ribs that are accompanied by severe pain often require several weeks of treatment.
Other concomitant medication such as cough removers, expectorants or sleeping pills, which enable a symptom-free healing phase, must be taken until the symptoms are tolerable even if untreated. On average, an initial treatment duration of around 2 weeks can be assumed.
The treatment of a bruised rib with the most important information about it can be found at: Treatment of a bruised rib
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Duration of medication for a bruised rib
In the case of bruised ribs, drugs are only used to control and alleviate the symptoms in order to be able to bridge the time for healing painlessly. Pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs are primarily used, but antitussive and expectorant drugs can also reduce the symptoms.
With these symptomatic drugs, the basic principle of medicine is “as much as necessary, as little as possible”. This means that, on the one hand, the pain should be reduced so that breathing and movement are also unrestricted, but on the other hand, the remedies should also be taken with care and should be reduced early if there are no symptoms.
As a rule, you need to take medication for around 2 weeks, with severe bruises in the ribs, the period can possibly extend to 6 weeks.
Duration of rib bruise depends on the cause
Depending on the cause, which is responsible for the bruised ribs, the time it takes to completely heal can vary.
In general, a distinction must be made between two types. For example, a bruise in the ribs can occur as a result of an external force or it can be triggered by excessive stress on the ribs caused by a strong cough.
Typically, a bruised rib caused by an external force on the body heals faster than a bruised rib caused by a strong cough. This is due to the fact that the cough is usually still present after the rib bruise and has an adverse effect on the healing of the bruise.
External forces can bruise the ribs as well as bruise the back. To learn more about it, we also recommend taking a look at the following article: Bruised back after a fall
Duration of rib bruise depends on the diagnosis
A rib bruise should be diagnosed as soon as possible so that an individually tailored therapy can be started. A rib bruise diagnosed late to heal can take a significantly longer healing time if the affected rib is not spared.
Duration of complete healing of a bruised rib
The time it takes to completely heal a bruised rib can vary greatly. It depends on the extent of the bone marrow edema, the bruises on and in the bones and the damage to the periosteum.
Since conventional clinical diagnostics do not examine the exact damage, the healing time can only rarely be precisely stated.
Mild bruises in the ribs can often be symptom-free within 2 weeks.
Severe bruises in the ribs, on the other hand, can take on much more protracted courses. Even if the bone has already regenerated significantly, severe pain can also occur after 4-6 weeks for some people affected.
If the bone has not healed and is pain-free after 6 weeks, further examinations must follow. In these cases, there may be undetected broken bones, inflammation of the bones or chest, and other diseases.
When can I go back to exercise if I have a bruised rib?
In order to enable the fastest possible healing, the focus is on protecting the chest and avoiding movements, violence and other stimuli on the bruised ribs. Otherwise, renewed damage to the periosteum and blood vessels in and around the muscles may result, worsening the bruised ribs.
Theoretically, sport can be practiced if the symptoms allow it and there are no painful restrictions in sport. However, it is important to ensure that there is no stress or force on the chest.
Occasional pain in the ribs when exercising also indicates that the bruise is stressful and should be avoided for the time being.
Even with severe bruises in the ribs, it can be assumed that after 6 weeks at the latest, unrestricted sport can be exercised.
Length of sick leave
In the case of bruised ribs, the length of the sick leave depends primarily on the pain, the restriction in everyday life and work, as well as the activity of the employee.
A slight bruise in the ribs justifies a 1-2 week sick leave in most cases. During this period, most of the symptoms subside and, with minor bruises, pain relief is often possible after 2 weeks.
However, if severe pain persists, which is also present at work and which restricts those affected, the sick leave can be extended by several weeks.
Long sick leave is justified, especially in the case of work that requires physical activity and is associated with severe restrictions due to bruised ribs.
