5 broken ribs!

Canyon Shawn

Active member
Feb 4, 2023
292
190
Lake Sherwood, California
Ouch. Not looking forward to seeing the bill for that!
It’s only a Dr. visit, some X-rays and three prescriptions. So, it should cost my insurance company very little. My Dr. asked me if I wanted a referral to an ortho. I said no at the time. But, I’ve been reading that displaced ribs can be difficult to heal. So, I’m going to call her Monday morning and ask for that referral. It can’t hurt to get an experts opinion.
 

Canyon Shawn

Active member
Feb 4, 2023
292
190
Lake Sherwood, California
Hope your recovery is going ok. I've still not worked out what's best with resting and not resting. Obviously some resting, but too much seems to sometimes cause additional pain later. 6 weeks generally seems to be my Rib norm though.
13 days in now and I’m doing pretty good. I didn’t go see my Dr. until last Monday, a week after it happened. She prescribed me Lidocaine patches for the pain. Baclofen, a muscle relaxer and Ibuprofen. She asked me if I wanted an injection for pain and I said no. I’ve had 4 surgeries and I’ve never had a pain killer do anything for me, except make me sick and really tired. The last thing I want is to be barfing. I don’t even take anything if I have a headache. Because it doesn’t do anything. So, I don’t know how much of my felling prettying good is from healing or from the prescriptions. I’ve been getting out the last couple of days to a local winery and restaurant called Stonehaus for a coffee and something to eat. I’m sitting here right now and my pain level is like 2. Getting dressed, in and out of bed, on and off the couch gets to be about a 6 on the pain scale now and I can sleep pretty comfortably on my right side. The first week, anything but standing completely still was 8 to 10 on the pain scale. I’ve had 2 very painful hernias. One of the surgeries was extremely painful. One surgery, last March was robotic, so there was almost no pain involved. But, these ribs were much more painful than any of that. I believe I’m a person who can take a lot of pain. I remember in Jr. high and high school when we had to do physical testing every year. I was always the fastest in the whole school in the quarter mile and mile run. Not because I have any talent. In fact, I was probably one of the least talented. I won because I was willing to endure the pain, just to win. You should have seen all the track couches come running. I was like no, I race motocross. I don’t have time to run around in circles with a bunch of other dudes. Same with long desert races. I did pretty good, because when my legs, arm, lungs and heart were on fire, I told my self it’s just temporary. But, this pushed me to a whole new level. Having this amount of pain for days and not seeing an end in sight is just crushing. Someone told me once that pain is a sign that you are alive. And, I think about that and I honestly think that helps me get through pain. But, about day 6 I told my girlfriend, when she was helping me out of bed, I just can’t do this anymore. I really couldn’t see an end in sight. When I knew it was time to get up out of bed or get in bed, I would get really worked up and tense because I knew what was coming and that just made everything worse. I joked with my GF that I sent Rip a text to see if he could drop me off at the train station. We’ve been watching Yellowstone. I told her I told him that he didn’t even have to shoot me, that I’d just jump over the edge. I told her that he text me back and said, it don’t work that way around here. I was like, hell! I guess I’ll just have to get through this. Then she told me the joke: Every woman should have a Rip in her jeans. OMG, try laughing on the inside and not laugh on the outside. It’s hard to do. Then I think about how much worse it could have been. Like I said in the OP, I thought I had broken my back. And, the first thing that I thought about was David Bailey. I was on the race track and he became paralyzed right in front of me. I don’t think a single week goes by without me thinking about him. And, there are much worse injuries that I could have suffered. So, I feel pretty fortunate it was only 5 ribs. So now, I just hope that they heal properly. I’m worried about that. I can only imagine how painful surgery would be to fix this.
 

Canyon Shawn

Active member
Feb 4, 2023
292
190
Lake Sherwood, California
Get well soon! Sounds like you'll have some healing time but it could've always been worse! Curious as to how the riding is in your area? Grew up riding the back roads all around there but never any off road.

The riding in Souther California is amazing. The weather is almost always good. I’m in the Westlake Village/Thousand Oaks/Newbury park area. I’m a quarter mile from a trail head connector that takes me into The Santa Monica National Recreation Area. Going south you can ride to the beach and back north to home. Going east from Ventura, you can ride all the way to Los Angeles. And, if I want to drive like 10 minutes to a half hour, there’s at least that much more riding you can do. That’s just a small part of So Cal. I’d bet you could ride a different trail everyday for 2 years locally and not ride the same trail twice. Most people don’t realize how mountainous So Cal is. There’s almost no flat riding here. Almost everything is up or down. Growing up I lived on a 1,500 acre ranch close to here. That’s where I did all my MX and desert practicing. Unless it was raining, I rode and practiced almost everyday for most of my life. And, there’s hundreds of miles of canyon roads to ride my Supermoto on. The famous Rock Store is about 20 minutes away. It’s a great place to live. And, California isn’t quit as bad as the media would have you believe.
 

Canyon Shawn

Active member
Feb 4, 2023
292
190
Lake Sherwood, California
Wow. Always good advice. Stay sharp. But more importantly, how was the bike?
Other than a small rip on the end of one of the grips, I can’t find a single scratch on it. Not even a mark on the seat or levers.
FullSizeRender.jpeg
 

irie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
May 2, 2022
2,516
2,530
Chichester, W.Sussex, UK
I can sleep pretty comfortably on my right side.
That really is solid progress.

For bones to heal they need to rub against each other to create a callus (soft bone) which is then replaced by real bone. So even if you feel much better take it easy for a few weeks to give the new bone time to harden and strengthen.
 

Canyon Shawn

Active member
Feb 4, 2023
292
190
Lake Sherwood, California
That really is solid progress.

For bones to heal they need to rub against each other to create a callus (soft bone) which is then replaced by real bone. So even if you feel much better take it easy for a few weeks to give the new bone time to harden and strengthen.
I’ll take that advice. I’m wondering how they heal when they are displaced? Do the ends just heal over where they are or will they attach themselves back together? This is what I’m worried about.
 

irie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
May 2, 2022
2,516
2,530
Chichester, W.Sussex, UK
I’ll take that advice. I’m wondering how they heal when they are displaced? Do the ends just heal over where they are or will they attach themselves back together? This is what I’m worried about.
They will heal where they are touching. Don’t worry, just take it easy and give it time, you'll be fine.
 

Downhillr

Active member
Jul 2, 2021
289
151
SF Bay, California
Yeah, 5. Honestly, I thought I just tore the muscles between my ribs. It happened last Monday, on New Year’s Day. I went this morning for X-rays. I’ve been riding mountain bikes since the late ‘80s and raced pro MX in my 20s and 30s. I’ve had my nose completely reconstructed from an MX accident. But, this is my first broken bone.

I was riding my EXe 9.7. With the mods I’ve done, it just flys. I was literally about 100 feet from the end of my ride to come out at the Felton trail head. There was a nice banked, really tight switchback coming up and I was gonna stick the shit out of it. So, I was focused to far ahead. There was a root knot in the middle of the trail. I’ve probably ridden by it 100 times. You can see the hole left behind, where I knocked it out with my pedal. The root knot is laying to the left in the picture. I was tired, so I had my seat up, I was sitting and I didn’t have my pedals level. My bike app said I was going 20 mph. I hit the front brake at the same time I hit the root. When I came to a rest I was flat on my back up against that first tree/bush. My head hurt and I looked down at my waist and my hips were rotated around clockwise 90° from my upper body. I told myself that’s effed up and just by looking at myself I thought I had broken my back. About that time my friend caught up to me, and told me not to move. I didn’t have much pain until I untwisted myself. I don’t think I hit my ribs on anything. There was no dirt on the front of my shirt and I have no bruising . I think I broke my ribs from getting so twisted up. I’m still in shock that it’s 5 of them. Moral of the story is, don’t get lazy till you get back home and are on the couch.

View attachment 132117 View attachment 132118 View attachment 132119 View attachment 132120 View attachment 132121
Those mid-trail obstacles can cause havoc with pedal strikes.
Although I was in n gnarly trail I missed an anchored boulder, but my pedal didn’t… bike came to dead stop and rider flew like Superman, however I didn’t stick the landing!
IMG_7363.jpeg
IMG_7362.jpeg
IMG_7369.jpeg
 

Downhillr

Active member
Jul 2, 2021
289
151
SF Bay, California
Those mid-trail obstacles can cause havoc with pedal strikes.
Although I was in n gnarly trail I missed an anchored boulder, but my pedal didn’t… bike came to dead stop and rider flew like Superman, however I didn’t stick the landing! View attachment 132388 View attachment 132389 View attachment 132390
Urgent care Doc thought I may have broken hip but apparently the D30 hip/thigh armor in shorts spread the impact (I just happened to pick that chamois for day) and I just have deep bruising and swelling… wife said I now have a “Kardashian size” hip!
 

RolyNZ

Member
Jun 13, 2022
14
7
New Zealand
I'm 2 years since breaking 7 ribs, I don't envy you bro it sucks. Mine was diagosed as "Sprained" originally so I carried on life, taking it easy. Should have known they were broken it hurt like mad. Ended up sleeping on the couch for the next month or so until we ended up getting a softer bed. Ended up going to physio to get some help and thats when I got an Xray.... 2 were overapping, I think thats what the clicking sound was.... Anyhoo all better now, but it took some time. Take it easy bro and look out for roots!
 

CaptKirk

Member
Feb 28, 2022
31
10
Port Huron, Michigan
I have been riding for MTB's for 25+ years, and had a total over the bars superman crash on a "downhill" that tore the left bicep while riding a bike with the traditional "Rim" brakes" that failed back in the late 90's. Upgraded to my "Luna" X2- 2 years ago and went over a jump first week of December 2023, and really have no idea what, how, or why it happened but the front of my helmet was slightly dented, road rash on my jaw, and a headache that lasted 3+ weeks . Grade 1 Concussion and almost 4 weeks of recuperation. Been riding that section of trail for a couple years but never followed that line before, and hope I never do again. Did buy a new helmet with the "MIPS" system. Also have my own definition of "MIPS", any guesses out there?
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,933
9,273
Lincolnshire, UK
..............
I've fractured most of my front ribs, collar bones, sternum, pelvis, skull and lots of other bits MTB. Plus most of the back ribs when double barrelled by a young horse which got a bit excited one day .. Back ribs hurt way more than front ribs .. but Kidney stone - different league ..
One of my warehouse managers went off sick for a week and when he returned, I went to see him and asked what the problem had been. He said it had been a kidney stone. He didn't say that it was painful, he just produced a small glass jar with the "stone" inside it. He said that it came down his penis. I was in pain just looking at it!! :eek:

Think a large marrowfat pea, but irregular shaped, with sharp bits. :eek:
And that was the least painful part of the process! :oops:
 
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Wilbur

Member
Dec 12, 2022
128
90
New Zealand
Brother dropped his moto in his own driveway avoiding a car coming around a corner to visit him - broke 6 ribs. Been on painkillers for sleeping for nearly a year (a couple haven't knitted). Sometimes surgery is the best option at the beginning rather than wait and see if it will heal by itself...
 

Dave G

Member
Sep 25, 2022
41
20
Sheffield Uk
It’s only a Dr. visit, some X-rays and three prescriptions. So, it should cost my insurance company very little. My Dr. asked me if I wanted a referral to an ortho. I said no at the time. But, I’ve been reading that displaced ribs can be difficult to heal. So, I’m going to call her Monday morning and ask for that referral. It can’t hurt to get an experts opinion.
Absolutely👍😊
 

gibbo66

New Member
Sep 1, 2023
15
11
Sydney Australia
I almost had the exact same accident as you last week- I was riding along not paying attention and foot and pedal strike and I stopped instantly- luckily I ride very slow and I managed not to fall off. Your post came immediately to mind. Hope you heal up quickly!
 

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