Bruised Ribs

[jds 20]

Playing last night I skated straight into another player and bruised my rips/sternum. Now it hurts to breathe. Any idea of how long before I can expect them to heal? Also, I wear the Sherwood lightweight shoulder pads-would something a bit more substantial have made a difference?

[greech 4]

Bulkier pads would have helped- but really, who knows? It could have been a pretty good impact. Ribs are tricky as there's no way you can make it through games or practices without getting hit again. Do the ice 'em/advil routine and try and keep out of harms way for a few days.

[gerbe3:16 19]

Bruised/cracked ribs are the WORST. It hurts to breathe? Just wait until you cough or sneeze. Serious pain.

I got bodyslammed once at Conte and it took months to get back to normal. Of course, I did keep playing through it and slightly banged them up a few times. If you go straight up rest from hockey it might not be too bad. But depending on how badly they're bruised it could be a while.

Good luck.

[jds 20]

That's what I figured. Hate to miss ice time (although my ribs will be gettting plenty). I'm still thinking I need some more chest/sternum protection from my shoulder pads without looking like a linebacker. Those Sherwood classics are great on the shoulder caps and mobility wise but, judging from this, I need some more protection around the ribs after all.

[jrhky36 1]

you might want to look at getting a flak jacket either football or lax type.

[D3nZ 0]

It took about 2 months for my broken ribs to come back to normal. It's really a bitch when you cough, sneeze, breathe and even sleep.

[SidCaeser 0]

I dove to poke the puck from a guy, and he skated hard into my chest. It was a tough collision. I didn't have my shoulder pads on at the time. I know it wasn't my best decision. It hurt to breath.

As a timeline, this happened on a Monday. I then played in a light pick-up game on Friday of that week. Playing was OK. Afterwards, it hurt a lot to breath. I did sneeze, and I thought my chest was going to implode. After a trip to my Dr. I had bruised ribs. It will be three weeks this Monday.

I haven't missed a game, and I play twice a week. One week after the initial contact I played every other shift, because we had an extra forward. For the most, the pain is gone, but it hurt to move and breath for a while. Yawning, sneezing, and laughing hurt badly. I never did ice them or take advil.

[cougarscaptain87 12]

took me 3 months to come back after 3 broken ribs, your lucky they are bruised. bruising is hard to suggest when they will be fine becasue there are different variables to the bruising, is it a "contousion" or a bone bruise? hopefully its just a contusion where the skin and meat is sore but the bone is alright. im sure a few weeks will make a world of difference if this is the case.

[crazy-luke-finch 0]

ive been out for 5 months now with a bad injury and i still cant even walk yet!

I know what its like to bruise a rib, i did it last year, it hurts to breath, cough sneeze and the worst... hiccup

Life's a bitch.

[jon93 0]

haha im going through the same thing right now. sat out this past week in practice but played 2/3 of a game yesterday. Sat the third after getting crossed checked in the ribs. that killed. I've been icing as much as possible. Every other day I've been feeling a little bit better. Just give it time and as much rest as you can. Try not to sneeze. Sneezings the worse.

[hhojman 0]

Ribs can break but they don't get "bruised". What I mean is that you might have some bruising on the tissues surrounding the ribs or broken ribs, but not bruised ribs.

If it is only the tissues, it should get better in a couple of weeks. If you have broken ribs, it will take approximately one month to heal although they might hurt for a longer period of time.

Your age is important. If you are fifty or older, you definitively should see a doctor as complications from rib fractures could be serious.

If you have rib fractures, avoiding new trauma is important while they heal, so you can't play hockey. But that doesn't mean that you cannot skate. As a matter of fact, anything that will cause you to take deep breaths is recommended.

[JR97 2]

i've had busted and bruised ribs a few times. Takes months depending. I had a dislocated rib and that was the worst. I ran into a guy behind the net and thought I was ok. But when I skated up ice and twisted to see behind me the rib popped out and down I went into the fetal position feeling like I just got shot and trying to breathe. It would pop out every once in a while for a few months.