Treatment for broken ribs

Bob
when i was just 60 yrs old, I broke 6 ribs and a vertabrae.. 3 ribs
were separated and three cracked. I was back on the bike in 6 weeks.
The separated ribs somehow got back together and mended... guess i was
lucky.

Last year at age 66 i cracked 2 ribs and did a local 3 hour X/C race
and the following week raced at Bromont. Lots of pain, but not enough
to keep me off the bike. I was pretty well healed by the end of the
4th week.

I don't know about the three choices you have... but the one where the
physically push the ribs back together sounds like the 'least worst
choice"

charlie

Bob Shanteau said:

I have some questions about recovering from broken ribs, where the breaks
have separated.

In late February, I was on the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, CA, when
another rider fell in front of me during a training session. I ran into him
and went over the handlebars, landing on the right side of my head and my
right shoulder. I suffered a concussion and broke my right scapula and 8
ribs on the right side. I spent 7 days in the hospital, the last few with a
tube inserted in my chest to drain fluid. Due to my concussion, I don't
remember the crash or the events leading up to it. I am a 56 year old man
and my bones are more brittle and I heal more slowly than 30 years ago.

There was a thread a couple of years ago titled, "recovery from a broken
rib." That guy only cracked one rib, and he healed in a couple of months. I
am not so fortunate.

For me it has now been 12 weeks and my ribs have not mended. I am still in
enough pain that I cannot ride and sitting and standing are difficult. An
X-ray a couple of weeks ago showed at least 3 ribs that were still separated
(ribs 6, 7 and 8, IIRC). My orthopedic surgeon said that the ribs may not
ever form a union, in which case some fibrous tissue will from between the
ends. He said I have 3 choices:

1. Let the ribs heal as they may, probably ending in at least one non-union.

2. Have a specially trained physical therapist try to realign the ribs so
they will mend.

3. If we were in Germany, I would have surgery where the ribs are aligned
with plates and screws.

Has anyone here had experience with any of these 3 alternative treatments?
What were the results?

Dicing it up on the velodrome at 56. Racing mountain bikes at 66.

My bike hat's off to you guys.

Robert