A thread about ribs that doesn't involve barbecuing them [solved - lock plz]

SammyF

Hey y'all.

Fell off a horse a few days ago and cracked a few ribs on impact. It's not too bad, all things considered: nothing punctured, no difficulty breathing, hardly any bruising even. Long term, I am definitely going to be fine. Short term, I am posting on H/A at 2:00 AM because I'm having an incredibly difficult time sleeping. I feel the least amount of pain in my ribs while lying on my back, but that's not a position I'm naturally inclined to sleep in, and my back feels tense after forcing myself to sleep like that for two nights. So tonight, each time I get close to drifting off to sleep, I automatically try and roll over onto my side, which torques my chest, and the resulting soreness wakes me back up.

Right now my plan is to go try and sleep sitting up in an arm-chair with my feet on an ottoman, but that's not a particularly restful sleep position for me either, so I was hoping that between tonight and tomorrow night, someone might have some advice about how to sleep more comfortably on my back, or how I might be able to sleep on my side without feeling a dull ache all night long, or something of that nature. That's really all I need: advice on getting through the night for the first week or so until they've properly begun to knit.

Thanks.

puffycow

I wish I had something for you but when I cracked my ribs I pretty much just had to suck it up. Then again, I also had pain just breathing and once I laid down anywhere I didn't want to get up for hours.

Did they give you anything for the pain, like Percocet or Vicodin? Taking those about 30 minutes before bed time helped me fall asleep. I also felt like it kept me from rolling around but I could be wrong about that.

Skoal Cat

I'd kind of surround my head and body in pillows. I'm also more comfortable on my back if my head is raised a decent amount, so play around with height.

SammyF

puffycow wrote:

I wish I had something for you but when I cracked my ribs I pretty much just had to suck it up. Then again, I also had pain just breathing and once I laid down anywhere I didn't want to get up for hours.

Did they give you anything for the pain, like Percocet or Vicodin? Taking those about 30 minutes before bed time helped me fall asleep. I also felt like it kept me from rolling around but I could be wrong about that.

Heh, even if I wanted to get up, it's usually a ten minute process figuring out how to get my feet to the floor and my body upright without using my abdominal muscles. :?

I refused pain medication; there's a history of substance abuse in my family, and since some component of an addictive personality is genetic, I tend to do everything I can to avoid tempting fate. So unfortunately all I feel comfortable doing to medicate the pain is two aspirin every six hours.

puffycow

While that is probably a pretty smart move, that really sucks. The only thing I can give you is sympathy since I know how you're feeling.

Entriech

If you're sleeping on your back, something you can do to help take the pressure off your back is to put a pillow or something suitably squishy and supportive under your legs and prop them in a bent position. i.e 0-^
You can also place pillows or body pillows to either side of you and put your arms up on them to help try to prevent you rolling over in the middle of the night.

As far as medicating for the pain, you may want to look into switching your aspirin to a different anti-inflammatory such as Ibuprofen or Naproxen. I'm a big fan of Naproxen (brand name Aleve), because you only take a pill every eight to twelve hours making it easier to stay on dose despite sleeping, etc. Also remember that you can stack an anti-inflammatory with acetaminophen (Tylenol) for additional pain management.

I hope you get to feeling better soon.

Inquisitor77

I just had surgery which required that they cut a hole to my ribs and cut one of them out. The best thing I've found is keeping both your legs and upper body elevated, like the "cursive-v" shape of hospital beds.

That, and vicodin.

SammyF

Inquisitor77 wrote:

I just had surgery which required that they cut a hole to my ribs and cut one of them out.

Jesus Christ, now I feel bad for whining about my thing. Hope you're okay.

Inquisitor77

Haha no worries, all is well. Thanks, though! If you really want to be freaked out, they basically molded it into the shape of an ear and shoved the new rib-ear into the side of my head.

True story.

SammyF

Inquisitor77 wrote:

Haha no worries, all is well. Thanks, though! If you really want to be freaked out, they basically molded it into the shape of an ear and shoved the new rib-ear into the side of my head.

True story.

If they cut out another and mold it into an opposite-gendered iteration of yourself as a helper-mate for companionship and procreation, I will totally start a religion about you.

Dhalphir

Sleeping on your back will be much easier if you elevate your upper legs in some way. Grab a pair of pillows and rest your legs on them. It takes the pressure off your lower back and is not onyl more comfortable but better overall for your back.

And I don't mean to derail this thread too much, but he brought it up and um...@Inquisitor77 - i would really like to know what exactly prompts the need for an operation like that, or what it achieves?

Skoal Cat

Sounds like a bone graft?

puffycow

I, also, am curious on how this came to be... if you don't mind indulging us (and OP doesn't mind the thread being hijacked).

SammyF

puffycow wrote:

I, also, am curious on how this came to be... if you don't mind indulging us (and OP doesn't mind the thread being hijacked).

I'm honestly good with it. Last night, I stuck a large pillow underneath my knees as well as another tiny pillow beneath the small of my back to support my spine, and I slept much better. So thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm going to continue doing that for the next week or so.

If everyone's as interested as I am in learning a little bit more about what's going on with Inquisitor, I can delay marking the thread as [solved], although Ceres might appreciate it if that if that topic was continued via PM or something.

puffycow

I am glad you found some comfort! I'll remember this the next time I break a rid :oops:

Inquisitor77

It's actually a pretty common procedure for people with my condition where one or both ears are not fully developed (microtia). It's largely cosmetic in nature, although some people who have functional inner ears do gain benefits from having a more fully-formed outer ear. The difference in my case is that usually kids have it done right before they hit puberty. I never really seriously considered it until adulthood. Here's a pretty good before/after photo for the entire process:

http://www.microtia.us.com/microtia-atresia-gallery-example03.html

Since you guys are so curious, it is possible to place a synthetic ear instead of grafting rib cartilage, but there are a lot of risks associated (infection/rejection), and basically if that synthetic ear gets damaged in any way you have to take the whole thing out. The rib thing sounds crazy, but since it's from your own body, the risk of rejection is extremely small, and essentially the cartilage re-connects itself back (i.e., it behaves just like a normal ear afterwards).

The human body - ain't it crazy?

SammyF

Interesting! I'm glad to hear it's something you were able to have done by choice -- the initial descriptions made me worry that you'd suffered some sort of incredibly dangerous cranial trauma which required emergency surgery.

Thanks for sharing, and thanks to everyone once again for the advice.