Fell On Chest Along With Rib. Have Bump On Rib. Have Pain With Cough And Sneeze. Suggest?

Posted on Thu, 18 Jul 2013

Question: fell on my chest 10 days ago. Along 2nd rib, left side. When extreme swelling went down I have a giant bump on my rib.
I fell over my dog gate and essentially fell right on my left upper chest (2nd rib I believe, above my breast). I fell on my left chest exclusively because I have a broken hand and as I was falling I grabbed my left hand with my right so I had my hands foreword and essentially swan dove into my floor with my chest
I have a constant throbbing/aching pain about 6/10 all the time, yet if I cough, sneeze, talk very loud-- the pain gets very extreme. I put heat on it and it provides some relief, but I have no improvement. The pain radiates from the point of impact- and goes towards my shoulder and down my arm, weirdly along my tricep. I work with little kids at summer camp and it is very difficult to raise my voice to give instructions-- again very painful

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (1 hour later)

Dear JC,

Thanks for your concerns. Given the severity of the impact and mechanism of injury, the first need we need to rule out is formally a rib fracture with x-rays; if we don't see a fracture, then probably most of the symptoms of pain are coming from irritation of the intercostal nerves that travel just below the rib edge, and are stimulated every time you move your rib cage particularly for breathing.

Truly yours,

Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar