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Thread: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

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    Featured Member miss1dancypants's Avatar
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    Default Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    So based on some unfortunate events this weekend, not only am I covered in bruises from head to toe, but i have some cracked ribs on my right side that hurt like hell to do anything. I don't have health insurance and from what I've read the doctors just say to "rest" and "give it time" so I'm not going to go to the doctors specifically for it (although I did end up in the hospital this weekend after the incident)

    so

    1. How can I help them heal faster?

    2. When can I go back to work?

    Online everything says they take 4-6 weeks to heal. I really needed to work as much as possible before I go on a trip to visit family April 6-13 but now I'm worried I won't be able to work until after the trip...

    Any input would be great.

    Thank you

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    Veteran Member Candycups's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    Ouch! I'd definitely suggest taking a couple months off and resting up. My dad cracked or outright broke his ribs enough times that it's pretty well ingrained in me that it's better to give yourself a smidge too long to heal and have the benefit of the doubt than to try and rush things and hop out of bed before your body is actually ready to get back to work. It'll be really hard and mind numbingly boring, but yeah. Give it time. Prop yourself up with a bunch of pillows so you're not laying down horizontally all the time. It won't speed things up, but it will help them not get worse. Wrapping your ribs can help with pain, but you run the risk of restricting your lungs -- you want to avoid wrapping for the same reason you want to make sure your torso isn't horizontal 24/7. If your lungs aren't able to stretch every now and then (like what happens when you sigh) or expand enough when you breath normally, OR if you lay down too much, you run the risk of getting fluid in your lungs, which can lead to pneumonia. This is the main reason doctors don't actually put a cast around broken ribs anymore -- pneumonia while you're healing from cracked or broken ribs sucks ass. If you decide it's worth the trip, you can probably get some painkillers from a doctor if the pain gets too bad. Maybe something like a Grace Clinic, where they operate 100% off donations so the poor can actually afford to get help? In any case, take it easy, or as easy as you can.

    You could try working online in the meantime. Camming might not be something you'd want to do if you're covered in bruises, but you could give it a go. Or you could get a pay-by-the-task gig if you wanted to keep it more relaxed and family friendly. These things don't typically pay that much unless you actually devote time to them to get fast/good, but if you're going to be more or less bedridden for the next couple months, it might be worth a shot. Things like transcription or proofreading pay alright. It takes a little bit of time to get to a reasonable speed with it, but once you get there the hourly wage is really not bad at all. It's nothing compared to dancing, but at least it's something. I think the average for both of the above options is something like $11ish/hour, but if you get fast at it, you can make closer to around $25/hour. Again, the work is typically pay by the task, so if it takes you five hours to do one thing, your hourly wage is going to be abysmal. If you're fluent in another language, that can expand your opportunities, too. If you're a decent writer, people will sometimes post prompts on the sites and pay you to write a short paper/some form of response to them.

    Again, none of this will compare to dancing, moneywise. But if you're going to be bedridden and incapable of making any money outside the home at all, it might be worth it to make at least something in all your new down time, especially if you're feeling strapped for cash atm. You could try to rush the healing process in the name of taking care of the here and now and saving up for your trip, but you might suffer in the longer term for it. If you're willing to make the trade, that's totally your call and only you can make it. You do you. ^^ Otherwise, Vitamin K helps you absorb Vitamin D, which, among other important things, helps you absorb Calcium, which can help repair and strengthen bones *up to a certain point.* Your body can only absorb up to a certain amount of calcium, even with extra Vitamin D. Take vitamins, get lots of rest, and eat right in the meantime -- give your body every advantage you can to help it heal itself faster. If nothing else, if you're going to take the "rush it" route, you can probably at least get rid of the bruises. What doesn't fade, you can probably cover with tanner. Again though, you might be rushing to make money for the here and now only to prolong the healing process overall and potentially take a blow to your money later as a result. If you can afford to take the time off, I'd definitely suggest doing so. If not, if you have the grit to muscle through it and as long as you don't actively re-injure yourself/harm your body more, you know yourself and your limits better than anyone else here. Do what you gotta do.

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    God/dess whirlerz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    Can't you see a Dr dear, a low cost clinic maybe
    Other than that, rest (esp sleep) helps your body heal. Take some vitamins? Like vit C
    Found this on bing:http://http://herballegacy.com/Broken_Bones.html


    MANY MEN WANTED TO LAY ME DOWN, BUT FEW WANTED TO LIFT ME UP

    -Eartha Kitt

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    You can heal ribs faster with adding to your food collagen or gelatin and bone broth. On bruises you may want to try castor oil, you can even put it all over your body but use old clothing cuz that oil is sticky and stain clothing.
    Go outside for a better blood circulation and vit D. If you can keep moving.
    you may also want something for your adrenals glands, some adaptogens to help overcome stress you got. Something like magnesium,holy basil,licorice etc.

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    So... I worked with a broken rib a few years ago. like, the entire time it was broken

    Honestly I figured if I was going to be in pain the whole time I may as well make money. I completely lacked the ability to bend for weeks. On stage I wore an outfit with lots of pieces (we do 18-22 min shows here) and just slowly stripped them off while walking around. For lap dances I was up front with customers about the fact that I couldn't really move, and just threw the club under the bus for "making me work". Ended up actually doing fine just sitting on laps naked. The only really crappy part was not being able to laugh because ouch

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?


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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    Quote Originally Posted by MissJu View Post
    Thank you!! Going to thestore today to hopefully find everything I need

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    Quote Originally Posted by SuperJa View Post
    So... I worked with a broken rib a few years ago. like, the entire time it was broken

    Honestly I figured if I was going to be in pain the whole time I may as well make money. I completely lacked the ability to bend for weeks. On stage I wore an outfit with lots of pieces (we do 18-22 min shows here) and just slowly stripped them off while walking around. For lap dances I was up front with customers about the fact that I couldn't really move, and just threw the club under the bus for "making me work". Ended up actually doing fine just sitting on laps naked. The only really crappy part was not being able to laugh because ouch
    I think this will be me next week. I'm already getting antsy to go back to work even though I'm in so much pain.

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    Anyone who's dealt with this -- did you gain weight? I'm eating healthy but worried about being sedentary while healing... I went on a walk yesterday and luckily it didn't bug me

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    I had a family member with this when she slipped and fell. I forced her to go back to the doctor when I heard they just told her to rest. Same response again. So I think you're best of just resting as much as you can do they don't heal weird.

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    Veteran Member Candycups's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    As long as you're eating healthy, being sedentary shouldn't have too much of an effect. You will most likely lose muscle tone and "go soft," but you probably won't go from skinny to curvy. Again, just make sure you adjust your diet accordingly. You're not as active for the moment as you were previously, so your body doesn't need as much fuel to keep it going (assuming you were fairly physically active before this point, anyway). Tbh, you might notice your apatite start to dwindle on its own anyways. Whenever I've had to stay in bed for extended periods of time due to an injury (I was an accident prone adrenaline junkie growing up -- my mom's named at least half her grey hairs after me) that's what happened to me. Give your body nutrients, keep it healthy and give it everything it needs to repair itself, but don't step too far over that. For example, pizza and Chinese food will probably not help your body more than fresh veggies, tea, soups, etc. Also take care to only eat when you're hungry, and not get that feeling confused with being bored. If anything's apt to do you in while you're more or less grounded to your bed, it'd probably be that. Although, if you're able to walk around alright without too much pain, you're probably at an advantage -- at least you can leave and change the scenery. You'll most likely be fine.

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    Quote Originally Posted by Candycups View Post
    As long as you're eating healthy, being sedentary shouldn't have too much of an effect. You will most likely lose muscle tone and "go soft," but you probably won't go from skinny to curvy. Again, just make sure you adjust your diet accordingly. You're not as active for the moment as you were previously, so your body doesn't need as much fuel to keep it going (assuming you were fairly physically active before this point, anyway). Tbh, you might notice your apatite start to dwindle on its own anyways. Whenever I've had to stay in bed for extended periods of time due to an injury (I was an accident prone adrenaline junkie growing up -- my mom's named at least half her grey hairs after me) that's what happened to me. Give your body nutrients, keep it healthy and give it everything it needs to repair itself, but don't step too far over that. For example, pizza and Chinese food will probably not help your body more than fresh veggies, tea, soups, etc. Also take care to only eat when you're hungry, and not get that feeling confused with being bored. If anything's apt to do you in while you're more or less grounded to your bed, it'd probably be that. Although, if you're able to walk around alright without too much pain, you're probably at an advantage -- at least you can leave and change the scenery. You'll most likely be fine.
    whenever I've been bedridden or forced to rest, I do eat when I'm bored. This time around if I feel like I'm hungry, just to make sure, I've been having 2 cups of hot tea beforehand. If I'm not actually hungry then this satisfies me. If I'm still hungry after that, then I know it's "OK" to eat. That has been helpful.

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    Default Re: Cracked ribs -- how to speed up healing and how long until I can go back to work?

    I hear you on not wanting to gain weight. But make sure you're eating enough food and making healthy choices during this period of healing. Your body is rebuilding bone and other tissues; it needs nutrients to do so! Your body can't store protein as protein, so you need to make sure to get protein in your diet every day. Same thing for a vast array of vitamins (e.g. B-complex).

    If walking doesn't cause you pain, I'd aim to go on a daily walk while you heal (preferably in nature). Fantastic for both mind and body.

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