If you have ever broken your ribs, then you know that getting comfortable enough to sleep can be difficult. Today’s article will help you understand the symptoms of broken ribs, the most common causes and the best tips on how to sleep with broken ribs.
Common Causes of Broken Ribs
The most common cause of broken ribs is an impact against your rib(s), which can be caused by contact sports such as contact football; motor vehicle accidents; slip and falls; as well as physical abuse. In some cases, ribs can be broken due to repetitive trauma (such as repetitive movements in physical sports like golf) or even from severe coughing. Broken ribs may also be experienced due to a weakening of the rib bones, which can be caused by osteoporosis or even cancerous lesions.
Symptoms of Broken Ribs
The most common symptoms people experience with broken ribs is pain which increases during three activities: when you press on the area that is injured, when you take a particularly deep breath, and when you bend or twist your body which aggravates the area around the ribs. If you are experiencing these symptoms, consult with your physician as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can cross check the symptoms against the ones listed in the video below:
Tips on How to Sleep With Broken Ribs
Sleeping with fractured ribs can be difficult, but once you know the best tips on how to sleep comfortably despite your injury, you will be getting your shut-eye in no time.
- Tip # 1 – Try sleeping on a recliner – Some people find that sleeping in a recliner is much easier and more comfortable than attempting to sleep in a bed. This may be because lying in a reclining seating position puts less pressure on your ribs, which in turn reduces the amount of pain and discomfort you feel as you sleep.
- Tip # 2 – Use pillows to keep yourself still – Rolling around in your sleep is likely to aggravate your rib injury, so use pillows on your bed or recliner to keep yourself more still during the night. Place pillows underneath each of your arms, which will keep you from rolling around; and make sure to put at least 1-2 pillows underneath your knees to reduce back stress and/or pain.
- Tip # 3 – Use pain relievers a short while before you go to bed – Whether you’re using prescription pain relievers or OTC medication, take some pain relievers a short while before you head to bed so that the medication has time to start working before you lay down to sleep. Make sure that you are only taking medication that can be used before you go to bed.
- Tip # 4 – Apply cold therapy before going to bed – Similar to # 3, you want to try and relieve as much of the existing pain as possible before you go to bed. One way to do this is to apply cold therapy to the affected rib area. This should numb the pain in the sensitive area which may relieve enough of the pain for you to get some rest.
- Tip # 5 – Try sleeping on your side or your back – The best sleep position when you have a rib injury is to sleep on your side or your back. It may seem contrary, but try sleeping on your injured side first; some people find that this reduces the pain as it keeps the injured ribs still. If it hurts, however, switch to the other side.
Sleeping with broken ribs isn’t easy, but these tips should get you going in the right direction. The key is to experiment to see what works for you. If you have experience with this, we’d love to hear from you. What helped you? Did anything make it worse? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear from you. Just leave a comment below!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE(S)
5 Tips on What To Do With Bruised Ribs
The Difference Between Bruised & Broken Ribs
Disclaimer – We are not medical practitioners here at SimplyJnJ. The information that we post, such as how to sleep with broken ribs, is done so for information purposes only. Always consult a doctor if you experience pain.
15 thoughts on “5 Tips on How to Sleep with Broken Ribs”
Thanks for your advice, I have recently injured my ribs and sleeping upright has been one of the only ways to find relief; I also found that a body pillow to help hold me still in my sleep was very effective.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Maybe it’s just how I envision bones working but am I wrong to thing that sleeping in the injured side may rebreak my ribs at the weak point as they are trying to fuse and heal with the rib cage?
Hi David – Yes, it’s hard to imagine that sleeping on the injured side can help, however it’s been known to facilitate breathing. I think it all comes down to how bad a particular person’s injuries are. The safest thing is to check with your doctor to see what they recommend. For example, they might recommend sleeping on your side, but only after X amount of days after the injury.
Your video was very helpful. But you never mentioned at what stage should you do these exercises. Do you commence them once ribs have healed. I fractured my ribs 2 weeks ago. .When should I start the exercises.
Hi – I’m sorry to hear that you fractured your ribs. Unfortunately, it’s different for every situation. Only your doctor/physiotherapist can really say when you are ready to start the exercises. I would check with them. Take care.
Since I fractured my rib almost two weeks ago, I am exhausted. Just walking from one room to another tires me out. Is this normal?
Hi Joanne – Sorry for the late response. I can tell you from my own experience, that when I tore my Achilles tendon, I felt exhausted for 2-3 weeks. My orthopedic surgeon told me that would happen because our bodies are spending a lot of energy trying to heal. However, if you are worried about it, definitely talk to your doctor to be on the safe side. Take care.
Coughed so bad for three weeks that I was blacking out.now I have really painful parts in rib cage that hurt to press and also if I’m upright. The only comfort way is turning almost into my stomach. Have a painful place in front and in back about 3rd ribs up from bottom. Feels like the are cracked and I’m at that age where my bones are more brittle. Does it sound likely I’ve cracked a couple during the awful coughing sessions.
Hi – I’m sorry to hear that you are in pain. Extreme coughing has been known to cause fractures… it doesn’t happen all the time, but it can happen. A chest x-ray should be able to detect it, if that’s what is causing your pain. Maybe you should talk to your doctor about it as soon as possible. Your doctor can also provide some treatment options that might work for your situation.
Take care.
Dan
I’ve been sleeping on a wedge pillow for 3.5 weeks. It’s not exactly comfortable so when can I go back to sleeping normally? For reference, I have non displaced fractured on 11 and 12.
Hi Sam – Can’t say for sure. Everybody heals differently so it’s hard to say. If you are having an issue using a wedge pillow, I suggest you talk to your doctor to see if he/she has any other recommendations. Good luck.
I was wondering that too but guess it’s all a matter of time. I’ve so far had 3 lots of laser treatment and would highly recommend that has anyone else tried that?
Hi, I fractured a bone in my rib cage due to a car accident I was in. I need comfort in sleeping, it’s so uncomfortable for me to sleep. Can anyone recommend some comfort please?
Hi – I’m sorry to hear about your accident. You can try sleeping on the uninjured side and experimenting with different pillows (long body pillows, etc.) and position them to support your chest and rib cage. There are also breathing exercises you can do to relax the muscles. Here’s an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MqTsMWTF7k
I hope this helps and I really hope you get some relief soon.
Dan