| What We Treat
Rib Fractures
Sharp chest pain that catches with every breath, cough or turn in bed? Rib fractures are painful and slow, and the most important thing is keeping your lungs working properly while they heal.
Overview
What Is a Rib Fracture?
Ribs fracture from a direct blow, a fall, or occasionally from forceful coughing in someone with reduced bone density. They cannot be splinted or immobilised because they move with every breath, which is why they hurt so persistently. The fracture itself almost always heals without intervention. The genuine risk lies in the complications: shallow breathing from pain leads to chest infection and pneumonia, particularly in older adults.
Simple Rib Fracture
One or two ribs cracked without displacement. Painful for six to twelve weeks but heals reliably. Management centres on adequate pain relief so that you can breathe deeply and cough — which is genuinely the treatment, not an optional extra.
Symptoms
How It Tends to Feel
Rib fractures have a characteristic and unmistakable pattern:
Sharp Pain on Breathing
A catching pain with deep breaths, worse than the background ache.
Pain on Coughing and Sneezing
Often described as the worst part, and a key reason people avoid clearing their chest.
Well-Localised Tenderness
A specific point on the rib that is exquisitely tender to press.
Pain Turning in Bed
Rolling over is frequently the most disruptive symptom, and sleep is often badly affected.
Shallow Breathing
A tendency to breathe shallowly to avoid pain, which is exactly what causes the complications.
Bruising
Over the chest wall, sometimes appearing a day or two after the injury.
Causes & Risk Factors
What Drives It
Most rib fractures follow trauma, though not always significant trauma.
Falls
The most common cause in older adults, often from a relatively minor fall at home.
Direct Blow
Contact sport, road traffic collisions and workplace incidents.
Reduced Bone Density
Fractures from low-energy incidents should prompt consideration of osteoporosis assessment.
Forceful Coughing
Prolonged coughing can fracture ribs, particularly where bone density is reduced.
Repetitive Load
Stress fractures of the ribs occur in rowers, golfers and throwing athletes.
How We Can Help You
Treatment & Management
Ribs heal on their own. The value of treatment lies in keeping your lungs clear, your chest moving, and your sleep tolerable through a genuinely uncomfortable few weeks.
What the evidence says
The main risk from rib fractures is pulmonary — pneumonia and respiratory complications, with risk rising sharply with the number of ribs fractured and with age. Adequate analgesia enabling deep breathing and effective coughing is consistently identified as the key protective measure.
Incentive spirometry and structured deep breathing exercises are widely used to maintain lung volumes after rib fracture. Strapping or binding the chest is no longer recommended, because restricting chest expansion increases the risk of infection.
When to Seek Help
Red Flags — Don’t Ignore These
Rib fractures can involve the structures beneath them. Seek urgent care if you notice:
⚠ Call 999 or attend A&E if you notice:
- Increasing breathlessness, or difficulty catching your breath (possible collapsed lung — call 999)
- Coughing up blood, or blood-stained sputum
- A section of chest wall that moves inwards as you breathe in (flail segment — call 999)
- Fever, productive cough, or feeling increasingly unwell (possible chest infection — seek same-day assessment)
- Severe abdominal pain, dizziness or feeling faint (possible internal injury — call 999)
Rib fractures sit directly over the lungs, liver and spleen. Any breathlessness, coughing of blood, or feeling faint needs emergency assessment rather than being attributed to the fracture pain.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take?
Typically six weeks for the bone to unite and up to twelve for the pain to fully settle. It’s slower than most people expect, and progress is gradual rather than sudden. Sleep is usually the last thing to return to normal.
Should I strap my chest?
No. Binding or strapping restricts chest expansion, which increases the risk of pneumonia. It was standard practice decades ago and has been abandoned for good reason. Supporting the chest with a pillow when coughing is helpful; binding it is not.
Why does everyone keep telling me to breathe deeply?
Because that’s genuinely the treatment. Shallow breathing to avoid pain lets the base of the lungs collapse and secretions build, which causes chest infection. Deep breathing and clearing your chest properly is what prevents the complication that actually matters.
Do I need a scan?
Often not for management purposes, since a simple rib fracture is treated the same way whether or not it’s confirmed on imaging. Chest X-rays are often used to check the lungs rather than the ribs themselves. Imaging matters more where multiple ribs or internal injury are suspected.
Keep Breathing Properly While It Heals
Breathing technique, sleep and positioning strategies, and a graded return to movement through an uncomfortable few weeks.
Book Your Initial AssessmentThis page is for general information only and isn’t a substitute for individual medical advice. If you’re experiencing any of the warning signs above, contact your GP or seek emergency medical care as appropriate.