When the doctor gets hurt

Last week slipped and fell on the ice (at the ice rink with my son and grandson) and broke a rib. Ouch! Pain from a broken rib is excruciating and any movement makes it worse. Traditionally we are taught that aside from pain medication there isn’t much to do for a rib fracture. This is not entirely true. One week into the fracture I can offer this additional advice. This advice is not only true for a rib fracture but for any acute debilitating injury.

1. Pain due to any significant injury will not go away in one or two days. (severe pain should always be checked out by a medical professional) Take scheduled pain medication as recommended by your doctor. Lying in bed may not be so painful, but in the beginning don’t skip a dose. Treating pain will accelerate healing, toughing it out will delay healing. Eventually you can start skipping doses and reducing the dose.

2. Rely on others. No time to be brave (and stupid). If possible no one should go home to an empty house, with a new rib fracture or acute serious injury. The effort put into caring for oneself is debilitating, frustrating and maybe dangerous. Let someone help you get out of bed, get dressed, get a glass of water.

3. Finally realize that at some point the pain, while still present, is no longer dangerous. Don’t “baby” longer than necessary. Ask your doctor when and how much., Get out of bed put on the sock, brush your teeth and go for a walk, even though it hurts and may fatigue you. This is part of the “rehabilitation process