My black diamond-capable host in Beaver Creek broke his rib falling face-down on a cat track about two weeks before I arrived. Conversation one morning:
- “I rolled over in bed and heard a crack. I think I broke my rib again.”
- “That’s terrible. I’m sorry to hear it. What can do you to help it heal?”
- “There are really no medicines. You just have to give the bones time to knit together. What I need is something to keep me from rolling over in bed.”
- “You could take a Viagra every night at bedtime.”
[Some credit due to Kevin Fitzgerald, the world’s funniest veterinarian.]
Sleep in an easy chair or recliner. Lean back a little until comfortable and go to sleep. No way to roll over so no pain mostly. I used it years ago for 4 weeks or so with 2 broken ribs. I also had my ribs taped with wide medical cloth tape for the first two weeks to keep them in place. I do not know if they still do this. It hurt like crazy when they took the tape off so there are trade offs.
Good Luck.
I was prescribed a drug a few years back — I don’t remember which; it may have been risedronate — when I was battling recurring stress fractures.
The mode of action was that it slows reabsorption of bone, so the body is laying down more material than it’s reabsorbing.
My doctor suggested that it’s sometimes used by boxers to heal broken ribs more rapidly after a bout, so they can get back to training. I have no idea if this is true.