Why rib hurt

Your rib cage provides a crucial function: to protect your heart, lungs and other vital organs. But this may also mean they take the brunt of the damage in the case of trauma, such as a car accident, steep fall, physical assault or even intense coughing. A bruised rib means the bone is not actually cracked, but it still may have sustained damage.

Symptoms for bruised and broken ribs are much the same: pain, particularly when breathing or coughing. Telltale sign : Injured ribs cause pain when breathing, coughing, twisting or bending.

If you have, a CT scan will help determine whether your lungs have been injured. Plus, they need to keep moving when you breathe.

Failing to do so may result in pneumonia. You should report any instance of unexplainable rib cage pain to your doctor immediately. The most common causes of rib cage pain are a pulled muscle or bruised ribs.

Other causes of pain in the rib cage area may include:. If your pain started after an injury, your doctor might order an imaging scan such as an X-ray. A chest X-ray can show evidence of fractures or bone abnormalities. Rib-detail X-rays are also helpful. If any abnormalities, such as an abnormal growth, show up on your X-ray or during your physical examination, your doctor will order a soft tissue imaging scan, such as an MRI.

An MRI scan gives the doctor a detailed view of your rib cage and surrounding muscles, organs, and tissue. Your doctor will order a bone scan if they feel that bone cancer may be causing the pain.

For this examination, they will inject you with a small amount of radioactive dye called a tracer. Your doctor will then use a special camera to scan your body for the tracer. The image from this camera will highlight any bone abnormalities.

If the rib cage pain is due to a minor injury, such as a pulled muscle or bruise, you can use a cold compress on the area to reduce swelling. A compression wrap is a large, elastic bandage that wraps around your chest. The compression wrap holds the area tightly to prevent further injury and greater pain. However, these wraps are only necessary in rare cases because the tightness of the compression wrap makes it difficult to breathe.

This can increase your risk of pneumonia. In their healthy state, they smoothly slide across one another. However, inflammation causes them to rub, leading to significant pain. Since the advent of antibiotics , pleurisy is much less common than it was. Even when it does occur, it is often a mild condition that resolves on its own. Pleurisy usually lasts from a few days to 2 weeks.

Other inflammatory conditions of the lungs, such as bronchitis , may also cause pain around the rib cage. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States. One of the symptoms of lung cancer is rib cage pain or chest pain that gets worse upon breathing deeply, coughing, or laughing.

Other symptoms to look out for include coughing up blood or phlegm, shortness of breath, and wheezing. The outlook for lung cancer is poorer than other forms of cancer and is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. People with early-stage lung cancer have a better chance of being cured, highlighting the importance of early intervention.

Metastatic lung cancer, or cancer that begins in one area and spreads to the lungs, is a life-threatening condition. It will also cause pain in the rib cage or chest. This is a chronic condition, causing pain throughout the body.

Fibromyalgia is estimated by the American College of Rheumatology to affect between percent of people, up to 90 percent of whom are women. The pain associated with fibromyalgia may be burning, throbbing, stabbing, or aching. These pains are commonly felt in the rib cage, although any part of the body can be affected. Some research suggests that non-specific chest pain, including rib cage pain, is the most common co-existing condition that leads to hospital admission in people with fibromyalgia.

A pulmonary embolism PE is when an artery going into the lungs becomes blocked. The blockage is often caused by a blood clot that has traveled up from one of the legs.

PE is a serious condition that can damage the lungs and other organs due to reduced oxygen in the blood. The first seven ribs attach to a bone in the front of the chest called the sternum or breastbone. Rather, their point of attachment is only at the back of the chest or the girdle. Bruised ribs or a rib contusion occurs following a direct impact to the torso. This may be because of a fall or direct impact from a hard object, but the most common cause is a car accident.

Chest pain and difficulty breathing are two main symptoms that can be helped with rest and ice. The injury should be assessed to confirm it is not a more serious condition. The most obvious symptom of a bruised rib or contusion will be a sudden pain on impact. A direct blow to the chest or to the ribs themselves may cause the ribs to bruise, break or separate from the breastbone. Bruising can appear over the following hours and the ribs will most likely be tender to touch.

Coughing or sneezing can also be painful. While bruised ribs are extremely painful, in most cases they heal completely. The injury is referred to as bruised ribs but majority of the pain is caused by injury to the surrounding muscle and rib cartilage. Symptoms will include tenderness and pain over the injured area. You will also feel pain when you breathe, move, laugh or sneeze. Rib injuries are difficult to treat. Seek medical attention to rule out rib fractures and complications such as pneumothorax or a collapsed lung.

Resting and restricting your activities are the main treatment options for bruised ribs. Ice may help relieve some of your pain and swelling. Since bruised ribs cause pain when you inhale causing you to take more shallow breaths, your doctor may prescribe medication to help manage your pain.

Long-lasting anesthetic injections near the site of the bruise may also help temporarily keep your nerves there from relaying pain signals to your brain. A rib fracture is common in contact sports and usually occurs following a hard impact to the chest by an elbow or similar. Breathing will often be painful and there will typically be especially tender points on the ribs. It is possible that the fracture may cause internal damage so seeking medical advice is recommended, especially if the pain is severe.

One of the most persistent symptoms of a broken rib is chest pain when taking a breath.