broken sternum ad cracked ribs healing process

I was in a head-on car crash nearly three months ago and am still healing. I too have had to sleep sitting up but am now slowly getting to horizontal again. I understand sternum fractures take months to heal. When the weather changes I get terrible aching pains in the sternal area... apparently this is common!!So I guess we all need to be patient and let the body heal itself... good luck!

smoke some weed that helped with the pain when i fell off of a loft bed and landed on my sternum on the corner of a desk. Its all natural and beats morphine

OHHH! I feel your pain everyone. I am 56 yrs old. Last Thursday my son tried to pop my back ans usual. I never had a problem until now! I had pain in my back 3 bulging and 1 herniated disk in my neck. I also have fibromyalgia & CFS. My son did his normal picking me up and both of us felt and heard the popping crunching sound in my chest. Hurt like H___! I have insurance but I am on medical leave right now. No money at all! I can't afford to go to the doc because of money. I can tell by the excruciating pain something is broke mostly in my sternum but also my ribs! I hurt so bad but is weird I have a 75 mg morphine patch, codeine w/aspirin and soma for my other problems and they don't even work. I read that they cant do anything for broken ribs but give pain meds..not any help since I have some. Is there anything else they can do? God this hurts! Should I go into debt to be checked out? The nurse at the docs office said ice packs 20 min on and 20 min off..but not helping...Thank you for listening..God bless... :cry:

i am a lead singer in a band and have just cracked my sternum... it is painful, and sleeping in a chair is normal... the drugs dont do sh*t, :( just go with the flow :) ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed

My 6 month old daughter broke my sternum 6 1/2 years ago and to this day we can't get it to heal. I have had surgical plates inserted to stabalize it in hope of promoting healing but those plates broke in half as well. I had my second surgery last may and had new stronger plates inserted. Those plates are now coming loose. I am on a 5 lb weight restriction and to do NOTHING in hope of healing it as there is nothing to secure anything to anymore. If these plates break, they may have to take my sternum out entirely...but then I run the risk of my Collar Bone caving into my Ribs. :O( It is fractured in two places and dislocated. I live in constant pain. Any arm movements, scrubbing, etc. make the pain worse. And to sleep...HEH..not easy. I have two body pillows and I have to position just so to make sure that my back and spine are straight and in line to prevent excessive sternum pain while sleeping. My doc is great though and I have vicoden for the really bad nights. During the day I just suffer. Some days are worse then others. The hard part is that I have 3 kids and the youngest is only 1 1/2 and I am not even suppsed to pick him up as he weighs over 30 lbs. I am using a bone stimulator twice a day and have a TLSO brace but those don't seem to be helpling either. My bone density test came back normal..so it's all very frustrating.

I would get it checked out.....not checking out a broken sternum/ribs can pose danger to your lungs and heart!

I wouldn't leave it, broken sternum/ribs pose danger to your lungs and heart! Go see the doc!

hey all, im only 19, i went to play futsal (indoor soccer) alongwith my buddies on a monday, which i've been playing for 2 years straight, the one thing i love doing is playing my soccer, a month before that day, i suffered from an ankle injury, it was bad but i didnt bother seeing the doctor, after a month, i went back to playing as i could not stand the wait, the minute i enter the court, i was running as i've not run in ages, i felt the happiness, i was extremely worried about my ankle that i did not think about anything else, my friend who was the goalkeeper threw the ball from his side to the opposing side, i went to head to ball in but i didnt notice that a 15 year old boy, the opposite keeper, jump high up, along with his knees, it hit me straight and i feel off..there was a load breaking sound that everyone heard, my friend pulled me up and brought me to the hospital,i have broken one part of my sternum, and the bottom part was smashed into tiny sand-alike bones. i was in hospital bed rest for 4 days, then they finally did an operation on me..what they did was simply pushing my sternum futher inward and placing a metal steel wire between the broken parts. i could not move before and after the surgery for 3 weeks..i remembered that i only sneezed 3 times in 3 weeks as the pain was a killer..today is the 8th week..i feel so alive, i could lift weights as i did before, i started playing futsal again.. but without much players..i can sleep every position after the 6 weeks..im afraid of my every move, im afraid that i may damage my bones again..but im even more excited to go back to the way things are..im still waiting for the day i can return to play normal futsal..one thing i know for sure, i drink a liter of milk each day and it helped me through this process, I'VE READ ALL PREVIOUS COMMENTS AND I KNOW WHAT I HAD WAS NOT AS BIG AS MANY OF YOU, I CAN FEEL THE PAIN YOU ALL GO THROUGH, BUT HEY, ITS BETTER KNOWING YOU SURVIVE IT..CHEERS TO ALL OF YOU, I WISH U ALL A SPEEDY RECOVERY

I cracked my chest plate, 10 years ago. I am now 25 and have never gone to a dr. about it. The pain was intense for the first year, and now it only hurts a little. I have started to notice I am getting shortness of breath and with every breath I feel pain. It still pops in and out of place, I never realized how severe it really is until now. I live a fairly active life, basketball, football and cycling. I am surprised it hasn't healed yet, just never really given it much thought. I still don't have insurance as its really expensive. Should I go to a hospital anyways or give it more time and change my lifestyle?

Lots of posts here and I've looked in many places so nice job. Nine months ago I broke 9 ribs (3 to 11), cracked a vertebrae and punctured a lung when I was sledging with my teenage kids (I'm 48 male). Helicopter ride to hospital and a lot of pain - a truly grim 6-10 weeks post the accident. An epidural pain block, lots of Tramadol and a brilliant recliner chair helped me get through those first 2 month. The line of broken and displaced ribs was close to my shoulder blade line and after 2 months a big depression was still evident on my back which really opened up when I moved my arm about. Surgeon agreed that the displaced ribs were hinging and would not heal. Detailed scans confirmed this and had an operation 4 months after the accident in which they re-broke 2 of the ribs that had healed ugly. They then re-positioned and titanium plated the 4 overlapping and hinging ribs which then allowed the 2 re-broken ribs to snap in to a roughly right position. The other 3 ribs had healed ok. The post operative pain levels were much less than after the accident and I didn't need too much of the Tramadol. After the accident I got a bit hooked on the Tramadol but to be honest, it was worth it as it got me through those awful 6-10 weeks. Five months post surgery and I'm much better but still a way to go. I'm back at work doing 3/4 days and that takes all my energy. Trying to slowly re-build my fitness but it's all very low level for now and a bit pathetic. Our family Doc has been brilliant and unless she had pushed with us, then it may have been a very long time (if ever?) before the surgical intervention was taken seriously. To confirm other comments here, scans show the detail and X-rays are limited in what they show and the typical medical philosophy with multiple rib fractures and displaced fractures is one of a conservative treatment and to let the ribs heal themselves while you take lots of painkillers. The surgical intervention is a rare thing with some recent clinical trials and papers proposing that this is an under utilized but effective treatment. If you believe that your ribs aren't healing after 2-4 months, then my advice is to be persistent and get scans done. Good luck to you if you're in similar position. Be patient, major trauma takes a long time to recover from.

I had the same thing happen and it can take months to fully heal. There can be set backs. A lot of pain pills and doctors visits with physical therapy

I did the same thing by cheering. I am now going on 8 weeks, still on medication, and i feel alot better. The doctor told me to wait 4-6 weeks before going back to my regular activities. Now it has been 8 and I am still not confident enough to go back yet. Everybody heals differently. Also- mine didnt bruise until 6 weeks. I called my PCP to see if it was normal and they said thats how long it took for it to reach the surface. Apparently that means it will heal faster? 

I was in a really bad car accident when I was 8 months pregnant. I also have several fractured ribs and a fractured sternum. I also have a 20 month old baby as well as my 4 month old. I am a stay at home mom and have no choice but to lift them. It has been almost 5 months since the accident and I am still in so much pain. I have never been depressed before and am having a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am so grateful to be alive and that both my babies came out of the accident without a scratch. Has it gotten any better for you? I feel so lost and alone. I really hope you are feeling better and can maybe give me some advice.

Hi, I'm 21 & I was in a car accident and my knees hit chest during the impact. I was told I dislocated the top and middle part of my sternum. Whenever I strain too much, my chest popps. I was wondering if this was similar to you & how long til the popping would stop. My dr told me it might take longer than 3 months for my sternum to heal, but I honestly don't want to believe it's going to take that long.

Oh my! my partner was run over by his car tire and he suffered broken sternum, 6 broken ribs, broken collar bone, broken cranium. He is doing remarkably well but of course in pain. He wants to get back to normal activity but his body tells him "no way!" God bless you!