highspeed car accident sternum injury

We were sitting at a red light when a car coming towards us going about 60 or 70 ran the red light and hit us head on. This was on 04.08.12, Easter Sunday. I was told by the ER Doctor nothing was broke. Just chest trama. And then I was released. Even though I was in tremendous pain and having a hard time breathing. I was drugged up and sent home. I was not able to take a deep breath for 4 days after the accident, and that was very painful. I have so much pain doing nothing. Now 5 weeks later I am still having alot of chest pain, besides having a broken foot. I still have a shortness of breath. I haven't been able to work a full week since the accident and my job is sitting at a desk billing medical insurance. I keep thinging I should be well by now, but I'm not. It's very frustrating dealing with all this pain and the insurance companies.

I think you got some internal injury that's why you are having pain on sneezing.

I had an accident about 2 1/2 years ago when my car slid in slush to hit an SUV head-on. She (the other driver) was sent by ambulance but I declined (felt awful the woman was strapped to a gurney and I was walking around). I think I was in shock. I wasn't going very fast maybe 20mph but the slush was about 6 inches thick and the airbag did not deploy and worse yet; it was my brother's car (funny part was a big snow plow backed up no more the 30 feet up the road and started plowing the slush away; too little too late!). Car was totaled and of course I had to call into work and say I smushed my car. Got a ride to the police station (via the police) and filled out papers and waited for my brother (yeah, that brother) to pick me up and still I was in shock though I was feeling some pain in my shoulder -  I didn't think anything of it (had a cut down the side of my neck, skin deep, from the belt) for the next hour or two or three. Then it started hurting. And hurting and hurting... hurt to breathe, hurt to speak (I'm a phone working in a big company) hurt to cough, laugh, fart; just hurt. Like someone had kicked me in the chest and kept kicking. Finally went into the E.R. a week later and all I was told was "here's some Advil extra super strength, you'll be fine; Buhbye". Problem was the kick in the chest went away but some of the symptons didn't. To this day I have unexplained "flare-ups" where the pressure comes back. Feels like someone is pushing their fist into my shoulder and out the other side. Not pain per say but a pressure. Scares the c**p out of me because I worry its a heart attack coming. I'm only 33 for christ's sake! Alas, my doctor dismisses this as people have feelings like that sometimes; common aches and pains. My shoulder is slightly higher on that side. I'm so sick of it that I am planning on pushing my PCP and get more tests done. if its a healed fracture, fine; maybe there is scar tissue and it could be cleared out. If it's something more serious I'd like to know. I don't want to be driving to work and have an embolism or bursted blood vessel.

Hi guys, I was  in a car accident 8 years ago and had surgery and had 2 metal plates attached to my sternum. It doesn't hurt as much as I did before surgery like I couldn't breathe and there were constant pain but my metals always feel foreign and there is always pressure was I lay down and get back up quickly. It also gets colder in the winter so then it affects my breathing because it makes my chest feel colder. Last year I and an X-ray taken because I was feeling a a bit of more pressure than normal and breathing hard was difficult. They discovered I has a broken metal! Ironic isn't it? They said they don't see it affecting my organs so I didn't want surgery to fix my hardware. It's year, I feel like when I swallow food, I feel like there is something hitting it so I wonder if my fractured metal is causing irritation to my muscles or surrounding tissue. I'm going tomorrow to urgent care to see.

to all you suffering from this diaphragm pain after your trauma, I would suggest 2 things: 1) go to a neuromuscular therapist. A NMTherapist finds the path of pain and clears it. My niece was in an accident this week, went to a veryyy good NM therapist whom I go to regularly only because her arm hurt but apparently her diaphragm was in need of "releasing" which Terry did. They started w/my niece being instructed to take a deep breath--very difficult---and then after releasing her diaphragm she again took a breath which was a DEEP BREATH with no pain. I get NM work done on me monthly. (find one & try them. Feel free to look for another one if you find they arent experienced enough). 2) Feldenkrais Method. The instructor leads you through a series of small, gentle movements known as an Awareness Through Movement[R] (ATM) lesson which gives you a larger range of movement, easier breathing, and more. Both are highly recommended. Hope either of them help you.

Hi there,

I had a very similar experience only a month ago and the initial x-rays from hospital didnt reveal the fractured sternum that showed up 10 days later, as my family doctor specifically sent me for....thats the key, he must specify what and where the shots of the x-rays he want taken.....

Hi, My 86 year old father suffered a fractured sternum on Oct 17 , 2013 after a bad car accident. He has been complaining of a loss of taste regarding any and all foods thus he has lost alot of weight from not eating...Has anyone that has had a fractured sternum experienced this loss of taste and if so, what can he do about it, if anything..I'm very worried about him...

It has been just over 2 wks since my car accident, initially ct scan showed no injuries, just had 2nd ct and the fracture showed up. I had returned to dr due to extreme pain, with the same as you report. Return immediately demand repeat....

Same with me . I put ice and heat nothing works.

Its great to be comforted by you .a month today after a head on collision my sternum gets painful after i seat in a car and put on a belt.am very active but i guess it will take time to totally heal.lets all be strong and be patient as frustrating as it is.

I was in a car accident and I broke my sternum. it was hard to move, breath or do anything probably for at least 2/3 months. I am a single mum and I had to really grit my teeth and sometimes cry as had to lift my son in and out of the cot and down the stairs. still a year on I still get pain at night if I lay on my side for too long. will this ever heal??

I bet you already got an answer by now, but I was wondering if it was costochondritis or tietz syndrome? Please let me know because I'm going through the same thing right now and I'm wondering if I have it

I have a fractured sternum from a car accident 4 days ago (rear ended by an SUV and the seatbelt fractured my sternum on the outside, not all the way through). Right now I'm not driving, so I can sit in the backseat with just the lap belt on. But when I start driving, the thought of putting a shoulder restraint on really concerns me. For one thing, it's going to be very painful. And it occurred to me -- If I somehow get into another accident -- it seems likely that intense seatbelt pressure on my compromised sternum could cause it to break, possibly resulting in serious internal injuries. Has anyone else had this concern? (Hate to seem like a worry wart, but I was on my way to the doctor for a kidney stone procedure when we were rear-ended. I'm not having the best run of luck right now.)

I think many people have found a way to slip the shoulder belt behind them. I'm not saying you should but others certainly do.

Where are you driving or who are you riding with that makes you expect to be in another accident? I've been driving for 60 years, all over the country and have never been involved in an accident that was serious enough to be hurt by my seat belt. Maybe you need to reconsider who you ride with or take a course in defensive driving.

Ok. Accuden. No need of details. It's bee 31/2 weeks. The chest pain is worse than any broken bone or I jury I've had on my life. No one has said theirs is constant. Mine has never gone away for a second. I finally went from a 20 to an 8.5 yesterday but again, there is not a second that the pain is not there
Normal??