
Here I am, unable to get back to sleep having woken up an hour and a half ago with blasted rib pain. I decided to give up trying to sleep and sit and read/write for a bit, to see if the pain would go. The pain has indeed abated, but I fell to wondering just why I've had so many rib breaks over the years. Here they are:
1. Aged 17 - cracked rib, left side, having tried unsuccessfully to tackle a rampaging 6"3' centre on the rugby field. I was a 5"10' flanker, giving away about two stone to the centre. I resolved never to play rugby again after this and switched to football.
2. Aged 17 - cracked same rib falling down stairs. Don't ask.
3. Aged 18 - two broken ribs, left side, having been thrown or fallen into a swimming pool in the early hours. No one, least of all me, knows what actually happened. It was a friend's party. Those were the days. Painful days, for days on end.
4. Aged 45 - two broken ribs, left side, having sustained a very fine right-hand body shot. It wasn't enough to drop me but it was a hell of a punch.
5. Aged 46 - one broken rib (no. 9), left side and caused by surfing, but two other left side ribs most likely broken (apparently, fractured ribs aren't always easy to see on X-Rays).
What is the common denominator in all this? No, not that almost every break displays some level of recklessness but that each break is on my left side. Why is this?
Well, thanks to rib pain, a sleepless night and google, I discovered this:
A broken bone normally takes about four to six weeks to heal
sufficiently to apply pressure to it, however, it still takes several
months, and sometimes even years to heal completely. Since the ribcage
is constantly moving, broken ribs
are at high risk for constant re-injuries, and microscopic re-breaks,
and with more pressure or even the trauma of coughing, with already
weakened bone tissue, it's very easy to break again.
This yahoo answer, posted by the 'wife of a man who gets broken a lot', seems to suggest that there may be an inherent weakness on my left side, caused by repeated trauma. This would seem to bode well for the prospect of another break in due course, which is excellent news: all the nicknames I've been given, El Ribo is my favourite.
With thanks to The Surgens.