Symptoms of a rib fracture include:
Rib fractures are usually caused by something hitting your chest. Some of the most common causes include:
Rib fractures can happen without a traumatic injury, too. These atraumatic (not caused by trauma) breaks are caused by:
Rib fractures usually occur during traumas, which means there’s a chance you have other injuries. A broken rib can cause serious damage inside your body. Your ribs protect several of your most important organs, including your:
If the injury that caused the fracture pushed your ribs into your body, the pieces of bone can cut (lacerate), poke holes in (puncture) or bruise your organs.
Breathing with a broken rib can be painful. If you don’t breathe as deeply as you usually do while your ribs are fractured, you have an increased risk of developing pneumonia.
Rib fractures can also lead to a collapsed lung (sometimes called pneumothorax).
A healthcare provider will diagnose a rib fracture with a physical exam. They might also use imaging tests to check for damage to your organs.
After a physical exam, you might need at least one of a few imaging tests:
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How your rib fracture is treated depends on the severity of the original break. Your broken bones need to heal back together. If any of your organs were damaged during a trauma, you might need to stay in the hospital while those injuries are repaired.
Most rib fractures can be treated with rest, icing and over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs like aspirin or ibuprofen. Your provider will tell you how often to ice your injury, but in general, you can ice your ribs for 20 minutes at a time a few times a day.
You’ll probably need to do some breathing exercises or cough on purpose every few hours while you’re recovering. This helps prevent pneumonia and keeps your lungs and chest moving like they usually do. Pressing a pillow to your injured ribs can help cushion any pain during your breathing exercises.
It’s rare to need surgery for a fractured rib. You’ll only need surgery if you have serious internal injuries, or if your bones haven’t healed back together properly (a complication called nonunion or malunion).
The most serious fractures require surgery. Your surgeon will realign (set) your bones to their correct position and then secure them in place so they can heal and grow back together. They usually perform what’s called an internal fixation, which means your surgeon inserts pieces of metal into your bone to hold it in place while it heals. You’ll probably need to limit how much you use the surgically repaired part of your body to make sure your bone can fully heal.
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Internal fixation techniques include:
Some people live with these pieces inserted in them forever. You might need follow-up surgeries to remove them.
You might need bone grafting if your rib fracture is severely displaced or if your bone isn’t healing back together as well as it should. Your surgeon will insert additional bone tissue to rejoin your fractured bone. After that, they’ll usually perform an internal fixation to hold the pieces together while your bone regrows. Bone grafts can come from a few sources:
Rib fracture surgery complications include:
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It’ll take a few weeks for your symptoms to improve. Contact your healthcare provider right away if you experience intense pain that doesn’t get better or if you’re having trouble breathing.
If you have a rib fracture, you should expect to make a full recovery.
Most people need at least a month to recover from a rib fracture.
There are lots of factors that can affect how long it takes your body to heal. It can take longer to recover if you experienced other internal injuries during a trauma. Talk to your provider or surgeon about a timeline that fits your specific situation.
Your specific injuries will impact how long you’ll need to miss work, school and other activities. If you fracture a rib without damaging organs or other parts of your body, you shouldn’t have to miss work or school while you’re recovering.
Talk to your surgeon or healthcare provider before resuming any physical activities while you’re healing.
Stay active while you’re recovering. Avoid intense workouts and playing sports, but moving and breathing as close to normally for you is an important part of your recovery. Talk to your provider about how much activity you should do with a broken rib.
Follow these general safety tips to reduce your risk of an injury:
Rib fractures are usually caused by falls or other accidents, so there’s not much you can to prevent them. Use a cane or walker to increase your stability and prevent falls.
If you have osteoporosis, treating it will prevent future bone density loss.
If you think you have a rib fracture — or any other broken bone — you need to see a healthcare provider as soon as possible. Go to the emergency room if you experience any of the following:
Go to the emergency room right away if you’ve experienced trauma.
Rib fractures can range from a small crack caused by a random cough to a severe injury after trauma. The most important thing is getting your ribs examined by a healthcare provider as soon as you notice any pain in your chest or have trouble breathing.
Talk to your provider about how you can keep your bones strong and healthy and get regular bone density screenings if you’re older than 50 or have a family history of osteoporosis.
Cleveland Clinic’s primary care providers offer lifelong medical care. From sinus infections and high blood pressure to preventive screening, we’re here for you.
Last reviewed on 12/09/2022.
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