Expert: Jack Rose - 2/12/2007

Question
In sept 2006 , when i had rib pain and i went to the doctor and he said it was probebly a bruise and i was sad back in september o6...well just last week a recent accident of my male partner hit me again and not even hard as before when i had first pain ..like i said back in sept...well my doctor barley issued a xray this feb of 2007 and told me he saw no breakage, i was again , he said bruised..i got a call the morning of feb 7 2007 from the radioigist and he said they looked and he claims the ribs 5,6 and 7 are broken..BROKEN? im like what? i been assured from my doctor i was ok there was no problem and he wasnt concerned back in september to issue a xray then till now when i came in every month telling him it still hurt...now at 4th time he says to my face i was ok...and i get a call i have broken ribs...what if i had a fight and the rib punchered my lung or somthing and then they called me and found i was already in the hospitol? what would i have done? what do you think ? im confused , i am changing doctors i will called my kieser member services and they put a complaint, but im puzzled, now i am switching doctors and worried i will have to stop training entirley.see i didnt feel like i was in pain just pinching..i have been running and doing my workouts and sparring and had no indication i was hurt.

my site is www.myspace.com/arlenejaybaker

im not a amature or pro yet untill i am cleared of this mess now but me and coach are still training just not sparring until i get a rib guard.

Answer
Hi Jennifer,  Definately change doctors. Your ribs should have been Xray'd for sure. Call around and screen some doctors for someone with sports injury experience. The likely injury in boxing are cracked ribs. Normally not a complete break. Depending on the location it can be very painful but there's also times when it only hurts when you make certain movements, like twisting a certain way. It is also likely that if you have cracked ribs that your muscle is bruised at the same location. You must give this time to heal. I think you did all you could do under the circumstances. If you suspect rib damage next time, demand an xray. You can still train but no bag work, sparring, ab work or anything to aggrivate it. Use this time to work on your cardio....it's 80% of boxing anyway so you can't go wrong there.
Sorry about your situation but you'll be fine with proper healing time.... just get a new doc and focus on conditioning for right now. Keep those elbows tucked in next time, you should be taking those shots on your arms. After your ribs heal, work on bodydrills first... but don't drop your hands just because you know your not going to the head, keep them up like normal and focus on turning into the punches to the rib area and catching everything with your arms.

Best of luck.....and thanks for the question

Jackson