Expert: John Quackenbush DC - 3/12/2011

Question
Hi, my name is Joe. Recently, I was doing some Teakwondo for a video. I never got punched or kicked directly on any part of my body. I already had some abdominal pain off and on because of my back kind of hunching me forward. After back adjustments, I started feeling better. I was even able to breath better. I lost tightness in my chest, and overall felt good.

Now, my abdominal area was fine. I had nothing out of place or broken, sprained, etc at this time. Before he did anything, he X-rayed me. So I know I wasn't too bad off to begin with.

But, I did this Teakwondo and all the sudden, the following day I had rib pain. It seemed to not only hurt in the center of me, but it got worse as the days went on. It seemed that it wasn't the bones that were hurting, but the parts around it. The pain seemed to first only be on those first two ribs around my stomach/Heart area. It never seemed to leave from there.

I actually went to a chiropractor the very next day for my regular appointment. I got both a neck and back adjustment. Now, I figured I would feel better, but as I said, it felt worse as time went on. The following week, I got adjusted again, and still didn't feel well.

I finally went to a medical doctor, and they X-Rayed me. I had nothing broken or sprained. But the pain is still there. I've tried taking anti-inflammatory pills, but nothing helps. I got a shot too, and that didn't even come close to killing the pain.

I'm getting pain on my sides, on the ribs close to my heart and stomach, and then some on my chest, but really, it's only certain places on my chest. It doesn't hurt when it's pushed on, at least not that much. But it's pain is still there. This all depending on how I'm sitting, lying, or standing on where I hurt

Now, heat helps some on it. But, the pain never officially goes away at any point. I really don't know what to do. This has gone on for almost 2 weeks now, and it's really hurting a ton. I think it may be cartilage damage.

I've been wearing a wrap around my ribs the past few days. I mainly wear it when I know I'm going to be moving around. And I also wear it off and on throughout the day. However, it gets uncomfortable, so I do take it off from time to time. It has helped some, but once again, pain never really dies.

I could really use another opinion, so if you please, help me out.

Thank you in advance.

Answer
Joe,

Seems like you have vovered all the bases here. You actually could have cracked ribs instead of fractured ribs. These cracked ribs are called greenstick fractures because this is like trying to break a green stick. The stick breaks but it doesn't break completely in two. These greenstick breaks are very hard to find on Xray. Many times you have to have a bone scan done. Problem is you actually have to have radio isotopes injected into your blood stream and then specialized X-rays are performed. The radio isotope lights up the area affected. Most medical doctors decline this for ribs because it is considered to invasive just to determine if you have cracked ribs.

Rib cracks/fractures you would expect to be in pain for 6-8 weeks but it has to be getting progressively better as the 6-8 week period moves on.

From your description it seems clinically that you have cracked ribs. You definitely have something going on so if it doesn't dissipate soon you will need to return to the medical doctor.

Also once you are better I would have your instructor watch your technique to make sure you are not doing something wrong with your body mechanics while kicking or for that matter any move in martial arts!

Hope this info helps your medical decision making process easier.
Sincerely,

Dr John Q Quackenbush