Torn cartilage in the ribs...

[Hellboy31]

I was rolling last night and felt a weird pain in my rib.. It wasn't too intense so I kept going and then felt a very intense sharp pain. I stood up and was ok but took the rest of the round off... So next round I'm sitting on the mat (starting from open guard)... As I lay back and put my legs up, I knew something was wrong and I stopped immediately.

I talked to a few guys at they gym and the popular consensus was that I had probably torn some cartilage in my ribs... I'm gonna see a doctor this weekend to be on the safe side but I'm getting a little anxious about the amount of time I might be out and wanted to see if anyone on hear had a similar experience and how long they were out of commission for.

I'm not in a lot of pain but I can feel the injury constantly... If I make a movement like opening a door or twisting, I get a sharp pain and can feel the rib sliding over something (maybe the cartilage... I don't know).

Has anyone had a similar situation? If so, how long were you out for and how did you treat the injury?

 

[MMA junkie]

Never tore a cartilage, broke, bruised, and hurt my intercostals though... From all I have read and heard, there's nothing much you can do except rest really.

I have used these to minimize the pain when I started recovering though:
NikeStore. Shop the Official Nike Store for Shoes, Clothing & Gear

It only really helped cushion impacts and people on top of me.

 

[KahleyTriangles]

I was rolling last night and felt a weird pain in my rib.. It wasn't too intense so I kept going and then felt a very intense sharp pain. I stood up and was ok but took the rest of the round off... So next round I'm sitting on the mat (starting from open guard)... As I lay back and put my legs up, I knew something was wrong and I stopped immediately.

I talked to a few guys at they gym and the popular consensus was that I had probably torn some cartilage in my ribs... I'm gonna see a doctor this weekend to be on the safe side but I'm getting a little anxious about the amount of time I might be out and wanted to see if anyone on hear had a similar experience and how long they were out of commission for.

I'm not in a lot of pain but I can feel the injury constantly... If I make a movement like opening a door or twisting, I get a sharp pain and can feel the rib sliding over something (maybe the cartilage... I don't know).

Has anyone had a similar situation? If so, how long were you out for and how did you treat the injury?

This happened to me as a white belt during a tourney.

Unfortunately, the last thing you want to do is go back to training too early, as ribs, even torn cartilage, are the easiest things to re-injure. My doctor recommended a month before i did anything physically. It was the longest month ever of just watching BJJ videos. You can't even lift weights, as any time you engage your core muscles (which is for everything, from squats, to deadlifts, to bench, to bicep curls), you are engaging the muscles that stabilize your rib cage.

If you want to cut your recovery time early, just remember that you will most likely re-injure your rib, and probably make it worse, and increase the time for recovery/healing.

Your best bet, just stop doing ANYTHING, and let it heal. It sucks. I know. I went through it. Focus on other things/hobbies.

I know its probably not what you wanted to read, but that's the gist. And just FYI, i had a torn intercostal rib that took about a month to heal. Even now, about 1.5 years later, i can still feel some "awkwardness" in the area.

Cliff notes: Rib injuries suck. You'll be out for a month, maybe more if its broken. Suck it up, rent some BJJ vids, and just remember that its the journey not the destination.

Good luck!

 

[nerraw]

I had this happen a lot. I think the best way around it is to rest and avoid getting stacked or twisted (full guard, some half guards). Play butterfly or spider guard.

 

[AusRiki]

You are out for 3 weeks i had that same thing happened twice on both sides. You will not be able to spar for quite some time. If it does not hurt to do weights do that.

3 weeks is the min recovery time you will need. And you might have to play passing guard and not be on the bottom after this for a few weeks after recovery.

 

[ajf]

If you're talking about an injury to front, lower part of your ribs, than it sounds exactly like what I'm recovering from; costochondral injury/costochondritis. It felt better after about a month, then I started rolling hard again, reinjured myself (2 weeks ago) and I'm starting to feel like I'm about ready to go... Still going to give it some time though.

The orthopaedic surgeon that I saw said not to worry, it isn't dangerous, and recommended that I eat as much ibuprofen as possible (4x200mg every eight hours).

Good luck, after a week or so you might be able to get back on the mats and start drilling a little.

 

[vegaskurt]

Something real similar happened to me on my second day of class but I assumed it was a broken rib. It was about 5 or 6 weeks till it felt 100%. Other than taking it easy there is not much you can do.

 

[jmoh]

Read These Threads

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f13/rib-cartilage-fracture-any-similar-experience-1426461/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/mysterious-rib-injury-388834/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/coming-back-rib-injury-1208437/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/anyone-trained-rib-fracture-1242975/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/why-my-ribs-sore-what-do-1203539/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/broken-ribs-advice-1191094/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/popped-rib-during-training-1188880/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/ribs-1174371/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/rib-injury-1050510/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/rib-injury-serious-1160790/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/dislocated-rib-question-1129367/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/oh-man-fractured-rib-my-life-sucks-1115616/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/ribs-hurt-after-rolling-1084917/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/best-way-deal-prevent-pulled-intercostal-rib-muscle-1071090/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/my-ribs-went-pop-620493/


Im bored now. So in order of importance.

1. ICE
2. Ibropruben
3. Massage under the rib area, this will loosen the muscles
4. Protect your injury during training, tell you Uki to go easy on that side
5. Give up positions when sparring
6. Use the search function

I attribute the above information to FlameBoy when he helped me out

 

[dazed863]

about two months ago while rolling hard i felt a pop in my chest like a huge rubber band broke. it didn't hurt that bad like you said but when i continued to grapple i could deff tell something was seriously wrong.

so went home and it really started to hurt after i took a shower and my body cooled down. getting out of bed was near impossible the next morning and even looking over my shoulder to change lanes in my car was near impossible.

i ended not doing anything other than go to work (i work in an office) for three weeks and was only able to drill for about a week after that. after a month i rolled light and now two months later i'm finally starting to roll hard again.

the most frustrating part for me wasn't the wait.... after all common sense tells you if you don't you'll end up waiting a lot longer... it was coming back and not being able to go even 50% for a few weeks. being dominated by people that normally don't give you any trouble is humbling. it's really easy to re injure yourself if you get overly competitive so remember to check your ego at the door.

 

[Wylian]

I felt my rib pop once when I was rolling out of an armbar. I finished the roll, and had a little problem breathing. I went to the next class, and was very careful with it, but could still feel it, even if they just put their weight on me. It was my last day of jiu jitsu, after a month I felt better, but since I stopped training, but not working (construction), it took me about 6 months to get all of the symptoms out.

 

[Fedorzilla]

Read These Threads

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f13/rib-cartilage-fracture-any-similar-experience-1426461/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/mysterious-rib-injury-388834/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/coming-back-rib-injury-1208437/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/anyone-trained-rib-fracture-1242975/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/why-my-ribs-sore-what-do-1203539/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/broken-ribs-advice-1191094/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/popped-rib-during-training-1188880/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/ribs-1174371/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/rib-injury-1050510/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/rib-injury-serious-1160790/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/dislocated-rib-question-1129367/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/oh-man-fractured-rib-my-life-sucks-1115616/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/ribs-hurt-after-rolling-1084917/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/best-way-deal-prevent-pulled-intercostal-rib-muscle-1071090/

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/my-ribs-went-pop-620493/


Im bored now. So in order of importance.

1. ICE
2. Ibropruben
3. Massage under the rib area, this will loosen the muscles
4. Protect your injury during training, tell you Uki to go easy on that side
5. Give up positions when sparring
6. Use the search function

I attribute the above information to FlameBoy when he helped me out

Holy amazing post, Batman. Unreal. Agreed on the list of 6 there. Still recovering from a similar injury myself.

 

[Auspex]

I did something similar and was out 6 weeks. I was VERY careful during the rest time and gave myself a little extra time to heal.

 

[Graunie]

My rule of thumb is wait 2 weeks after it stops hurting in day to day activity (as in not training or lifting). For me this has typically been 4 weeks. If you go back too early you pretty much start the clock over again. I know, it sucks.

 

[Kalma]

dont rush your return. I done the intercostals up my right side and it has taken close to 6 months to come right. I couldnt lie down, roll over laugh, cough etc without pain. When I thought it was mildly okay I tried to train again and it puts you back to square 1, but a new square one. A square one that is further back than the original.

In the last month when Ive felt better I have done yoga and pilates to help aid recovery. Also diet is helpful in terms of recovery. Your body will need specific nutrients to aid recovery, maybe even throw fish oil in the mix... ?

Are you pro ? If you are paid to fight I pressume you had a med team who should hoepfully have some definitive advice ? If you're not pro and not relying on the income it's really not worth the risk to go back too early.

 

[Hellboy31]

Thanks for all the help and advice guys... Much appreciated. Thanks so much JMoh... Lots of good info there.

 

[Steeltwo]

Learn to love it, because it's the only thing you'll be able to do for a month or two.

Hurt my ribs 3 times in the last year. As others said, take the necessary time off, if you go back to early, you'll end up out for longer.

I can confirm that when I went back to early, grabbed a 25lb dumbell and had to drop it. That set me back 2 weeks.

 

[Hellboy31]

Learn to love it, because it's the only thing you'll be able to do for a month or two.

Hurt my ribs 3 times in the last year. As others said, take the necessary time off, if you go back to early, you'll end up out for longer.

I can confirm that when I went back to early, grabbed a 25lb dumbell and had to drop it. That set me back 2 weeks.

Was thinking either the bike or maybe light jogging.. Was the bike easier on your ribs while you were injured?

 

[MMA junkie]

Stationary bikes are good. I was able to swim. When it first hurt, using a kickboard helped a lot with limiting my upper body movements. It was really good exercise.

 

[mrmorgan]

I got a rib strain during my first day of training, which was over a year ago. I think it came from bridging hard while stuck in side control. Remembered feeling a warm feeling in my right side after it happened but kept on going. For the next couple of days, it hurt a lot just sitting up or coughing. I went to the doctor to get checked out and had an x-ray to check for possible fracture.

My recovery time was similar to other people - ~1 month. The frustrating part for me was that I kept straining the same area every couple of weeks from training. It seemed like each time wasn't as bad as the initial injury though but it lingered around for a couple of months.

From similar threads, I saw some recommendations to strengthen the core muscle area. I would be very careful with using any type of cable/pulley type exercises if you go this route. The exercises themselves aren't a problem but I would just start very lightly with any weights. I experienced another strain in the same area from jumping into this too quickly and underestimating what I thought was light weights for me.

What I think helped me the most was to really stretch out that area before training. I used to lay my back across a chair and just stretch out my rib cage area for a good 15 minutes before I went to class. Like what other people have said, I also played it safe during training - tried not to do any aggressive bridging, kept my elbow close to my side to protect the area, told my partner about my ribs before rolling so they wouldn't give a hard knee on belly on that side.

 

[Jaxxxa]

I have the same injury right now. I've been trying to train lightly, but even that can be painful. I've been training just under 4yrs and had this happen at least 4 times so far usually when forcefully twisting from guard, as in reaching for kimura.

Definitely very aggravating and really hard to avoid. I'm going to try the stretching prior to rolling thing, hopefully that helps.