Massive stack that ended with the boom in my rib cage. Hurt &@&!?$&????? at the time but kept sailing and by the time I came off the water had forgotten all about it. Few days later, sudden, sharp pain in my chest - alternating between front and back. Eventually got in to see physio and he diagnosed rib cartilage damage and 3 months of rest to fix. I didn't want to believe it was true, so I got second opinion from GP. He confirmed same. Usual story with soft injuries - 'you would have been better off with a break - they heal faster'. They both said there was no point in getting anything scanned to make sure that's what was going on because there's nothing you can do for ribs.
It's now 5 weeks after the injury and it hasn't improved in the last 3 weeks. It's gotten worse this last week. Still very painful to do the most basic things. Like roll over in bed.
I've never had any serious injuries before this year, but after already missing 6 months with a knee (torn MCL) and DVT complications, this rib thing is crushing me. Daylight savings in a week. Noreasters pumping. Ugh. I just want to sort it as quickly as I can.
Has anyone had any experience with rib cartilage injuries or anything similar? Any estimates for recovery time or advice to help recovery?
I have so much admiration for people who deal with long term illness and pain. Stronger people than I.
Very grateful for any advice 
Had the same thing a few years back, Nothing would help and it took me 2 months to come good. I got some relief by using voltaren gel, well actually it was the best relief and helped me through some rough nights. It always seemed worse laying down and breathing compared to actually standing and doing stuff.
Anyways probably no help at all 
i did something like that but shattered 6 ribs instead. sucked a bit. its rare i do things by half.
took about 3 months to be at the point i could sail again but the doc said they havent healed correctly and said he wanted to break and pin them.
i ran away. quick.
dont sneeze 
Best of luck with a quick and full recovery. I can't offer any advice to speed the recovery however wearing something like a Neil Pryde impact vest might give some protection against future impacts.
I've had rib injury a couple of times, the worst from a surfboard rail smashing into my side mid-chest level.
Annoyingly slow recovery.
Ice packs & slow stretching seemed to help. I think I managed a windsurf after 3 weeks but kept the harness
lower & favoured the unijured side.
.
After a month it was manageable but still noticeable, probably 6 weeks + for proper recovery.
.
My wife says I'm pretty intolerant with pain (3 kids & she's an expert!). I reckon I'm about average.
.
Only a couple of NE so far, plenty of season to go!!
Sounds like you strained your intercostals. Some say it is worse than breaking ribs, with regards to the recovery - sorry to say.
Once I was in a group of sea-kayakers off Sydney's sea cliffs. A guy failed a roll in practice, and we had to tow him back to Clontarf - fun, not. He was in so much discomfort, he couldn't speak or get in a single paddle stroke on flat water.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercostal_muscle
fitknitchick.com/2012/10/24/intercostal-muscle-strain-a-surprisingly-long-and-slow-recovery/
Select to expand quoteshear tip said..
Is this why you were hobbling around Maui?
Hehe... sort of. The night the chest pain started I didn't know how to fix it, so I asked renowned medical expert - Dr Google. It said popped ribs and to do these special stretches. While doing the exercises, I put my back out. Can't move, can't get up, can't walk. The crooked torso old woman hobbling for the next week was my back more than the ribs. Once I got home, the physio popped 2 ribs back in for me and helped get my back good as new pretty quick. But unfortunately stuck with the rib pain. How embarrassing. I feel so old and broken. And Maui was my big return to sailing after my knee. Do you think the universe is trying to tell me something this year? 
I swear I'm not usually like this!
Thanks so much for sharing your stories. It's even just comforting to know that this is normal and there's not anything else I can be doing. Guess I've just gotta suck it up and be patient. Great to hear that even though it's slow, people come through good as new. Thank you
Your symptoms sound a lot like what I'm suffering through at the moment. Rolling over in bed being the most difficult. I can date it to either a bad stack I had on a sup, or hitting the ground hard during a (father vs son) footy match a couple of months ago.
Mine hasn't been diagnosed although it prompted me to get my lungs checked and a blood test - all came back clear thankfully.
I've got a physio appt in a couple days and will mention it, thanks.
Good luck Sailhack! It's hard not knowing what's going on or what you should be doing to fix it.
In case it helps, the pain started suddenly a few days after the stack while lying on the ground on my side (?!?!?!!) - apparently not uncommon for side lying to cause trouble and for the pain to not be instant after impact. Pain is super sharp and alternates between front of chest and straight in the back around the shoulder blades depending on what I'm doing. Lying down, rolling over and doing anything with my right arm is worst. It hurts to laugh/sneeze/breathe deeply, but not consistently - apparently that's one of the diffferences between broken ribs and cartilage damage. Any breathing, coughing etc kills broken ribs. With cartilage, breathing doesn't always hurt and it's supposed to be more about movement. I had no idea just how much of our rib cage is made of cartilage til this happened! Ignoramus
Hope you can get it sorted fast
Select to expand quoteneedsalt said...
[br]
Has anyone had any experience with rib cartilage injuries or anything similar? Any estimates for recovery time or advice to help recovery?
Very grateful for any advice
I broke my rib after a catapult into the boom in mid June. The doctor diagnosed Nurafen Plus (Nurafen with codeine). This looked after the pain. It took 8 weeks before I felt confident to sail again. I'm now fully recovered. Rest and the Codeine is the key.
I popped a few ribs out after getting bucked off my horse and launched head first into the ground.Luckily all I needed was for the chiro to put them back in again and I think the pain was gone..( 7 years ago so memory faded- 
I know it was b painful at first 
).
best thing for that kinda injury is sniffing some black pepper the following sneezing will tell you how well it's healing
just takes a bit of time to heal, taking it easy is the way to go.
Select to expand quotechoco said..
best thing for that kinda injury is sniffing some black pepper the following sneezing will tell you how well it's healing
just takes a bit of time to heal, taking it easy is the way to go.
You meanie.. PS - don't read caption comps..
Needsalt - that added info is exactly what I'm going through. Pain is generally at night whilst trying to sleep on side and goes from under my right shoulder blade around to my chest. Coughing isn't too bad but sneezing can bring tears.
With most of my work being done slouched over a desk, I simply thought it was an ongoing back problem.
This stuff
www.health2000.co.nz/shop/weleda/arnica/symphytum-comp/p5065/c199
helps speed up recovery of bone fractures, and apparently cartilage damage.
Broke a couple of ribs (and bruised hip bone!!)after MTBiking accident 5 weeks before trip to Maui, cut back on the coffee, alcohol and took these and ribs were sweet as by trip. Hips another story though still tender after 5 months apparently normal for periosteal bruising.
Sh!tty injury to end up with. There are a lot of structures in that part of the chest/back, so it can be quite difficult to diagnose correctly. If it isn't getting better, then it could be well worth getting yet another opinion. Also, take the time to really learn and understand physiology and the mechanics of how all the parts interact. You get feedback all day every day from the injury, which puts you in the best position to diagnose, or to feed the right information to the docs to make a diagnosis.
I've just learnt this the hard way. Back in March I tore the costal ligaments on my right hand 6th and 7th ribs (effectively, tore them off my spine). Unfortunately I didn't look after it properly at first....and when I did....being a rather obscure injury it was miss diagnosed and miss treated for 5 months. That's working with three physios, two osteos, the GP and a specialist.....every scan under the sun, blood work, a handful of procedures (cortisone injections & pulsed RF), five hours a day of rehab.....and a huge amount of research.
7 weeks now since we figured it out and making good, but slow progress. Hopefully back on the SUP in a month...and windsurf/wakeboard by christmas.
Keep your spirits up and be disciplined....and you'll get there.
WOW Murphenzo. That sounds SO bad. I will definitely do some more reading and look into it further if it doesn't improve. Thank you.
Since you were properly diagnosed, have you been given any rehab exercises to do or just advised to rest?
What a sucky year for you. Great to hear you're finally improving and hopefully back in action soon
