posted
Quick question, how long would it take for someone with several broken ribs to heal? Any long term complications? This is standard fantasy time period; no modern medicine. Thanks
Posts: 346 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
One issue your character is going to have is pain. In most cases modern medicine does not treat broken ribs, they give pain medication to allow the victim to take deeper breaths. It's going to take about six weeks to heal, and in the old days people would tape up the chest area, but it is better to leave it alone.
posted
Having had 3 broken ribs from my football days I can testify that it is very painful and you are in constant discomfort, even with pain meds.
Are we talking actual breaks or fractures? The treatment is basically the same, pain meds and tightly taping the damaged area to hinder movement. If they are serious breaks it would not be unheard of for the individual to be hospitalized for the first few weeks.
If you intend for the character to be at all active during the healing period I'd stongly recommend you go with fractures rather than true breaks.
The healing period is around 6 weeks, though if there are actual breaks there could be a host of other complications, including death. With modern medicines and treatments broken bones are rarely lethal today, but without proper treatment infections and other nastiness can set in resulting in blood poisoning and then death.
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A girlfriend recently cracked a rib from coughing due to Whooping Cough. She describes it as very painful, and the pain persisted for 5-6 weeks. Course, the constant coughing couldn't have helped.
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Had that trouble with my novel...had to figure out how long it would take a character to miraculously recover from assorted breaks. Got a good amount of good advice here. That thread should still be around, 'bout a year ago, I forget what it was called. (Actually the character recovered instantly---then had to fake the injuries so as not to be caught out.)
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