How to know if you have a bruised or broken rib

If you’re experiencing pain while breathing, it might be a bruised or broken rib.  

“It can be hard to tell if your ribs are broken or bruised,” says Dr. Deshon Moore, an emergency medicine physician at Advocate Health Care. “While they often have similar symptoms, there are some differences, like recovery time.”

Bruised rib symptoms 

A bruised rib is a bone bruise that is often caused by low-impact falls, sports injuries, or severe and prolonged coughing. Symptoms can include: 

• Skin discoloration or bruising 
• Tenderness and soreness to the touch 
• Pain while moving or at rest 
• Increased pain when breathing, coughing, laughing or sneezing 

Broken rib symptoms 

A broken or fractured rib can differ slightly from a bruised rib. Broken ribs are usually caused by higher impact sports injuries, falls from elevated heights, car accidents or from repeated movements like a golf swing. Symptoms can include: 

• Severe pain when breathing or coughing 
• Swelling or tenderness around the injury site 
• Bruising 
• Feeling or hearing a crack 

Bruised or broken rib recovery 

Recovery time from a broken or bruised rib is fairly similar. Both take about four to six weeks to heal. You may need imaging if there is a concern about additional serious injuries, but often this isn’t needed.

“We can’t splint or support rib bones like we can with other injuries, so we usually leave them to heal naturally,” says Dr. Moore. “The most important thing is to breathe and cough normally, even if it hurts, to prevent chest infections.” 

There are other things you can do to help ease the pain and speed up healing: 

• Ice the area to help with swelling, especially the first couple of days
• Take over–the–counter pain medications 
• Do deep breathing exercises to prevent chest infections and pneumonia 
• Sleep upright the first few nights 
• Rest and take time off work 

If everything goes right, your ribs should heal without issues. However, if you start to experience fever, shortness of breath, increased coughing, coughing up bloody mucus, or an inability to breathe deep or cough despite taking pain medications, you should contact your health care provider immediately.  

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