Broken Ribs & Using Asthma Inhalers

[Giggles-Wig]

Hi everyone,

Is there anyone on this forum who has has asthma and has had broken ribs and struggled to take their inhalers on a daily basis, any help and advice is very much appreciated!

[Troilus]

Hi Giggles-wig. Sorry to hear you are in such a predicament. Rib pain is horrendous,I know.

All I can suggest is using a spacer (with a mask) and just breath though it as you normally would - no need to suck and hold- tidal breathing as it is called.

Hope this works for you

[Hopeful1]

Hi Giggles. Bad luck with the ribs. Can you ask respirstory nurse/ Gp / 111 about a spacer and the tidal/ flow technique?

[peege]

Last time I broke ribs I happened to meet a lovely young physiotherapist who asked after me when I let out a gasp of pain on certain movements. When I laughed (painfully) she told me that it was essential I breathed properly to avoid mucus collecting & becoming infected. She said many people with broken ribs got infections & pneumonia so now they always advise people to roll up a towel to place underarm on affected side. My goodness it worked brilliantly. By holding it in place you immobilise that side so can breath, cough & move without that agony. I'd sort of worked out something similar years before in my 40s when I didn't have asthma diagnosis, I broke two on a wild camping holiday miles from anywhere. I tied partners large sweatshirt around my ribs quite tightly so I couldn't move them. That worked fairly well too. Both times I didn't go to hospital however, I should have because it's actually important to have all fractures on your medical records . It was 10 yrs laterI dropped my large motorbike on my foot and ankle, had dexa scan. 10 yrs later broke other foot, another dexa scan to find I'd had osteopenia since the first broken foot & ankle. Wish I'd known I could have fed my bones more calcium in the interim.

Take care, try the roll of a towel. P

[Giggles-Wig in reply to peege]

Hi, thanks for the advice, I didn't know about rolling the towel up and using it, does it support the ribs when using the towel!

[peege in reply to Giggles-Wig]

Try it and see. It seems to immobilise the ribcage, arm and shoulder so you can't move them so allowing you to breathe as deeply as you can without pain.I forgot to ask her what size towel so had to experiment for the most comfortable which for me - being smallish - was a hand towel. Hope it works for you

Edit : you have to try to relax the shoulder down on the affected side to avoid needing a massage to get rid of stiffness..........Are you sure it's broken ribs? Pleurisy pain is very very similar, if I ever get that again I shall use the rolled towel technique

[Giggles-Wig in reply to peege]

Hi, yes my ribs are broken, unfortunately there's not much can be done unless it interferes or causes breathing problems, the whole situation happened because I had no sleep for 5 whole nights in a row and my body was so tired, I collapsed in the street therefore causing my broken ribs

[peege in reply to Giggles-Wig]

Oh dear and now you probably can't sleep because of the pain on moving

[sneezy23]

I asked gp for an inhaler that worked with a spacer and used these till.my ribs healed a good bit

[Shirazmataz]

i fell and broke ribs on one side, i managed the inhaler using a spacer, but ended up clutching a hot water bottle to my chest for six weeks or so, it did help ease the pain plus pain killers. Hope you feel better soon.

[Biker88]

Have you tried using the diaphragm breathing technique as this uses less chest movement.

[Giggles-Wig in reply to Biker88]

Hi, when I use my steroid inhaler, I hold my ribs and that seems to help with taking my inhaler

[Shirazmataz]

Poor you Giggles - Wig, its painful for about six weeks. Yes - it happened to me too - fell and broke some ribs in a vicarage open garden. Clutching hot water bottle to ribs helped and using a spacer with taking inhalers. I used the method where you breath in and out of the inhaler five times after clicking, rather than the one breath in. I didnt go to hospital - but probably should have done. Id always heard people say there is nothing can be done for broken ribs and youve just got to sit it out. But there can be ensuing problems with rib fractures so wise to get to a doctor.