My boyfriend may have broken ribs?!
Question: He recently got in a fight, and has since complained of a significant amount of pain just underneath his armpit around his ribs. He also finds it hard to breath, and has been coughing up specs of blood, not copious amounts but enough to be worried about. Could anyone give me a brief explanation on what this may be and how i can help him? I will be taking him to A & E this evening but am at work right now.
Answers: He recently got in a fight, and has since complained of a significant amount of pain just underneath his armpit around his ribs. He also finds it hard to breath, and has been coughing up specs of blood, not copious amounts but enough to be worried about. Could anyone give me a brief explanation on what this may be and how i can help him? I will be taking him to A & E this evening but am at work right now.
Men!!! When pain gets bad enough he may go. Having broken my own ribs in a car accident, I can tell you it is very painful. Coughing up blood is never a good thing. If the lungs are bruised, he could develop ARDS (read my blog http://www.breathebetter.blogspot.com) He really needs to get a chest xray. Tell him to go to the hospital. It will be ok. Good Luck
The pain could be any number of things, ranging from broken ribs to bruised muscles. The blood is more worrisome however; this might indicate a partially collapsed lung, a lung puncture, abraded lung tissue, or even (heaven forbid) TB. It is definitely a good thing that he's going in to be seen, but frankly I wouldn't have waited as long as this.
If he broke a rib and it punctured his lungs.....? he needs a doctor or a mortician. Ask him which he prefers?
He really needs to go to the doctor..