Rib Pain 101: Is It Broken or Bruised? | Aleks Physio

Let’s Talk Rib Fracture vs Rib Contusion

1. A rib fracture will show on CT and usually show on x-ray. Medical imaging is the gold standard in detecting a rib fracture.

2. Exquisite Tenderness on Palpation
Rib fractures tend to be extremely tender on the specific point associated with the fracture whereas with contusions the pain tends to be more global.

3. Severity of pain/characteristic of pain
Least significant (in my opinion out of the 3) as pain is a subjective experience. But generally, with rib fractures, it tends to be quite severe and sharp and lasts a longer period of time versus rib bruises.

Other aspects that are crucial:
Subjective history- Knowing the mechanism of injury, force, impact, speed, object (if any) will assist in determining the likelihood of a fracture. For example, falling from standing height onto the grass is different from falling from 10 feet onto cement.

Past medical history will also play a role for both the likelihood of a rib fracture occurring versus it being a rib contusion (history of osteoporosis or osteopenia) as well as medical status can affect recovery (smoking, diabetes, can delay recovery).

Have you injured your ribs recently? Feel free to share your experience below! ⬇️

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