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Suggest Treatment For Pain In Head And Ribs After An Injury
Question: I was asleep and fell out of bed and hit the left side of my head and ribs, both sore. Put cold cloth on head. No bleeding
Brief Answer:
cold compress, rest, medication
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Trauma has to potential to cause damage to the muscles and other soft tissue,, bones, blood vessels in the area.
Most cases of head injury are mild with no associated fractures or brain injury.
The use of a cold compress is a good idea. This should be done 3 to 4 times daily for 10 to 15 minutes.
In addition the use of anti inflammatory pain killers would be helpful unless there is a history of allergies. This includes medication such as naproxen, ibuprofen, aspirin, cataflam. They should be used on a full stomach.
You should also restrict your activities for a time to allow for healing.
There are certain criteria that are used to determine if imaging is needed after a head injury.
In the UK, imaging is done if any of the following are present:(1)seizures after injury,
(2) more than one episode of vomiting,
(3)decreased consciousness ,
(4)open or depressed (pushed in) skull fracture
(5)evidence of a fracture to the base of the skull (leak of CSF from the ears or nose, panda eyes)
(6)neurological issues such as weakness of limbs,
In the absence of any of these symptoms then it is unlikely any imaging is needed.
You can continue with the cold compress, rest and medication.
In many persons the pain increases in its intensity till about day 2 to 3 where it plateaus then decreases.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
cold compress, rest, medication
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Trauma has to potential to cause damage to the muscles and other soft tissue,, bones, blood vessels in the area.
Most cases of head injury are mild with no associated fractures or brain injury.
The use of a cold compress is a good idea. This should be done 3 to 4 times daily for 10 to 15 minutes.
In addition the use of anti inflammatory pain killers would be helpful unless there is a history of allergies. This includes medication such as naproxen, ibuprofen, aspirin, cataflam. They should be used on a full stomach.
You should also restrict your activities for a time to allow for healing.
There are certain criteria that are used to determine if imaging is needed after a head injury.
In the UK, imaging is done if any of the following are present:(1)seizures after injury,
(2) more than one episode of vomiting,
(3)decreased consciousness ,
(4)open or depressed (pushed in) skull fracture
(5)evidence of a fracture to the base of the skull (leak of CSF from the ears or nose, panda eyes)
(6)neurological issues such as weakness of limbs,
In the absence of any of these symptoms then it is unlikely any imaging is needed.
You can continue with the cold compress, rest and medication.
In many persons the pain increases in its intensity till about day 2 to 3 where it plateaus then decreases.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you for your reply. I will continue with the cold compress on the head area. There is slight darkening of the area but no significant bruising yet.
My ribs are very sore when I move. There does not appear to be any bruising there. Can you suggest any pain medication for that as I am not supposed to take asprin or ibuprofen as I have asthma. However, they don't seem to affect my asthma but they can affect my stomach after a while. What should I do? Thank you once again.
My ribs are very sore when I move. There does not appear to be any bruising there. Can you suggest any pain medication for that as I am not supposed to take asprin or ibuprofen as I have asthma. However, they don't seem to affect my asthma but they can affect my stomach after a while. What should I do? Thank you once again.
Brief Answer:
paracetamol is the only other option
Detailed Answer:
HI
Sorry about the late reply
NSAIDS ( aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen etc ) do have the potential to affect some persons wit asthma. If you are one of these persons then it is definitely best not to use them.
There are other pain killers such as paracetamol. It would help with your pain though not as well as the NSAIDS.
The other types of pain killers are the opiates and they would not be appropriate.
The only option would be the paracetamol. This can be used 1 g every 4 to 6 hours.
Please feel free to ask any other questions
paracetamol is the only other option
Detailed Answer:
HI
Sorry about the late reply
NSAIDS ( aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen etc ) do have the potential to affect some persons wit asthma. If you are one of these persons then it is definitely best not to use them.
There are other pain killers such as paracetamol. It would help with your pain though not as well as the NSAIDS.
The other types of pain killers are the opiates and they would not be appropriate.
The only option would be the paracetamol. This can be used 1 g every 4 to 6 hours.
Please feel free to ask any other questions
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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