Training with a broken rib

[Jon]

I won't go into the details but thanks to a sparring partner that didn't understand the `light` in `light sparring`, I have a fractured rib. After a couple of xrays the doc told me this, and said it would take 2 to 3 months to heal up properly.

There goes my taking part in my first fight (albeit a smoker, of sorts) in January.

The doc also told me to try not to twist my torso too much, to aid healing...which brings me to my question:

What kind of training can be done in this state?

I'll be talking with my coach tonight too but thought I'd ask the Roundtable too.

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Is it on your front side or back side?

Good question! I would think that lots of footwork shadow could work, in guard. Yodkhupon has a beautiful footwork gallop you could learn in that time. It doesn't involve a ton of twisting.

There is also a big question about immobilization and healing. Doctors really like to isolate injuries at times. Sylvie goes in a very different direction, continuously working around and feeling the limits of motion, and expanding them. Something along the lines of thinking that in the natural world when you had an injury you pretty much would never stop moving. There is some sense that motion might encourage healing, in many circumstances (blood flow, etc)

 

[Oliver]

The broken rib is the worst, had it happen also. The doctor is probably accurate, unfortunately. Took me 3 months to be 100pc

[Jon]

Thanks for the comments, Kevin, Oliver.

It's the 6th rib on the right front side.

I'm still using the patches the doctor gave me, but haven't been taking the painkiller pills I was told to take after meals as it doesn't hurt as much as it did.

10 hours ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:

Is it on your front side or back side?

Good question! I would think that lots of footwork shadow could work, in guard. Yodkhupon has a beautiful footwork gallop you could learn in that time. It doesn't involve a ton of twisting.

There is also a big question about immobilization and healing. Doctors really like to isolate injuries at times. Sylvie goes in a very different direction, continuously working around and feeling the limits of motion, and expanding them. Something along the lines of thinking that in the natural world when you had an injury you pretty much would never stop moving. There is some sense that motion might encourage healing, in many circumstances (blood flow, etc)

 

Yes, the doc offered me a corset-like thing but I didn't take it as it wasn't crippling pain when I moved so I didn't think a corset was necessary (and he didn't try to push it either).

I went to the gym two days after that sparring session but couldn't do much. Hitting the bag caused an explosion in the back of my head (it felt like I hit myself) so perhaps I had a bit of a concussion too.

I was back the next week and just tried to work with it Try a few things and see what hurt a bit and what hurt too much. Keep doing the former and leave the latter for the next week.

[Joseph Arthur De Gonzo]

I had a few ribs injuries and, with bad back injuries, they are the worse. Really hard to work around because even heavy breathing will hurt with the ribcage expansion. Personally, I really kind of stop training and did some very limited cardio at home. 

At the end of an injury someone sent me the link to a product that is basically a compression clothe for your ribs, said it works wonders and I believe Dominick Cruz went through a camp and fought with a broken rib thanks to this, but I never tried it. In any case, it was something like this https://www.amazon.com/Lumbar-Support-Double-Compression-Breathable/dp/B01N4INMT2/ref=sr_1_15?crid=1SB000COSD2X&keywords=rib+brace+compression&qid=1576825766&sprefix=rib+brace%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-15