Synonyms in a broader sense
Medical: Rib fracture
- Rib fracture
- Rib
- Serial rib fracture
- Serial rib fracture
- Fracture of the rib
- Pneumothorax
- Pain Lung fracture
A broken rib can have various causes and is most often caused by an accident. However, a very strong persistent cough can also cause an unexpected rib fracture. The cough is an arbitrary, i.e. self-controllable, or a cough reflex triggered by a painful cough stimulus and thus involuntarily.
The glottis opens and the air is expelled explosively at a very high speed. As the cough reflex serves to protect and secure the airways from foreign material and to clean the airways of bronchial secretions, it is very powerful and can lead to great force being developed in the chest. This massive development of force in the chest can cause a rib fracture, especially if the cough is very strong or very long.
However, this is rather rare and should always make you think of concomitant diseases. The risk is particularly high in patients who suffer from reduced bone density, which can be caused by osteoporosis or cancer. Osteoporosis leads to porous and therefore unstable bones, which can break even under light load.
Some types of cancer can also settle in the bones and attack the bone structure there. This also makes the bones increasingly unstable. The consequence are pathological fractures, which occur due to inadequate trauma.
This includes a violent cough, which can then lead to a broken rib. Usually only one rib is broken. In the event of sudden severe pain on one side of the chest, a rib fracture should therefore always be considered, especially in older people with known osteoporosis.
If the cough is persistent, the chest can be stabilized in various ways to make coughing easier. For example, by resting your arms on your knees in an upright position. This “coach seat” dilates the lungs and makes it easier to cough up the stuck mucus.
Furthermore, when coughing, the flat hand can be placed on the chest to serve as a resistance to the coughing impulses. This reduces the pressure and at the same time supports the bones. Last but not least, coughing can increase the symptoms of a rib fracture.
This means that an already broken rib can lead to very severe pain in the rib area due to a slight cough. The massive pain then makes it much harder for the patient to breathe, resulting in dyspnea. However, even here the pain can only be treated by pain medication and waiting. Only very rarely are rib fractures treated surgically. Particularly sudden severe pain in the rib area during a severe cough should make one think of a rib fracture and should be secured by image diagnosis, since a rib fracture can lead to severe complications in rare cases.
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