Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Rib Splitter

don't worry, this has nothing to do with splitting my tongue or splitting my sides with laughter or bisecting any part of my anatomy for that matter. it should really be called rib popper, but splitter sounded better. ribs popping? can they do that? well this is about the fourth time it's happened and i forgot how painful it was. the chiropractor i used to visit said that's what it was, that the rib had just "shifted slightly" and then popped it back into place.

what strenuous activity was i engaged in for this to happen? watching doctors. watching 4 episodes of scrubs series 2 to be precise. i made the mistake of lying down on bulbgirl's bed to watch it on my laptop. forgetting how painful it was before was a mistake. bulbgirl's mattress is softer and somehow manages to put my bones out of alignment although it didn't happen straight away. after walking into the kitchen i felt light headed and suddenly a little ill. fearing passing out and i laid down on the tiles, and couldn't get up for a while.

lying there contemplating what a wuss i am, the memory of old newspaper stories of old ladies falling and lying there for 2 days flashed through my head. i used to think (in a younger, fitter incarnation of myself) why don't they just crawl to a phone? to those old ladies, i apologise. the phone seemed a long way off when i thought of getting a rushed osteopath appointment. in the end i laid there only for about 15 minutes but, i was pretty feeble and helpless. eventually i struggled to my feet, but i'm not going to go to the osteo just yet. hopefully things will settle back into postition. rotating to the left and right will just have to be curtailed 'til then.

moral of the story: never underestimate the importance of choosing a good quality mattress that suits your body. i'll stick to my floor-bound memory foam one.

on the plus side today i bought some redbush and vanilla tea which tastes pretty damn good.

3 comments:

Vicious Summer said...

OUch! Rib injuries are no joke. I have a VERY high pain threshold and I ripped the muscle between two ribs a couple of months ago. I couldn't lay down, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't turn, sneeze, cough, breathe, etc without EXCRUCIATING shooting pain. I would sit in the bathtub and cry all night long until I was so exhausted that I could fall asleep sitting up. Good times!

Did your rib just pop back into place or does it take time to heal?

Bulbboy said...

it hasn't popped back in properly yet, although i did try (and heard a noise). in the past the chiropractor or osteopath just popped it back in again and it was tender the next few days. i'm gonna ride this one out and see if it can fix itself.

:/

Unknown said...

At first I thought it was heartattack, because if happened on my left side, i couldnt breathe, and could hardly stand... I weigh 220 punds and 1.77m..(5, 10) Im used to pain, since i have it all the time, but this one knocked me off my chair after a pleasent meal. believe me when i say that my entire left side was "locked" of the pain. As we speak my neck is locked LOL:) there is no cure, thats the only answer...wish there were some garageshops where you could buy a new set of ribcage (titanium) and new neck/spine (al.alloy)...wouldnt that be great?