The pains of racquetball

Have you ever cracked a rib playing racquetball? I think I managed to do just that. How? I have no freakin' idea. I played racquetball with Accountabilibuddy on Friday. We had 3 vicious games, all of which I barely managed to win. She's a tough competitor! I felt perfectly wonderful during and after the games until later in the evening when my right side started to hurt a little. Then on Friday evening, I lay down in bed and it was hurting a little more. Apparently, I woke hubby up in the middle of the night crying in pain as I was attempting to roll over. Saturday, I woke up and could barely move. I labored to breathe, sneezing was torture, I wasn't able to sit down or stand up, bending over was totally out of the question, even laying down to rest was painful.

What's the first thing anyone does when they think they may have injured themselves? They poke the painful spot of course. I did that! I poked it to see what and where exactly it hurt. Maybe it was just a strained muscle or something. Definitely not muscle pain. I had to appease hubby too who was worried about an internal organ spasming inside me or something. He's always the first one to say "go to the doctor". That is something I do not like. I'll go to the damn doctor if I think something is wrong with me beyond my understanding or if I know it's something that can and should be treated by a doctor but if something hurts a little....no thanks. They typically just tell me to take it easy and take some Tylenol or something. I can figure that out on my own, don't need to pay $150 and wait in an uncomfortable emergency room for someone to tell me to go home and lay down or a pill for it. The pain wasn't deep, it was close to the surface. I moved my rib cage a little and POW, like a shot, the pain blasted me. Yup. It was my ribs. Ouch! It hurts when I do this!

I took it easy on Saturday, went to bed, and when I woke up Sunday, it felt significantly better. There was still a dull pain present but nothing like it was the first two days. I decided to try to go swimming to see if I could manage that form of activity. No problemo! There was a slight twinge of pain every once in a while but for the most part, I was totally fine.

This morning, I woke up and feel perfectly normal again. Hmmmmm...that doesn't sound like a broken rib now does it? I read a few forums and doctor's websites and crap like that and most people with broken/cracked ribs complain of pain for months. My pain lasted 2 full days. Either I'm a super quick healer or there were no fractures in the first place. Bruised rib maybe? I hate being fragile.

Ever cracked a rib?