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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffBecause many broken ribs are caused by motor vehicle accidents, you may find out you have a broken rib in a hospital's emergency department. If your broken rib was caused by repetitive stress over time, you may seek advice from your family physician.
What you can do
You may want to write a list that includes:
- Detailed descriptions of your symptoms
- Information about medical problems you've had
- Information about the medical problems of your parents or siblings
- All the medications and dietary supplements you take
- Questions you want to ask the doctor
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor may ask:
- Where exactly does it hurt?
- When did the pain start?
- Did anything precipitate it?
- Does any action make the pain better or worse?
During the physical exam, your doctor will press gently on your ribs. He or she may also listen to your lungs and watch your rib cage move as you breathe.
- Eckstein M, et al. Thoracic trauma. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Karlson KA. Rib fractures. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Mazzocca AD, et al. Sternum and rib fractures in adults and children. In: DeLee JC, et al. DeLee and Drez's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2003. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Preventing falls and related fractures. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Osteoporosis/Fracture/preventing_falls.pdf. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Jan. 20, 2009.
- Dictionary of cancer terms: Bone scan. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/Templates/db_alpha.aspx?CdrID=46499. Accessed Jan. 20, 2009.
