Earlier today my sister was elbowed in the ribs by my other sister. Like a few minutes later she had sharp pains in her ribs, her lungs and stomach. What could be wrong? Could something be broken? Please help I'm very worried!! Anything helps!! :(:confused:

Earlier today my sister was elbowed in the ribs by my other sister. Like a few minutes later she had sharp pains in her ribs, her lungs and stomach. What could be wrong? Could something be broken? Please help im very worried!!! Anything helps!!!:(:confused:
Might have a broken rib. Should go to the emergency room and have a doctor take a look.

I tell you what happened to me several years ago... fell off a horse... got bucked off anyway... hit the ground wrong... and broke 5 ribs. Hurt so bad could hardly breathe. Went to the hospital and they did tests... to the tune of $3000... and determined my lungs were not punctured... and that was all they could do. I had to sleep sitting up for 3 months because it was too painful to lay down to sleep... and was off work that whole time.

When you have broken ribs there is nothing they can do for you but make sure your lungs are not punctured... then give you pain pills and you have to take it easy till they are healed.

Thank u for the answer. I am very sorry about what happened to you I just hope that won't happen to my sister!:o

There are a number of things that can cause the pain. Starting with the least serious could be just bruising of the soft tissue around the ribs or fractured ribs. If there is progressing shortness of breath then there could be what is called spontaneous pneumothorax - which is where a small portion of the lung was weak (bleb) and the lung is perforated causing air to leak into the chest cavity. This is very serious and should be taken care of immediately. This could cause pressure on the heart, decending aorta, and eventually cause death. Wouldn't hurt to have an x-ray done to confirm.