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Ribs that are fractured, broken or bruised will feel painful every time you breathe in or cough. This may make you feel like you can only take shallow breaths. You may also experience swelling or tenderness around the injured area, as well as bruising to the skin.

A bad cough can definitely cause pains in your ribs. There are muscles between your ribs called your intercostal muscles that are accessory muscles with breathing, and are also involved with coughing. When you breath in your diaphragm contracts and pulls your lungs down drawing air in.

Rib cage pain may be sharp, dull, or achy and felt at or below the chest or above the navel on either side. It may occur after an obvious injury or without explanation. Rib cage pain can be due to anything from pulled muscles to a rib fracture. This pain may occur immediately upon injury or develop slowly over time.

In most cases, you can take care of broken or bruised ribs at home. While your injury heals, pain relief is very important, as it will hurt every time you breathe in or cough. Taking shallow breaths and not coughing to avoid pain will only put you at risk of a chest infection.

A jagged edge of broken bone can damage major blood vessels or internal organs, such as the lung. In most cases, broken ribs usually heal on their own in one or two months. Adequate pain control is important so that you can continue to breathe deeply and avoid lung complications, such as pneumonia.

You can treat the symptoms of bruised ribs as outlined above, but the only thing that will really heal them is time. Take about 3-4 weeks to rest before getting back to work. Also remember to breathe as normally as possible. Shallow breaths can increase your risk of pneumonia.