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She fell and hit either the toilet or tub. She does not recall. She was released from the hospital within 3 hours. My understanding is that broken ribs are one of the most painful breaks but she doesn’t seem all that bothered. She broke the ribs in back vs. front; does this make a difference? Could her threshold for pain be this high or is there something about the dementia that could be having an effect on her experience of pain? The family present at the time suspected (but cannot confirm) that she fainted before she fell. She briefly fainted once again while waiting to be discharged. Could something else be going on? I understand to be on the lookout for pneumonia as well. Thanks.

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Grandma last cracked some ribs back when she was a young 101. She wasn't in as much pain as people thought she would be either. The nurses said they'd seen grown men crying like babies with less. They wanted to put her on opiates. She was fine with Tylenol. From day one, she could still get out of bed by herself and do all the things she normally does. A week later, she was much better. Two weeks, it was like it didn't happen.

Once, I cracked a rib when I was sick from all the coughing. It wasn't that bad except when I breathed in. Then it was like I was being stabbed with a knife in the side.
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I found with Mom and her Dementia that the littlest pain she complained about, like a little child. But like said, it could be the Dementia. I suggest you get a blood pressure cuff and check her BP every so often. If really high, she probably is in pain. Her fainting could be low bp. I would bring this to her doctors attention.
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There are no pain receptors in ribs, but often when they break the Intercostal Muscles tear and that is incredibly painful. Back or front does not vary the pain. I have dislocated a rib in my back multiple times and it is excruciating. When I had pneumonia, I coughed so hard I tore my Intercostal Muscles on the front. It took weeks to heal, I could not lift, stretch, even wash or brush my hair without tearing them again.

If may be the dementia has impacted the part of her brain that transmits pain signals.

A couple tips while she heals. Do not let her reach behind her back. Even if it is to pick up the remote from a table slightly to the rear of her. Do not let her pick up anything that may be heavy.

Laying down may be painful, I had to sleep with my head elevated to reduce the pressure on my ribs.
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My Mom broke her lower leg and her hip at 88 and never complained about any pain. When the bone in her hip broke, causing her to fall in the bathroom, she told my brother to "just pull it back in place"! With the broken bone in her leg, she was also at my brother's house and he put ice on it and wrapped it but did not take her to the doctor. When it was my turn to have her (we each have her for 3 weeks at a time), I took her to get an xray and found the bone was broken and the orthopod put her in a boot! She had been walking on it for 3 weeks before this. As she says about herself, "I am a tough old bird". But, I do think her cognitive impairment has something to do with not being aware of pain when she should be.
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My mother was always in pain--my whole growing up life she never once said she felt "fine" if someone asked her. Seriously, I have ZERO memories of her not saying
"Oh, I have an excruciating migraine" or whatever the pain du jour was. ( And Karma is such that I now have chronic pain that I have to live with forever!)

Now she is almost 90, she takes maybe 1 tylenol for pain. I KNOW that NOW she is in pain, but she doesn't seem to "feel it"? Slight dementia, more just forgetfulness and repeating herself over and over.
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Jannner Feb 2019
My mother is the same. Her entire life a splinter caused a day long dramatic episode 🙄but now, 92, dementia , broke her hip and after hallucinations for 3 weeksfrom the meds, once she was off morphine and the anesthesia was pretty much out of her body, “no pain” she says. Who’d of thunk it 😂 But in reality, I think the pain before was for attention ( definitely narcissistic tendencies) where as now, it’s a more realistic representation of what pain she really feels. Because we are used to her drama, a more normal reaction seems like an under reaction.
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Yes, my dad has fairly severe frontal lobe temporal dementia. He just does not register pain normally. He does have fairly significant neuropathy and I believe that also contributes but it's difficult to know whether the brain is causing the neuropathy. Dad received a blow to the fore head as a child and had a compound fracture that caused a small abscess on the left frontal lobe of his brain. Earlier in life he compensated for it and I believe it actually gave him more drive than most people have. He somehow had difficulty being aware of other peoples emotions yet he himself was a very feeling person. Now he has moments of clear thought but also confusion. He does not feel pain the way you are I would. So your mother could be going through something similar.
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That’s a great suggestion, JoAnn29. Thank you.
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Mother only took 1/2 a pain killer! Tough as nails. I saw chiro today and he said that fracturing the front is much worse than the back just bc of the muscles the individual areas are connected to. Maybe that’s part of it.
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Perhaps the Pain Killers they would Need to Put her On, Is Helping too.
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What type of break? - I have cracked my ribs 3 times & they only hurt when I moved in certain ways or coughed otherwise it was just an ache [I cracked them from coughing so I once used a long line bra to have something to cough against to minimize the pain] - ask her dr as to how much pain she is experiencing to be sure
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Coping1022 Feb 2019
Not sure how to specify the break; “multiple rib fractures” is how it was listed on the discharge papers (I was not at the hospital); it happened out of town. I did get her to hold a pillow around her front so that when she coughs, she minimizes the movement. Thanks for that tip!
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