<p>So yesterday afternoon I started feeling pain in my right ribs. It got progressively worst as the day went on and by the time I went to bed, the pain was so bad that I couldn’t sleep on that side and it kept me from falling asleep. This morning, I’m feeling a lot better but it still hurts when I stand up and breathe deep. I’ve done some research and I’m suspicious that I may have a collapsed lung. However, I have a chemistry exam tonight and don’t want to get checked up today in case something really happened to me and I have to go to the hospital or something like that. I’ve checked online and it doesn’t seem to be something that the doctors can do anything about. Do you think that it’s ok to get checked up tomorrow or should I definitely go to my health center today? I had a bad case of the flu a month ago (ironically during the last chemistry exam) and I don’t think I ever 100% recovered from that.</p>
<p>Doctors can do something about collapsed lungs. They reinflate them. More importantly, they need to determine why you have a collapsed lung (assuming you do). Lungs don’t just collapse by themselves.</p>
<p>As mimk6 said, get seen today. If it’s nothing, you need to know that. If it’s something that requires hospitalization, delay could be dangerous, if not fatal. No one on the Internet can diagnose you. E-mail your chem professor and explain, and get to the clinic/hospital/doctor NOW.</p>
<p>Go to the health center today. If it is a collapsed lung (which I kind of doubt) then it is MUCH more important than your chemistry test and your professor will understand. Sounds to me like it may be a muscle strain of the multiple muscles that intertwine around your ribs…</p>
<p>Go to the health center. I doubt that you have a collapsed lung. Perhaps you cracked a rib from coughing (my husband did this) or have a respiratory infection (pneumonia). If the pain also radiates around to your back and hurts more when you take a breath, you could have pleurisy (extremely painful–I had this once and thought that my lung had collapsed). Stop into the health center and see what they say. You should have a doctor look at you.
We’re not qualified to make a diagnosis.</p>
<p>Go to the health center right now. The holidays are coming and the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be for you to get medical attention.</p>
<p>Nobody in their right mind (especially a parent) is going to say anything other than “seek medical help immediately” due to common sense and of course fear of legal liability.</p>
<p>My guess is that you have a small injury to the cartilage and other connective tissues in your ribs, but you need to be seen. I say that because you didn’t say you couldn’t breathe. There’s a big difference between pain while breathing and not being able to breathe. If you can’t breathe, you should be in an ER STAT. </p>
<p>To dwell on the less dangerous, anything can cause a minor rib injury. You could have reached for something, swung an arm or a baseball bat too hard, lifted some weight, etc. If the area is sore to the touch, then you likely have that kind of injury. It’s possible you broke a rib but believe me a broken rib hurts a ton. You said you couldn’t sleep but I’m talking about the kind of pain that means you sit there staring at the wall trying not to think about how much it hurts.</p>