What can I eat to heal broken ribs quickly?

Rib fractures have a great impact on the patient's life because they affect the patient's range of motion and also cause severe pain to the patient. When treating rib fractures, care is very important, such as dietary care and daily routine. In terms of diet, patients with rib fractures can supplement calcium appropriately to promote bone healing.

Most patients and their families are confused about the nutritional needs and diet of patients with rib fractures and often have to ask doctors for advice. In fact, except for mild systemic symptoms in the first few days, patients with rib fractures generally have no systemic symptoms at other times. Therefore, they can just choose a variety of foods rich in various nutrients, similar to the daily diet of ordinary healthy people. Pay attention to making food easy to digest and absorb, and be cautious when using spicy foods that may have adverse effects on the respiratory and digestive tracts, such as chili peppers, raw onions, mustard, pepper, etc. When systemic symptoms are obvious, so-called soft meals should be given, which are between normal diet and semi-liquid diet. The food provided must contain less residue and be easy to chew and digest. It must be chopped and boiled soft when cooking. It should not be fried or deep-fried.

1-2 weeks in the early stage of rib fracture: blood stasis and swelling at the injured part, blocked meridians, and stagnation of qi and blood. Treatment at this stage is mainly focused on promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, and promoting qi circulation. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "if blood stasis is not removed, bones cannot grow" and "new bones will grow when blood stasis is removed." It can be seen that reducing swelling and dispersing blood stasis are the top priorities for fracture healing. In principle, the diet should be light, such as vegetables, eggs, soy products, fruits, fish soup, lean meat, etc. Avoid spicy, dry, hot, and greasy foods. In particular, do not take fatty and nourishing foods too early, such as bone soup, fat chicken, stewed fish, etc. Otherwise, blood stasis will accumulate and be difficult to dissipate, which will inevitably delay the course of the disease, slow the growth of bone callus, and affect the recovery of joint function in the future. During this stage, the diet therapy can include 10 grams of Panax notoginseng, 10 grams of Angelica sinensis, and 1 pigeon. Stew them together until they are soft, and eat the soup and meat together, once a day for 7-10 days.

The middle stage of rib fracture is 2-4 weeks: most of the swelling and bruises are absorbed. The treatment in this stage is mainly focused on harmonizing the blood circulation to relieve pain, removing blood stasis and promoting new growth, and connecting bones and tendons. The diet should be changed from light to appropriate high-nutrition supplements to meet the needs of callus growth. Bone soup, Panax notoginseng chicken, animal liver, etc. can be added to the initial diet to supplement more vitamins A, D, calcium and protein. For dietotherapy, you can use 10 grams of angelica, 15 grams of bone-healing herb, 10 grams of Dipsacus asper, and 250 grams of fresh pork chops or beef ribs. Stew them for more than 1 hour. Eat the soup and meat together. Use it for 2 consecutive weeks.

Late stage of rib fracture more than 5 weeks: 5 weeks after the injury, the swelling at the fracture site has been basically absorbed, and callus has begun to grow. This is the late stage of the fracture. Treatment should be tonic, by nourishing the liver and kidneys, qi and blood, to promote the formation of a stronger callus, and relax the muscles and tendons, so that the adjacent joints of the fracture can move freely and flexibly and restore their previous functions. Dietary taboos can be lifted, and the recipe can be supplemented with old hen soup, pork bone soup, mutton bone soup, deer tendon soup, stewed water fish, etc. Those who can drink can choose from Eucommia ulmoides and Drynaria wine, Millettia reticulata wine, tiger bone and papaya wine, etc. For diet therapy, you can use 10 grams of wolfberry, 15 grams of bone-healing herb, 10 grams of Dipsacus asper, and 50 grams of Job's tears. First boil Drynaria fortunei and Dipsacus asper to remove the residue, then add the remaining two ingredients to cook porridge and eat. Take once a day, 7 days as a course of treatment. There is a 3-5 day interval between each course of treatment, and 3-4 courses can be used.