Chest wall or lung injuries
With chest wall or lung injuries, the player may be distressed and describe the pain as being in one particular site. Chest wall injuries are most commonly minor but very painful. However, anyone who you think may have sustained one should be reviewed by medical staff. The problem is not the chest wall injury itself, but the important lungs and heart that lie underneath the ribs and to make sure they are not injured.
Signs of chest wall or lung injury
- May be distressed due to pain or being unable to breathe properly.
- May localise pain to a particular site.
- May or may not be tender over the ribs and have swelling or you may feel the ribs move.
- Symptoms will persist and not really improve with time.
- In lung injury, you may notice that one side of the chest is not moving as well as the other.