Do you know what is a Bruised Sternum? We all experience pain in our chest, some of them are light and cause no damage. While there are some others as well which are serious and can take us to hospital instantly. In many cases of chest pain, people experience Bruised Sternum.
For those who are not aware of Sternum, this is a bone which connects your neck to the breast. There can be several reasons for Bruised Sternum if you were in some accident where something hit directly to your chest, then, in that case, you can suffer from Bruised Sternum. Otherwise, you can also experience Bruised Sternum when there is swelling of the cartilage, and this cartilage is linked from your ribs to the sternum.
Symptoms
If you ever see a Bruised Sternum, then you should know this is the time to consult a doctor, so it will get worse after some time. A bruised Sternum can make it difficult for you to breathe, and you will start to cough as well. Furthermore, you will also be feeling back pain, a change in colour of your skin, swelling as obvious, and stiffness in your skin.
If you are riding a bike, there are more chances to get Bruised Sternum, as your chest can directly hit the ground, but for the car, there are fewer chances. Here you will get a Bruised Sternum if your chest hits to the steering wheel or if the seatbelt is so tight then it can occur due to so much force.
Diagnose
Besides this Bruised Sternum can also occur due to sudden hits on the chest during sports. In short, if a sudden or much force is applied to the chest then that will be the only reason for Bruised Sternum. And in order to get it treated the doctor must diagnose how severe is Bruised Sternum.
And for this purpose, first of all, a chest X-ray is carried out, to find out if there is any broken bone or if it is just swelling. Next comes the process of treating this Bruised Sternum, and for that, it is necessary to keep that part cool. So keep an ice bag on your sternum so that it could lessen swelling. Next, to make it painless, the doctor will get you on some medication to further get your pain and swelling to decrease.
Treatment of Bruised Sternum
And after this, all you have to do is to avoid carrying heavy weight or to do something which could put pressure on your sternum. Well, sometimes it can get even worse if it is not treated on time, or if you are hurt badly.
In that case, the pain will exceed your whole chest, and your breathing problem will get worse. So, before you get to the hospital it is always better to get some oral treatment on your way to the hospital. It is really dangerous as it seems to be because this part of your chest is closer to your heart, and a little more force could result in the heart-stopping working.
