Without an X-ray of the chest or rib, you can't know for sure if you have broken a rib. However, if you've recently had significant injury or violent coughing and you have pain along a rib, it's certainly possible that you have a broken rib. Besides pain, many people with a broken rib experience shortness of breath and increased pain when they take deep breaths, cough or sneeze. Sometimes you'll see a bruise in the area that can be a clue.

Most rib fractures are treated only with pain medication. That's because broken ribs tend to heal well on their own. It's not practical to use a splint or a cast to fix a broken rib. These may help keep the rib still and reduce pain, but braces are rarely used because they might impair breathing and increase the risk of pneumonia.

However, fractured ribs that cause complications do require treatment. For example, a broken rib can puncture a lung. This may require the repair and re-inflation of the lung, and the removal of bone fragments. But, most of the time, pain control and time are all that's needed to heal a broken rib.