Surfing Waves

Hey Surfers,

Iam currently on a surf trip trough Europe and Africa and I have been surfing for about 1 1/2 months about every second day for a couple hours. Right now I am in Morocco and I surfed without a wetsuit for the first time , 2 days in a row. I took one day off surfing . This morning I could feel an intense pain under my right part of the chest, like 15 cm under my nipple were the rib cage ends. (Sorry for my fleshin' vocabulary ) it only occurs when I move in certain ways or breathe in really deep. It's really painful to run and impossible to do a push up. Motions like pull ups or carrying stuff are possible without pain. It's like a stinging pain, almost feels like a nerve is stuck between my bones or Sth ..
I can't surf cuz just laying on my board is so painful . Does anyone of you know what that is/ had common experiences?
Iam really curious what it is or how long it will last, cause my surf - time here is limited

I haven't ever had this problem but lots of other have and if you do a search you will find it mentioned over and over. One thing is you should probably go see a doctor if it doesn't get better and take a break from surfing till it does. https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13467
Perhaps learning to paddle without moving your ribs may help too. When you paddle surfing unlike swimming you keep your chest from rotating side to side .

manueltrnd wrote:Does anyone of you know what that is/ had common experiences?
Iam really curious what it is or how long it will last, cause my surf - time here is limited

I had that problem when I first started surfing. I haven't been surfing as much as I used to so I only notice the soreness now when I have really long sessions. One of the causes of my rib pain early on was that I was flopping down on my board to practice popups in the whitewater. It didn't seem like a big deal at first--I didn't even notice it--but plopping down on a board over and over, even on a foamie, eventually causes (for me anyway) intense rib pain. It was incredibly painful. The only remedy I found was to take a break from surfing. You can also get a vest with padding (http://paddleair.com/) to help cushion your ribs. The Paddle Air vest really helped me. Good luck.

It happened with me also and it really hurts.

hi , I got rib pain when surfing but I now use a thing called 'surfrib' look it up on google or you tube , it sits between your rib cage and wetsuit you simply blow in the amount of air you need to make laying down comfortable. I emailed the maker, surfribdesigner@gmail.com for it?

The first time I went surfing with an underwire bikini top, I had the worst sternum and rib pain (and bruising) for days! Underwire tops are kind of obvious, but I think wetsuits not only provide a small amount of padding, but they also compress and stabilize the core given how tight they are. All I can say (as a newbie) is that you don't realize how much pressure you're loading on your chest and ribs for hours on end when you're out there.

As a nurse, I'll say that there are tons of little niggles you can get in your innercostal areas. People think of bones, as in "I broke a rib!," but there are layers of muscle and ligaments galore! That said, it is also impossible to immobilize these areas due to that pesky little diaphragm thingie and your lungs and all, so these ouchies can take forever to fully heal.

I wouldn't be too worried at this point, but I would see someone if it's getting worse or not getting better after a few days of rest. For now, forget the rest - take a bunch of NSAIDs and put the wetsuit back on.

I had really bad pain after a few days as well and can not recommend this enough: get a ribguard. It's made of neoprene and pads your ribs so that the pressure distributes more evenly. There are different models out there that can actually be worn underneath a wetsuit as well since it's literally just a belt. Plus you can adjust the padding to whatever you need - I usually put extra padding at the beginning of a surf trip and go lighter after a few days. You might still feel a little bit of pain the first few days but trust me, it goes away.

Growing pains of learning to surf.

Learn to keep your body still on the board when you paddle; no swaying, just poised and balanced while stroking with your arms. What you are experiencing is totally normal, very common, and goes away after a few weeks and with better form.