Doctors explain how woman may have broken five ribs during husband’s hug
A woman in China was left with multiple fractured ribs after her husband tried to give her a warm embrace.
Keep reading to learn more.
Early this month, CCTV footage of a couple began making the rounds on Chinese social media. The video, reportedly filmed in a cafeteria, shows the man wrapping his arms around his wife and lifting her off the ground.
Moments later, the woman doubles over in pain and crouches down, clutching the right side of her torso.
Her husband, identified as Mr. Wang, has since explained what happened before the incident and revealed what doctors discovered when his wife went to the hospital.
On October 19, Wang told China’s Hubei Jingshi Live that his wife had been feeling cold, prompting him to embrace her.
As he lifted her, he heard what sounded like a bone cracking. The footage shows him looking down at his wife as she crouches on the floor in pain.
Wang initially did not believe the injury was serious. However, his wife continued experiencing pain throughout the night before visiting a hospital the following morning.
A CT scan revealed that five of her ribs were fractured, while another had developed a hairline crack.
Doctors decided that surgery was not necessary. Instead, she was prescribed medication and medicated patches and instructed to get plenty of rest.
She was discharged from the hospital and told to return every five days for follow-up examinations.
Doctors Suspect An Underlying Bone Condition May Have Made Her Ribs More Fragile
According to Yan Yanxiang, deputy chief of orthopedics at Wuhan Yaxin General Hospital, the woman had not suffered lung damage or other serious complications.
She also had no pleural effusion, breathing difficulties, or pneumothorax, a condition in which air enters the space around the lungs and can cause a lung to collapse.
However, doctors noted that fractures caused by an ordinary human embrace are relatively uncommon.
Yan suggested that osteoporosis could have made the woman’s bones more vulnerable to injury.
Osteoporosis is a condition in which bone density and strength decrease, increasing the risk of fractures. According to the National Institutes of Health, the disease is often described as a “silent” condition because it can develop without noticeable symptoms and may only be discovered after a bone breaks.
The condition is particularly common among older women, especially after menopause, when hormonal changes can accelerate bone loss.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that approximately 200 million women worldwide are affected by osteoporosis. It also reports that one in three women over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture during their lifetime.
Although age, genetics, and hormonal changes can influence a person’s risk, nutrition and lifestyle can also affect bone health.