Rib stress injuries are an overuse injury affecting up to approximately 10% of rowers in a given year of training. While not as common as other injuries, the long recovery time of a bone injury makes it the costliest injury in terms of total missed training time per injury. Injury risk increases with training volume: Collegiate and elite rowers doing more total training volume experience more rib stress injuries than masters and junior rowers. This article is a practical guide to what rowers and coaches need to know about rowing rib stress injuries, focusing on preventing, managing, and returning from injury to full performance. Key Points: Check out this summary graphic for a one-page flowchart of key points to rowing rib stress injury symptoms, management, and returning from injury. Also, read a partner guide here for the more detailed medical side of diagnosing and treating rowing low back pain, written by my friend and rowing physical therapist Dr. Lisa Lowe. I also have a reference section at the end of this article where you can read a lot more about rowing rib stress injury from the resources I have found most helpful. Finally, read my article, "Rowing Injuries: Understanding, Preventing, and Managing," that sets up the basics of general injury understanding and prevention before the injury-specifics of this article and "Rowing Low Back Pain."
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