GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Aaron Rodgers has suffered yet another injury this season. A rib injury. And due to the nature of the injury, it's hard to tell if he is going to play through the pain, or attempt rehabilitation.
Either way, it's going to be a painful journey. Orthopedic Surgeon for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Specialists, Will Albiero, says the pain he has heard from his patients who suffered similar injuries is not a pleasant recovery.
“The pain can be absolutely debilitating.” says Albiero “it's hard to breathe, cough, laugh, incredibly painful overall.”
And besides dulling the pain, there isn’t much you can do with a rib injury except wait it out. “The best rehab is time, they tend to heal very well on their own, they just need the time and rest to do so. So once pain gets under control, you can start doing some rehab to help strengthen those muscles around the ribs," said Albiero.
Aaron Rodgers is no stranger to injury throughout his NFL career as shown by this timeline of events.
2006 — A Broken Foot
2007 — Hamstring Injury
2008 — Sprained Right Shoulder
2010 — Concussion
2013 — Broken Left Collarbone
2014 — A Calf Injury
2017 — Broken Right Collarbone
2018 — Rodgers suffered a tibial plateau fracture and a sprained MCL in his left knee
2022 – Thumb Injury
2022 – Rib/oblique injury
However, with this new injury, the road to recovery is undetermined.
One of the reasons being with injuries involving the ribs and core proper breathing becomes a factor.
Orthopedic Surgeon at Aurora BayCare Medical Center Dr. Harold Schock says "When it comes to the breathing portion, you have to make sure that people are breathing properly and do not have any further respiratory issues."
The Orthopedic surgeons at both OSMS and Aurora BayCare Medical Center
have stated that it is extremely rare to need surgery for an oblique injury, but recovery can take up to a month.
It has already been announced by the Packers, that if Rodgers is feeling up to, it he will be playing on Sunday.
