Expect the pain to get worse for a bit, peaking after about 2 weeks from the original injury, after that it'll start to subside. I was off 5-a-side for a minimum of 5 weeks each time I've done them, the worst took 8 weeks.
I was advised to get Cocodamol (Codeine and Paracetamol) and separate Ibuprofen and interleave them (assuming you're not allergic or intolerant to any of them), i.e. take the appropriate dose of one, two hours later take a dose of the other, two hours later another dose of the first, etc. That way you never have to go more than 2 hours between painkillers and you satisfy the 4 hours between doses of each. Don't exceed the maximum doses in 24 hours, always read the packaging, etc.
Beware of large doses of Codeine, you may get some annoying side-effects. I got nightmares after the first few days and had to stop taking it (I went to interleaving Paracetamol and Ibuprofen). Although it was doing its job of numbing the pain it was worse in the long run as I'd wake up with a start in the middle of the night and do more damage to the ribs/muscle/etc.
I've done my ribs on 4 separate occasions now in varying degrees (once playing Badminton or all things, the other 3 from 5-a-side football). One of them had me going to the NHS walk-in clinic the day after I did them as I was in so much pain. You're very unlikely to be x-rayed, they prefer to keep chest x-rays to a minimum, instead they just prod/poke and listen to your breathing to see if you've punctured anything or if there was any fluid in/around the lungs. With the worst incident, after prodding and poking (yes that does hurt there!) the doc said it was probably 2 broken and 2 cracked/bruised, so still relatively minor.
Don't watch or listen to any comedy programs and avoid ill people, the last thing you want is a cough or a cold that makes you sneeze. Although possibly the worst I've ever felt in my life was a bout of food poisoning whilst nursing 2 broken ribs.
GWS. It's not all that bad, and you'll have plenty of time to read books and stuff.
