After car crash had chest xray and was told it was a fractured rib. next i read the radiology report: "may" show rib fracture. so much pain... "may?!"

Rib fracture: Agree that ambiguous wording in a report is sometimes not so helpful, radiologists need to avoid the temptation. However, sometimes the findings are subtle or equivocal, or seen only on one view. The radiologist might think there is a rib fx, but is not 100% certain, and reports it that way. The clinician has the benefit of examining you and knowing where you hurt, the radiologist usually not.

Not always well seen: Rib fractures may or may not be readily visible on XR. Sometimes there is small hint that the alignment of the rib is off which may be the reason for suspected fracture. If there pain that is worse over that region, a rib fracture may be the cause.