Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time

PB Forum :: Fitness, Training and Health
Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time
Author Message
flag nofear259
O+
Posted: Nov 9, 2013 at 14:45 Quote
i had to have surgery and there is now a plate in my shoulder. im f*cked in airports and i cant ride dh street (any pressure prone sports) fro at least 3 months. i am on month 2 and my bones still have about 3/4 of an inch gap. im riding road for now but it really sucks cuz i broke it at 16 years of age! now im limited to doing squats core exercise and road biking if cond are good
flag marconi
O+
Posted: Nov 26, 2013 at 12:26 Quote
Broke my collarbone on Saturday. Good article on Betterbones.com ( stay away from ibuprofen , apparently slows up the healing process) . Also , check out this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIw3dGZPMWs. I'm not wearing a sling but taped it up. Seems to work pretty good.
flag lewisholt
Posted: Dec 1, 2013 at 10:22 Quote
could you fill in my survey if you have ever had an arm sling its only takes a minute thanks https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DLBZG7V
flag Shoe2190
O+
Posted: Dec 4, 2013 at 7:06 Quote
lewisholt wrote:
could you fill in my survey if you have ever had an arm sling its only takes a minute thanks https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DLBZG7V

Filled it out but just had a few comments as I assume your designing a sling.

My biggest gripe with mine was that after doing the Velcro up over the 2 weeks or so that wore out and started to slip and sometimes let go completely which was pretty painful. I think a simple d loop like a full face helmet would be a much better solution.

Thanks.
flag Parabellum
O+
Posted: Jan 16, 2014 at 15:27 Quote
OK, kids, here's a cautionary tale for anyone who has broken their collarbone:

I broke my left clavicle on May 7th of last year. (the xray pics are in this thread - back a couple pages somewhere) Fully displaced mid-shaft fracture. The doc said I was "just" outside the limits of what would normally require surgery so they wanted to let it heal naturally. I actually pushed for the surgery - all that space between the bones in there just didn't look right to me, and especially after a month had passed and the xrays didn't show the bones getting any closer together I started getting nervous. The doctor said no, gave me the party line about surgery being an unnecessary risk, etc. I should have gone to a private doctor and just paid for the damn operation myself, but I figured hey - this guy is a bone specialist so he must know what he's talking about.

Facepalm

8 weeks go by. Even though the xrays still looked terrible, the shoulder actually felt pretty decent and I got back on the bike in late July. At first I was terrified of falling on my shoulder, but it went well and I even raced some DH heading into August. No problem. Rode for the rest of the season, even did a couple trips to Whistler and spent 2 weeks in the bike park. Shoulder was sore on occasion but generally felt pretty good, eventually put the bikes away in late Oct because it started snowing.

This is where the story takes a twist.

Towards the 3rd week of November I noticed I was having a lot more pain in my shoulder than normal. I figured it was just the changing seasons and joked about "becoming one of those gnarly old dudes who can forecast the weather with his bones". As December came though, the soreness started to bother me. It was never debilitating pain - I could use the arm normally, lift stuff, play sports, etc - but it just didn't feel right and every now and then I'd briefly have a sharp, shooting pain through the joint. Over the Christmas holidays I went out to play hockey with some friends, wound up to take a slapshot, and felt the whole shoulder move in a really unnatural and painful way. Instantly I knew I had a problem.

I finally got back in to see the doctor today, he looked at my xrays and told me that either:
a) I had re-broken the collarbone at some point, or
b) it had never healed properly to begin with.

Next stop, CT scan and a 90% probability of surgery to put a plate in. It's just frustrating because I've already been through the recovery process for this once and really am not stoked about having to do it again. Plus depending when they actually get around to doing the surgery, there's a good possibility I'll miss at least the first few weeks of the riding season. (not to mention the rest of the ski season) It just pisses me off because this all could have been avoided if they had just plated the damn thing last year when I first broke it.

The moral of the story is - trust your instincts. Listen to what your body is telling you. If you disagree with your doctor, get a second opinion, or even a third. I was too naive and now I'm paying the price, so learn from my stupidity!
flag offshore
Posted: Jan 24, 2014 at 9:24 Quote
Yikes that's a rough sounding sequence of events. And while I'll never call the general internets population kids, I will refer to myself and collarbone experience as 'wise elder' on the matter Wink . As such, I've successfully broken each collarbone, clean midshaft with separation. The first was 2011 snowboarding too big in a halfpipe. Hard shoulder fall and snap, I immediately knew it was broken. Xray confirmed too well. The oozing warm as I finished riding down the mountain was probably the eeriest feeling I've ever had, and of course disgusting).

My first doc said surgery was generally advised against these days, and with a single clean break, to give the sling a shot. I think I was in the sling for up to a month, and at two months I had 90% mobility and was starting to start training again (triathlon coming up), but every time I went back to the ortho he said "give it one more month, let's see how it does". I wanted surgery, was frustrated at the slow progress, but kept listening. He's a professional, my instincts were to trust him, and trust my body that it still wasn't normal by two months. Here's the angled X-ray at two months:
photo

Pretty gnarley, right? Well I kept listening to my doc, and sure enough, without misuse (heavy lifting, snowboarding, biking) it actually knitted itself back 100%, probably more given the extra bone ball there now. I went on two months later to compete in a triathlon including a one mile swim, without any pain from the bone (just some lost fitness). That's about 2cm of separation, and I wouldn't believe that story if I hadn't experienced the full recovery myself (looking at that xray). I tried to give the guy money to operate, and he kept rejecting it. His instinct/professional opinion was right.

Fast forward, 5 weeks ago tomorrow, I get sideswiped by a tunnel visioned snowboarder [while I was flying by though, too fast]. Tweaks me oddly and an awkward fall onto my back or side and snap, there goes the OTHER clavicle! This one immediately doesn't feel so bad, I doubt it's even a full fracture/separated, and minimal warm ooze hehe. But I still go get an xray, and sure enough, clean break with 1cm of separation. I didn't even need any advice from the doc, it's 2-3 weeks of sling and hoping for a quicker union than last time. Doc didn't even offer any PT advice, like he figured I knew what I was doing breaking my bones Eek .

So I'm at 5 weeks, have gotten most non-load lifting mobility and function back (lifting arm up, etc). There's still a limited cross reach when I reach for left shoulder (try putting on deodorant haha). I can lightly push and pull, but still am limiting my strength until at least week 6, and second x-ray. I'm not a mountain biker, but a kiteboarder, and complete clavicle function is critical for when I'm hanging from a bar throwing a raley or boosting a big jump. I will definitely not get back to risky activity too soon, and hopefully will not experience your re-injury or non-union @Parebellum (it seems to me like you might have gotten a bit too active too soon and never quite healed, then reinjured).

The literature on bone regrowth says that it starts as a fibrous tissue surrounding the break, and if left to rest will eventually calcify into hard bone. If you wiggle or stress it too much, you risk the body 'giving up' and it becoming a weird fibrous joint, though I don't remember the technical name. Here is the xray of my second break. I'm still in the camp of non-surgery unless a multiple fracture has dropped shoulder, you're a professional athlete, etc. Otherwise, let the body be amazing! Oh and smoking increases risk of non-union substantially, that surprised me...

photo
flag nofear259
O+
Posted: Jan 30, 2014 at 13:08 Quote
offshore wrote:
Yikes that's a rough sounding sequence of events. And while I'll never call the general internets population kids, I will refer to myself and collarbone experience as 'wise elder' on the matter Wink . As such, I've successfully broken each collarbone, clean midshaft with separation. The first was 2011 snowboarding too big in a halfpipe. Hard shoulder fall and snap, I immediately knew it was broken. Xray confirmed too well. The oozing warm as I finished riding down the mountain was probably the eeriest feeling I've ever had, and of course disgusting).



My first doc said surgery was generally advised against these days, and with a single clean break, to give the sling a shot. I think I was in the sling for up to a month, and at two months I had 90% mobility and was starting to start training again (triathlon coming up), but every time I went back to the ortho he said "give it one more month, let's see how it does". I wanted surgery, was frustrated at the slow progress, but kept listening. He's a professional, my instincts were to trust him, and trust my body that it still wasn't normal by two months. Here's the angled X-ray at two months:
photo

Pretty gnarley, right? Well I kept listening to my doc, and sure enough, without misuse (heavy lifting, snowboarding, biking) it actually knitted itself back 100%, probably more given the extra bone ball there now. I went on two months later to compete in a triathlon including a one mile swim, without any pain from the bone (just some lost fitness). That's about 2cm of separation, and I wouldn't believe that story if I hadn't experienced the full recovery myself (looking at that xray). I tried to give the guy money to operate, and he kept rejecting it. His instinct/professional opinion was right.

Fast forward, 5 weeks ago tomorrow, I get sideswiped by a tunnel visioned snowboarder [while I was flying by though, too fast]. Tweaks me oddly and an awkward fall onto my back or side and snap, there goes the OTHER clavicle! This one immediately doesn't feel so bad, I doubt it's even a full fracture/separated, and minimal warm ooze hehe. But I still go get an xray, and sure enough, clean break with 1cm of separation. I didn't even need any advice from the doc, it's 2-3 weeks of sling and hoping for a quicker union than last time. Doc didn't even offer any PT advice, like he figured I knew what I was doing breaking my bones Eek .

So I'm at 5 weeks, have gotten most non-load lifting mobility and function back (lifting arm up, etc). There's still a limited cross reach when I reach for left shoulder (try putting on deodorant haha). I can lightly push and pull, but still am limiting my strength until at least week 6, and second x-ray. I'm not a mountain biker, but a kiteboarder, and complete clavicle function is critical for when I'm hanging from a bar throwing a raley or boosting a big jump. I will definitely not get back to risky activity too soon, and hopefully will not experience your re-injury or non-union @Parebellum (it seems to me like you might have gotten a bit too active too soon and never quite healed, then reinjured).

The literature on bone regrowth says that it starts as a fibrous tissue surrounding the break, and if left to rest will eventually calcify into hard bone. If you wiggle or stress it too much, you risk the body 'giving up' and it becoming a weird fibrous joint, though I don't remember the technical name. Here is the xray of my second break. I'm still in the camp of non-surgery unless a multiple fracture has dropped shoulder, you're a professional athlete, etc. Otherwise, let the body be amazing! Oh and smoking increases risk of non-union substantially, that surprised me...

photo

that break looks just like mine! And I needed surgery and a plate with 7 screws
flag JHPE911
Posted: Jan 30, 2014 at 13:34 Quote
Just broke my left collarbone for the second time in under 12 months.

This time it wasn't so bad, and I don't need surgery. It broke on the end of the bone about an inch from my neck. Luckily it didn't break under the plate or near any of the screws, because that would've been a horrible surgery.

Anyways I'm out for another 8 months and only had a month of riding since I last recoveredFrown
flag offshore
Posted: Feb 10, 2014 at 22:23 Quote
nofear259 wrote:
that break looks just like mine! And I needed surgery and a plate with 7 screws
( when I say left shoulder, it's right side of the X-ray pic. Right shoulder is left side in pic)
Sorry to hear nofear, which one of mine does your look like, the first worse one(left shoulder)? Hopefully not, but bummer u 'had' to have surgery! I wholeheartedly stand by my feelings above and think non surgery was the best bet, at least for me. If you're healthy and not a pro, let it heal!

I had both clavicles xray'd last week. The left one is the coolest, it's at 2.5 year 2cm separation heal, both no surgery. It looks and feels like a super strong ball of solid bone! That mid shaft is the weakest link with no ligament protection, and now I have doubled up bone to protect itWink !

The right side is at 7 weeks, definitely not healed but on the way. I took a zoomed in shot that shows pieces of bone forming, but I understand the doc not clearing me to snowboard again for at least 6 weeks. I have been back in the pool. The doc sort of shrugged and said it shouldn't bother it much. I swam a couple days of 1000m, which by the end felt like a bit too much. Afterwards it was hard to tell whether ligaments were sore or the bone was being pulled around enough to hurt. I'm taking a few days off swimming to be sure we're still healing. Running is fine though since week 3, and doesn't appear to have affected healing much. At the gym I'm lifting 10lb weights in that arm to start strengthening, and orthodox gave me a stretch band and print off of 'throwers 10' exercises to strengthen shoulder, as my deltoid got hurt and aches and feels bruised if I run or stand with it unsupported for more than 10 minutes or so. I hope it will pass.

Sorry for long post, just recounting my experience and follow ups. Here's the xray! Check the ball of bone on the healed collarbone vs earlier shot!! Lesson: lots of healing happens after 2 months!!!
photo
flag nofear259
O+
Posted: Feb 11, 2014 at 8:52 Quote
The first one looks like mine, and lucky you had to wait just two months. I'm at almost 6 months and I just got the go-ahead from my surgeon to start working out again.
flag collarbone
Posted: Mar 20, 2014 at 21:35 Quote
My broken collarbone is on its 4th week but I still can hear some pops , not as strong as the first week... but now and then. Is it normal? have somebody else experienced this? Two doctors said i wouldnt need a surgery , but my last xray (coulple of days ago) didnt show any improvement at all.... i'm a little worried about this
flag Parabellum
O+
Posted: Mar 21, 2014 at 8:11 Quote
At 4 weeks I would say it's normal to still be hearing pops. Even after 6 months when my shoulder was supposedly healed, I was still getting pops and cracks. The physiotherapist said that lots of times after collarbone fractures you'll just have a noisy shoulder for the rest of your life. Even though the bone heals, the geometry of your shoulder just doesn't line up exactly like it did before.
flag TiJiT
Posted: Mar 21, 2014 at 9:57 Quote
Yeah even after about a year mine pops, then again my shoulder is still very out of line in terms of posture. But I'd say it's normal for it to crack and pop.
flag collarbone
Posted: Mar 21, 2014 at 14:32 Quote
TiJiT wrote:
Yeah even after about a year mine pops, then again my shoulder is still very out of line in terms of posture. But I'd say it's normal for it to crack and pop.

Razz for the rest of my life then Frown HAHA, nevermind ... its amazing how many people have broken their collarbones.

Greetings to all the collarbones out there Smile
flag TiJiT
Posted: Mar 21, 2014 at 14:46 Quote
In regards of recovery, I have one thing to say to you. Take your rehab seriously and commit to it. I broke mine in August of 2012, then did therapy in January until April. The reason for the therapy was because I jumped right back into things after 6 weeks. Just go to a physical therapist or if you don't have the funds, go online and do some basic shoulder exercises. As a matter of fact, I literally just got home from physical therapy haha

 


Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.022213
Mobile Version of Website