Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time

PB Forum :: Fitness, Training and Health
Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time
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flag dher0521
Posted: Mar 22, 2014 at 18:42 Quote
Swimming helps a lot too! I was in the pool the day after my stitches came out to rebuild
Movement and strength
flag Turboute
Posted: Mar 23, 2014 at 15:20 Quote
Fractured my collarbone and dislocated my ac joint yesterday. Was literally going walking speed when I did it. Landed awkwardly and heard it crack. Learnt a valuable lesson about riding alone as I had a 1 3/4 hr walk overpack to the car, there was a guy at the trailhead waiting for some mates who loaded my bike for me and then 20 min drive to the hospital. Not the most fun thing I have ever done. Going to specialist tomorrow and hopefully surgery thurs.
flag Turboute
Posted: Mar 27, 2014 at 3:21 Quote
Surgery this Monday morning then 12 weeks off the bike according to the surgeon. 6 weeks off work.
flag Parabellum
O+
Posted: Mar 27, 2014 at 7:34 Quote
Turboute wrote:
Surgery this Monday morning then 12 weeks off the bike according to the surgeon. 6 weeks off work.

6 weeks off work? Lucky. I was back at work one week after mine. It sucked.
flag Turboute
Posted: Mar 27, 2014 at 14:37 Quote
No light duties where I work so I have to wait til I get clearance from doctor.
flag offshore
Posted: Apr 9, 2014 at 20:20 Quote
TiJiT wrote:
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

Well I stood up as a self described 'expert' in healing broken collarbones, having been on my second break in as many collarbones (I've broken both). Turns out that TiJiT is right on the money here. My break didn't feel or look as bad as the first, so at 6 weeks I got back in the pool. My strength and 'pain tolerance' allowed me to swim through clicking bones, which I convinced myself were just misaligned ligaments. But I even felt new oozing and warmth after some swims :/ (I was doing a mile in 30 minutes pace, not exactly slow and cautious).

I worry that has set me back, as I'm 3.5 months in now with a non-union developing (I stopped swimming at 12 weeks at least). It 'feels' pretty good, 'healing', with full range of motion, don't feel like I'm pulling the bone apart when I roll over and lift the covers (happened at first), not even random bone aches (those are ligaments actually). I read that the collarbone is spongey and takes a long time to solidify. DON'T DISRUPT THE PROCESS! I start on a bone stimulator this week, after which I myself will have to decide on surgery or 'live with a nonunion'.

Truth be told, I've still been sort of active, and have sustained slow annoying falls off a skateboard and bike, but nothing to aggravate the collarbone...I think. Looking at my old broken collarbone, it felt pretty good at 3 months even though x-rays only showed bone connecting the ends. I half hope to take things easy, get back into activity, then someday down the line in 2 years get an xray and see the 'magical bone growth' that I have a feeling occurs (it did on my first break).

Significant clicking is bad, clicking outside the collarbone is probably other injuries. When I raise my arm just the elbow, scar tissue from deltoid damage cracks and pops until after a few times of me 'working it out'. I feel little clicks sometimes that aren't by the bone break point but seem like they are bone. Try to minimize those as well. I've come this far and read how risky surgery is/annoying recovery can be (with same risk of nonunion!), I'm going to stick it out. I even plan to start kiteboarding again cautiously next month, healed bone or not.

The dinosaurs broke and healed bones, right? They didn't get surgery! Smile
flag nofear259
O+
Posted: Apr 9, 2014 at 20:56 Quote
Yeah, when I got surgery I was 10% sure about it all, but went through with it as that's what would get the bone back to its strongest self
flag offshore
Posted: Apr 10, 2014 at 5:57 Quote
I had forgotten you mentioned having a similar break to my first one, nofear. Has everything turned out Ok for you? I just don't like the idea of drilling holes in bone, how that doesn't lead to a weaker bone structure is beyond me. With my first one I wasn't as active early on, or the healing is just a crapshoot, though I'm sure now that getting back to swimming too aggressively was a bad idea.

I go on a bone stimulator soon, but oddly enough my new break feels better off than my first break did, at this point. I can even sleep on that side without noticing it, though perhaps that too is a bad idea lol. My bone pieces overlap and though the Xray doesn't show connection, I can rub my finger on the bone and feel a definite substance connecting the two bones. Will it ever solidify? Who knows. I've taken myself out of the pool until their's visible bone regrowth, though I can't help but try a couple little strokes if I'm in the ocean or so. They seem fine, no rough clicking anymore, but I'm still not going to push it.

Unfortunately, I'd also gotten back on my long boarding habit just before this break, and ride it to the train or around town often. I guess the added risk brings added thrill! *shrug*
flag Dust1Off
Posted: Apr 10, 2014 at 7:33 Quote
Hey now, I had bad displaced fracture and I decided to have the surgery on it instead of letting it heal on its own because I had heard nothing but horror stories about having to eventually have it done anyhow...(best decision I could have made)..
I was back to playing hockey in six weeks but was unable to get clearance to work for 10..
Get the surgery if they offer it to you....
My clavicle feels like new except for the plate and screws. Lol. Good luck
I also forgot that I had no physiotherapy at all and it works just like new
flag Dust1Off
Posted: Apr 10, 2014 at 7:38 Quote
bikerchick17 wrote:
I broke my collarbone 3 months ago and it still hasn't healed fully yet! i gotta go for another x-ray in 2 weeks ill try and the scan of it, but yeah i know what you guys mean when you feel it move!People say the bones reconnect when they heal but alot of people i've heard of all have messed up collarbones now. Mine overlaps itself, anyone else feel a pop sometimes when you lift your arm up over your head?

This is the kind of horror story I speak of...
Surgery is the best fix from the start.
Hope you get better soon BC, really feel for ya
flag nofear259
O+
Posted: Apr 10, 2014 at 8:18 Quote
offshore wrote:
I had forgotten you mentioned having a similar break to my first one, nofear. Has everything turned out Ok for you? I just don't like the idea of drilling holes in bone, how that doesn't lead to a weaker bone structure is beyond me. With my first one I wasn't as active early on, or the healing is just a crapshoot, though I'm sure now that getting back to swimming too aggressively was a bad idea.

I go on a bone stimulator soon, but oddly enough my new break feels better off than my first break did, at this point. I can even sleep on that side without noticing it, though perhaps that too is a bad idea lol. My bone pieces overlap and though the Xray doesn't show connection, I can rub my finger on the bone and feel a definite substance connecting the two bones. Will it ever solidify? Who knows. I've taken myself out of the pool until their's visible bone regrowth, though I can't help but try a couple little strokes if I'm in the ocean or so. They seem fine, no rough clicking anymore, but I'm still not going to push it.

Unfortunately, I'd also gotten back on my long boarding habit just before this break, and ride it to the train or around town often. I guess the added risk brings added thrill! *shrug*
yeah everything is going great, I'm not allowed to play any contact sports like rugby, but I've been riding almost anything I can get my hands on, but I must admit, everytime I have a crash I can definatlely feel my bones scolding me for crashing
flag nofear259
O+
Posted: Apr 10, 2014 at 8:21 Quote
Dust1Off wrote:
bikerchick17 wrote:
I broke my collarbone 3 months ago and it still hasn't healed fully yet! i gotta go for another x-ray in 2 weeks ill try and the scan of it, but yeah i know what you guys mean when you feel it move!People say the bones reconnect when they heal but alot of people i've heard of all have messed up collarbones now. Mine overlaps itself, anyone else feel a pop sometimes when you lift your arm up over your head?

This is the kind of horror story I speak of...
Surgery is the best fix from the start.
Hope you get better soon BC, really feel for ya
yeah, I was out of doing things for a total of over 6 MONTHS, so it ain't that bad for ya, just make sure to be really really careful when stretching
flag offshore
Posted: Apr 16, 2014 at 11:55 Quote
So... I'm almost 4 months into my right collarbone break. Each x-ray has showed signs of impending 'non-union', i.e. no calcification of strands of fiber connecting the two pieces of bone. The pieces have come closer together, stopped clicking at any movements, and stopped hurting basically at all. It barely seems tender now even. I am not stressing it more than light exercises, though I have actually started kiteboarding 'lightly' again (I'm experienced enough to minimize risk of bad things happening/crashing. My metric is keeping my hair dry Smile ). This constitutes strain of a few pounds from steering the kite, and it's still a workout for the rest of the body. At the end of a good kiting session, it actually feels really, really good, like the ligaments and muscles have been looking forward to some light exercising for too long.

My point is...is it a non-union, not healed? I don't remember if I got an x-rays past 2 months with my other collarbone break, where the doc said it was on the way and had slivers of calcified new bone connecting the two pieces, whereas the rest looked like empty space still. That's a rhetorical question, but I'm curious if anyone has gone down this path? My x-ray of the left collarbone after 2 years shows quite a bit of fully filled-in bone. I've been prescribed a bone stimulator, but I half feel I do not even need it (though I will use it of course). I couldn't imagine opting for surgery now, given how good it feels and that I can do what I love (kiteboarding). I'll escalate the strain as the bone stimulator aids the healing and shows some calcification. If it doesn't? Well I'm not crashing onto the pavement or ice on a daily basis, so I'll take the risk. This makes me question anyone ever getting surgery besides a professional athlete. I swear my right 'non union' is healing faster than my left did (smaller displacement), regardless of what the x-ray says. I wonder if I'm fooling myself!!

Good to hear on your outcome nofear, it does seem like surgery is the "get 'er done" best fit, considering I'm still in a questionable state and most people as you are good to go afterwards (and quicker!). I'll try to keep things updated on how I turn out, but so far I still enjoy having no scars Wink .
flag Dust1Off
Posted: Apr 16, 2014 at 15:35 Quote
Like I said in my previous post, I chose surgery because of the chance I'd have to have it down the road due to it failing to heal on its own... i'm no doctor and did not take your path but it sounds like your headed down that road unfortunately...
My displacement was bad (3/4"), I played hockey after 4weeks and had no physiotherapy at all and by 8weeks I was cleared for work..
Look into bro
PS, chicks dig scars
flag Parabellum
O+
Posted: Apr 16, 2014 at 16:38 Quote
offshore wrote:
This makes me question anyone ever getting surgery besides a professional athlete. I swear my right 'non union' is healing faster than my left did (smaller displacement), regardless of what the x-ray says. I wonder if I'm fooling myself!!

Good to hear on your outcome nofear, it does seem like surgery is the "get 'er done" best fit, considering I'm still in a questionable state and most people as you are good to go afterwards (and quicker!). I'll try to keep things updated on how I turn out, but so far I still enjoy having no scars Wink .

The problem is, if it's a non-union it isn't healed. The ends of the bone at the fracture site callous over, but essentially you still have a broken bone. It might feel ok right now, but over time you will have trouble with it - especially if you live an active lifestyle. I'd look into the surgery if I were you.

 


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