Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time

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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time
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flag lblizzard
Posted: Mar 27, 2018 at 9:56 Quote
lblizzard wrote:
this is my 6 week x-ray, shoulder is very tight, lots of pain, now starts the rehab, not looking forward to it. But hey Doc says i can ride my bike if i can stand the pain. it's just got to stop snowing

.
6 week x-ray

So tomorrow will be 8 weeks since surgery, last two weeks have been lots therapy, which is not fun. My should feels like kitchen knifes running through it every time i lift my arm. I have to say the last few days have been better and i did do a decent road ride yesterday that went pretty good. Hard to do arm signals when i turn right : )
After doing a lot of reading and talking to other folks I have come to realize not all clavicle breaks are the same. Mid-shaft fractures are much easier to recover from, less muscles disturbed than Distal clavicle fractures (out toward the AC joint), which is where the Deltoid and Trap muscles primarily attach. Screw a plate to your bone in this area and your muscles don't like it at ALL!!!!
flag lblizzard
Posted: Apr 11, 2018 at 11:53 Quote
10 weeks today since surgery, which means 4 weeks of therapy. Rang of motion in shoulder is about 75% due to an aggressive therapist. Putting my hands on the handlebars doesn't bother my should too much so I've managed to put about 75 miles on my road bike.
flag dub-up
Posted: May 10, 2018 at 9:22 Quote
I'm battling my own broken collarbone right now and I'm slowly but surely winning the war, but it's still too soon to tell. Figured I'd share and dig this thread back up.

The injury was sustained when I flipped over my handlebars on my road bike on Apr 4th. Initial xrays taken looked pretty nasty:

(disclaimer, I have no idea why but pinkbike rotates my photos upon upload. If anyone knows how to correct let me know)

4/4
photo

This didn't look good. The orthopedic surgeon said we can go either route, but if it were his collarbone, he'd get it fixed surgically. He also indicated it would be perfectly fine if I decide to take a conservative healing approach and see how things mend on their own.

I was generally miserable the first week. Sleep was not happening. Bones shifting. Terrible times.

I went back at the two week mark to see if there was any improvement and help decide whether or not surgery would be necessary. Therein lies the problem, surgery isn't "necessary" even in very severe collarbone breaks. This point has been discussed infinitely here and across the internet. The decision, in the end, is between the patient and orthopedic surgeon. Here are the images taken at day 14:

4/18
photo

It looked a lot more "in line" despite the obvious large gap between bone fragments. That was encouraging. It seems the bones shift around during all those painful nights figuring out how to sleep. Because there is no overlap, my only obstacle is to "bridge the gap" between these bones. Something I definitely think is possible considering some of the remarkable distances bones have healed from what I've seen online.

The entire time I've been contemplating this decision, I had already called and scheduled the surgery early in the process (because the surgeon's schedule can fill FAST). I scheduled it within a week of the injury and the earliest he could take me was 3 weeks later on 4/30.

So, week before surgery, I was feeling a lot better. I was finally able to sleep on my back without a bunch of bone shifting. I was already hesitant to have a metal plate inserted into my body. This is the first bone i've broken and I've never had surgery in my 33 years. I saw the surgeon, just a few short days before the surgery was scheduled, to ask a laundry list of questions and try and make the final call on whether I need surgery or not. Updated images were taken:

4/27
photo
photo

Though there is still no signs of bone healing 23 days out, my improvements seem to be encouraging. My posture is decent, I can hold my shoulders up and back without pain, just some noticeable "pressure" in the injured shoulder.
The doc basically said i can move forward however I'm most comfortable, so basically square one on my decision.

This is easily the toughest decision I've ever had to make. I've basically come to terms with the fact that I likely ruined my summer. You don't realize just how active you are until something like this happens. EVERYTHING I do for fun has been sidelined by this injury.

I'm hopeful that the bone will find it's way and fuse together eventually without surgical reduction. I don't have a lot of shortening on the injured shoulder, so it seems it just comes down to patience and some luck that all goes well. The surgeon says I can still have it fixed even 6 months from now if I am displeased with how it heals, but then I'd be looking at an entire 2018 worth of cycling (and basically everything else I do for fun) down the drain. There's also the risk that it results in a poorly healed end result that gives me problems long term.

I go back at the end of May at which point I can only imagine how backed up this surgeon's schedule will be. Probably getting new clavicles every day.

Any gurus that might be able to share some advice, let me know. Should I keep the faith in mother nature or go with modern medicine intervention?
flag yoltwice
Posted: May 10, 2018 at 13:01 Quote
dub-up wrote:
I'm battling my own broken collarbone right now and I'm slowly but surely winning the war, but it's still too soon to tell. Figured I'd share and dig this thread back up.

The injury was sustained when I flipped over my handlebars on my road bike on Apr 4th. Initial xrays taken looked pretty nasty:

(disclaimer, I have no idea why but pinkbike rotates my photos upon upload. If anyone knows how to correct let me know)

4/4
photo

This didn't look good. The orthopedic surgeon said we can go either route, but if it were his collarbone, he'd get it fixed surgically. He also indicated it would be perfectly fine if I decide to take a conservative healing approach and see how things mend on their own.

I was generally miserable the first week. Sleep was not happening. Bones shifting. Terrible times.

I went back at the two week mark to see if there was any improvement and help decide whether or not surgery would be necessary. Therein lies the problem, surgery isn't "necessary" even in very severe collarbone breaks. This point has been discussed infinitely here and across the internet. The decision, in the end, is between the patient and orthopedic surgeon. Here are the images taken at day 14:

4/18
photo

It looked a lot more "in line" despite the obvious large gap between bone fragments. That was encouraging. It seems the bones shift around during all those painful nights figuring out how to sleep. Because there is no overlap, my only obstacle is to "bridge the gap" between these bones. Something I definitely think is possible considering some of the remarkable distances bones have healed from what I've seen online.

The entire time I've been contemplating this decision, I had already called and scheduled the surgery early in the process (because the surgeon's schedule can fill FAST). I scheduled it within a week of the injury and the earliest he could take me was 3 weeks later on 4/30.

So, week before surgery, I was feeling a lot better. I was finally able to sleep on my back without a bunch of bone shifting. I was already hesitant to have a metal plate inserted into my body. This is the first bone i've broken and I've never had surgery in my 33 years. I saw the surgeon, just a few short days before the surgery was scheduled, to ask a laundry list of questions and try and make the final call on whether I need surgery or not. Updated images were taken:

4/27
photo
photo

Though there is still no signs of bone healing 23 days out, my improvements seem to be encouraging. My posture is decent, I can hold my shoulders up and back without pain, just some noticeable "pressure" in the injured shoulder.
The doc basically said i can move forward however I'm most comfortable, so basically square one on my decision.

This is easily the toughest decision I've ever had to make. I've basically come to terms with the fact that I likely ruined my summer. You don't realize just how active you are until something like this happens. EVERYTHING I do for fun has been sidelined by this injury.

I'm hopeful that the bone will find it's way and fuse together eventually without surgical reduction. I don't have a lot of shortening on the injured shoulder, so it seems it just comes down to patience and some luck that all goes well. The surgeon says I can still have it fixed even 6 months from now if I am displeased with how it heals, but then I'd be looking at an entire 2018 worth of cycling (and basically everything else I do for fun) down the drain. There's also the risk that it results in a poorly healed end result that gives me problems long term.

I go back at the end of May at which point I can only imagine how backed up this surgeon's schedule will be. Probably getting new clavicles every day.

Any gurus that might be able to share some advice, let me know. Should I keep the faith in mother nature or go with modern medicine intervention?


Just have faith, it will heal, and you properly have less complications in the long run, and faster healing since no muscle (blood supply to the fracture ) is being removed from the area.

I was back on the city bike after a month(very carefully) and on full effect after about 3 months.
flag dub-up
Posted: May 11, 2018 at 11:27 Quote
FabianJ wrote:

Just have faith, it will heal, and you properly have less complications in the long run, and faster healing since no muscle (blood supply to the fracture ) is being removed from the area.

I was back on the city bike after a month(very carefully) and on full effect after about 3 months.

Yes I am hopeful I'm on the right track. But, the gap between the broken bone ends is just so large to my eye. I wonder how it will ever heal like that. Such a tricky injury.

I am encouraged that the bones seemed to move closer together and kind of shift more in line over those first 3 weeks, but I'm definitely nervous at what I'll see on my next images.

And I'm not jumping on my bike until 12 week mark at minimum. It was my first broken bone in my life I'm hoping to make it the last.
flag HerculesRockefeller
O+
Posted: May 11, 2018 at 12:45 Quote
dub-up wrote:
FabianJ wrote:

Just have faith, it will heal, and you properly have less complications in the long run, and faster healing since no muscle (blood supply to the fracture ) is being removed from the area.

I was back on the city bike after a month(very carefully) and on full effect after about 3 months.

Yes I am hopeful I'm on the right track. But, the gap between the broken bone ends is just so large to my eye. I wonder how it will ever heal like that. Such a tricky injury.

I am encouraged that the bones seemed to move closer together and kind of shift more in line over those first 3 weeks, but I'm definitely nervous at what I'll see on my next images.

And I'm not jumping on my bike until 12 week mark at minimum. It was my first broken bone in my life I'm hoping to make it the last.

I was in the exact same situation after breaking my clavicle last June...Displaced, comminuted fracture.

I saw a couple of doctors one of whom was an avid cyclist, and received the same advice. I could let it heal or have surgery, but since that the alignment was pretty good the doctor felt it would heal fine on it's own. After the first 8 weeks or so it didn't look like it was healing at all and I had to stay off the bike a little longer than originally planned, but by about 3.5 months i was given the go head to resume full activites. My doctor (who has a good sense of humor) said pretty much the worst thing that could happen is I just break it again.

Very frustrating injury but just be patient and it'll work out. I did up my intake of calcium and protein if for no other reason than to make it seem like I was doing something to speed up the healing.

Good luck.
flag dub-up
Posted: May 11, 2018 at 14:13 Quote
HerculesRockefeller wrote:
dub-up wrote:
FabianJ wrote:

Just have faith, it will heal, and you properly have less complications in the long run, and faster healing since no muscle (blood supply to the fracture ) is being removed from the area.

I was back on the city bike after a month(very carefully) and on full effect after about 3 months.

Yes I am hopeful I'm on the right track. But, the gap between the broken bone ends is just so large to my eye. I wonder how it will ever heal like that. Such a tricky injury.

I am encouraged that the bones seemed to move closer together and kind of shift more in line over those first 3 weeks, but I'm definitely nervous at what I'll see on my next images.

And I'm not jumping on my bike until 12 week mark at minimum. It was my first broken bone in my life I'm hoping to make it the last.


I was in the exact same situation after breaking my clavicle last June...Displaced, comminuted fracture.

I saw a couple of doctors one of whom was an avid cyclist, and received the same advice. I could let it heal or have surgery, but since that the alignment was pretty good the doctor felt it would heal fine on it's own. After the first 8 weeks or so it didn't look like it was healing at all and I had to stay off the bike a little longer than originally planned, but by about 3.5 months i was given the go head to resume full activites. My doctor (who has a good sense of humor) said pretty much the worst thing that could happen is I just break it again.

Very frustrating injury but just be patient and it'll work out. I did up my intake of calcium and protein if for no other reason than to make it seem like I was doing something to speed up the healing.

Good luck.

Thanks, yeah I've already been cranking up the protein and calcium intake. Plus other supplements: BCAAs, Zinc, omega-3, vitamin D. Usually I'd be cranking out 100+ miles per week this time of year, instead I'll be soaking up hours of sun at the pool.

I appreciate the words of encouragement.
flag lblizzard
Posted: May 11, 2018 at 19:14 Quote
dub-up wrote:
HerculesRockefeller wrote:
dub-up wrote:


Yes I am hopeful I'm on the right track. But, the gap between the broken bone ends is just so large to my eye. I wonder how it will ever heal like that. Such a tricky injury.

I am encouraged that the bones seemed to move closer together and kind of shift more in line over those first 3 weeks, but I'm definitely nervous at what I'll see on my next images.

And I'm not jumping on my bike until 12 week mark at minimum. It was my first broken bone in my life I'm hoping to make it the last.


I was in the exact same situation after breaking my clavicle last June...Displaced, comminuted fracture.

I saw a couple of doctors one of whom was an avid cyclist, and received the same advice. I could let it heal or have surgery, but since that the alignment was pretty good the doctor felt it would heal fine on it's own. After the first 8 weeks or so it didn't look like it was healing at all and I had to stay off the bike a little longer than originally planned, but by about 3.5 months i was given the go head to resume full activites. My doctor (who has a good sense of humor) said pretty much the worst thing that could happen is I just break it again.

Very frustrating injury but just be patient and it'll work out. I did up my intake of calcium and protein if for no other reason than to make it seem like I was doing something to speed up the healing.

Good luck.

Thanks, yeah I've already been cranking up the protein and calcium intake. Plus other supplements: BCAAs, Zinc, omega-3, vitamin D. Usually I'd be cranking out 100+ miles per week this time of year, instead I'll be soaking up hours of sun at the pool.

I appreciate the words of encouragement.

Putting a plate on your collar bone messes with a lot of muscles and nerves; did the doc tell you almost half your pec muscle will end up numb, which doesn't go away. knowing what i know now I wish a 1000 times mine would have connected properly and never had surgery. It's worth waiting to find out, don't rush it.
flag yoltwice
Posted: May 12, 2018 at 0:10 Quote
You can find the pictures of my fracture in my Photoalbum in my profile.

There was a large gap also. It healed just fine anyway.

If you eat calcium, remember to also eat magnesium otherwise it cannot enter your bones.
flag dub-up
Posted: May 12, 2018 at 13:47 Quote
FabianJ wrote:
You can find the pictures of my fracture in my Photoalbum in my profile.

There was a large gap also. It healed just fine anyway.

If you eat calcium, remember to also eat magnesium otherwise it cannot enter your bones.

Yes its included in the calcium supplement im taking. How old were you at the time of injury if you dont mind me asking?

Im almost at the 6 week mark from original injury. How much were you still using your sling at that point? I dont really feel like i need it anymore, but i hope im not compromising healing by not using it. It has improved to the point that i dont feel pain when i let my arm swing naturally to my side while walking. But id be surprised if I've achieved anything close to bone union since my most recent x-ray, so im wondering exactly what i can do with my arm 6 weeks into this injury in a high energy, displaced case like mine.

They recommended i schedule physical therapy as early as my 2 week visit, which shocked me considering how displaced it looked at that point. I've done passive exercises on my own (pendulum, very light range of motion) but im not going to start physical therapy sessions until i go back for more xrays in 3-4 weeks.
flag dub-up
Posted: May 12, 2018 at 13:52 Quote
lblizzard wrote:
Putting a plate on your collar bone messes with a lot of muscles and nerves; did the doc tell you almost half your pec muscle will end up numb, which doesn't go away. knowing what i know now I wish a 1000 times mine would have connected properly and never had surgery. It's worth waiting to find out, don't rush it.

So did you wait it out and still end up needing surgery? Or did you opt for surgery early and regret not taking a wait and see approach?

Edit: nevermind i read your post. 6 months is a very long time to live with that and wait for surgery. You STILL believe it was worth waiting even though surgery was an inevitability?

Im really torn in this regard because i want full function back. That's a priority. If surgery ends up being the only way to achieve that, so be it. Im being patient until i know for sure but im starting to realize you may never know for sure. 6 months is a long time. I hope everything works out with your new bionic shoulder, it should get better with time.
flag dub-up
Posted: May 13, 2018 at 14:14 Quote
delawhere wrote:
Did my left collarbone 04/29/2018 at Mountain Creek in NJ. Opening weekend, such a bummer after a rad two days of riding. It happened on something I've done before too which pissed me off.

It had been raining on and off all weekend and they just dropped the rope on the main jump line, upper dominion to pipeline and covenant early Sunday afternoon. First time hitting the covenant drop and cannon log this season.

After landing the Covenant Drop riders are then launched off of the Cannon Jump.
(that's not me, just a photo of the jump)

Came out of the drop and braked too hard, usually you're flying because the dirt is like cement in the summer/ fall. I had no speed for the cannon and cased super hard... Like didn't even make the transition, see the photo below. I think that big hole I left is from my crank guard, I must have really bottomed out.

I landed on two wheels but the bike bucked me OTB to the bottom of the transition right onto my left shoulder. Hopped up and knew something was wrong, felt my collarbone and sure enough, she was busted. Didn't really hurt too bad, my first thoughts were about how my season just got 6 to 8 or more weeks shorter not that my collarbone was shredded. The pain didn't really kick in until I was trying to shower and sleep later that night.

photo

photo

photo

I saw two surgeons, both recommended surgery because of the angle of the break and because it was tenting the skin (i.e., about to stick thru my f*cking skin lol). One of the surgeons wanted to do a permanent plate, the other wanted a pin through the bone. I went with the plate cos the pin would have to come out in another 3 months and my collarbone would be super weak (mid season) for another 6 months as the pin went through the middle of the bone.

I got the surgery the Wednesday after breaking it 05/02/2018 - I got a plate and 3 screws in. I don't have an X-ray of the hardware yet, going for a follow-up on Tuesday this week. I'm really hoping for good news, it's been a rough two weeks not being able to ride.

As far as plating goes and how I feel, the first couple of days were tough, I took more pain meds then I probably should have. Sleeping was harder before surgery because I could feel the bones moving around. Now i can sleep fine, but only on my right side or my back. I was out of the sling entirely by Tuesday 05/08/2018 (doc said that was ok post surgery). The arm feels great now, tbh my range of motion is almost 90%. My shoulder feels a little weak but it's getting there. I did some spinning on the trainer on Thursday night. Not too much pain, didn't put too much pressure on the left side. But something doesn't feel right so I'm gonna hang back on that until I talk with my Ortho this Tuesday.

I still feel some clicking and popping in and around my collarbone. It's not painful like before the break when my bones were rubbing together so I don't think it's that. There's no way the bone is still moving around if it's plated, right? Maybe scar tissue/ ligaments moving around the plate? I'm hoping my doc can give me more insight on Tuesday.

Just gonna update on here as a record for myself to keep track of healing and for future CB breakers, sorry for the long winded post. Can't wait to be back on the bike. This is my first big injury really ever and it f*cking blows.

Go easy. Have patience. I'd not want things moving around this early with new hardware in.

That said, please post an update tuesday. This is also my first big injury and I'm right there with you, nothing good about a broken CB no matter how you slice it (no pun intended).
flag dub-up
Posted: May 15, 2018 at 15:12 Quote
delawhere wrote:
Update:

Had my first follow-up at 13 days post-op - 05/15/2018. Check out the hardware below.

Pin it to win it 2 weeks post op

Overview of the follow-up:
I saw a PA today instead of the doc that performed the surgery. After getting the X-ray, the PA came in and removed all of the steri-strips that were on my incision. I didn't get stitched on stapled. I was asked to do some range of motion exercises (push, pull, lift my arms above my head). I was able to do all of them without issue. I'd say my range of motion is at 99% at this point. I don't get any pain really from moving my left arm. Still can't sleep on the left side though.

As far as recovery goes, the PA was pretty conservative. I was told you can't see any major bone growth after just 13 days, and that we'd reassess in another 6 weeks (06/25/2018 at our next follow-up. I'm bummed to say the least. I was hoping to be riding by mid-June, which was the doctor's timeline before surgery. No offense to the PA. I just wish I had seen the doctor who did the surgery to give me more insight.

The PA wasn't sure of the clicking noise. It's pretty sporadic so I couldn't get it to click while I was in there. I was told it probably is not the collarbone as it's being held together with 6 screws. But besides that, no answer.

I was told I can do stationary but I can't put any heavy body weight into my shoulder yet. I wasn't given a timeline by the PA for when I can start to increase weight and start actually riding. I'm guessing after our follow-up in 6 weeks. I can use my had for lightweight stuff as much as possible to increase strength and range of motion.

I'm a little bummed after today, didn't really get much info other than the X-ray. Should I reschedule my appointment in 6 weeks for something sooner, like 2-4 weeks from now? Or is a 2 week post-op appt followed by an 8-week post-op appt normal?

It may be disappointing to hear mid-june for follow up, but I would be as careful as possible approaching your recovery. Patience will pay dividends. Any sort of complication as a result of re-injury would be devastating.

You likely won't see a ton of improvement in only 2-4 weeks, so mid june seems right. At least you have great range of motion already and the surgery was successful in reducing the fracture. You are on the right path, don't allow your eagerness to get back on the bike cause you to have a setback.

I went non-operative (see my post above) and im nervous at what the xrays will show at my next visit. I pushed my next follow-up to as late as allowable (10 weeks from original injury instead of 6-8 weeks) because I want the xrays to show as much progress as possible. Lack of progress at 10 weeks may indicate I need to consider surgery after all.

In my first couple of weeks post injury, I was in your spot. Very frustrated at being off my routine and hoping for a speedy return. Now that it's been 6 weeks, I've put in enough time that I don't want any setbacks whatsoever. I'm being patient.

 


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