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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time

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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time
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flag Boyan1984
Posted: Jun 18, 2018 at 5:48 Quote
Same here concerning the muscles. I feel them gently reminding of themselves from time to time. Apart from a clicking shoulder sometimes, I have no other complaints. I will however wait until 15 July before I ride again and on long distance. Still don’t think I am ready.
Doc said muscles and bone will be completely restored in six months. Until then - light road trips, nothing more.
flag Mugged
O+
Posted: Jun 18, 2018 at 8:13 Quote
[/Quote]not sure what that means but here is the X-Ray, will it need pinning?[/Quote]

Looks a lot my X-ray and mine was plated, my story is on page 64.

If it ever happens again and I have the option I'm gonna give the body a chance to heal itself.
flag thedad71
Posted: Jun 18, 2018 at 8:24 Quote
Mugged wrote:
not sure what that means but here is the X-Ray, will it need pinning?[/Quote]

Looks a lot my X-ray and mine was plated, my story is on page 64.

If it ever happens again and I have the option I'm gonna give the body a chance to heal itself.[/Quote]
Cheers Mugged, do you mean you would of not had the surgery or that you would of taken taken extra time to heal or both?
flag dub-up
Posted: Jun 18, 2018 at 10:05 Quote
lblizzard wrote:
dub-up wrote:
Today was my 10 week check-up. It had been over 6 weeks since my last xray. I was nervous it wasn't going to look much different (original set of images in my profile and on page 61 of this thread). However, things have improved a great deal from the original injury.


The ortho doc essentially said if he could have had a crystal ball showing him my progress at the first appointment, he would have never recommended surgery at all. So that agony I put myself through deciding if this was the best route for optimal healing was all for naught. I'm glad I made the decision I did obviously.

I started running a couple of weeks ago and today was cleared for some non-aggressive road biking (nothing that would put me at undo risk for falling again). He expects when I go back in 6-8 weeks that it will be my final visit. I sure hope so!

The xrays still look pretty rough in my opinion, but miles better than the original images. Things are definitely healing well, it will just take some time before I'm 100%. He was even more encouraged by my range of motion and lack of pain. As others have indicated in this thread, it takes longer to show healing via xrays than physiologically. The new bone is not easily visible on xrays. It might take another couple of months before my bones actually appear healed via xray, though the improvement from week 1 to now is plainly obvious to the naked eye.

Definitely took a weight off my shoulders to know I made the right call. Surgery is no longer even an option to consider at this point. It's just going to take time before I am cleared for full contact and weight bearing exercises. Hopefully the back pain I'm experiencing will go away when I can start to workout my upper body again.

WOW!! that's crazy how the bone came back together, glad it did. I would never recommend for anyone to rush into fixing a collar bone, i waited 6 long months and inevitably had to go under the knife

I know I am really surprised at how much they appear to have moved. I attribute this to restoring range of motion early with light stretching, particularly the one where you pull your shoulder blades in towards each other. I tried to practice good posture and hold my shoulders up and back (mimicking what a figure 8 brace likely does). I think over time the muscles sort of move things into place. Also I'm a pretty "thick" guy between muscles and my extra "throw around" weight I tend to carry, so I'm guessing there was a natural cast in my shoulder girdle that helped to keep things in place and supply blood to the injury. I didn't overdo the exercise but I tried to get my heart rate up at least once a day and got on the stationary bike and/or walked long distances at least 3 times per week. You also can't discount the fact that slight changes in x-ray angles could impact how each image I've posted looks to the eye, or to the fact of just being lucky with my particular break (no overlap, bones in a position to where they were able to stabilize).

Other than that, lots of calcium rich foods, eating the right food and a lot of it, and a few different supplements that I can't say whether they made a difference individually because they were all taken simultaneously or at various points over the past 10 weeks:
-Raw Calcium by Garden of life followed by Pure Synergy Bone Renewal when my first bottle was done (slightly different composition, I figured that couldn't hurt to provide a different profile of minerals and enzymes); these were my calcium supplements.
-CapraFlex by Mt. Capra is a supplement i took during the entire time. It has collagen, bone mineral and enzyme blends that I believe supported a rapid return to range of motion. These things are big and smell bad though.
-A good multivitamin containing all the trace elements you could remotely need for healing bones: Boron, Copper, Magnesium, the full alphabet of vitamins, etc...

You could tell me right now all that stuff is a placebo and I'd still take it again next time because I'm happy with how my healing has gone so far.
flag dub-up
Posted: Jun 18, 2018 at 10:08 Quote
thedad71 wrote:
lblizzard wrote:
thedad71 wrote:
Just broke my collarbone on a fairly easy jump. Broke in 2 places and may need surgery to pin it. Question - Do I cancel my morzine trip in 5 weeks? I can reschedule for 8 weeks is that more realistic?

Always better to wait and let it heal naturally, depending on where exactly the breaks are will dictate how long the recovery is if you have surgery. Distal clavicle fracture is more complicated than a Mid-Shaft break, different plates, different muscles affected, etc, etc

not sure what that means but here is the X-Ray, will it need pinning?

I'm no medical professional, but one of the big factors in the decision for surgery vs no surgery is how much clavicle shortening can be expected due to overlap of the bones. In your case, the overlap is pretty severe. I will echo the other opinions that you will likely be recommended for surgery to restore the length of your clavicle. The good news is your break is clean so this should yield very good results.
flag Mugged
O+
Posted: Jun 20, 2018 at 13:58 Quote
thedad71 wrote:
Mugged wrote:
not sure what that means but here is the X-Ray, will it need pinning?

Looks a lot my X-ray and mine was plated, my story is on page 64.

If it ever happens again and I have the option I'm gonna give the body a chance to heal itself.[/Quote]
Cheers Mugged, do you mean you would of not had the surgery or that you would of taken taken extra time to heal or both?[/Quote]

One thing I am quite sure of is that the information that was given to me pre- and post-op was poor to say the least. In hindsight I would have tried the route dub-up took, give it a try without ruling out the surgery option. But hindsight brings nothing I just think the advise the doctors gave me after the surgery caused me to do to much and got the plate in the wrong position. I am in for an Xray next friday to see if any callus has formed and the plate is stable.
flag justinbrewster
O+
Posted: Jun 21, 2018 at 6:50 Quote
An update on my injury. Had my 7-week X rays last week, which looked good and showed signs of bone growth; all restrictions have been lifted. Ortho said I could come back for a follow up appointment if I wanted, but that it was not necessary to be seen again.

The weekend before the x-rays I actually had gotten on my bike and did an easier trail ride, and some light duty in the bike park. I felt good-- just tired shoulder and stabilizing muscles. Last week and this week I have ridden in my local Wednesday night beer league enduro races. It feels good just to be out there-- still taking it easy and not sending the big stuff 100% yet. The loss to my cardiovascular fitness has been the most noticeable thing holding me back.

Obviously it varies case-by-case, but for me it seems like natural healing was a good option. My shoulder is a little different now, and I have a sweet lump where my clavicle used to be, but I think 7 weeks is a pretty reasonable return to being back on my bike.

For anybody who is healing I'd definitely recommend a few things (consistent with your physician's recommendations of course):

1. Good diet, calcium/D3 supplement, limit alcohol and plenty of sleep
2. Get back to active range of movement ASAP. I was really surprised when my Ortho suggested that I ditch the sling-- and it was uncomfortable to do the movements that were prescribed, but I think it dramatically limited how much strength and ROM were lost.

Good luck to everyone else who is dealing with this.

justinbrewster wrote:
I joined this elite club four weeks ago.

photo

Overshot a large drop and landed nose heavy. It was probably 6-7' down and 25+' out. I've never hit the ground that hard in 20 years of riding. During the crash I could feel the force building up on my shoulder. The main damage was this midshaft comminuted fracture of my right clavicle. It hurt a lot at the moment of impact but was surprisingly manageable thereafter. There was no confusion that my clavicle was smashed. The other injuries I sustained hurt more-- bruised ribs, tweaked wrist, smashed hand and abrasions from the tip of my fingers to my scapula, and deep bruising to my leg. My helmet took a small hit above my ear and the suspension system broke. I did not lose consciousness or experience any concussion symptoms afterwards, which I am grateful for.

I was traveling out of town, so got to visit the local ER that basically said go home and see what an ortho says. They gave me a sling and sent me on my way.

Week one was pretty terrible since my partner was out of town. Getting dressed, cooking, etc. The clavicle its self was not bad for pain but tons of crepitus and of course everything else hurt quite a bit. I stared on calcium/D3 gummies right away and stayed off the Ibuprofen since there is some evidence it can impair bone healing. I got in to see an ortho about four days afterwards and she said we could go either way with the surgery, but she didn't think it was necessary. As soon as I indicated that I also had that viewpoint she gave me some fairly aggressive advice regarding range of movement. She had me take off the sling and do pendulums and arm circles as much as I could in the office. She instructed me to keep at it with the arm movement and ditch the sling ASAP.

By the end of week two I was mostly sling free. Carefully driving my manual transmission truck. I realized that it was time for the sling to come off while on a walk when it was more annoying to have it on than off. By the end of this week I could feel things starting to get more solid/stable (soft callus formation) and range of motion started to improve quite a bit. I did a lot of passive lifting of my injured side with my other arm and was able to get over my head with minimal pain. Showering and regular shirts were finally a reality. Most of the pain I had was muscles surrounding the shoulder which were not happy about having been immobilized. This improved quickly though.

After three weeks I saw the ortho again and had more x-rays. Said that it hadn't shortened much so we were still good with the non surgical option. Definitely starting to feel like the bones are getting sticky and that my arm is usable for light duty.

At four weeks I'm really tempted to get on my bike and do some easy riding but I'm trying to be disciplined for another few weeks. I have more xrays at 7 weeks, so hopefully there will be some visible signs of bone growth then. For now it feels like going the non-surgical route was the right choice. Anyways, I count my self lucky (for now at least) with the progress I'm making and avoiding a significant brain or spine injury. I'm 33 years old, non-smoker so I think that helps.


Best of luck in healing to the rest of you guys and gals who are injured. It seems like there is a huge range in healing time and recovery with clavicle fractures. I'll post updates next time I get some xrays.
flag Mugged
O+
Posted: Jun 22, 2018 at 13:02 Quote
9 week check today. Fortunately the position of the plate has not worsened and the doc pushed pretty hard to confirm all is stable. He wasn't sure about visible callus in the X-ray but assured me that I am doing allright. Next check in 4 weeks and as soon as the bone has healed enough the plate is coming out. Because of the incorrect position it has got to come out once the bone is strong enough.
flag atticus
Posted: Jun 25, 2018 at 10:41 Quote
Broken collarbone


it's been 5 and half weeks after my crash, wearing figure 8 and arm sling, first 10 days were hell since they have given me too big figure 8 and sling. after they gave me new ones things are much better, I am feeling better but I still feel cracking in the bone which worries me since I was hoping to be healed untill now... I have follow up with my doctor tomorrow to see my progress.
flag thedad71
Posted: Jun 25, 2018 at 11:14 Quote
atticus wrote:
Broken collarbone


it's been 5 and half weeks after my crash, wearing figure 8 and arm sling, first 10 days were hell since they have given me too big figure 8 and sling. after they gave me new ones things are much better, I am feeling better but I still feel cracking in the bone which worries me since I was hoping to be healed untill now... I have follow up with my doctor tomorrow to see my progress.
Did the figure 8 help? I've seen conflicting reports of that brace.
flag atticus
Posted: Jun 25, 2018 at 12:52 Quote
the figure 8 helps alot for the bones to stay aligned but it has it's downside since it's very uncomfortable. my bones seem to have come into place so I think it was a good decision to not have a surgery, looking forward to meeting the doctor tomorrow.
flag asctlc
Posted: Jun 25, 2018 at 14:22 Quote
That looks like a beautiful clean break atticus. Hope you get to hear great news tomorrow.
flag Mugged
O+
Posted: Jun 25, 2018 at 14:55 Quote
That scan look so much easier to interpret than regular X-ray, especially for amateurs like me. Is this a CAT or MRI?

Cheers
flag atticus
Posted: Jun 26, 2018 at 2:04 Quote
asctlc wrote:
That looks like a beautiful clean break atticus. Hope you get to hear great news tomorrow.

yes i didn't fall directly on my shoulder, I bailed in the air on some bigger dirt jumps, fell to my feet and rolled over braking the collarbone in the row, I got very lucky since on the next day, another dude broke his arm in 2 places and some Internal bleeding on the same jump...

Mugged wrote:
That scan look so much easier to interpret than regular X-ray, especially for amateurs like me. Is this a CAT or MRI?

Cheers


that's a CAT scan, it does make it easier to see what's going on, I think it's awesome they can take such pictures of your skeleton.

he said things are looking good and the x-ray looks good as well ( I didn't take picture of it tho ) it's not fully healed yet and I have to wear just the figure 8 for 2 more weeks without the arm sling. I may return to biking in Augustus.
it's feels good but there is a bump on my bone which annoys me a bit but I guess I have to get used to it Smile
flag thedad71
Posted: Jun 26, 2018 at 6:49 Quote
thedad71 wrote:
lblizzard wrote:
thedad71 wrote:
Just broke my collarbone on a fairly easy jump. Broke in 2 places and may need surgery to pin it. Question - Do I cancel my morzine trip in 5 weeks? I can reschedule for 8 weeks is that more realistic?

Always better to wait and let it heal naturally, depending on where exactly the breaks are will dictate how long the recovery is if you have surgery. Distal clavicle fracture is more complicated than a Mid-Shaft break, different plates, different muscles affected, etc, etc
photo
not sure what that means but here is the X-Ray, will it need pinning?
Just got back from the doctors, he has said that it is healing nicely and will not need surgery WOO-HOO!!, I'm going to delay my Morzine trip until end of August so that gives me 9 weeks to heal from when I done it. A lot more realistic and a chance to get back some fitness that I would of lost.

 


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