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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time

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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time
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flag hose406
Posted: Sep 20, 2020 at 14:06 Quote
Anyone have sternum pain after surgery? I’m about a week post op and feels like a pulling/pressure pain in the sternum area if I move a certain way. My neck is also super stiff and when turning towards the repaired bone I feel the same pressure on the sternum/clavicle joint. Hopefully it goes away soon.


Also how long till you guys were able to lay flat?
flag buildstuf
Posted: Sep 20, 2020 at 19:28 Quote
hose406 wrote:
Anyone have sternum pain after surgery? I’m about a week post op and feels like a pulling/pressure pain in the sternum area if I move a certain way. My neck is also super stiff and when turning towards the repaired bone I feel the same pressure on the sternum/clavicle joint. Hopefully it goes away soon.


Also how long till you guys were able to lay flat?

yeah i had it when i got a plate put in mine. it goes away over time. still have occasional aches and pains but it’s not that bad.
flag mitch32
Posted: Sep 20, 2020 at 23:24 Quote
hose406 wrote:
Anyone have sternum pain after surgery? I’m about a week post op and feels like a pulling/pressure pain in the sternum area if I move a certain way. My neck is also super stiff and when turning towards the repaired bone I feel the same pressure on the sternum/clavicle joint. Hopefully it goes away soon.


Also how long till you guys were able to lay flat?

muscle tension is your friend for a while now... Smile
I had the worst muscle tension ever direclty after surgery and the last few weeks... comes and goes.
But I think this is mostly due to the other 7 broken bones additonally to my collarbone & acromion.

May take some musle relaxer for a view days...
flag hose406
Posted: Sep 21, 2020 at 13:55 Quote
So I started using heat instead of ice. Made so much of a difference. I used a sock filled with rice and microwaved it for a minute. I could feel the muscle letting go and relaxing. It was amazing to actually relax last night...
flag Tripmo
Posted: Sep 21, 2020 at 19:47 Quote
hose406 wrote:
So I started using heat instead of ice. Made so much of a difference. I used a sock filled with rice and microwaved it for a minute. I could feel the muscle letting go and relaxing. It was amazing to actually relax last night...

There is general rule of thumb:
Use ice for acute injuries or pain, along with inflammation and swelling. Use heat for muscle pain or stiffness.
flag bonesofglass
Posted: Sep 25, 2020 at 13:55 Quote
8-22-20 I broke mine going over the bars...was going way too fast. Somewhere in the 35-38mph range. LOL. Anyway, Broke the distal end (4 pieces) and had to have ORIF surgery on Sep 1. They also bored a hole through my coracoid process and used a button device to pull it back in line. Fast forward a little over three weeks. I can move around with an ok range of motion but man does it ache. Stabbing pains if I have it out of the sling for a while. Doc told me I was ok to do any motion other than reach across my body with the left arm. Definitely no more weight than a can drink. Beer Thirty!

Still, Not as bad as rotator cuff/labrum surgery.

Here is a video of the the exact procedure except I had more pieces put back together. Pretty cool what they can do these days!

XRAY Day of Accident

during Surgery - flouroscopy
flag hoopman1989
Posted: Oct 17, 2020 at 1:39 Quote
Broken my collerbone about 3 weeks ago and My doc said not to wear a brace / sling at all very confusing as everyone else is saying to wear one I'm so confused lol
flag mitch32
Posted: Oct 17, 2020 at 1:56 Quote
hoopman1989 wrote:
Broken my collerbone about 3 weeks ago and My doc said not to wear a brace / sling at all very confusing as everyone else is saying to wear one I'm so confused lol

I didn´t wear a sling... and my physio told me also to not wear it. just to be careful...
flag GBangShredder
Posted: Oct 19, 2020 at 11:55 Quote
I wore a sling for a few days for comfort as the surgeon described it. Back to everything after 6 weeks. Hang in there!
flag Julielynn
Posted: Nov 2, 2020 at 10:48 Quote
I broke my clavicle on Oct 7. Had plate surgery on Oct 16. It was broken on three places, with the third piece a shard that was hard to repair.

questions:
How common is shoulder pain? I kind of feel like something might be wrong with my rotator cuff, but I'm not sure.

I have tingling in my fingers - feels like my hand fell asleep. How long does this last for those of you who've had it? I also have some weird numbness in my earlobe sometimes! (The incision area is still numb, but I was expecting that.)

When did your surgeon refer you to physiotherapy? Mine has not mentioned it and I don't go back for an x-ray for another 4 weeks.

photo
flag fielonator
Posted: Nov 2, 2020 at 12:11 Quote
Julielynn wrote:
I broke my clavicle on Oct 7. Had plate surgery on Oct 16. It was broken on three places, with the third piece a shard that was hard to repair.

questions:
How common is shoulder pain? I kind of feel like something might be wrong with my rotator cuff, but I'm not sure.

I have tingling in my fingers - feels like my hand fell asleep. How long does this last for those of you who've had it? I also have some weird numbness in my earlobe sometimes! (The incision area is still numb, but I was expecting that.)

When did your surgeon refer you to physiotherapy? Mine has not mentioned it and I don't go back for an x-ray for another 4 weeks.

Welcome to the club. Not a club anyone wants to go to, but many do.

Numbness in your hand is probably due to tension in your neck and upper back. Once you're mobile you should be able to get this fixed with osteo, physio, or just normal movement if you were ok before.

My physio didn't really begin until I'd been discharged by the surgeon, so from 6 weeks after my operation. I'd done some range of motion stuff on my own as it felt ok before that.

Other pain in your shoulder could be from the crash, or the surgery, or not moving your arm properly for a while. Have you been in a sling?

The physio should be able to help. I did a lot of passive movement exercises, either hanging my arm as i bend over and gently swinging my hand in circles, or using my good arm to move my bad one. Some people use a broom handle for this.

I think it's important to keep the shoulder moving a bit, just be gentle with it and try to be patient.

Take it easy and you'll be fit and strong again soon enough.

photo
flag CSdirt
Posted: Nov 2, 2020 at 13:25 Quote
[Quote="Julielynn"

questions:
How common is shoulder pain? I kind of feel like something might be wrong with my rotator cuff, but I'm not sure.

I have tingling in my fingers - feels like my hand fell asleep. How long does this last for those of you who've had it? I also have some weird numbness in my earlobe sometimes! (The incision area is still numb, but I was expecting that.)

When did your surgeon refer you to physiotherapy? Mine has not mentioned it and I don't go back for an x-ray for another 4 weeks.

[/Quote]

I had a similar break back in may. Broke in several pieces and now have a plate and 11 screws. You should start doing assisted range of motion exercises immediately after surgery. Get a PT if you can. If not look up exercises that you can do for range of motion. You need to move the joint so that it doesn't get tight, but you don't want to move it without taking all the weight off (weight of arm) for several week/month.
flag GBangShredder
Posted: Nov 2, 2020 at 17:47 Quote
Started physio at 10 days with mostly range of motion and very very light resistance. I Developed pulsitive tinnitus in my left ear so if that can happen I'm sure ear lobe pain can too! Good luck!
flag lblizzard
Posted: Nov 3, 2020 at 6:50 Quote
Julielynn wrote:
I broke my clavicle on Oct 7. Had plate surgery on Oct 16. It was broken on three places, with the third piece a shard that was hard to repair.

questions:
How common is shoulder pain? I kind of feel like something might be wrong with my rotator cuff, but I'm not sure.

I have tingling in my fingers - feels like my hand fell asleep. How long does this last for those of you who've had it? I also have some weird numbness in my earlobe sometimes! (The incision area is still numb, but I was expecting that.)

When did your surgeon refer you to physiotherapy? Mine has not mentioned it and I don't go back for an x-ray for another 4 weeks.


My doc told me nothing for 6 weeks then physio, which i did for about 3 weeks, then continued rehab at home. Mine was a mess, I have 2 plates top and front, which caused more issues with soft tissue, my shoulder was pretty froze up. It took about a year for the weird nerve pain to settle down, still have some. I also have trouble sleeping on my left side. I'm 2 years after surgery and I'm still not 100% , never will be i guess but I have no limitations and have no problems doing any physical activities
flag Julielynn
Posted: Nov 5, 2020 at 10:01 Quote
lblizzard wrote:
Julielynn wrote:
I broke my clavicle on Oct 7. Had plate surgery on Oct 16. It was broken on three places, with the third piece a shard that was hard to repair.

questions:
How common is shoulder pain? I kind of feel like something might be wrong with my rotator cuff, but I'm not sure.

I have tingling in my fingers - feels like my hand fell asleep. How long does this last for those of you who've had it? I also have some weird numbness in my earlobe sometimes! (The incision area is still numb, but I was expecting that.)

When did your surgeon refer you to physiotherapy? Mine has not mentioned it and I don't go back for an x-ray for another 4 weeks.


My doc told me nothing for 6 weeks then physio, which i did for about 3 weeks, then continued rehab at home. Mine was a mess, I have 2 plates top and front, which caused more issues with soft tissue, my shoulder was pretty froze up. It took about a year for the weird nerve pain to settle down, still have some. I also have trouble sleeping on my left side. I'm 2 years after surgery and I'm still not 100% , never will be i guess but I have no limitations and have no problems doing any physical activities

mine was a pretty bad break too from what the ortho said. "complicated getting it back together" I think I have a lot of soft tissue damage too, probably from the bone shards, surgery, and plate. The whole are is still tender 3 weeks post op. Thanks for sharing! I was getting a bit frustrate by the stories of people who were back to "normal" after 6 weeks! I think it's going to be a while for me...

 


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