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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time

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Broken Collar Bone Recovery Time
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flag EarninTurns
Posted: Oct 31, 2023 at 20:23 Quote
mtnranger wrote:
But the plate is quite prominent... A bit scared about carrying a ski touring backpack this winter, but also equally reticent to have another! surgery in the future to pull out plate Frown ... But yeah, plate did it's job, so it is what it is...

One EXTREMELY anecdotal response, but I had one of mine removed so I could wear a backpack easier, still rubs pretty bad. Turns out being in a sport that encourages being skinny and breaking the piss out of your CB just makes things kinda suck sometimes ha! If I could roll back the clock, I'd have just left it in to not go under the knife again. wasn't worth it for me.
flag Trinimon
O+
Posted: Apr 6, 2024 at 20:26 Quote
Looks like I joined this club back in December when I bar tapped a tree. Not bad odd seeing that I went 30yrs of riding before breaking a bone... can't say the same for a tendon. A whole bunch of shoulda-woulda-coulda thoughts every time I regret think about the crash but injuries are part of the sport.

I've got my last x-rays during the first week of May and hopefully get clearance to resume sporting activities.

I've gone the non-surgery route and been doing physio since week 8. I've got about 85% of mobility back but that last 15% is taking its sweet time. How long did it take you lot to get full range of motion back?
flag GBangShredder
Posted: Apr 6, 2024 at 23:28 Quote
Ya man. Gotta pay to play.

I had 7 screws and a plate but don't feel like I lost any motion as I could use it immediately following surgery. I imagine without surgery you had to keep it still a lot more initially so that must be the difference.
flag isaacwmtb04
Posted: Apr 7, 2024 at 21:54 Quote
Trinimon wrote:
Looks like I joined this club back in December when I bar tapped a tree. Not bad odd seeing that I went 30yrs of riding before breaking a bone... can't say the same for a tendon. A whole bunch of shoulda-woulda-coulda thoughts every time I regret think about the crash but injuries are part of the sport.

I've got my last x-rays during the first week of May and hopefully get clearance to resume sporting activities.

I've gone the non-surgery route and been doing physio since week 8. I've got about 85% of mobility back but that last 15% is taking its sweet time. How long did it take you lot to get full range of motion back?

I had to go the surgery route, but mine came back pretty quick following the doctors orders. 1 month limited to below shoulder high, the next 2 months full range but no heavy lifting. That was where I had to work a bit because the arm hadn't been used for a while, but it came back quick with regular use. After that I was clear to carefully build back up. But I have also heard of people moving a lot quicker than that too, especially without surgery. I was supposed to take 6 months off the bike, went back after about 4.5 and was fine.
flag GBangShredder
Posted: Apr 7, 2024 at 23:03 Quote
It's so interesting to hear the range of advice doctors dole out. From give'er at 6 weeks to 6 months.
flag Trinimon
O+
Posted: Apr 10, 2024 at 6:49 Quote
GBangShredder wrote:
Ya man. Gotta pay to play.

I had 7 screws and a plate but don't feel like I lost any motion as I could use it immediately following surgery. I imagine without surgery you had to keep it still a lot more initially so that must be the difference.

Yeah, my Dr said I had a clean, single mid-break and was in a good place to recover without surgery. I inquired about surgery and also the newer procedure where they drive a bolt from a small incision at the end of the shoulder blade. They didn't do the latter procedure, not sure who did in my area. With the regular plate surgery, the part about nerve damage from installing the plate and then removing it later turned me off.

Recovery was brutal. Sleeping sitting upright for 5weeks because I couldn't sleep comfortably on my back. Shoulder muscles all atrophied from lack of movement. Fun times now. I've got about 85% mobility and about 75% of my strength back.
flag isaacwmtb04
Posted: Apr 10, 2024 at 22:02 Quote
Trinimon wrote:
GBangShredder wrote:
Ya man. Gotta pay to play.

I had 7 screws and a plate but don't feel like I lost any motion as I could use it immediately following surgery. I imagine without surgery you had to keep it still a lot more initially so that must be the difference.

Yeah, my Dr said I had a clean, single mid-break and was in a good place to recover without surgery. I inquired about surgery and also the newer procedure where they drive a bolt from a small incision at the end of the shoulder blade. They didn't do the latter procedure, not sure who did in my area. With the regular plate surgery, the part about nerve damage from installing the plate and then removing it later turned me off.

Recovery was brutal. Sleeping sitting upright for 5weeks because I couldn't sleep comfortably on my back. Shoulder muscles all atrophied from lack of movement. Fun times now. I've got about 85% mobility and about 75% of my strength back.

Yeah, the sleeping arrangements are pretty rough. Interesting that you would have had your plate removed though. Mine is supposed to just stay in. Can confirm a bit of nerve damage, but its not bad and got a lot better with time.
flag Trinimon
O+
Posted: Apr 22, 2024 at 10:41 Quote
isaacwmtb04 wrote:
Yeah, the sleeping arrangements are pretty rough. Interesting that you would have had your plate removed though. Mine is supposed to just stay in. Can confirm a bit of nerve damage, but its not bad and got a lot better with time.

A few of the folks I spoke to mentioned removing the plates after several months. I thought it would just remain there. Good to know about the minimal nerve damage. Hopefully I don't have to go through that again. I think it was easier when I tore my achilles tendon. Though I wouldn't want that one again either....
flag shannonashby
Posted: May 15, 2024 at 13:11 Quote
photo
So I am a card carrying member of the clavicle club. I am 4 weeks post op. 5 weeks since my crash. I was on a weekend bikepacking trip with some friends. With only 4 miles to go I must have started daydreaming about dinner and a cold beer. I didn't notice one of my riding buddies was slowing and ran up on him. I veered right and intended to go off the paved bike path onto a patch of asphalt millings beside the path. I mountain bike regularly and this should not have been a challenge, however I clipped my friends rear pannier as I brushed by him it jerked my bars hard left and I went OTB to the right. I tucked in with my chin and tried to roll it out. It didn't work, I pretty much stuck the landing. It was a big impact. Took most of it with the back of my shoulder. Hit my head and was knocked out briefly. I came to in a world of pain. My clavicle was broken into 4 pieces, a few broken ribs, and a mild concussion. Thankfully one of my riding buddies is a sports medicine doctor and I received immediate care. He evaluated me and I decided to wait and get formal care until the next day, as the ER wouldn't be able to much more with me.
I got xrays the next day. My clavicle was shortened and significantly displaced. My ortho doctor strongly recommended surgery. I waited a week for surgery and it was pretty rough. I have an upper plate and several screws. After surgery it immediately felt much better. Surprisingly my rib pain was also much improved.
After 4 weeks I am mostly dealing with muscle pain in my sternum area, shoulder and neck. My clavicle is mostly pain free. I am still in a sling and will likely be for a couple more weeks. I am looking forward to ditching the sling and sleeping in a bed again.
photo
flag GBangShredder
Posted: May 15, 2024 at 23:19 Quote
Ooofffhh. Sounds rough!

Always interesting to see the variety of prescriptions the surgeons offer. I had surgery and didn't use a sling at all after a few days but was obviously limiting what I used my arm for. My surgeon described it as the only limiting factor was how well the screws held on vs. How well the bone was healed and I just needed to stay comfortably on the right side of that line.

Best of luck in healing!
flag Trinimon
O+
Posted: May 27, 2024 at 17:54 Quote
shannonashby wrote:
photo
So I am a card carrying member of the clavicle club. I am 4 weeks post op. 5 weeks since my crash. I was on a weekend bikepacking trip with some friends. With only 4 miles to go I must have started daydreaming about dinner and a cold beer. I didn't notice one of my riding buddies was slowing and ran up on him. I veered right and intended to go off the paved bike path onto a patch of asphalt millings beside the path. I mountain bike regularly and this should not have been a challenge, however I clipped my friends rear pannier as I brushed by him it jerked my bars hard left and I went OTB to the right. I tucked in with my chin and tried to roll it out. It didn't work, I pretty much stuck the landing. It was a big impact. Took most of it with the back of my shoulder. Hit my head and was knocked out briefly. I came to in a world of pain. My clavicle was broken into 4 pieces, a few broken ribs, and a mild concussion. Thankfully one of my riding buddies is a sports medicine doctor and I received immediate care. He evaluated me and I decided to wait and get formal care until the next day, as the ER wouldn't be able to much more with me.
I got xrays the next day. My clavicle was shortened and significantly displaced. My ortho doctor strongly recommended surgery. I waited a week for surgery and it was pretty rough. I have an upper plate and several screws. After surgery it immediately felt much better. Surprisingly my rib pain was also much improved.
After 4 weeks I am mostly dealing with muscle pain in my sternum area, shoulder and neck. My clavicle is mostly pain free. I am still in a sling and will likely be for a couple more weeks. I am looking forward to ditching the sling and sleeping in a bed again.
photo

Wow! Glad you're on the mend. I didn't know you still have to remain in a sling for the 6weeks even after surgery. I saw one video of a biker who had a clavicle fracture and got a long bolt through the tip of the clavicle from a small incision. She was out of the sling after two weeks and had full mobility.

Speedy recovery to you.

I'm at about 90% recovered. Still working on getting full mobility. That last 10% is taking forever but finally riding trails again but definitely not full sending. I get some discomfort when I try pop the front wheel up but each time it gets less and less. Still paranoid on crashing at this point. I was told by my Dr to avoid falling on the shoulder or contact sports for several months longer.
flag timoped
Posted: May 29, 2024 at 2:49 Quote
I am finally "lucky" enough to join this club after 19 years without breaking any bones doing MTB. 14 days ago I nosedived on a 2 m drop, went over the bars and crashed sideways, on my brand new used SC V10 bike. The result was a mild concussion, a small puncture in my lung and a broken collarbone. Luckily I was wearing my brand new TLD D4 Composite fullface helmet instead of my lighter Fox Proframe fullface, which probably reduced the impact on my head.

Surgery tomorrow. I am hoping for a speedy recovery. I have had very little pain since the crash.
flag shannonashby
Posted: May 30, 2024 at 13:38 Quote
timoped wrote:
I am finally "lucky" enough to join this club after 19 years without breaking any bones doing MTB. 14 days ago I nosedived on a 2 m drop, went over the bars and crashed sideways, on my brand new used SC V10 bike. The result was a mild concussion, a small puncture in my lung and a broken collarbone. Luckily I was wearing my brand new TLD D4 Composite fullface helmet instead of my lighter Fox Proframe fullface, which probably reduced the impact on my head.

Surgery tomorrow. I am hoping for a speedy recovery. I have had very little pain since the crash.

Best of luck in surgery!
Hope your new to you bike was ok too!
flag Trinimon
O+
Posted: May 31, 2024 at 10:36 Quote
timoped wrote:
I am finally "lucky" enough to join this club after 19 years without breaking any bones doing MTB. 14 days ago I nosedived on a 2 m drop, went over the bars and crashed sideways, on my brand new used SC V10 bike. The result was a mild concussion, a small puncture in my lung and a broken collarbone. Luckily I was wearing my brand new TLD D4 Composite fullface helmet instead of my lighter Fox Proframe fullface, which probably reduced the impact on my head.

Surgery tomorrow. I am hoping for a speedy recovery. I have had very little pain since the crash.

Ouch! Speedy recovery to you. Get on your physio as soon as they clear you.... It's scary how quickly muscles can atrophy.

 


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