Question for those who've broken their clavicle

[BMC]

Alright, had a little mishap at the track causing me to highside and ending up with a broken clavicle and a bruised ego . Tried doing some research online and I'm reading a lot of bad things especially with non unions of the bone after 6+ months post accident. I'm sure many ppl here, given the sport, have broken their clavicle so post up how everything went? Did you opt for the surgery? TIA

[FiReSTaRT]

I'd opt for the surgery, especially if it was full separation. I had mine busted in 3 pieces. The first doctor recommended just using a sling... After I couple of weeks of that, I got a competent doctor due to a clerical error and when he showed me the x-rays, the bones would have "healed" short and restricted my range of motion. The good doctor put in a clavicular plate (6 weeks and I was good to go) and in the off-season I got it taken out (didn't bother me for riding but it did for strength training). It took 12 weeks to fully heal (6 for the holes to fill up and another 6 to deal with the atrophy due to the plate).
In 20/20 I'd have had it put in, waited for the bone to heal and then had it immediately taken out. 12 weeks total recovery instead of 18 (not counting the time that the first doctor wasted).

[Caribou Jack]

29 Oct. 2009 I broke my clavicle (bicycling accident). It was a rarer break as it was in the outer (distal?) third... actually looking at the x-ray it looks like it broke in the outer 2-3cm area... took a good chip out. Did a follow-up x-ray 5-weeks later and didn't see any difference. The first few weeks of recovery were the worst, especially given the work I had to do at the time (lots of holding things at arms length sucks with a broken collar-bone). I haven't had any further x-rays but the pain has been ebbing slowly but surely (now post 6+ months injury).

I have to ask - how badly did you break it? Where did you break it? (i mean physically, not geographically). Will you be able to get physio? If you're near 401/Yonge I recommend SEMI (Romano is *the man*.. great physiotherapist!)

Good luck - mal-fusion or non-joining is indeed a big problem... get a professional's advice on what you can do in the first 2-6 weeks to promote a proper joining on the fragments!

[FullMotoJacket]

I've had both mine done. Find someone who will do the surgery ASAP. Caboose will probably chime in with the same advice. We have the same surgeon. PM me if you need his name.

[FiReSTaRT]

I'm not sure about their surgeon, but mine is an arm and shoulder specialist (well rated and well known even though he's relatively young), working out of St Joseph's. PM me for the name if that would be a convenient location for you

P.S. Follow his advice to the letter if you want to experience the full benefits. There was one patient who started lifting stuff like a mofo immediately after the surgery and then was asking the doctor why he needed to be operated again

[Glenn]

I broke mine last fall, on the doctor(s) and surgeons advice I didn't have surgery. If I have to go through it again I'm pushing harder for surgery. The healing process just takes too long.

Wearing the sling for 6 weeks locked up my shoulder, even after a couple months of physio, and on going stretching I not able to get full range of motion back.

[FiReSTaRT]

And even though I was keeping my sling on all the time, my bones still got misaligned (don't ask me how b/c I couldn't tell ya).

[Hellbound]

I too did a high side to my left shoulder (Shannonville turn 2, 1990) and broke my left clavicle into one complete break and a secondary break about 3 cm apart in the middle area.
Yes, it hurt a bunch and then some, but no surgery and I was riding again in about 6 weeks. But........I should have opted for surgery because it seperated a bit and now there's a slight bump there. I also have trouble walking casually for a long period of time unless I can put my hand in my pants/jacket pocket for support. Riding or day-to-day stuff, it's no problem.
Short story: ask for a surgical repair.

[KRFDPSSTI]

Alright, had a little mishap at the track causing me to highside and ending up with a broken clavicle and a bruised ego . Tried doing some research online and I'm reading a lot of bad things especially with non unions of the bone after 6+ months post accident. I'm sure many ppl here, given the sport, have broken their clavicle so post up how everything went? Did you opt for the surgery? TIA

Broke mine more than 10 years ago being an idiot on a bike. Snapped right in half and just got a sling and was sent home. To this day if i lift something heavy or attempt to do pushups it hurts like a *****, it didnt grow back the way it really should have...

[BMC]

Thanks for the quick replies. Have an appointment with Dr. Christian Viellette next week at Toronto Western so I'll let everyone know how it goes but looks like surgery might be the way to go. A pic for those interested...

http://yfrog.com/ju36904811j

[BusaBob]

Clavical fractures are common. Most people do fine with a sling for 4-6 weeks, and this is the recommended course of action with a simple break, for people who are relatively not active.

If it looks like it will not come back together (one of the ends "stove-pipes" upwards), or there is more than one break, surgeons will often suggest surgery.

The surgical route IS the faster route to recovery, but surgeons tend to be reluctant to go this route, unless it's really necessary (see second paragraph) and will actually try to talk a person out of surgery if it is a simple break.

The risks include your regular risks from surgery: infection, blood clots, adverse reactions to anesthesia, etc. best to talk to a surgeon about it.

a friend of mine broke his in 2 places mountain biking. The pieces didn't look like they were coming back together after 1 week of being in a sling. So he pushed for surgery and had it within 2 days. He was back mountain biking (not competitively) within 6 weeks. It's almost been a year now, and it doesn't bother him at all. He's riding down hill all the time (B.C., Utah).

If you want surgery, stress to the surgeon that you have a very athletic and active lifestyle, are competitive and cannot afford to be sidelined for several months. That may tip the scales in your favour. But talk to the surgeon about the risks, as everyone is a little different.

hope that helps.

[infernobuster]

Broke mine in Nov 09 at TMP .. broke it in 2 places. The break was overlapping so much, the ortho put me into surgery that afternoon when i seen him.

I was already fusing 6 weeks in, and he had told me 8 to 12 weeks to fuse.

I now have full range of motion back, lost a little strength but thats my fault for not hitting the gym as hard as i should be.

The thing that helped me the most to heal faster was to increase your calcium intake and start taking Vitamin d daily.

[BusaBob]

Thanks for the quick replies. Have an appointment with Dr. Christian Viellette next week at Toronto Western so I'll let everyone know how it goes but looks like surgery might be the way to go. A pic for those interested...

http://yfrog.com/ju36904811j

that looks like a comminuted fracture (multiple pieces). Your shoulder blade isn't positioned correctly as a result either. there's a huge amount of overlap between the two main pieces.

Unless you have surgery, the length of the clavical won't return to normal, and normal clavicle length is important in your body's ability to position the shoulder blade. As a result, you may have ongoing shoulder issues for quite some time (return to full activity months, to a year...maybe).

Personally, I'd push for surgery. But it is a decision you have to make for yourself after weighing the pro's and con's for you. Discuss it with your surgeon.

The end product should look like this:

[TorontoBoy]

I've known a couple of people that have broken clavicles. Firstly, it's near impossible to brace a clavicle, so apart from surgery, getting the bone to heal straight is difficult. That being said, most clavicle breaks do heal Ok, but you might have a large lump of calcification. Of course if you don't ease up and let the bone heal, it'll heal badly. Unlike a leg or arm break, where the doc can put an uncooperative patient (young male, who thinks they are invincible) into a heavy plaster full leg/plaster case and weigh the patient down for 6-8 weeks, you can't do this with a clavicle break.

The clavicle is the insertion point for many muscles of the shoulder, rotator cuff, and chest, so having a strong clavicle is important. When you extend your arm out to brace for a fall, the force goes through your stronger radius/ulna and humerus up to the weaker clavicle, which breaks.

The good news is the clavicle should heal on its own. The bad news is the bone may not be straight and you might have a lump of calcification. If you don't like the negatives, then go for surgery. The negatives are that surgery will delay your life for 6-8 weeks, along with possible complications such as bone infection and infection in general.

[infernobuster]

The only complication if you can call it that when doing surgery is they have to cut across your nerve ending in your shoulder.

They dont repair themselves, and i have very little feeling left across my collarbone now.

[Wingboy]

Sigh.Did my right clavicle at age 25,right collarbone (minor fracture) at 30.Separated the right shoulder at 55 and now the right side is getting so built up with calcium deposits on the tendons that are all stretched anyway,and osteo.....oh never mind.I'd rather be shot out of a cannon than squeezed out of a tube.

[sub4]

if its a simple break and dr discourages surgery, dont rush back into activity! i made that mistake. re-broke it riding. then forced to wear a figure 8,sling and wraparound for 8 weeks. brutal b.o.

[froghammer]

I busted my left clav at 27 while jumping my BMX. Well, technically it was bailing from a jump on my BMX. It healed with a funny bump but otherwise has held up well.

The worst part about a collarbone break is that you realize it's the damn lynchpin to every other part of your body. Move anything else and somehow it hurts.

No, wait- the worst part was when I went to bed that first night and couldn't get up the next morning because it hurt so much. After 40 minutes or so of serious pain while struggling to roll or get up I just went for it and felt it re-break. Yeah, that was definitely the worst part.

[caboose483]

I broke mine into 4 pieces last summer and had 35mm displacement between the two large pieces. I had surgery at Joe Brant in Burlington and got everything bolted back together. I mowed the lawn the day after surgery, and i rarely if ever think about it. The only time i notice it is if something is pressing on my collar bone there against the screws.

[BusaBob]

just to re-iterate: surgery really is the faster road to recovery, as caboose has illustrated.

my friend was using his arm pretty much normally 2 weeks after the surgery.

if you don't have surgery, you have to protect the arm in a sling for 4-6 weeks, and ten you still have to be very careful with it for 3 months after that. It will likely not be fully recovered for a year. A person i know who opted to not have surgery (rugby player) can still only do 5 chin-up's 1 year after the injury, when he used to be able to do 15.

so if you are into contact or vigorous sports, you will be side-lined for a lot longer if you don't have surgery.

There are real risks to surgery, any surgery. Infection, bleeding and adverse reactions to the anesthesia being the most serious. The risks are relatively small, but they do exist, which is why the surgical option should always be discussed thoroughly with the surgeon.