recent collarbone fracture

[jimyz]

On Saturday, at the end of my ride on a local mx track,
I felt confident enough to attempt a 60 ft double. I made the distance but landed on the top of the landing hill. This caused my bike to compress and rebound, thus throwing me into a sloppy high side. The result was a fractured clavicle-left, and a bruised ego. I was having a great ride and should have remained happy with the level I was accomplishing, but no I had to go for a bigger jump at the end of the day. So now I had to line up a light duty job, and yes, tell everyone I did it on a dirt bike. The break is about in the middle with no nerve damage, just alot of swelling. What a start to the summer I've made. This has me thinking of selling and giving up on riding. Any feedback is greatly appreciated-

 

[thermal]

Do not give up on riding! Give up on jumping!

 

[nikki]

Been there, done that :confused:

Here is a few links to previous threads on broken collarbones:

broken collar bone

Broken Collar Bone, Now What?

healing fractures...

Broken collar bone? Stubborn friend.

 

[needsprayer]

Jimyz,

Here are a few more links:

Ego won't let me be :ugg:

There's goes my ego :uh:

It's the bike's fault :scream:


J/K :aj: Get well and ride.

 

[jimyz]

I like what you say, mine broke in the middle and I am not wearing a figure 8 brace cause the surgeon says it doesn't make a difference. I can sleep on my back no problem, but getting out of bed is a different story-hurts. I am curious about the time frame just like all of us, 6-8 weeks healing then 6-8 more for strengthening? I was hoping against 3-4 months.

 

[KTM124]

Hang in there it gets better, last march I broke the humeral head and the coracoid bones(shoulder), plus ripped the rotator and pectoral muscles. Thought that it was time to grow up and sell the bikes but I never did it. This march I did my second hare scrambles and still want to sell the bikes but now it's so I can get a 520. Stick with the Physical therapy and do what they say, most of mine sounded like a bunch of hooey but it worked. Good luck.

 

[mark_england]

jimyz u the figure of 8 brace holds the clavical back and prents it from bowing as it heals,
if u dont wear one the bone will heal and be strong but it will throw the muscular skelital relationship out of sync the result will be you shoulder will ache pretty much all the time. although you will be able to ignore it now and then it gets to be a bit of a pain [pun intended]

in the UK the orthopaedic surgeons rarely use them,,,, why should they? the bone heals fine,,,, and 2 or 3 years later they have no idea how ur shoulder feels

 

[Gary B.]

I have to agree with Mark. Wear the brace. That's what helps to keep the bones in alignment. You'll start to "hunch" without it.

 

[nikki]

Originally posted by Gary B.
I have to agree with Mark. Wear the brace. That's what helps to keep the bones in alignment. You'll start to "hunch" without it.

Add me as another person who agrees! Get a figure-8 brace and wear it.

Both my fiancé and I broke our collarbones in similar spots. I wore the brace religiously for 4-5 weeks and I was riding again at 5 weeks. It healed VERY straight - you can hardly tell it was broken. My finacé didn't wear the brace much... just a little in the first 2 weeks. He wasn't riding for 2-3 months. Three years later his bones haven't healed together right. They overlap and aren't straight. When he moves his shoulder, the bones go over and under each other. He regrets not wearing the brace more often. He still has full strength, it just looks pretty bad and may give him problems down the road.

 

[mark_england]

nikki u agree with me,,,,,,,, do we get married now? :-)

 

[sk8mdw]

Originally posted by jimyz
This has me thinking of selling and giving up on riding. Any feedback is greatly appreciated-

The healing depends on the where the break is and how much displacement there is between the ends of the bone. Click on my gallery below you and will see my break, which had a lot of displacement. I've been in the figure-of-eight brace for eight weeks. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, and I expect to get out of the brace, but I also expect him to tell me to take it easy for another two months. I'm just hoping he lets me back on my street bike at this point. :D

No way I'm giving up the riding. I plan to keep it up, both dirt and street.

 

[SiCnTwIsTdYz]

i wear this brace 24/7 i went to the doctor today, and its healing its been 2 weeks and thats also good news to hear you were riding at 5 weeks nikki i want to ride and skate so bad

 

[SiCnTwIsTdYz]

i broke mine in the middle

 

[jimyz]

Thankyou all for the replies, I broke mine in the middle and was told by the surgeon that no brace was needed, it would heel on it's own. I have good posture and can sleep on my back, just tough getting out of bed in the morning. The bone ends look like they are pointing out(knot) and of course swollen. Mentally I am ready to ride now, physically I can't. Thanks for the feedback-

 

[SiCnTwIsTdYz]

haha dude same here doesnt even hurt me, i cvan still lift my arm to a certain extent but ill give it 6-8 weeks, i have to sleep on my back too it sucks

 

[jimyz]

SiCnTwIsTdYz- sounds like we are sharing the same dirty laundry. I can lift my arm up to an extent, doesn't hurt that bad(I feel the swelling with an ocassional twinge of pain) , and I can even sleep on the opposite side (good side). Again I was told 6-8 weeks, and not to ride before this time frame, otherwise I might re-break, which I don't want. Well here I sit all broken hearted, tried to double and only farted. Thank GOD it wasn't worse and I'm mobile as we speak.

 

[SiCnTwIsTdYz]

yeah could have been alot worst dude, as me and my dad say but my mom was freaking out when she saw me crash, it feels good now i feel the bone coming back and connecting the peice it broke away from, thats funny that you need your collarbone to move your arm up and down, sometimes i get a sharp pain in it, but than i goes away, i hope it heals good enough to go to this KoRn concert dude i saw them once already but i have to see them again dude no way im missing that concert! haha well dude keep in touch later bro

 

[honda62]

I did the exact same thing 4 weeks ago I came up short on a 75ft triple at my frineds house and the bike went end over end landing on me twice. I was more worryed about my wrists They felt like there were broke in half.Instead it enede up being my left collar bone same deal only it was more of a
splinter/ fracture which they said was worst than a fracture.Get and Wear the fig 8 as much of a pain in the butt as it is it helps. Youl be ok in 4 weeks to start to rehab it and by the 5-6th week you can starts racing and riding again.The first 2weeks are the worst after that it will fell better everyday.

 

[YoTRacer158]

if and when you get a figure 8 brace, make sure you wear it over a shirt...otherwise it'll start smelling pretty bad and they dont handle washing machines very well

seems like its better to break it in the middle...i broke mine near the shoulder and couldnt move my arm at all.

 

[rocketnz]

don't sell up.after 6-8 weeks it should be ok.trust me ,after 3 broken collar bones i should know! my last crash broke it in 5 places and it heeled fine!though it did hurt for a while. keep riding. ;)

 

[SiCnTwIsTdYz]

damn, its been 4 1/2 weeks already i went to the doctor on tuesday and the doctor said i got 4 more weeks with the brace, and its healing up good from what he said when they saw my x-ray, i cant wait to ride, b4 i go to long island i et it off and he said i can ride while im up there with my brother on his bike. also with my friends i cant wait today was my last day of school kick ass....:()

 

[SiCnTwIsTdYz]

:)

 

[jimyz]

My collarbone ends are not meeting or kissing, so my surgeon tells me the bones will join in a wrap around heal but probrobly won't have 100% full strength becauase the bones won'nt meet together. Unless I go for the Ti plate and screws?

 

[sk8mdw]

Originally posted by jimyz
My collarbone ends are not meeting or kissing, so my surgeon tells me the bones will join in a wrap around heal but probrobly won't have 100% full strength becauase the bones won'nt meet together. Unless I go for the Ti plate and screws?

I'm healing a pretty bad break myself. (See My Gallery below for a pic of the x-ray). What's your prognosis if you don't reach 100% strength? Can you still ride?

 

[WaltCMoto]

Keep the bike , unless you want a different one! Once gone they are hard to replace. Take this time to do a total maintanace check, oil grease, tear down and clean with toothbrush.
Good luck with your recovery, Walt