Those of the Collarbone Club

[HomeMadeSin]

For those of us 'fortunate' enough to experience a collarbone fracture, which option did you choose (natural or surgery)? Did you have a choice? For natural healers, did you end up having to get surgery anyway? Do you have permanent numbness where they cut you? How was the muscles post- physical training?
And what was the worst part?

I can tell you that I told I had a 50-50 chance of healing on my own. I couldn't take the bones touching (not painful, just made me nauseaus (sp?)), so I opted for surgery. I have 5 screws in my right collarbone as the break was spiral in nature (looked like two separate breaks on x-ray). No plate. I could tell after surgery (between Percosets) that things were .....solid. The 1st week sucked, felling out of it and invalid-like. But now what sucks (I'm at about 5 weeks), is having a freaking itch where I'm numb and catch scratch it!!!!! That is tied for the worst with having the hair grow back (yes, I'm not one of those lesbo men with no hair on their chest :) ).

 

[oldguy]

My collarbone was finally showing signs of slight calcification after 5 months when I went down again a couple weeks back- Now I can feel it floating free again. My Dr gave me less then 50/50 chance of it healing and recommended just letting it float around. I guess since there is very little pain or loss of mobility I am going to leave it be and hope I get lucky and it heals without surgery. I have already had 2 surgeries (rotator cuff reattachment 15 yrs and 9 yrs ago) on the same shoulder.

 

[jsned]

Mine was severely displaced. The doc said it would probably not grow back. But he said wait and see not jump into surgery. 1 month later it is growing back very well. He couldnt believe it. I never wore the sling, was never givin a figure 8, and have been moving my arm pretty good except for the first 9-10 days. I have a huge deformation because it broke off the last 1 1/2 inch of the bone and it is now under the long part. The doc said if it didnt bother me it didnt bother him. There goes my modeling career though. As far as pain goes it is very minor now and I never had to take but maybe 5 or 6 vicodins the whole time.

I know this is changing the subject a little, but I have been hearing a lot of people say they think the helmet broke the bone. I am convinced it was my chest protector. The shoulder pad was split in half and I had a cut right on top of the bone. Definitely going to try some other type of pads.

 

[fatherandson]

At the two week visit to the ortho I asked about surgery, but I had enough calcium growth not to worry about going under the knife.  On Monday I had my 6 week visit and he gave me the "all clear".

I had to use the pain killers for the first three weeks, but the Rush story had just become public....

 

[Gary B.]

The bones moving around made me think it would NEVER heal. Especially when I slipped on some wet stairs two weeks later and hooked the bad arm in the railing on my way down. I don't know what hurt worse, the actual pain, or the thought that I just lost two weeks of healing time. BTW, I was wondering how other folks broke theirs. My shoulder got pushed back in my fall. The bone must have gotten broken by trying to bend around the muscles and other stuff in my shoulder. FYI-I heard the cracking noise and knew immediatly what had happened.

 

[KiwiBird]

I think I was "lucky" in that I broke mine cleanly with the chin part of my helmet when I went over the bars at about 45 mph. I could feel the bones touch - I REALLY HATE THAT!!!

Wore the sling religously and it's healed very well with no after affects.

It was a big dull ache so I sucked on pain pills the first few days and slept in a chair for the first 3 days.

Riding back, loading and unloading the bike and driving my 6 speed manual truck was the worst of it.

 

[bratt]

Mine healed up nice and quick. The worst part about it was remebering not to roll over on it in my sleep. I guess I was lucky, minimal pain and minimal disfigurement.

 

[Yogurt]

Originally posted by bratt
The worst part about it was remebering not to roll over on it in my sleep.

I'll second that! I broke mine about 2 seasons ago. I wore the shoulder sling, and it healed naturally in about 4-5 weeks. I never had any pain killers, not even so much as an asprin. Not trying to sound like a tough guy, but it never hurt me that much. Went to the ER and all they did was X-ray and give me shoulder sling. It was just a fracture. It only got sore when I didn't wear the shoulder sling.

 

[Walt Hollis]

I broke mine on 9/24. The doc told me 2 months to heal, and then two more weeks to be on the safe side after that. I raced again on Thanksgiving, @ one week after the two month anniversary. It still bothers me after every riding session since and we are now coming up on three months. I was told that it may still cause pain after strenuous activity for up to six months.

The silver lining on all of this is that I now have a matching set. I broke the other side 30 years ago when jumping garbage cans on my Huffy. I used to have a slight dip to one side from that one, now I have leveled off.

I wear a chest protector and a 661 neck protector and it still broke. Bottom line is per my orthopedic surgeon, after a man hits 27 years old his bone strength decreases with every day of his life. So at 26 I may have been able to dust myself off and finish the moto, but at 38, it was Vicodin time.

- Walt

 

[joereitman]

Originally posted by Walt Hollis
I wear a chest protector and a 661 neck protector and it still broke. Bottom line is per my orthopedic surgeon, after a man hits 27 years old his bone strength decreases with every day of his life. So at 26 I may have been able to dust myself off and finish the moto, but at 38, it was Vicodin time.

How does the 661 compare to the EVS neck protector collar? My son and I both use the EVS and thought this was good insurance against collarbone breaks... Regarding bone strength, I am 37, so I have started focusing on lots of calcium every day, at least 3 glasses of milk. Can't hurt, right?

 

[HomeMadeSin]

It seems I'm a minority in the fact I went for surgery. I guess I'll ball up and try the natural way next time.

Well, at least the screws in my collarbone didn't set off the alarms at the airport.

 

[Zerotact]

I was amazed at how easily mine snapped, they told me it only takes like 15lbs of pressure or something like that.. Like KiwiBird Said the worst part for me was driving home a 1972 mercury, towing a 12x8 enclosed trailer. I was lucky enough to have someone help me load my bike for me....

 

[Humanimal]

My freakin' collarbone healed by itself like this.. It looks a little strange. I was no "looker" before, and this did not help
_____________
________ \____________ <-- my overlapped broken collarbone :)
\________________
U could see it even when i had a sweatshirt on..
but now.. 6 months later, It looks alot better.. not as new but...

 

[Humanimal]

hey It was not supposed to look like that!!! haha
well, what to do.. use your imagination..

 

[MikeT]

FYI-I heard the cracking noise and knew immediatly what had happened.

TMI TMI!!!! Too much information. I am hurting just thinking about it!!!

 

[Mx Dude]

Just saw this thread and thought I'd add my two cents.........broke my collar bone last summer. Went to the doctor and told him "I broke my collarbone". Long story...short version......shoulder continued to hurt months after the collarbone "should have" healed by....turns out the doctor didn't take the time to look more closely at my injuries...turns out I also torn my bicep and had some ligament damage in the shoulder. Now, almost a year later I'm still waiting for the bicep to heal after having 2 screws put in !!! And I thought that a collarbone break was no big deal....dooohhh !!!

Cliff

 

[bud]

hmm says I have already voted tho I haven't. The concise version: Broke mine a couple years ago in 3 places. Didn't have surgery. Reinjured/rebroke it a couple of times during the healing process. But was back on the bike within 5-6 weeks (riding very gently). Eventually it joined and stuck leaving a bump. I still got occasional pain even up to 18 months afterward. Now the bump has all but disappeared, no pain. Pretty close to 100% recovery.

 

[boardadikt]

I just broke my collarbone last thursday-went down quick in a corner. I do believe my shoulder pads helped me out and made my injury not as bad as it could have been. I had a friend load my bike and I drove myself to the ER. I didn't think it was that bad because I didn't have much pain. The doc showed me the x-ray and it showed it was completely broke. He gave me a sling and a bottle of vicodin and said it would take 6 weeks. I'm already out of the sling and back to work. Doc said I didn't need to wear it and that nothing will impede the healing except for a blow to the shoulder. Drinking milk won't help either. The only thing proven to help bone healing in severe cases is electrical stimulation. To say the least....I have had a dislocated shoulder, a separated shoulder, and now a broken collar bone....i'll take the broken bone any day over a ligament injury. Hopefully i'll be back on the bike and healed up soon!!!!

 

[marc_w]

I busted mine about 12-15 years ago. It was a clean break, right in half, from landing directly on my shoulder.

They strung me up in some mid-eval harness that pulled my shoudlders back and kept the two halves of the bone from folding inwards. It healed naturally, but that bone is slightly more sunken in than the good one.

 

[HomeMadeSin]

The break itself didn't seem so bad for me (painwise), but I had a spiral break (not so clean). The worst of it is, I haven't slept well ever since. I used to never wake up at night. Now I do and it sucks. No pain, just can't get a good night sleep. It must be psychological....

 

[whatAride]

broke mine 8 weeks ago not riding, car accident and i have about 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch overlap with a bit of a gap between the two bones. I have good range off motion and will be starting streanght exercises this week. just wondering how long will it take to fully heal? Also the bone that is laying on top of the smaller bone is very visable, and the end of it is becoming a bump. Will this get smaller and how long will this process take?. My doc says collerbones remodles after it heals but he did not give me time table. I also wanna know if my shoulders will be even cus at the moment the injured shoulder is a bit lower then the other? I heard it all comes back in its right place after biulding the muscles in the shoulder.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

I broke mine with about 3/4 inch overlap and wore the figure 8 thing *ALL* the time (except in the shower). I was told to keep it immobile (that's what the brace does if tight enough), and it worked. Riding again in 5 1/2 weeks (I was in my early to mid thirties, then).

 

[whatAride]

Hey, High Lord Gomar
Did you have a bump at the fracture site and if so how long did it take to smooth out? Are your shoulders even and is your collarbone shorter now? How long did it take to get to good strenght, ROM and have the collerbone look as it did before the accident?

 

[High Lord Gomer]

It's been 5 years or so and the bump is still as noticeable as it was at 5 weeks.

The bone is shorter, but I can't tell a difference. Once I started riding again it felt normal within a couple of weeks. For me, I believe the key was to keep it absolutely immobile while it healed. I wore that figure 8 *tight*. I even rode with it the first day because it felt more secure with it on.

Mine was a fairly clean break with an overlap, so maybe that's why I got so lucky. I don't think it will ever look normal, though.

 

[Imathorp]

I joined the club on May 31st practicing. where's my T-shirt?

it took 7 days for it to "stick" together and quit moving around. I have worn the figure 8 every day since. my only concern is now that it has calcified and started to heal i'm worried about the overlapping of the bones and my shoulder is shorter on that side now. i go to the ortho on june 15th We'll see what he says.

pain lasted for three days but the Vicoton and 800mg i-Butes dulled it.

I had to ride out of the woods with it in a sling we made out of my chest protector straps and gogles. We were nearly all the way back (2 Miles) and my buddy remembered he had a kidney belt on. I used it for the 2 hour car ride back to our home town and went to the hospital near home, then drove myself home. I just got to feeling good enough to pick up my bike and gear last night from my buddies house. its good to have my bike back home now if i could just ride it.