Broken Clavicle - Your experiences

[Inhlanzi]

No need to remove the plate. Surgeon recommended to only take it out if it bothers you.

Mine has been in there for three years. Still feel it now and then but does not bother me enough to take it out

Hope you don’t fall again with a plate already in. My doc recommended to remove. Glad I did!

[SCD]

Hope you don’t fall again with a plate already in. My doc recommended to remove. Glad I did!

I was advised the same. 

[ChrisF]

Haha, probably worse. I am structural engineer grown up in a family of physicians who went through the process of nursing a f’d up CB.

Bonecells densify the bone matrix where there are mechanical stress peaks. Your bone may well heal stronger at the place of the break especially if geometric imperfections make it thicker there.

The more important point is that the opposite happens if you use a plate. So after removing the plate the bone is too weak where the plate used to be. Thus you need another period of recovery to allow your body to strengthen this area. This double recovery period is often ignored when the plates are discussed. And that is simply a risk to the patient... since we all tend to run back to our bikes as quick as we can;)

Anyway, the purpose of this write up is to make you discuss these things with your surgeon. In some cases you may have a choice so discuss the options properly

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I had a fractured femer in the 80's.

 

After a few weeks in traction the doctors decided to insert a plate.  I worked very well, and I was back on my feet in a few weeks ....

 

HOWEVER, two years down the line I was getting some wierd sensations when running ... tuns out your bones do have minor flex, and the plate does not .... the answer was to remove the plate.

 

 

JIP, remove the plate and you have a line of holes where the screws were .... I was told to take it VERY carefully for six weeks !!  I had to allow the bone time to heal up properly ....

 

 

 

Hey, I dont know to what extent this experience carries over to a broken collar bone ....

[ChrisF]

All I can say is it’s only a matter of time until someone falls, and when they do, they better have medical aid AND gap cover.

 

......

 

So just have some sort of cover and know the potential costs of falling can be significantly higher than you may think.

 

Went for a nice relaxed ride on 1 January 2019.  No funny stuff, no jumping, just a 30km solo ride.

 

Coming back along the Protea Corridor I felt "off" ... slowed down, had some water, and then carried on riding.

 

The trail dips a bit from D'Aria towards Protea .... and I picked up a bit of speed ....

 

 

There is an A-frame as you get to a clump of trees .... approaching this I saw ditch a few meters before the A-frame.

 

 

Target fixation !!!  I got totally pre-occupied with the ditch !!  Attacked it and then looked up to realise I am still on a stiff downhill speed, and 2m from the A-frame !!!

 

 

A was VERY lucky :

- no scratches to the bike !!  As it clobbered me on my back ...

- few scrapes, but no broken bones .... it was the classic OTB to break a collar bone. 

 

 

 

As much as I would like to say that falling can be avoided ... things happen on the trails .... even more so when you are hot and tired ....

 

 

 

Still had to cycle another 7km back home, including a nice little hill past Tygervalley.

 

When I got home I checked for any marks on my helmet ... none

 

Also checked for any breaks, bruises or bleeds ....

 

 

 

Stay safe out there riders  

[Robbie Stewart]

Went for a nice relaxed ride on 1 January 2019. No funny stuff, no jumping, just a 30km solo ride.

 

Coming back along the Protea Corridor I felt "off" ... slowed down, had some water, and then carried on riding.

 

The trail dips a bit from D'Aria towards Protea .... and I picked up a bit of speed ....

 

 

There is an A-frame as you get to a clump of trees .... approaching this I saw ditch a few meters before the A-frame.

 

 

Target fixation !!! I got totally pre-occupied with the ditch !! Attacked it and then looked up to realise I am still on a stiff downhill speed, and 2m from the A-frame !!!

 

 

A was VERY lucky :

- no scratches to the bike !! As it clobbered me on my back ...

- few scrapes, but no broken bones .... it was the classic OTB to break a collar bone.

 

 

 

As much as I would like to say that falling can be avoided ... things happen on the trails .... even more so when you are hot and tired ....

 

 

 

Still had to cycle another 7km back home, including a nice little hill past Tygervalley.

 

When I got home I checked for any marks on my helmet ... none

 

Also checked for any breaks, bruises or bleeds ....

 

 

 

Stay safe out there riders

I was feeling good yesterday. Very good. This prompted me to maybe push things a bit. Result? Me entering a berm way over-speed and front wheel washing out over the lip, leading to a power slide, removing large swathes of skin on my left side, and my arm in a sling...I also had a 4km ride back to my car.

 

As you said. Keep it safe.

[Patchelicious]

Hope you don’t fall again with a plate already in. My doc recommended to remove. Glad I did!

I did fall on my plate and to be honest, ironically because of the plate the second break was less severe. The plate just bent where the bone broke, but kept it all together, and I was back on the trainer 4 days later with a new shinier and slightly smaller plate.

 

I can’t get my plate taken out on the first break a pice of bone got pulled off by a tendon, towards the middle of the bone and the bone never bridged properly.

 

My Ortho, a cyclist himself, reckons he has only removed about 5 of the 2000 or so clavicle plates he has put in.

[Amilia Goosen]

Hi I broke my collarbone 3 months ago and is out of the sling for two weeks now

My bone was 100% displaced and lying over each other with more than 2.5 cm per side

Amazing enough I didn’t had any pain since the fall

I needed to wear my sling for two and a half months!

That was hectic , but luckily we singled surgery out an I’m back on the bike????

[TyronLab]

Thanks for sharing the horror stories everyone.

 

Unfortunately got news yesterday that I need another two weeks in the sling, four weeks until I can start exercising again and six weeks until I can ride off road. needless to say I'm pretty bleak about it.

 

So, a question for anyone medically inclined. My fracture at the moment is 30% healed, with minimal displacement of my shoulder. I, however, need to start working on my laptop again. Even though the doc said I need to be in a sling, would it be a train smash if forego the sling to use both hands on my laptop? My shoulder is perfectly still while doing this and relaxed, and since the bone is kinda-healed I'm thinking it should be fine?

 

I can't bear the thought of another two weeks at home working with just one hand.

 

On the positive side I've discovered the joys of indoor riding and have clocked just over 10 hours in the week I've had it, so at least my fitness won't hit rock bottom. 

[SCD]

Thanks for sharing the horror stories everyone.

 

Unfortunately got news yesterday that I need another two weeks in the sling, four weeks until I can start exercising again and six weeks until I can ride off road. needless to say I'm pretty bleak about it.

 

So, a question for anyone medically inclined. My fracture at the moment is 30% healed, with minimal displacement of my shoulder. I, however, need to start working on my laptop again. Even though the doc said I need to be in a sling, would it be a train smash if forego the sling to use both hands on my laptop? My shoulder is perfectly still while doing this and relaxed, and since the bone is kinda-healed I'm thinking it should be fine?

 

I can't bear the thought of another two weeks at home working with just one hand.

 

On the positive side I've discovered the joys of indoor riding and have clocked just over 10 hours in the week I've had it, so at least my fitness won't hit rock bottom. 

Hi Tyron, you must base your decision on your doctor's instructions and how your shoulder feels.

At this stage of my injury I was much guided by pain levels. Small movements like typing or holding a glass of water was perfectly possible. But the treaded glass of water was an evil item. Memory makes you forget your injury and lift it to your mouth rather fast and unconsciously, which ended in sharp pain and broken glass on the floor. So half the job of the sling actually is to remind you to hold your arm still and don't do something silly by accident - and do damage with that.

Happy healing!

[Trek man]

So I'm not alone part human part machine broken femure and broken clavicle.

[Robbie Stewart]

Thanks for sharing the horror stories everyone.

 

Unfortunately got news yesterday that I need another two weeks in the sling, four weeks until I can start exercising again and six weeks until I can ride off road. needless to say I'm pretty bleak about it.

 

So, a question for anyone medically inclined. My fracture at the moment is 30% healed, with minimal displacement of my shoulder. I, however, need to start working on my laptop again. Even though the doc said I need to be in a sling, would it be a train smash if forego the sling to use both hands on my laptop? My shoulder is perfectly still while doing this and relaxed, and since the bone is kinda-healed I'm thinking it should be fine?

 

I can't bear the thought of another two weeks at home working with just one hand.

 

On the positive side I've discovered the joys of indoor riding and have clocked just over 10 hours in the week I've had it, so at least my fitness won't hit rock bottom. 

 

I would rather stay the course in a sling if needed, and not try hasten the healing process if I were you, as it could end up causing your arm to take longer to heal.

I learnt this when I broke my arm 3 years ago. I had a plate installed, and 6 months later, I had to have it removed again. The healing process was much faster the second time round, as I was trying to do things I should not have when I was operated on the first time round. but all in all, I was off the bike for about 8 months because of my disobedience to the doctors.

 

Having said all this, listen to your body. You will know when's the right time to try new (old) things again.

[Headshot]

I've crashed amny many times in over 20 years of MTB and only ever damaged ribs. Impacts on my shoulder were painful but i was never off the bike for more than a week. Then in Sept 2017 I was out with a new rider showing him around and dispensing invaluable riding tips. One of them was "watch out for pedal strikes" . I then demonstrated exactly why they are a problem. 

 

Standing up and pedaling for a small jump I bashed my right pedal into a rock that had been exposed by erosion and obscured by trailside plants. I launched up and over the bars and straight into relatively soft ground on the point of my shoulder. I felt the bone go and knew immediately what had happened. I managed to walk my bike a few hundred meters and got a lift home before going to hospital. The X rays confimed the collar bone break. It was severe in that it seemed to have shattered and was very displaced. Needless to say I had surgery a week later and a long plate inserted. I still have the plate and some discomfort in that area. My shoulder as a whole is not quite how it used to be but is far better than say 6 months ago. It didnt help that I fell in June last year and disclocated my sternum/clavicle on the other side. Happily that got better without needing surgery and none of this intereferes with my love of riding and fast downhills.

 

As far as getting the plate removed - I will be guided by my surgeon, but am happy to leave it in as long as possible to allow the break to heal properly. I am not enthusiastic about operations. The clavicle plate op was my first ever general anasthetic. My first ride post op was around 2 months after the op on my brand new bike.  

[GAP]

Broke my clavicle (and a rib) 5 weeks ago, still not back on the bike or driving, but have been on the IDT for 3 weeks, going for my follow visit to Doc next week, no surgery needed as it was a clean straight break and nothing moved. Was told will be off the bike for 6 weeks (not by Doctor but buddies), but in my case it feels like it going to be about 7-8 weeks. And to make matters worse I have the 36one coming up in May.

[TyronLab]

Broke my clavicle (and a rib) 5 weeks ago, still not back on the bike or driving, but have been on the IDT for 3 weeks, going for my follow visit to Doc next week, no surgery needed as it was a clean straight break and nothing moved. Was told will be off the bike for 6 weeks (not by Doctor but buddies), but in my case it feels like it going to be about 7-8 weeks. And to make matters worse I have the 36one coming up in May.

 

I'm in the same position. Riding the IDT for a week and a bit now. Also had a clean break and very little (few mm) displacement. 

 

I'm typing on my laptop now and there is 0 discomfort anywhere in my body, sling-free. I'll see how it goes along, if I have any discomfort later today or tomorrow I'll resort to the left hand chicken-peck typing again. As someone who generally does 60 words per minute chicken pecking is mind-numbingly frustrating.

[GAP]

I'm in the same position. Riding the IDT for a week and a bit now. Also had a clean break and very little (few mm) displacement. 

 

I'm typing on my laptop now and there is 0 discomfort anywhere in my body, sling-free. I'll see how it goes along, if I have any discomfort later today or tomorrow I'll resort to the left hand chicken-peck typing again. As someone who generally does 60 words per minute chicken pecking is mind-numbingly frustrating.

Got my hand as far as the keyboard (desktop) with no pain, but that's it, take the sling off for a hour or two but absolutely no sudden movements must be made (sloth mode). I think my age is against me at 54....it going to take a bit longer.

[Mousea]

Sounds like you are buddies with Lector. What kind of sadistic maniac will tell a friend to let it heal on its own.

 

This in not the 1600s, get a plate if you can! Do you vaccinate your kids?

Vaccinate ??

Do tell