broken clavicle...surgery or not?
- Thread starter James Thomas
- Start date
bsbs:
haha! yep, very glad I had it done. I wouldn't say it was a choice though. The day I crashed I got call from a possible surgeon, he said he looked at the xrays and thinks it will heal by itself..... WTF!!!!! I'm doing ok thanks, I started strength exercises about 4 weeks ago now. I'm very achy, but everything is really waking up now.
How about you? how are you doing? you're going in on the 13th right?
Everyone else:
Hows it all going?
haha! yep, very glad I had it done. I wouldn't say it was a choice though. The day I crashed I got call from a possible surgeon, he said he looked at the xrays and thinks it will heal by itself..... WTF!!!!! I'm doing ok thanks, I started strength exercises about 4 weeks ago now. I'm very achy, but everything is really waking up now.
How about you? how are you doing? you're going in on the 13th right?
Everyone else:
Hows it all going?
It's good to hear that things are coming along for you, screwed. A bit surprised that you are still achy after all these weeks but that could be for a number of reasons I suppose. Keep it up with the strength exercises and let us know when you are 100%. I'd like to know how long it takes people to start doing push ups normally again.
As for me, there are days when I feel pretty damn good and then there are days when my whole shoulder and upper back area are very cramped. Sometimes I'm not sure if the pain is that bad and then I second guess myself on surgery but then I remind myself that at my age I shouldn't have any pain. One thing I do know for sure is that the shoulder has never felt "right" since the accident. That is one thing I am hoping the surgery will do is put the bone back in its place and then I will feel proportionate once again. The asymmetry takes a toll on my golf game especially. I will be sure to stay up to date on this thread after my surgery.
Ah, I should of been clearer. It's achy, *after I do the strength stuff. Not all the time. It just hasn't been at all achy for about 4 months.
Yes I'll keep posting my progress too.
I think when I start push ups again is when I'll be, REALLY happy with my progress.
How long has it been since the crash? And you say it's taking it's toll on your golf. Does that mean you do have allot of movement?
I broke the bone over 3 years ago. It has healed and I am living my life normally but with pain and weakness. My ROM is pretty good and I can play hockey, golf, work out with resistance and everything but the broken side is weaker and it aches after activity. After 3 years this should not be the case so it is referred to as a "symptomatic malunion" where the bones join up at a bad angle and cause an imbalance in the body. What sucks the most is I already went through this recovery when I broke it and now I get to go through it again. Yay!Originally Posted by screwed .
Ah, I should of been clearer. It's achy, *after I do the strength stuff. Not all the time. It just hasn't been at all achy for about 4 months.
Yes I'll keep posting my progress too.
I think when I start push ups again is when I'll be, REALLY happy with my progress.
How long has it been since the crash? And you say it's taking it's toll on your golf. Does that mean you do have allot of movement?
Do you have any issues with the scar at this point or is it all healed up nicely?
No issues with the scar, just a bit sencitive, a bit numb under the cut line too. The only problem I have with the scar itself, is that I have a nasty looking scar. :-(
3 years? It sounds like surgery will do you good. does your collar bone look like the x-ray bsbs1876 posted? Are you still thinking about surgery, or is it all set?
Oh sorry I didn't notice I logged in to my old account. This is bsbs1876 lol. I am going in for surgery next week. Your scar can't look any worse than a big bump from the bone sticking up anyway. Most of the pics of the scars on this thread actually don't look too bad. Plus it will fade over time.
Wow, I don't think I could do that even before breaking my collarbone. Sounds like you are back to your strong self! That's awesome! Can you do pushups now?
So when do you get the plate removed? My doctor said he could take mine out after 9 months if I wanted to. I proceeded to crack a joke with him that I would be pregnant with a metal plate then.
Sorry for the confusion guys. bridsmath was my old account that I had forgotten the password for. I am back on my normal account.
well I am little hesitant to do full push ups as well as chest dips, I try push ups but not with my body totally horizontal, I do them with my hands on the chair and my feet on the ground but not very deep as a matter of fact lifting my buddy was a very spontaneous act. plate could be removed by next October,it would be 15months, I must be very careful for at least 2 more months until the holes of the screws mend too which means lift no more than 2 kgs, this is a very dangerous period because muscles have already recovered and you feel fine but still your bone is not strong, 6 holes reduces the bone mass a lot, don't you think? hey, Feb. 13th is next Wednesday, lucky you
You should be able to do some normal pushups by 7 months I would think, but maybe you are just being extra cautious and it is more a mental thing.
I wonder why your doctor wants to wait 15 months and mine only 9 months. 9 months for me would be October as well. Still not sure if I am going to want mine removed or not yet. Depends on how good the doctor is at "tucking it away". Kind of sucks that you have to baby the shoulder again for 2 months when you get it taken out.
And yeah, lucky me right? I am nervous...
My doctor says he keeps the incision as small as possible and is using "subcuticular suturing" which is stitches on the inside of the skin. I googled it... seems like it will make the scar very thin and less noticeable. Pretty interesting stuff. Anybody else have that?
yes, i am a bit extra cautious it could be a mental thing. According to my doctor 15 months is the minimum but I find it very reasonable to baby the shoulder for an other two months because each hole diminishes the bone mass significantly and there are 6 of them. So an other two months is normal to have them filled with bone mass again. don't be nervous, things are simplebsbs1876 said:
It's like we keep saying - better to do it right the first time and not have to worry about it anymore. Another 2 months of going easy on the shoulder is nothing compared to having a normal collarbone for the rest of your life! Most people I have heard from who got the plate out recommend it and say it feels perfect after.
bsbs, I don't know how carefully you read the messages of this thread but have a look what happened to Driver72, the bone snapped again but near in the hole. I discussed this case with my doctor and he said that it is better to be careful for a couple of months after the plate is removed. He also speculated that Driver could have well developed deltoids/pectorals which exerted a significant stress in the clavicle when he waived his hand,
Driver72 said:
Hi *****,
I have read pretty much all of this thread and this guys case seems like it could be a combination of things. 7 months is a bit too early + he should not be "vigorously" waving his hand 2 weeks after plate removal. Age also plays a big factor in healing so if he is older then that doesn't help. I think my doctors time frame of 9 months with the plate in is pretty fair but I would wait and see at the time how everything looks and feels. As you know my surgery is next week so who knows, maybe the plate won't bother me and I will choose to just leave it in. My doctor says I will "likely" want it removed though since my "clavicle area is thin". I am thinking to myself, whos clavicle area isn't thin? I see big body builder men who have apparent clavicles too. Any recommended exercising to bulk the area up around there once I'm healed?
Thanks,
B
the plate bothers me and I believe does not allow the muscles to united with the bone, it is a foreign body but for the time being necessary. please also note that Drivers bone did not snap at the original fracture site but a few centimeters away, in fact at one of the holes, so time, 7 months, 9 months, 18 months is irrelevant. The point is that after the plate removal we are still very vulnerable because the bone is still weak due to the open holes.
well I was doing some simple exercises like trying to reach my left ear with the right hand, stretching my right arm on a wall, trying to reach as far as possible, always light and slow moves ....mostly stretching exercises with the right arm and help from the other arm since it was too weak to support itself lolOriginally Posted by screwed .
clara:
It's good to hear things are looking up for you
How is physio going then? what new exercises are/will you being doing?
I was supposed to do these 4 times a day and it took me 10 minutes to do a whole set of exercises.
I was recommended to go swimming, at first for relaxation and after some time trying to use the right arm, but also slow moves no rushing! and to keep on doing the PT.
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