broken clavicle...surgery or not?
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It's better to get information about adhesive capsulitis from qualified sources, and not *****. Here's what the US National Library of Medicine, at the NIH, has to say about it: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2682415/ Note that it can result from immobilization secondary to an injury and does not have to involve tendons. The case of adhesive capsulitis that I had in my left shoulder absolutely did not involve tendons, but perhaps my doctors should have consulted *****. Read the above carefully, and always verify medical claims with reliable sources. Internet forums are not a reliable source of medical information.willy81 said:
Anything But, I don't have a recliner. Why is it hard to sleep in the bed after you have the surgery? I have heard a lot of people say that they couldn't sleep in the bed after their break whether they had the surgery or not. For me, I was the most comfortable in my bed. I stayed in it for about two weeks at first. Whenever I was upright the weight of my arm pulling on my shoulder was just awful even with the sling and my muscles went crazy cramping and having spasms. When I would lay down all of the stress was taken off of my muscles and I was able to relax more. Is it the pressure from laying down on the scapula that kind of presses toward the clavicle/surgery site the reason it hurts or is uncomfortable? I was wondering if I should try to borrow a recliner from someone. So happy for you that you are able to sleep in your bed again. I was just assuming that I would be able to sleep in my bed after the surgery because I could right after the break. Sitting up actually really bothered me. Oh and BTW I did not wear the sling for 12 weeks. Only about 3. I was just talking about the first weeks that I had the injury the doctors were confusing me about whether to wear it or not and I wondered if that is why I am having such problems with my shoulder because I wore it too long. Right now my shoulder joint hurts way more than the fracture point. All of the muscles around my shoulder are aggravated though and lots of pain in my shoulder blade. I don't mind if the PT hurts, I want to do it in hopes of getting back to normal as possible. I think it will hurt but feel better all at the same time. ***** 81, Yes, my surgery is Dec. 3rd. I have my preop appt. this Wed. to talk about everything. My husband does think I need the surgery now because at my last appt. the Dr. said that there are no signs of healing at all. But when the Dr. told us before that there could be a chance that the bones could fill in the gap between the two pieces my husband thought we should listen to the Dr. because I was doing things around the house and he assumed that I was just fine and maybe it would heal together. He didn't realize I was still having so much pain. I felt guilty and lazy having others do what I usually do so I was trying to do things so they didn't have to. I could see it was stressing to them to do what they had to do plus what I usually do. My husband is being supportive now so I am going to do what you said and relax and rest up until my surgery day. School is out for 5 days and I can sleep in all those days and I am just going to prepare myself for getting this fixed so I can move on with my life. Thank you all for your support and kindness. I really need it. Looking forward to helping someone else with this because of my experience if I can after my surgery. :big-smile:
berygu, there is a distinct difference between the two xrays, the more recent one shows that the heeling process is underway and that more Calcium is deposited between the two parts in the fracture site. This is also known as the white Cloud formation which is the Hard calus and that's the reason it can be seen on the xrays. The soft calus is a cartilage and it does not change the color of the xrays, it is shown as black. I would guess that 10Kg will not be a problem BUT still it is your Doctor who will give you the Go head, not me. I just can tell you that you don't need to lift so heavy in order to reactivate your muscles. You can't shorten this time very much by doing a lot of gymnastics. You just follow a balanced training program with relative light weight, up to 3 Kg with many repetitions, say 50 and your muscles will recover when they are ready, they need their time.
The reason I wanted to go ahead with the surgery asap was because my Doctor told me that my cb could heel with time without a surgery BUT it will not be aligned as before and this will make my trunk look asymmetrical and create an unhealthy situation for all surrounding muscles in the long run. and since I wanted to be healthy as before I opted for the surgery. It is good that you want to help other people in the future and this is what Ii actually do.Dane Girl said:
Dane Girl, your tattoos are really cool. I know a friend who had a chest piece and had heart surgery. Doctor sewed him up nicely and the scar actually looks really cool with the tattoo.
The muscle pain you are experiencing is likely a combination of atrophy and aggravation. I would say it's common sense to see by your x ray that the bone location is probably interfering with the trapezius muscle at the least, but that's just my non-medical guess.
I know it's hard to be, but in some ways you should actually be excited about surgery. I know I was. I suffered with a messed up collar bone for a long time and it got to the point that I wasn't even nervous or anxious at all. I just wanted to get in there and get the thing straightened out. There is something very uncomfortable about a deformed skeleton.
The muscle pain you are experiencing is likely a combination of atrophy and aggravation. I would say it's common sense to see by your x ray that the bone location is probably interfering with the trapezius muscle at the least, but that's just my non-medical guess.
I know it's hard to be, but in some ways you should actually be excited about surgery. I know I was. I suffered with a messed up collar bone for a long time and it got to the point that I wasn't even nervous or anxious at all. I just wanted to get in there and get the thing straightened out. There is something very uncomfortable about a deformed skeleton.
go carefully, increase the weight slowly but still your don't need 10Kg to reactivate your atrophied muscles, I brought them back with only 2-3 kg (max 5Kg) and time. Only a couple of times I tested the 10Kgs just to gain confidence. The 90% of the workout was with 2.5Kg.berygu said:
Yes ***** 81, it is becoming very clear to me that I should have done the surgery long ago. I feel like I have been just wasting time. I could have been almost back to normal by now. But now I have to start all over again. 
But at least it will be working towards a better outcome. Thanks bsbs1876. My husband is a tattoo artist. It seems strange to cut into my tattoo but hoping it will be worth it. I don't know how you went for so long with your cb and not having the surgery. I am already fed up with mine! I have not read all of your posts yet but I am working on it. So far I am at the part where you have not gotten the surgery yet but you are about to in a month it says. I like reading about your story because it is what could happen to me if I don't get the surgery. Although I am a lot older than you. You are right, living with a deformed skeleton just feels wrong. I notice it all day everyday in everything I do. And I can't even sleep normally. So it really affects the quality of life IMO. I just found out today that I will be staying in the hospital overnight. I am actually glad about that. I want to make sure everything is ok before I go home. And I did end up finding a recliner I can borrow so when I do come home I can sleep in that if I need to.
But at least it will be working towards a better outcome. Thanks bsbs1876. My husband is a tattoo artist. It seems strange to cut into my tattoo but hoping it will be worth it. I don't know how you went for so long with your cb and not having the surgery. I am already fed up with mine! I have not read all of your posts yet but I am working on it. So far I am at the part where you have not gotten the surgery yet but you are about to in a month it says. I like reading about your story because it is what could happen to me if I don't get the surgery. Although I am a lot older than you. You are right, living with a deformed skeleton just feels wrong. I notice it all day everyday in everything I do. And I can't even sleep normally. So it really affects the quality of life IMO. I just found out today that I will be staying in the hospital overnight. I am actually glad about that. I want to make sure everything is ok before I go home. And I did end up finding a recliner I can borrow so when I do come home I can sleep in that if I need to.
DG, in the most of the cases people with broken CB can't understand that their trunk will be deformed if they don't have fix it surgically. In my case, I was quite lucky, two days before the accident I was talking with someone who had this accident and opted not to go ahead with the surgery. His trunk was awful and to me it was a little shocking to watch. Two days later, what a coincidence, I broke mine and it was very clear to me that surgery was the way to go, the complications were also confirmed by my Doctor, so it was an easy and quick decision.
The difference between these two x-rays is huge. In the first one it's clear were the fracture goes and it's not a clean fracture. As far as I can see, in the second one the bone seems unite. I'd probably have no hesitations about training. I asked when I could start boxing (I start thai boxing every couple of years and I'd planned on starting it this fall or next spring and that I am not supposed to do in months, months and months) after perhaps 5-6 months, but in that you get continuos stress on collar bone due to the punching. That might compromise the healing process so it's a no-no after the 2 months I can start everything else. But only you know how it feels, and I too might wait if I felt pain. I don't know, a strain fracture seems quite unlikely with the plate on. As long as the plate is on, I'd suppose a clavicle like yours shouldn't trouble. So if it does, it would be nice to know why, because according to your doctors you should be able to do everything. The difficult part is, the sensation is undistinct, very unlike skin. When you had the pain, was it only when you exercised, after that or both? Did it gradually easened after you had a pause in training? Can you move your arm without discomfort? I was just watching my collar bone as I abducted my arm. About 70 degrees goes without any noticeabla movement on clavicle, after that I start to see the movement. Can you move it in every direction? Without pain? Is there pain if you palpate your clavicle or shoulder?berygu said:
You might not need the recliner. I've slept years on my both sides, in a curled position. That's because I've had back pain and I can't really sleep on my back. Or stomach. Obviously I couldn't sleep on my left side, because that's the side of the fracture, but on the right side my left shoulder felt like something pushed it downward. Well, the something's probably called gravity. Anyway, to make matters worse, I put my arm around my pillow. I wonder when I can do that on my left side again, since that is about 180 degrees. I hated the sling, and neclegted it as soon as I heard I would go to surgery. It caused me headaches and I took more painkillers to that than to the fracture pain. I was on a couch supported by pillows and that was my headquarters of boredom for two weeks. One pre and one post op. I have to admit though that on one night after the operation I was trying to sleep in the recliner and felt this pain on my left shoulder. I felt the muscles and found the painfull spot and thought that now my muscles had atrophied and was sad and down. Then I felt the plaster on my skin. Well, the pain was from influenza vaccination I had taken that same day. I think the brain starts to melt at some point... I was told I could use the sling for a week after the operation but it would be just to decrease the pain, so I didn't use it for the same reasons you didn't like yours. I actually had it on in the hospital. I had to wait for my operation a very long time (emergencies went before me) and I had an exploding headache because of the sling. So the sling and I, we are not friends. However, I complained at home that it was easier with it because it restricted me quite efficiently and now I was quite pain free and used my arm more than I should (but only quite close to my trunk) and I wondered if I was doing too much etc. Well, now I can tell that at least to me, there is a clear discomfort after the strain on the clavicle.Dane Girl said:
I used the sling for quite some time after the surgery. I used when I was sleeping in order to restrict against an risky movement such as placing my arm under my pillow or sleeping on my affected side, for the later I was resting my arm on a pillow. I used it during the day to alleviate my atrophied muscles from the load and again to restrict me from any spontaneous move, I used when I was out in order to let other people notice that I am injured and treat me with some care, keep some distance from me, I believe the sling apart from offering real comfort can save you from unexpected mishaps so I would strongly suggest using it for quite some time, I used it for about two months. The first days after the surgery are a little awkward but progress is fast, believe it or not I did not have any pain and I did not take any painkillers at all, apart from the first 24 hours. Surgery gives you a new pov and as you get better and stronger your life improves.
Well *****, I am expecting some pain. I don't see how they can put screws in my bone and I will not have any pain. Also since it has been 3 months since my break I think that rearranging everything at this point is going to be painful to me. Maybe you didn't have as much pain because you had the surgery so soon after your fracture and it was actually a relief to you to have your bone put back in its normal position. Your muscles didn't have a chance to tighten up into a new position. Of course I will hope for not much pain but I don't want to expect not much pain and be in agony. The worst part for me is knowing that I may be unable to rely on prescription meds because of my sensitivity to them. They want to be cautious combining anesthesia and pain meds with me because of my past experiences with pain meds. The day is coming quick. Trying not to think about it too much but it is hard not to. I am trying to get a bunch of things done that I won't be able to do after the surgery.
Dane Girl, I think you're right. I had the surgery quite early, but your muscles have retracted or shortened during these past weeks. I hope it will be as smooth as possible. And as you already know, after the surgery it'll get better, even if it takes time. We have a motored bed now. I'm actually thinking of having it quite upright so I won't put my arm under my pillow. But Truthfully, I can't use the sling any more. It gives me more pain than takes off and using it Inwould've had to do training with my first every hour,
Anything But, is your incision still itching? My entire left shoulder was itching like crazy for the first 6 weeks after my fracture even though I didn't get surgery. It was an odd feeling like it was itching inside the bone. But my skin over the area itched too. Did you use ice at all. And if you did for how long? And what about pain killers? Sorry for so many questions. My surgery is Tuesday so I don't have much time left before it is here. Ice really helped me after the break but I read not to over do it on the ice. I probably iced it for two weeks a few times a day.
Dane Girl, I really had to think about itching, so it's actually much better. The incision itself hasn't itched for weeks, but the numb area has itched every now and then (but less than before), and that's uncomfortable because it's numb and I can't really do anything to stop it. I sometimes use a cloth to rub it. Previously I had this sensation like I had a giant tooth loose and someone twitched it. There's a mixture on itching and pain. Otherwise, there's been some sharp pain but only occasionally, sometimes only sensation of pressure and sometimes they were both present, but mainly before operation, after that there hasn't been much pain at all. When I was at the PT, she asked me to do some movements that I wasn't supposed to do at home. After that I had some discomfort for 2-3 days and it was right on the clavicle. Perhaps a subtle itch with some irritation. I tried ice (post op.) because they told me to, but didn't continue it after the first try because I couldn't feel it so I was afraid of freezing the tissue. It probably helps. The incision site was really, really hot for some weeks. It still feels quite warm. Good luck with everything, and please tell us how you're doing!
I thought I would throw my 2 cents on a delayed clavicle surgery...
I waited 3 years to fix mine and my surgeon stated that it would be a more painful and longer recovery due to this fact. It was over 2cm shorter for so long so my trapezius was basically squished in and my body got used to that. After the operation he said there was a lot of stretching and maneuvering to get everything "back out to length". I had some pretty intense pain for the first little while. The percocet became a good friend of mine but I was smart and did not abuse it.
It's been almost 10 months since my surgery and things are great. I love to show off my scar to people. Great way to spark conversation with the ladies.
I waited 3 years to fix mine and my surgeon stated that it would be a more painful and longer recovery due to this fact. It was over 2cm shorter for so long so my trapezius was basically squished in and my body got used to that. After the operation he said there was a lot of stretching and maneuvering to get everything "back out to length". I had some pretty intense pain for the first little while. The percocet became a good friend of mine but I was smart and did not abuse it.
It's been almost 10 months since my surgery and things are great. I love to show off my scar to people. Great way to spark conversation with the ladies.
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