broken clavicle...surgery or not?

[willy81]

bsbs1876 hey Brad, did you have the second surgery or yet? do you still have the plate there?

Hey *****, long time no see. I went to see my surgeon about the removal in May. He said it is completely healed and ready to come out whenever I want. That was 5 months ago and I have not called the office since. Truth is my shoulder feels so great these days that I just cannot bring myself to go in for surgery. The plate, though I feel it and know it is there, really doesn't bother me all that much lately. I am also the strongest I have ever been in my life, having bench pressed 250 lbs recently. I am progressing athletically and pleased with my life, so at this point I have no plans to call him in the near future. Maybe one day down the road. Hope everyone else is doing well. PS. I don't say these bench press numbers here to try to be a "Bro" or brag. I just think it is some good information for this thread if anyone is sitting there with a broken collarbone thinking that they will never be strong again. B

man, speak freely the way you feel, the feeling that come after a mishap of this size are pure and true. I understand that you don't want to get into the surgery again, the feeling after you wake up from the anesthesia is awful I know, but it has to happen some time down the road as you say. It will happen for me for sure since I feel the metal here and this is a awkward feeling. One positive of this experience is that you get more passionate about sports and fitness, that's good. see you around here.

 

[alyson]

Hi folks I'm back but not good news, fell on my shoulder yet again and now my plate is bent. I can feel it now and its also giving me a bit of pain. What do u think they will do if i go for another xray, thanx

 

[bsbs1876]

Hi folks I'm back but not good news, fell on my shoulder yet again and now my plate is bent. I can feel it now and its also giving me a bit of pain. What do u think they will do if i go for another xray, thanx

1 of 3 things I believe: 1. If it is not very symptomatic and the bone is healed, leave it and avoid surgery 2. If the bone is healed in a reasonable shape and length, remove the plate. 3. If the bone is not healed properly, remove the bent plate and replace it with a longer, sturdier one that has less chance of bending. Go see your doctor!

 

[melbroken]

Hi all, I dislocated my shoulder & broke my collarbone a couple of days ago in a slightly different place to what I've seen on this forum. Anyone have any experience they can share about a similar break? I see the orthopedic specialist tomorrow but am leaning towards surgery if leaving it will mean it will heal as it currently looks plus the lessening of pain and faster recovery/return to training is tempting...although I'm not sure how/if they can pin so far towards the end of the bone? Any advice appreciated! Thanks, Mel

 

[bsbs1876]

It would most likely

Originally Posted by melbroken



Hi all, I dislocated my shoulder & broke my collarbone a couple of days ago in a slightly different place to what I've seen on this forum. Anyone have any experience they can share about a similar break? I see the orthopedic specialist tomorrow but am leaning towards surgery if leaving it will mean it will heal as it currently looks plus the lessening of pain and faster recovery/return to training is tempting...although I'm not sure how/if they can pin so far towards the end of the bone?
Any advice appreciated! Thanks, Mel

It will most likely require a hook plate (Google it). These are used for the end of the bone and pretty much need to be removed after healing takes place because they almost always cause pain and/or loss of ROM in the shoulder. The good thing is that they can come out sooner than 1 year. I believe 4-6 months in many cases.

 

[PerfumeGIrl]

First, I'm not a cyclist... I'm an equestrian and I broke my collarbone two weeks ago. BUT your board was the biggest source of information and real life stories for me when I needed to make a decision so I wanted to give my thanks and share my suggestion.

Two weeks ago I got bucked off and heard the crunch. The ER Dr, took xRays, put me in a Figure 8 and made an appointment for a specialist. The Ortho Dr recommended surgery based on the complexity but it was of course my option. I became quite an emotional wreck in the Drs office because going under anesthesia has always been my biggest fear in life to the point where I refused anything during childbirth and had 17 shots of novo for my wisdom teeth extraction.

Anyway, I kept staring at my xray and reading everyone's stories here and comparing their xrays with mine. I decided on the surgery which I had a week ago. Had a follow up appointment yesterday and I'm progressing nicely. Follow up appointments in 4 weeks and 6 weeks.

The anesthesia was fine. The last words I heard were "time for your happy juice honey" and I woke up in the discharge room. The Dr told my family it was much worse when they opened me up. I ended up with 9 pins/screws and the plate.

Recovery Process Week One:
While I'm sure it is different for everyone, I didn't take anything other than Advil. I used a bag of frozen peas every hour.
The night after surgery, I went to a concert. I had bought the tickets almost a year ago and wasn't about to not go!! I was totally fine.
I have been really good about not lifting anything with the left arm (more than a filled coffee cup). Today I did 2 loads of laundry in our basement using a rolling cart to tow.
Initially the muscle in my neck to shoulder area was tight but that has loosened up and now I have a full range of motion in my neck. I still haven't lifted my arm up, that has to wait. I'm doing non-weight baring exercises with them all day.
The worse part was actually the sore shoulder blade from the muscle tightening but I've been using a heating pad to try to loosen it up. I swear an ice pick would work better to dig out the knot its created but no one will oblige.
I'm a tummy sleeper so finding a comfy position was challenging. I finally found that sleeping on my side on the couch with pillows behind me sorta cushioned me in worked as did sleeping on my side in bed with a body pillow to rest my arm with. I still can't sleep on my back or sleep sitting up.

I'm getting back into the swing of things. When I do over extend myself my muscle gets tight and I rest. Dr says that the muscles have to heal that they cut open. I'm honestly probably fine to drive since I live in LA I may take another week or two off because it's the holidays.

I'm not allowed to do yoga or pilates yet so I'm trying to improvise but I miss my workouts and honestly I think they helped make this relatively easier than I thought.

Things to Make Life Easier:

Shower seat for the tub
Removable Shower Head/hose to use
Body Pillow to sleep with
Have groceries delivered
Amazon is your best friend
Rolling Cart to tow heavy objects
Heating Pad

All in all I'm grateful because it could have been much worse. I am thankful to all who have posted in this thread, it's truly a wealth of honest information. I don't want to derail the purpose of this thread but I assume y'all get back on the bike once you heal??? First major fall/broken bone at 51 so my heads not too sure what to do.



Before

 

[willy81]

well done PG give it time and you will be fine

 

[berygu]

Well, my journey with this nightmare called broken collarbone it's long. Broke it playing soccer 2 years ago, had surgery 5 days leater, plate with 6 screws, the ****ing doctor put screws too long, the screws pushed my clavicle out injuring my articulations. 6 months later the screws started injuring my brachial plexus. Had surgery to get the metal out, the nerves calmed, but the bone healed crooked. The bone healed inside me, hurting me. It was actually in contact with another bone called the coracoid. After another six months or so of suffering and with excruciating pain, i convinced a doctor to make another surgery to cut the bone and put it more straight so it doesn't make contact with the coracoid. So, another surgery, the doctor cut the bone ,took a little piece out in triangular form so he could put it straight, and screwed the bone with a plate. So, now it's 5-6 months post the 3 third sugery, did a lot of phisical therapy, finally i can sleep and feel my arm better than it has ever been since this mess. It's 2 years of depression and suffering with huge pain. I still have some pain in the shoulder area, with some neck pain on that side and some shoulder blade pain, and the shoulder it's not perfectly symmetrical (don't know if it would ever be), BUT it's better than it has ever been in this 2 years. I stil have to lift weights to regain the muscle tone and to stretch the tissues because the shoulder still feels stiff. The conclusion is that a broken collarbone it's a big problem, don't want this to my worst enemy. Having a surgery it's not an easy choice, and most times it's a lottery, so be very well informed before going to the knife. "Screwed" it's an example from this forum, he had the surgery and the doctors ****ed up his arm nerves. I was lucky that my nerves calmed down and now they are ok, because if i would remain with that burning pain, feeling of cold hand and numb, i probably would have considered suicide. Finally, it's been 2 years and i still have a titanium plate with 6 screws in me, but this time i am not that willing to have another surgery to take it out....i don't know when i will have the courage to have another surgery. Sorry for my english writing, it's not my main language. Have a nice weekend and stay safe, you don't want to be in the hands of doctors.

 

[cornears]

Hi everyone, thanks for the wealth of knowledge that has been poured out in this thread it has been very helpful. I broke my collarbone in a skiing accident 3 weeks ago and have been deciding whether to get surgery or not. I've had 3 professional opinions and all have recommended the conservative approach of letting it heal naturally with a figure 8 brace and a sling, which I've worn for the past 3 weeks, but I'm still skeptical whether to follow through with this. I'm a 21 year old active healthy male with my whole life ahead of me and I just want to make sure I'm making the correct decision. The pain has been very minimal and I have fairly good range of movement, but the displacement is currently about 3cm (the doctor says it should go down to 2cm with time?) and I'm worried that it would effect my life (mainly with weight lifting and sports). The top picture shows my x-ray the day of the accident and the bottom one is from today. Any comments would be appreciated!

 

[pnkcoral]

Cornears,

I have been following some of the latest postings, but, didn't really want to chime in since I just about said everything in all of my previous musings. However, your situation kind of jumped out at me for a couple of reasons. First, your clavicle break was about identical to mine: mid-break, not to much fragmentation, and highly displaced. Mine was displaced somewhere in the vicinity of 140%. But, never seemed to overlap like your xray showed. I am wondering if that happened later from your figure eight do-hickey? Secondly, you are deciding to have surgery or not and I went through the same quandry.

However, that is where the similiarty ends. I am no longer young but feel pretty good at 65. And, my clavicle break was just a drop in the bucket from my high speed auto crash, because I received some 16 other broken bones (mainly in my chest area). The worst was probably my sternum break which punched through to my aorta, but, didn't rupture it. Also, I had a severe concussion and eye injury. Nevertheless, as all the other bones healed up nicely, it was the collarbone break that gave me the greatest worry. This was because I had been a competitive swimmer my whole life (still swim masters) and a landscaper by profession. Anyway, I was just in too bad of shape at the time to undergo a substantial collarbone surgery, much to the chagrin of my general surgeon who continually lobbied for it.

Well, it has been almost two years now and not only has my break completely healed naturally, but, I truly believe that it is stronger now than the other one on my good right arm. Today, I swam about three miles hard with a series of butterfly sprints. No pain, stress, or really anything came from that shoulder area. Now, (if you want too) you can click on my pnkcoral icon and read my whole saga; along with a series of xrays I posted of a normal break going through all the stages of fusion, naturally.

Finally, I walked away with a couple of important memories. The first came from my general surgeon who told me (only after my break had healed up nicely) that most breaks if they are not right on the ends or have multiple break areas can just be left alone to heal up naturally. Then if something goes wrong say in 4-5 months up to about 2+ years you can always go in later an operate. He actually was getting ready to operate on a guy that had some kind of mal-union and had waited over a year to have it done. And, along with the cost, the idea of drilling holes and inserting a bunch of screws into the thin and weak part of the clavicle..well it really didn't seem to smart. (Unless there was a dam good reason). The other thing that I would caution anybody about (but it is soley up to you) is using free weights to soon. I started using free weights at about six months and it just didn't feel right. So, I stopped and just swam as a much better recovery alternative. Then about six months ago I started a weight program for swimmers that just uses cybex and precor machines. I find it much easier on my old bones and easier to control weight increments. I am now getting some great results with my overall swim performances.

Well, guess that is about it for now and I hope your break heals up as successfully as mine.
Good luck,
Robert

 

[yuripavlov]

Great forum and have read about 30 pages, seems to be the place to go on the internet for broken clavicles, but still I'm none the wiser! Was riding my bike to a soccer match 11 days ago, a dog ran out in front of me and I applied my brakes and avoided the dog and stayed on my bike....but actually broke my collar bone playing soccer later!! I guess its like Final Destination, if it's your time to break your clavicle then you can't cheat it. This is the first time in my life I have a broken bone and that's why I've been on the internet all week trying to find out when I can play soccer again and if I need surgery or not! it still hurts like hell if I move arm into a wrong position, and there's still bruising after 11 days, should that happen? Also there is a burning, stabbing, excrutiating pain when I move the arm into certain positions, and they are not weird positions, just when I'm showering or putting on clothes....anyone experience this?

I'm wearing the figure 8 brace since the Dr said it will help to push the bone into alignment so they can be fused in time. Another Dr said probably better if I get surgery. Have tried to compare my x ray with the x rays on the internet that required surgery. I prefer not to have surgery and not have metal in my body and then need to be cut open again to take the pins out, and have heard a few horror stories about surgery. I don't lift weights or swim, but run track, road, cycle and play soccer a lot....these activities probably don't need a strong re-fixed collarbone. so I don't mind future limitations if I don't have surgery. Does anyone know how long it takes before I can start running and play soccer again? Please don't say 6 to 8 weeks like it does on every web page, I will die if I can't ride or play football for 2 weeks!! Anyway....am glad I'm not the only one out there, but not happy!

 

[berygu]

Yuripavlov, i advice you to not have surgery, a metal plate with screws in your body feels like ****. Also, there are high risks of complications, If things go wrong You can always have surgery later. Also, don't focus on soccer, focus on the healing procese, this is a serious injury.

 

[jackalier]

I've broke my collarbone on December 16th playig football the picture is 3 weeks after the break, I went to two orthopedic surgeons they both said it should heal on its on. It's almost 7 weeks after the break and I still can't lift my right up at all I'm really concerned that it's not healing my next X-ray is on February 9th I really started thinking about having the surgery and get it pinned so I can maybe start using my again sooner. Just wanted to get some opinions if you guys had similar breaks and how long it took you to heal and if you guys had surgery or let it heal on its own. Thanks guys

 

[yuripavlov]

The doctors say the same thing about mine... I guess they just read things of the internet and play the numbers game also! They said 90 per cent mine will fuse and heal in 12 to 20 weeks... That's a long time but definitely natural process is better than having pins inside your body. And if you go for pins now you will ache for 4 weeks after. Mine is 3 weeks now... Still wear a brace for support but the pain and bruising has subsided I guess every day it gets 4 per cent better. I'm still about 20 per cent pain. Want to go running but the gf forbids me!

 

[shilpa123]

Surgery should be your last option. Because after surgery it is never easy to cycle on that same manner as before. Healing naturally is the best option.

 

[sylvia_louise]

Surgery should be your last option. Because after surgery it is never easy to cycle on that same manner as before. Healing naturally is the best option.

I agree about surgery being your last resort. Unfortunately; sometimes the break is so bad it is the only option; at least that is what we were told when my daughter, an avid skateboarder and biker broke her right clavicle. Quite frankly, I think it freaked me out more than her, to have a plate/rod inserted into her body.

They had to wait a week or so, can't remember exactly as it was about five years ago, for the swelling to go down before operating. She was told she had the option to come in later to have it removed. Thus far, she has not had complications and not gone in for another surgery. I hope she never has to because the healing time was hard on her. She wanted to push herself and get right back to her same activities, right away.

 

[willy81]

surgery is the only way to have your colar bone realigned
and if your colar bone does not get to its former length and shape your affected side will differ from the other

 

[bicyclez]

Curious. Is total symmetry to be expected after the surgery or is it the 90 - 95 percent range a realistic expectation? Of course given you had total symmetry prior to the injury.

 

[willy81]

naturally there are small differences between right and left side of the human body,
we were born with those differences,

 

[ambal]

Curious. Is total symmetry to be expected after the surgery or is it the 90 - 95 percent range a realistic expectation? Of course given you had total symmetry prior to the injury.

Depends, if you don't help yourself heal then you'll never be the same. If the doc/physio give you exercises to do, do 'em