Broken Collar Bone - Recovery Question

ZRexRider said:

Hi,

Bones seem to be healed completely. Right shoulder ends up a little
shorter (or at least appears to be).

I have no clue regarding collar bones, but I broke my ribs playing
volleyball....and my rib cage never went back to looking normal. Is it
normal for bones to heal in a different way then they were before they
were broken? My rib cage is ridiculous looking since three MALE idiots
fell on top of me during a volleyball game.

Hope you feel better and heal well with no after affects aside from a
lower right shoulder. (or is that effects?)..

Maggie (Always watching out for the grammar police.)

ZRexRider said:

Hi,

Just curious if anybody else went through the same recovery issues.

On January 1 I t-boned a dog on my bike - fortunately I was going
between 10 and 15mph but I landed badly and broke my collar bone and 4
ribs.

Bones seem to be healed completely. Right shoulder ends up a little
shorter (or at least appears to be). The fracture was approximately in
the middle and is an overlap. Orthopedist was not concerned about any
of that and didn't like surgery as an option unless healing didnt
occur.

My problem is getting range of motion back into my right shoulder. The
pain I feel is a bursitus type pain. I can exercise and feel pretty
good afterwards. Then sometimes I'll simply lift my arm to turn on a
lightswitch or something and it will feel like bursitis.

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Rule of thumb: one full year to recover completely from a broken
collarbone.

Mine was right on schedule . . . 'til I re-injured it.

Good luck!

Neil Brooks said:

Mine was right on schedule . . . 'til I re-injured it.

Good luck!

That should make him feel better. ;-)

Maggie

ZRexRider said:

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Thanks

It has been 3 years since I broke my collar bone. But still to this
day it bothers me. On longer bike rides I have to unhook my bib
suspender on the broken and healed side because the I do not like the
pressure on that shoulder.
But on a good note ,, thank god it doesn't hurt like all those broken
ribs I had at the same time. That is PAIN!

I'm recovering from a similar injury. Since the ortho people don't do
anything much about collarbones, I can understand the long time it takes
for them to heal.

Fritz said:

ZRexRider said:

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Thanks

It has been 3 years since I broke my collar bone. But still to this
day it bothers me. On longer bike rides I have to unhook my bib
suspender on the broken and healed side because the I do not like the
pressure on that shoulder.
But on a good note ,, thank god it doesn't hurt like all those broken
ribs I had at the same time. That is PAIN!

See the picture at the bottom of the page:
http://www.shouldersolutions.com/ac_4.php

IMO, the treatment for this injury should depend entirely on how active the
person is and how much they will be depending on higher than normal
fitness. For instance if you're an avid backpacker, or a model I would not
suggest that a fracture with misplaced segments be allowed to heal in place
and result in a mis-aligned skeletal frame. For someone who just does a
deskjob, then it might have been more sensible.

Doctors SUCK!!

A short story - my $#*$% sports med doc wanted to do a full hip replacement
on me back in 2001. He had "diagnosed" arthritis based entirely on ONE (1)
x-ray series - one snapshot in time. I was in a LOT of pain.

I did not listen to him and eventually discovered the pain was not related
to my hip at ALL. It was a slight bulge of the L-3 disk, causing some
sciatic pain, and some mis-alignment of the sacro-iliac joint. What a
freakin' DUMBASS was - this supposedly TOP sportsmedicine guy in the
country. ALL the signs were there that it was not the hip (pain on the
outside of the hip, and down the side of my quad. No inguinal pain, and
more).

I've been working this out and some days the pain and misalignment
disappears completely. (hill climbing on my bike seems to help).

Someday, when I'm completely healed I'm gonna go back over there and do a
jump-spinning back hook kick and knock his glasses off, LOL. (j/k).

He actually got MAD at me for daring to question his freakin' diagnosis.
He'd certainly be stunned and amazed to know how well I ride a road bike
with my totally degenerated, diseased hip that needs a titanium ball and
socket in it. (freakin moron). I'm placated by knowing he did NOT get the
big screen TV he was hoping for by getting my money for this needless
surgery.

Whew, sorry about that. ;-)

jj

ZRexRider said:

Hi,

Just curious if anybody else went through the same recovery issues.

On January 1 I t-boned a dog on my bike - fortunately I was going
between 10 and 15mph but I landed badly and broke my collar bone and 4
ribs.

Bones seem to be healed completely. Right shoulder ends up a little
shorter (or at least appears to be). The fracture was approximately in
the middle and is an overlap. Orthopedist was not concerned about any
of that and didn't like surgery as an option unless healing didnt
occur.

My problem is getting range of motion back into my right shoulder. The
pain I feel is a bursitus type pain. I can exercise and feel pretty
good afterwards. Then sometimes I'll simply lift my arm to turn on a
lightswitch or something and it will feel like bursitis.

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Thanks

See the picture at the bottom of the page:
http://www.shouldersolutions.com/ac_4.php

IMO, the treatment for this injury should depend entirely on how active the
person is and how much they will be depending on higher than normal
fitness. For instance if you're an avid backpacker, or a runway model, I
would not suggest that a fracture with misplaced segments be allowed to
heal in place and result in a mis-aligned skeletal frame. For someone who
just does a deskjob, then it might have been more sensible. Note that it's
hard to blame the doctor, as this is the (dumbass) standard of practice.

You can bet your bottom dollar that if Britney Spears got this type of
injury they'd have repaired it using minimally invasive laparoscopic
surgery, and realigned the segments, and wrapped them as in that
illustration! ;-)

I'm not a doctor, I just play one in my own mind. <g>

jj

ZRexRider said:

Hi,

Just curious if anybody else went through the same recovery issues.

On January 1 I t-boned a dog on my bike - fortunately I was going
between 10 and 15mph but I landed badly and broke my collar bone and 4
ribs.

Bones seem to be healed completely. Right shoulder ends up a little
shorter (or at least appears to be). The fracture was approximately in
the middle and is an overlap. Orthopedist was not concerned about any
of that and didn't like surgery as an option unless healing didnt
occur.

My problem is getting range of motion back into my right shoulder. The
pain I feel is a bursitus type pain. I can exercise and feel pretty
good afterwards. Then sometimes I'll simply lift my arm to turn on a
lightswitch or something and it will feel like bursitis.

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Thanks

I broke my left clavicle late November 2004. Like you, I had an
overlap and a shortened shoulder. Doctor said give it a month to heal
on its own. Sucker didn't feel or look right after a month. So I
underwent surgery and had my first titanium components installed; a
plate and six screws to join the broken clavicle together. After eight
weeks of recovery time, I was on the bike again. Since then I've
ridden three centuries and plan on a couple more this summer. The
shoulder is completely mobile and pain free.
Maybe you could seek a second opinion?
Good luck.

Art

ZRexRider said:

Hi,

Just curious if anybody else went through the same recovery issues.

On January 1 I t-boned a dog on my bike - fortunately I was going
between 10 and 15mph but I landed badly and broke my collar bone and 4
ribs.

Tell me about the ribs. Did they hurt after they had rejoined? I broke mine
in February, they rejoined in April, but the areas in question still hurt when
I move in certain ways.

Quoted message said:

Bones seem to be healed completely. Right shoulder ends up a little
shorter (or at least appears to be). The fracture was approximately in
the middle and is an overlap. Orthopedist was not concerned about any
of that and didn't like surgery as an option unless healing didnt
occur.

My problem is getting range of motion back into my right shoulder. The
pain I feel is a bursitus type pain. I can exercise and feel pretty
good afterwards. Then sometimes I'll simply lift my arm to turn on a
lightswitch or something and it will feel like bursitis.

Long ago I dislocated my collarbone (at the front join, not at the shoulder --
but the pain was at the shoulder end), and a few ultrasound treatments at the
shoulder junction wiped out most of the pain -- almost like magic. The doc
said that the chances of surgery improving the situation, making it worse or
making no change were about the same, so I just left it alone.

How about physical therapy?

Quoted message said:

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Pain and long recovery times seem to be normal :-(

--
Cheers, Bev
================================
Eat right. Stay fit. Die anyway.

Neil Brooks said:

ZRexRider said:

Hi,

Just curious if anybody else went through the same recovery issues.

On January 1 I t-boned a dog on my bike - fortunately I was going
between 10 and 15mph but I landed badly and broke my collar bone and 4
ribs.

Bones seem to be healed completely. Right shoulder ends up a little
shorter (or at least appears to be). The fracture was approximately in
the middle and is an overlap. Orthopedist was not concerned about any
of that and didn't like surgery as an option unless healing didnt
occur.

My problem is getting range of motion back into my right shoulder. The
pain I feel is a bursitus type pain. I can exercise and feel pretty
good afterwards. Then sometimes I'll simply lift my arm to turn on a
lightswitch or something and it will feel like bursitis.

Is this normal? I'm pretty active and sure wouldn't mind some peace of
mind that I can work through this.

Rule of thumb: one full year to recover completely from a broken
collarbone.

Man I'm glad I didn't hear that when I broke mine. Doc told me no
riding for 8 weeks. At week 6 I was back on the bike (dead of winter,
still wearing the X brace). I had no problems with my arm of shoulder
except during weather changes hurts like hell. I have a bump where I
broke it. That was 6 years ago now.

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry [email hidden]
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog

The Real Bev said:

Tell me about the ribs. Did they hurt after they had rejoined? I broke mine
in February, they rejoined in April, but the areas in question still hurt when
I move in certain ways.

I had my ribs broken. They do not hurt any longer, but that was 10
years ago. But you can see where they were broken. I don't know if it
was my fault or my doctors fault that they healed in a strange way. I
guess it did not help that I did not go directly to the emergency room.
I went the next day. I went when I realized I could not breathe
without screaming.

I was wrapped up for a long time in bandages. Its a [censored] because now
I can't wear a my thong bikini without my crooked ribs showing.....
;-) Ha ha.

Seriously though, the pain goes away eventually. I seem to always be
left with reminders of the past. I think it is my destiny. Cracked
ribs and scars. All with a story behind them. I guess it is the
universe reminding me to stop being so dumb.

Maggie.

"Maggie" wrote: (clip) I guess it is the universe reminding me to stop
being so dumb
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Well, you're still alive and active. There's the story about the guy on the
gallows, with a rope around his neck. He had a chance to say his last
words, which were: "This will teach me a lesson."

I have just broke my collar bone and also dislocated it from my
shoulder blade. I have been given a 6 - 8 week recover time, but have
to go back in 3 weeks to get it checked and told if I need surgery.

Jamie

On 13 Jun 2005 17:27:45 -0700, "Maggie" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Leo Lichtman said:

"Maggie" wrote: (clip) I guess it is the universe reminding me to stop
being so dumb
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Well, you're still alive and active. There's the story about the guy on the
gallows, with a rope around his neck. He had a chance to say his last
words, which were: "This will teach me a lesson."

I live in fear of getting to that point Leo. ;-)

Maggie

Well thanks for all the replies!

Sounds like it might take awhile for the various pains to go away. I'm
kinda glad I didn't get surgery cuz I don't really trust the doctors to
do it right anyway.

I guess when you bike - you're going to break something eventually.

Thanks

ZRexRider said:

I guess when you bike - you're going to break something eventually.

Thanks

No matter what you do, you will probably break something eventually.
;-)

(Happy Healing)

Maggie.