Collar bone stories

daniel_b

Just broken mine with an uber silly off :oops:

4-6 weeks I have been told, minimum of a week off work, seeing a consultant on Thursday to see how it's doing and how long I need off.

Who on here has broken one, and how long did it take you to get back up and running, and most importantly, back on your bike?

Dan

iainf72

Bad luck fellow.

I won't do my whole boring story again, but I just figured out that it'll be 2 years since I broke mine in a weeks time. Since that fateful day I have cycled on the road less than 5 times but have lately been doing turbo sessions.

Hopefully your break is a straightforward one. I had to have mine screwed together because I shattered it into pieces

popette

hi Dan - bad luck
Don't have experience but my friend broke his around October last year. He was off the bike for a while (prob 2 months) and is cycling LEJOG in a month so has been doing plenty of miles on it since then.
Hope you're not feeling too sore
x

daniel_b

Bloody hell Iain, sounds like you got a raw deal there :?

I hope your on your way back to full health soon.

I 'think' mine is a fairly clean break, looked like it on the x-ray, and the nurses said it was a 'better break' if that is possible.

Thankyou Popette, it's my first break of any kind, so is unchartered territory.
It's not too bad if I keep still, and surprisingly I have had 2 good nights sleep, basically pick a position where it doesn't hurt, and don't move!

Two months I could deal with, less would be nicer, just want to be out on a bike when the weather gets better.

Dan

iainf72

Daniel B wrote:

I 'think' mine is a fairly clean break, looked like it on the x-ray, and the nurses said it was a 'better break' if that is possible.

Are you strapped up? If so, keep it tight because it does help a lot. Interesting they said a week off work - I got signed off for 6 weeks right away

My clavicle has healed very well - Consultant said as well as it possibly could. In my case the doctors missed a shoulder dislocation which by the time it was spotted meant my shoulder joint was ruined.

daniel_b

They kitted me out with a sling only, which I don't wear all the time, but I'm very conscious to do as little with my left arm as possible, at least until I see the consultant.

The nurse thought the consultant might sign me off for a further 3 weeks though.

That's pretty galling that they missed your dislocation, I hope there is some way you can try and improve it as much as you can, so you can do most of the things you enjoy.

Dan

Pirahna

I broke mine when I was 16, so it healed in a couple of hours (not). I can recall lots of pain and a horrible feeling of bone sliding across bone every time I moved.

I took a heavy fall on the same shoulder in my early 30's and tore the end of the collar bone out of it's shoulder socket. The bone now sticks up which looks a bit funny if I've got my shirt off. It took about 7 or 8 years for that to get to a point where I wasn't troubled by it.

cee

i did my right collar bone a treat when I was a kid also.

Landed on it right across the face of a kerb :shock:

Sling was all I got and I seem to remember it healing quite quickly (7 weeks or so??)

The sling was also a great place to hide sneaky chocolate bars :oops:

*edit oh yeah.....hope it heals quick and easy!

Stewie Griffin

My Brother did his in October last year and it was early March before he felt anyway near 100%. Not the best injury for a DJ, saw him play in Amsterdam for New Years and he looked to be in a fair amount of pain, I was skinning up for him all night, to kill the pain you understand 8) . Also blamed him (and now all of the rest of you) for making titanium so flipping expensive.

I think Nicky Hayden (Moto GP rider) was racing 14 days after his surgery, although Im sure that the painkillers he had were better than we can get, even from Amsterdam.

Best of luck with it though, its April still and looks like it will rain for a good while yet so chin up, you arent missing much. Unless you like riding in the rain :shock:

Bronzie

Bad luck fella.

Did mine at the Dragon Ride last June when the guy in front fell off going down a sunken manhole cover and I went straight over him. Did my best Superman for 0.42 secs and then landed heavily on my left shoulder. Knew what I'd done straight away as when I tried to push myself up off the floor, my left shoulder seemed to be made of jelly.

This pic was taken a few days later:


It was red and yellow and blue and black and...........................bruising took 8-12 weeks to come out fully. Got a stooopid triangular bandage sling at A+E that was rubbish. Get one of the foam/tubigrip ones asap if not already.

It seemed to "knit" initially after a week or so (certainly stopped the grinding bone on bone bit). I went swimming (after a fashion) after 2 weeks or so (not recommended by my consultant btw but I'd already started by the time I saw him) and this seemed to help get the movement back in the shoulder quite well.

Had 9 weeks off the bike in the end (2 of those at the end due to family hols), so 6-8 weeks is about right, but I'd suggest you get on the turbo trainer and just pedal lightly as soon as you feel able just to keep the legs moving.

Pretty much back to normal for me now although wearing seatbelts can be uncomfortable on the rather prominent lump I'm left with.

Good luck with the healing anyway.

LangerDan

A week off work? Jammy git. When I broke mine on a Saturday, I got Monday off and then had to fly to a meeting through a storm with the ends of the bone grating off each other. (Not out of choice, mind you)

Mine took over 10 weeks to sort out, not helped by the investigations of a sports doctor who managed to push the slightly-knitted ends apart at about 4 weeks. I believe it you get it plated, the recovery is far more rapid.

Two things to look out for:

- As the nerves in the area heal, your skin may feel like it's in a perpetual "Chinese burn".

- The arm will suffer a loss of muscle due to lack of use (no laughing at the back). GP suggested resting the elbow on the desk (to keep the load off the shoulder) and lifting a heavy book - keeps the biceps and triceps in some shape.

Godd luck with the recovery!

daniel_b

Thankyou for all the replies, I am generally encouraged

Bronzie, looks like I got off lightly compared with what you endured :shock:
I don't really have much in the way of visible external damage, apart from the usual grazes and chunks of missing skin.

I don't have a turbo trainer, but we do have a decent quality exercise bike, so I can ride that without having to use my hands, so might do that to keep the legs spinning.

Cheers

Dan

Bronzie

Naah...........Iain definitely got the short straw........sorry to hear you're still off the bike gent.

topcat1

Broke mine in april 2006 had 5 weeks off work, then snapped it again oct 2006 another 5 weeks off (supposed to have surgery 2nd time- b****X).Spent 5th week painting living room .

iainf72

Bronzie wrote:

Naah...........Iain definitely got the short straw........sorry to hear you're still off the bike gent.

I'll try scan my x rays for y'all soon. Most people find them amusing

I'd forgotten about the bruising til I saw your picture - I did a fracture in my arm as well and it went pitch black from shoulder to elbow. Took about a week .

fluff.

8 weeks off work and the bike, couldn't safely drive before then, but could of worked probably after 4 if I didn't need to be able to drive for work. First week was agony, at the time I had gas&air the most morphine they could legally give me, and some other painkiller I had to let dissolve on my tongue, and it still hurt, plus after all that I couldn't remember my own phone number The basic A&E sling really is rubbish though, went back a 2nd time after it got ridiculously painful, and got a proper sling. Still got the bump 2 years later, with me for life I think as the bones fused at a rather funny angle.

My bruising was a rather sickly green and yellow sort over all my upper right chest, didn't think to take a pic at the time.

Gavin Gilbert

Had mine broken for me on the 15th May 2004, didn't get back on the bike until the following August 30th.

In terms of pain, broken ribs hurt a lot more, and not as uncomfortable as my recent sprained ankle and fractured foot.

vbc

I broke my left scapula and clavicle in a big off last year but they were some of my minor injuries and healed so well that I wasn't really aware that I'd broken them until my wife told me after I'd been in a coma for 3 weeks. My broken ribs healed quite well and swiftly too. Shame about my skull!

Back on my bike though for commuting (driving license has been suspended) and for leisure, despite my wife's deep concern.

vitesse169

Hi - broke my right clavicle 30 Sept 07 on an mtb race. Local hosp told me it would heal naturally in 4 weeks & sent me away with a 'collar' sling.
Went to my home hosp next day to be told it wouldn't heal in a month of sundays.... Had surgery a few days later where they nailed it back together from being displaced... 5 weeks in a sling then loads of physio etc.
Saw the surgeon last week who was happy with his handywork and discharged me from his care.
I was allowed to us the turbo (but not my right arm) from Dec 07 then onto the road from mid Jan 08. I am now back TTing - but not very good at it.
Hope yours heals real soon - it's a bummer not being on a bike.....

vitesse169

Oh yeah, the mtb race.... after all that I was only about 500yds from the finish line when I off'd !!!!!! no one told me 'til I was in the amb.......

daniel_b

Thanks for all the replies, my shoulder is currently very yellow - turned that shade yesterday, which I gather is a good thing.

Getting some awesome waves of pain down the outside of the arm, at the top, a bit on the shoulder, and a bit inside the arm - last for between 15-30 minutes, and happened for the first time on Saturday, and since 2-3 times a day - certainly an eye opener.

Dan

knedlicky

I broke mine one September a few years ago, in a slide on gravel coming down the Col de Larche in the French Alps. I was off work 12 weeks, although the last weeks were perhaps unnecessarily spun out a bit.
At first I was in the hospital at Gap, which I loved for the nurses, the afternoon tisane, the high quality of the hospital food (no kidding, I was in France after all), and the red wine served with both the midday and evening meals (¼ litre at each meal).

The break was a bad jagged one and the hospital were going to operate, then changed their minds and after a week sent me back to the UK in a plaster wrapped around both shoulders and across my back. In the UK this was removed, and the arm was put in a sling, but just a few days of my shoulders being locked in position meant I had to also have therapy on the uninjured side too – both shoulders and arms had gone stiff!

The UK hospital said they would send me an appointment for an operation to straighten the break. By the following June I was riding passes in the Pyrenees with no problems. The appointment for the re-set work came from the UK hospital over 2½ years after the fall and break, by which time I had no interest in having the bone broken anew, in order to have it re-set.
I now have a ¾” step in the left collarbone and as consequence the left shoulder is slightly lower and also slightly forward than it once was, but you can only notice this in the shower or on the beach. In fact, the step in the collarbone is a sort of trademark of mine now.

HungryCol

Broke mine playing Rugby. In fact both my serious injuries happened during Rugby training and not during a game! We were doing tackle training when my tackleing counterpart picked me up (I'm 6'2" & 15 st) and dumped me on my right shoulder...crack! Broken collarbone...was in a sling for a few months. Left with a small lump on the top of my shoulder that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

rustychisel

same same... crashed a few years ago, off for 7 weeks, to be honest didn't really want to be on the bike much earlier than that due to general discomfort and wishing not to break it again. I think you 'know' when you're ready to get back on the bike.

ju5t1n

I broke mine eight years ago, had a couple weeks of rest and thought it had healed.

Six months later at the gym I noticed a clicking and grinding feeling in the area and so returned to my GP. My doc reckoned it may never have healed and was still in two bits, this was confirmed by x-ray back at the hospital. I saw a specialist who suggested that I had it plated. I asked if it would hurt – he said “yes”. I’ve not been back since.

I can feel the break still but my muscles seem to have adapted to cope with the problem. There is no pain now but I’m probably in for some arthritic problems later in life.

I remember discussing the problem on this very forum back in 2004 and found another member from Aylesbury who had experienced exactly the same thing.

So my advice is rest for the recommended six weeks before getting back on your bike.

stevechambers34

broke my right one playing Rugby in 99, it was smashed into about 5 bits, wasn't useable for about 8 weeks due to severity of break, luckily I was between jobs, anyway it got better and I have had no problems with it except for comedy lump. worse bit was hearing it grate and grind as its close to your ear, also had to take coproxomol (now banned?) they said no beer on the pack so I did didn't I and got halucinations the lot cool!

now have full mobility and some light pain in damp weather also a strange clicking noise occassionaly but that could be the dislocation that occured at the same time.

daniel_b

Thanks for the replies all,

saw the consultant yesterday, who prodded me to check it still hurt, and then said he'd see me in 4 weeks for an x-ray.

Have to stay in the sling all the time.

A family friend who is a consultant thinks these can take 3 months to 'properly' heal before I can get back on a bike

How long before you get an inkling it is starting to knit back together?

Some of the stories above concern me :?

Am certainly not going to rush it, as hard as it will be possibly not riding for 3 months, I would rather that than 2 months now, and then a further 2-3 months later on.

Dan

Bronzie

Obviously it depends on how bad your break is, but mine was a fairly clean "snap" rather than lots of bits and it definitely started to fuse after 7 days as the grinding bone on bone sensation stopped when I moved about.

Don't fret too much yet - your doctor friend may be right about the 3 months to fully heal, but that doesn't mean you can't do light riding before then. I think the real worry is that you fall again on a not fully healed break and give yourself a punctured lung, so the more hazardous activities like racing are probably best avoided for a while.

FWIW Chris Newton broke his just before the World Track Champs and is now back racing and a jockey was on 5Live this morning who broke his 2 weeks ago and is back in the saddle this weekend! :shock: Obviously they probably have access to better medical care than the likes of you and me, but bones will not heal any faster regardless.

daniel_b

Hiya,

mine appears to be clean, and he said it wasn't far from being aligned properly.

I think my main concern is that everytime I take my top off, I might well be opening it up again.
I'm trying to minimise this by wearing zippy tops, so less movement required to put on/take off, but I can still feel things happening even when I do this.

I'm sure your right though, just have to sit tight, be as careful as I can, and hope it improves.

Was quite painful last night, so I'm cautiously hoping that the pain might indicate it is trying to fuse...... :?

I took your advice, and have this morning taken delivery of a spangly new sling, which already feels more comfortable, and as it's velcro is easily adjustable single handed which is a major boon

Lovely sunny day today, would love to be out on a bike, but I guess my aim is to be out on a bike no later than July, but maybe by June - we shall see.
As you say, some gentle road rides, perhaps on my more upright, suspensioned mtb might be the way to start.

I do remember hearing about Chris Newton now you mention it, good news, and encouraging he is back in the saddle already.

Cheers

Dan

I-S

Broke my left clavicle in several places on 30/3/2008 (actually a car broke it not stopping on a roundabout...), required a plate. After 5 weeks I've started riding again. Needed 2 days off work. I was told that the plate improves alignment but time to heal fully is actually longer than without surgery.

Interesting to read the variety of experiences.

daniel_b

Hello everyone,

nearly 4 weeks after the initial break, and from last wednesday (3 weeks after) I noticed a significant improvement, and it has carried on in that manner, which I hope means that it has decided to knit itself back together.

I'm still being ultra careful, but am a lot more optimistic now than I was.

Have another two weeks before I have to go back to work, and 10 days before I have x-ray number two, and the appointment with the consultant - am still wearing the sling as he requested, last thing I want to do is set it back.

I was thinking it might be July before I was back on a bke, but am cautiously aiming to be back on a bike (any bike, I don't care!) before the longest day, so that would then be 8 weeks post break, which I hope would be sufficient.

I think someone earlier on said that you will feel/know when it's ready to be back on a bike, so I will stick with my gut instinct.

Will also quiz the consultant on what he feels is safe to do, and how soon I can attempt, namely cycling, squash and badminton - not simultaneously

Cheers

Dan