Broken collarbone and some

archaeo

In display of naivity/stpuidity/bad luck i managed to crash badly descending on roads I didnt know well on saturday - rode on for 10 miles to get to where i was staying but it was excruciating

4 hours iin A and E (staff were great btw) its broken collarbone and lots of bruising. Have appoint at my own A and E tomorrow but im strapped up, off work and on pain killers

anyone had this how long can i be expected to be off work and (more importantly) off the bike

apologies for spelling and typing - im doing this one handedwhilst standing up - sitting is too uncomfortable

little wiser

pm on its way.

archaeo

cheers - just reset my pm - it was out of date

Underscore

archaeo wrote:

anyone had this how long can i be expected to be off work and (more importantly) off the bike

I broken mine pretty badly a couple of years back. IIRC, I was told to try to avoid getting back on the bike for 6 weeks - and due to personal circumstances at the time, I actually managed that with only a small amount of insistence by my wife! When I did get back on, I only got a bit of discomfort when the front wheel hit some reasonably significant imperfection in the surface of the road.

Regarding work, it depends what you do. I have a office job so was back in the following day - not at full productivity though due to the reduced typing rate!

Hope it heals up well,

_

vorsprung

Here are my experiences from a collar bone smash in 2008.

It was a proper break, not just a crack. These days they don't seem to think that using surgery or "pinning" is a good idea. They just give you a sling and wait in all but the worst cases. The pro cyclists seem to get metal in their shoulders as it can be quicker to get back on the bike I guess
I wasn't in a lot of pain, I only took painkilllers for a few days
My recovery was "text book", uncomplicated, as fast as could be expected.
The docs say that after a year the bone is completely mended and will be slightly stronger than before


1) How long off work?
I was off work for about 3 weeks. After that I couldn't drive a car and had to arrange lifts in or work from home. I could drive again after 6 weeks

2) How long off the bike?
I was off the road for 3 months(!) I was back on a turbo in a few days, once I was off the painkillers. 3 months using a turbo is tedious. I did see a doc at 8 weeks and he said you can ride the bike if you like but if you crash on that collar bone again, you are f***ed and we'd have to do surgery to try and sort it out. After the extra few weeks the bone is healed enough to take another impact.

ex-pat scot

If you are Tyler Hamilton then you get back on and ride the whole TdF...

Good luck for a speedy recovery, and don't skimp on the painkillers

archaeo

Cant believe i have not replied - sorry been feeling utterly sh*t.

Anyway I am 5 weeks in and doing ok, still off work - Dr's dont want me driving as my upper arm is rubbish. Although I have more movement in the last week or two the act of sitting at a pc/laptop and typing two handed is agony. So despite being generally desk based albeit with a fair amount of driving I am still not working - I have been doing the odd bit from home - just phoning clients and a couple of emails a day to stay on top of things.

Turned out to be a double fracture of the clavicle - but luckily?? there was not much displacement. I have also cracked ribs and damaged nerves in my leg (this is causing me more discomfort than the shoulder now and is worrying the doctors too?)

Utterly miserable - Despite riding on and off all my life (I am 38) I had let things slip on the bike since birth of first child in 2005 had made a real effort in 2009 to get back up to speed and lose weight etc etc then this happens - typical - I have 5 weeks off work but cant do anything with the time!!

Anyway I am hitting the turbo tomorrow - my problem has been getting on and off the evil machine prior to this week - the act of riding it seems no problem but I have now devised a Heath Robinson system of boxes to get me on and off without stressing the bad arm too much!

So my question is what shall I try to do ? My wife has donated an old works laptop which i could play dvd's on in the garage ?? i have always just used the ipod/mp3 etc but this opens up new ideas - what do you reckon folks

i am seriously in need of a pick me up as I may disintegrate into an alcoholic haze otherwise (best painrelief ever though)

ut_och_cykla

Ouch! If you have a wireless internet link you could do you tube playlists (cycling or just music) , the sufferfest (small fee) or buy/hire some DVDs of films, races or for training eg. Carmichael trainright ones or the (horrid winey american but quite tough) spinervals. But be sensible - dont do so much so you break down all the healing that is still obviously required.Get well soon!

hille

I broke my collarbone late September and had to do a surgery 4 weeks after that. Now I got a Hook-plate in the shoulder and I managed to ride my bike 6 weeks after the surgery. The plate will be remowed after 4 months.

Sheptastic

i rushed back into work and life when i broke mine. Spend a large amount of time o the sofa in the sling. I didnt and had to have surgery

archaeo

cheers

yes i have had conflicting advice two camps really - rest it, listen to the pain and dont push it initially and then thoase that go for the 'just get on with it'

I think everyone is different there is no 'right' way of doing it - but its very confusing knowing whether you are doing too much and potentially making it worse or not enough to help the healing

not keen on surgery unless i have to of course so am taking it pretty easy but doing physio gently and movement is coming back slowly (i managed to change a light bulb yesterday - felt ever so pleased :P )

Boredom is a killer though