Broken Collar Bones

dvdfoz

On Sunday finally broke my duck with first fracture from bike fall.

Enjoying sunshine heading to Greenwich, crashed into pot-hole on roundabout at end of Jamaica Road/Lower Road. When I picked my self up and had fractured collar bone.
Three days in St Thomas', bones pinned together.


So off bikefor a while, what experience do people have of recovery time lines for this sort of inury?


On the upside, at least nothing behind me on the roundabout, and a couple of weeks feet up watching ITV4

El Gordo

dvdfoz wrote:

and a couple of weeks feet up watching ITV4

Just like Frank Schlek then.

The pros seem to get over broken collarbones in a few weeks but then they're not like normal people.

londonlivvy

Ouch. But as you say not bad timing with the coverage and of course with lovely weather!

I think it takes around 6-12 weeks normally to get back to sport but as yours has been pinned I guess you can get out and a bit more quickly as there's no risk of re-breaking it (as I managed to do - patience never was my forte). And I imagine, if you're really keen, you could do some turbo stuff within a couple of weeks.

gbsahne001

broke mine in 95 (went into the back of a stationary van :oops: ), mine certainly didn't need pinning though; think it took me a few weeks (4) to recover from memory.

I was back at work the next day though.

cee

broke mine when a kid...

the standard healing time seems to be 6 weeks....but as said..that doesn't necessarily mean back to full riding at 6 weeks....

presumably its slung up?

top tip...you can fit 2 mini cans of coke, a packet of bazuka joes and 5 chelsea whoppers in there as helpful way to carry stuff from the sweetshop.

wait...that was the plus side when i was a kid...not sure it applies as an adult..ach maybe it does!

Underscore

dvdfoz wrote:

So off bikefor a while, what experience do people have of recovery time lines for this sort of inury?

Mine was a fairly bad break but wasn't pinned and I was allowed (by my wife! - I wanted to go out for a short ride a week or so earlier) to get back on the bike after 7 weeks and I did the London-Cambridge ride (72 miles including the ride home) about 10-11 weeks after the break.

However, all breaks are, I would imagine, different so see how it goes and listen to the people who know what they are on about - i.e. probably not those that frequent internet forums!

_

sashmo

I broke mine last year. After it didn't heal, I had it pinned. I then had 6 weeks in a sling so obviously no cycling then. Healing time was given as 6-10 weeks (I am 42).

I got back on the bike after about 10 weeks (a bit on the turbo with one hand before that). However 6 weeks in a sling has a major effect. Lots of muscle wasting and some tendonitis because of compensating for a weak shoulder. Now really starting to get over it, and that is 4 months after the operation.

Overall, not too serious but don't rush back too quickly and underestimate the injury you have had. Doctors tend to know best.

greg66_tri_v2.0

IP to the courtesy phone, paging IP...

beverick

A mate of mine broke his in the 80's playing rugby. He was just sent home and told not to play for the rest of the season (it was March/April time).

Bob

Lancslad

I'm sat at home due to head on car collision. I have been told 6 to 8 weeks but i have to go back in two weeks and if it isnt healing i have to have i pinned, which is apparently not uncommon in car collisions. The seatbelt broke my bone into three pieces, still at least i get to watch the tdf.

I think i'd have rather they pinned it from the off. now i'm worried they will in two weeks and I have sat here for two weeks for no benefit.

anyway i'm rambling, speedy healing to ya!

Casbar

If I remember correctly Lance broke his colar bone in teh Giro last year and raced in the TdF..But as someone said these are pros..with a whole team of doctors and phisio's behind them

I broke nmine in 2003 skking..Had to have it pinned as it had split in half rather than break in half.....took 3 month to get back to strenght

But depending on how the break is ect and if you desperate to go out anything after 6 weeks should be possible,.

il_principe

Mmm bad luck! I broke mine in April when I got hit by a car. Took the docs a while to decide what to do, but I ended up having it pinned as it was a fairly bad break. I was told to give it at least 4 weeks, but wasn't back on the bike until early December. The doc was pretty vehement about not riding to soon when pinned as another fall can end up twisting the pins and really fecking things up.

In the end I was pretty unlucky as the plate developed an infection which interfered with the healing so much that I ended up being ordered off the bike again and had another operation in April, and was back on the bike in May. All in all a rather frustrating ordeal, but unless you are equally unfortunate you should be ok in a month or so.

dvdfoz

Cheers guys, so looks like I'm missing the summer

sounds frustrating IP

c2c

Lancslad wrote:

I'm sat at home due to head on car collision. I have been told 6 to 8 weeks but i have to go back in two weeks and if it isnt healing i have to have i pinned, which is apparently not uncommon in car collisions. The seatbelt broke my bone into three pieces, still at least i get to watch the tdf.

I think i'd have rather they pinned it from the off. now i'm worried they will in two weeks and I have sat here for two weeks for no benefit.

anyway i'm rambling, speedy healing to ya!

i also had a head on collision but was a little less fortunate than you as the dash of the car hit my knee which then proceeded to push my hip joint right out through its parent socket. i now set off all the alarms at airports.

And i too was hit off my bike breaking three ribs and my collar bone. i was back on the bike within three months, well not that bike but a new one. the car crash was five years ago and the cycling accident last September.