Collar Bone and surgery

superkenners

Hi,

I had a big off back in November, broke shoulder blade and collar bone and a few other 'bits', recovery been a bit slow to say the least and to make matters worse collar bone has not healed properly so now whole shoulder clicks when I move through the 90 degrees mark and generally aches a bit, annoying.

Docs now say best fix is surgery, wondering if anyone else has suffered a similar fate and decided to either put up with dodgy shoulder hoping body will eventually heal it or go under the knife, they have not given me a lot of guidance on what I can expect with a plate in and what happens next aside from the rather unhelpful disclaimer 'surgery is not without risks'.

Cheers, Nick

d87heaven

What do you mean by 'collar bone hasn't healed properly'....malunion? Clavicles heal pretty well normally (providing the NHS don't cock it up) although many require a pin ,usual is 8/12 weeks.

superkenners

yep, malunion, there is still a gap on the x-ray, there is some bone but a much lower density and has not change for last 3 months. They touted surgery when I did it but 'decided' it was worth seeing what happened, sling and a boat load of painkillers being the cheaper option.

mamba80

Possibly surgery on my last break would have been a good option but like you was told " lets give it time" for my it has worked out ok - Surgery would have involved a bone graft from hip and then a metal plate, that would have been a permanant fixture - and no garantee that it would have worked.

Have a gander at this
http://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/article.asp?article=636

cyco2

I have had several breaks in my right collar bone and while I was still riding was reluctant to have a plate fitted. Because another break could be very messy. Now I have a two part collar bone and the width of my shoulder has shortened. When I asked the Doc about it he said it will be okay. Good luck with yours

superkenners

Maybe I will just wait til I crash again and then get it pinned!