broken collar bone rehab time

tubbs_214

right well i got knocked off my bike last night and ive broken my collarbone into 3 peices, im having a operation to reset and put it all back in line tomorrow, what are the average recovery times for something like this. i know its impossible to say but is that all of my year gone. i had loads i wanted to do this year as well nevermind it will have to wait till next year.

thanks alot for any help

TakeTurns

Docs will say 12 weeks as a general guideline for a collarbone.
However there's nothing stopping you from riding on the turbo after the worst of the pain has subsided. I personally got out on the road 4 weeks after having the operation. It hurt a little when going over speed bumps, but it was manageable. Just need to grit your teeth through it really.

Mikey23

broke collar bone 9/7/13, plated three weeks later. i started on a static bike as soon as i could, then a friend lent me her turbo which was cool and first time out on the road again was 22/9/13. it was a steady progression after that and a long time before it stops aching and you feel that you have full control of the bike. it will take time and you will have to be patient. keep ticking over and you should be good to go by mid summer but you wont be whizzing and you might have some psychological issues to deal with. and make sure you get physio asap and do the exercises you are given. i was lucky that my physio was a cyclist!

if you want to you can link with me on strava and see my progression. hope that helps

tubbs_214

ill probably be refered to a physio tomorrow , yeah ill have to build up my base miles again thats a good idea about the turbo at least ill be able to keep a little of the fitness ive built up

MikeWW

Well the good news is that they are plating it which will cut down recovery time.
The younger you are the quicker it will heal.

Nothing stopping you getting on the turbo as soon as you want- helps to elevate the front wheel. Mine was left to heal and it was 10 weeks before I was out on the road but was not comfortable for at least another month

backo

did mine late last year, had it a pinned a week later. Felt a millions times better in terms of stability after it was pinned. You will defo be able to ride a turbo straight afterwards. Lose the sling as soon as possible to avoid muscles wasting away and tightening up thus reducing how much physio you need or even spend the odd hour without it. Had it xrayed after 6 weeks and there were no signs of the break and I could tell there was no broken bone pain.

Worse part was the feeling of having metal work so close to the underside of your skin..felt like a cheese grater everytime you moved......this feeling lasted about 6 weeks whilst soft tissue got used to the metalwork and screws. I beleive with some people this irritation doesnt go away and they have to have the metalwork removed.

I shattered my shoulder blade at the same time and reluctantly had no choice but to stay in a sling... its taken over 3 months of twice a week physio to get my shoulder back to 90% thanks to suffering from a "frozen" shoulder as a result of being in the sling.

vorsprung

I bust my collar bone in Feb 2008
After less than a week off I was using the turbo every day
Didn't get the ok to ride on the road again until late May

First ride was 200km, that went fine
So I entered the K&SW 600km the next weekend. This is probably one of the UKs most difficult audaxes. Unfortunately my daughter was ill that week and I was up every night so started quite sleep deprivated. I made it to 400km before packing.

The weather was awful that year but I did eventually manage another 600km event that year

I didn't feel that my fitness was back to 100% until the following spring

I didn't use the turbo again for 2 or 3 years, couldn't face it!

feltkuota

Did mine a few year's ago and much like everyone else used the turbo soon after and back on the bike within 6-8 week's.

A word of warning if I may and don't do what I did... A week after the break I was watching a horror movie, got a start at something and, as you do, jumped a few inches. That little episode resulted in me breaking the healing that had already occurred. I swear that was way more painful than the original bike crash!

Rojales

I broke mine last August, was fitted with a figure of 8 strap so I could keep my arm moving.
Back on the bike after 6 weeks, found it hard a first when climbing trying to pull on the bars.
Just take it steady and don't rush it.

dw300

I broke mine 9 weeks ago. A distal fracture (furthest from the centre of my chest). Was pretty clean, more or less lined up. Only given a sling, no metalwork or brace.

I was on the turbo the next day. It hurt getting into position, but after a week or two you will be able to lean on your bars. The pain was much less after 3 weeks and I could have done an easy Road ride then in hindsight, but it was 4 weeks when I was back on the road again. You will feel nervous because you'll know a fall will break it again right up till about 12 weeks, and even then you might only have 80% bone strength.

I regained full ROM at 6-7 weeks, but strength not great. Even at 9, working above shoulder height you don't have much strength.

I rode a TT at 7 weeks but don't feel like doing a group race even at 9. Thinking 12 might be the time.

Sitting spinning is not going to be a problem, you'll consider yourself fully recovered when you can sprint out of the saddle with full upper body power going through the handlebars.

tubbs_214

Well just got out of hospitality broke mine into 3 peices I've had it pinned and plated I've got to have the brace removed and all the screws taken out which means more surgery. So the doc said it will be autum unit I can ride my bike as long as I get to go and watch the tour I'll be happy.

Mikey23

Interesting. Why has your plate got to come out? I've been told that mine stays unless it causes problems which it doesn't seem to...

gaz047

i got knocked off in 2012 (3 weeks before ironman wales, thanks! :evil: ) and broke mine at the shoulder end. I had to wait approx 10 days for op to stick a hook plate in (there wasn't enough bone at the shoulder end to pin it), which i had for 3 months. During that 3 months i hammered the physio (recommend you do the same) and was on the turbo most days. Tried to run and that left me in bits for days. Towards the end of the 3 months i was getting a lot of pain from the metal, so was a relief to be having it out.
After the metal work came out, gave it a couple of weeks and then started on the turbo again and found swimming was of great benefit for building strength back up. started to run again 4 weeks after, this was quite uncomfortable, but eased with time.
My advice would be to stick to the physio, be patient, try not to cough or even worse sneeze as it hurts a lot, make sure you keep applying clean dressings daily (infection is the last thing you need!), get a decent box set (i was introduced to 'the wire' and was an absolute godsend), try to get out the house daily (even if just for a walk round the block) and of course plenty of turbo training until your ok to get back out there.
Chin up mate and hope you recover well
Gaz

superkenners

Glad most seem to have had a good recovery. I came off on a hill a couple of years ago and ended up with a broken scapular and clavical. Was given a sling for my troubles and continue to suffer from a lot of pain in the shoulder and now have quite a bit of back pain. Break healed badly and I was probably a bit slack on physio but make sure you keep up on that, particularly if you have soft tissue damage too (which is often overlooked by NHS docs).

Good luck!

mamba80

Mikey23 wrote:

Interesting. Why has your plate got to come out? I've been told that mine stays unless it causes problems which it doesn't seem to...

I turned down surgery as the advice from a consultant doctor was that as a cyclist, I would as likely break it again and if the plates and screws were left in, these would have the potential to cause a lot of damage as the twisted metal and pulled out screws would damage soft tissue and bone, the healing time was a lot longer but then again no 2nd op.

Torta y Agua

Hiya, bad luck with the injury!

I broke mine racing on the 8th of March, displaced but initially just in a sling. Saw the consultant 2 weeks later and was advised to have surgery. On the turbo from the day after the crash right until the day before the op.

24th March had a plate and 6 screws inserted, out of hospital the next day. Took a week off the turbo as didn't want to sweat into the wound.

29th of March - uni graduation, no sling all day and out on the tiles until the early morning! No problems from this other than some muscle ache the next day. Back on the turbo and at work the day after this.

10th April, check up with consultant, all looks good. Pretty much total ROM back although still quite weak. Out on the bike that evening for a 10 mile loop.

17th April, 125 miles London to Brighton and back, no issues from the shoulder at all.

On Saturday I'm doing the full Liege-Bastoigne-Liege route and on the 10th May starting a JOGLE ride. I'm confident the collarbone won't be a problem for either of them, the legs on the other hand....

Don't fret too much! It's definitely not the end of your season. I was back on the bike 17 days after surgery although I'll be waiting the full doctor advised 12 weeks before pinning on a number again. I would have waited a little longer but I didn't want to miss out on LBL and JOGLE. Sounds cheesy but listen to your body and if it hurts stop! You'll be back before you know it.

FYI I'm 25 which probably helps the healing time!

Mikey23

Yes, being 25 certainly helps... I'm 62 and it took a heck of a lot longer