broken collarbone gutted

snowboarder0

hi all so i broke my collarbone on the weekend. im seeing a nhs orthopedic in 2 days

i have been told that this will require surgery but im absolutely bricking it. ( reading horror stories online )

anyone gone though this on the nhs ?

Andymaxy

Sorry to hear that, I'm lucky enough o have never ever broken a bone. (My worst injury is when I fell from a 30 ft cliff while hiking and needed stitches on the back of my head). Just relax and don't think about it.

Hope you can gain your confidence back and get better soon

craker

well I broke mine (mountain biking) it wasn't bad enough to need surgery but it's set quite wonky. All credit to the NHS for the care and support I got (morphine ... mmmm....)

You'll be out for a few months and no mistake, but once its fixed you'll just have good stories to tell and not much else to remind you.

fenix

Oof - ow. How did that happen ?

veronese68

snowboarder0 wrote:

i have been told that this will require surgery but im absolutely bricking it. ( reading horror stories online )

Not had that myself, but have had other breaks, I will say don't read up on medical stuff on the internet as it always comes up with the bad news stories. The vast majority that work out fine are too boring to write about.
You will be out of action for a while of course. Do what the doctors tell you to do, if you get any physio do what they tell you to do.
Good luck with it and hope you heal fast.

bompington

Well, when I was knocked off my bike 10 years ago, they told me that surgery wasn't necessary, and all the treatment I got was a sling.
For a shattered clavicle, a couple of cracked ribs and a broken scapula.
When I went for a follow up 12 months later, I saw an X-ray that looked like the collar bone had completely shattered. I asked what it looked like now and the ortho said "that is it now". Yours looks pretty straightforward by comparison.

If you want a horror story, I now have a permanently narrower shoulder on one side, constant grinding noises whenever I move it, a visibly misshapen clavicle and significant pain and weakness.

I don't know what stories you have seen online but it goes without saying that on the internet there's always a tendency for it to be easier to find the worst.

You're better off getting the surgery.

elbowloh

Well, if you will insist on going snowboarding...

Seriously though, gutted for you. You'll be back strong after a few weeks.

johnsonmoog

Sorry to hear about the break. I broke my collarbone a few years back and the Dr said it might not fix as well without surgery but it was my choice. As I would have had to wait about 6-8 weeks to find out if the break would heal ok naturally I decided to get it fixed and had the op a few days afterwards. Afternoon of surgery, back home for the evening.

Mine was only in one place, but they used a pin and some surgical elastic (all the modcons) and I had to wear a sling for about 6 weeks. It was uncomfortable but not overtly painful for me, but I was lucky to have the summer to rest. Very annoying to not be able to do very much outside of walking - let alone cycling.

Took the painkillers, did the physio and was careful and I didn't have any issues.

See what the Dr says when you speak and ask whathe thinks is the best course of action for you (if you haven't already). Hopefully you can be back on the bike when the weather is good.

Best of luck. (Oh and potential luvvers may dig the scars!?!?)

snowboarder0

well with my time since doing it 7 days ago i signed up to all the orthopaedic groups on facebook posted my x ray and lets just say 90% orthopaedic doctors said plate. at least i can go in the appointment tomorrow and if he says no surgery ill be like what you on about look at these other orthopaedics who disagree with you, how i see it and im not a surgeon just done my home work, is

2cm shortening 100% displacement skin tenting, no evidence of malunion and 100% evident of nonunion.

i'll report back once i had my appointment.

oh and i did it snowboarding, trying to show off to all my sons school friends and landed a jump wrong. ffs

cycleclinic

I did mine last may and mine was similar. The doc suggest that surgery could be an option but he said I may better off just seeing if it heals. It did. That by the way is doc code for leave it be it will be fine. I would suggest just letting it heal. Mine was good to ride again after 4 weeks although it rebroke twice at 2 week and then again at 3 weeks. then it healed and set.

It just depends on your doc but surgery carries risks and I would just say well see how it goes. if surgery is need 2 months down the line because the bone hnot joined or not joined properly then it still can be done, after all they will just break it again. healing time is upto 8 weeks. Mine was a broken differently but similar in that the bone shattered and was displaced. I had it snap in three but there was a fragment too and the nothing lined up. 4 week later though it sorted it self out and did a 12 hr TT 5 1/2 weeks after the break.

It will be fine (I hope).

snowboarder0

thecycleclinic wrote:

I did mine last may and mine was similar. The doc suggest that surgery could be an option but he said I may better off just seeing if it heals. It did. That by the way is doc code for leave it be it will be fine. I would suggest just letting it heal. Mine was good to ride again after 4 weeks although it rebroke twice at 2 week and then again at 3 weeks. then it healed and set.

It just depends on your doc but surgery carries risks and I would just say well see how it goes. if surgery is need 2 months down the line because the bone hnot joined or not joined properly then it still can be done, after all they will just break it again. healing time is upto 8 weeks. Mine was a broken differently but similar in that the bone shattered and was displaced. I had it snap in three but there was a fragment too and the nothing lined up. 4 week later though it sorted it self out and did a 12 hr TT 5 1/2 weeks after the break.

It will be fine (I hope).

interesting thing is im lopsided. i look deformed, and the complications later in life do not add up. i know surgery carry's the risk. but i have read many studies since ive done it. the only one fatal operation was in a 66 year old when the vain was severed by the drill put she was resuscitated on the table. the best thing we have about the nhs is " nhs choice" we can choose which surgeon and which hospital. i like to do my background checks on surgeons before anything. and most if not all work in the private sector.

mouth

snowboarder0 wrote:

the only one fatal operation was in a 66 year old when the vain was severed by the drill put she was resuscitated on the table.

Erm, is he/she dead or not?

Took a major impact on my c/b about 8-9 years ago - roller hockey injury, got upended, think of it like a tip tackle in rugby - soft tissue damage only apparently. Currently sat here with a misshapen collar bone and lots of ache on a cold day - I refer to it as more discomfort than pain, but nonetheless it's not present in the other side so something ain't right. If they say no surgery, go looking go for a second opinion. Lots of suffering further down the line if it ain't right now.

EDIT: Originally read it as a 66 year old woman.

lostboysaint

You're worried about collarbone surgery? You need to get off the internet and the horror stories and just get it sorted. Plenty of MotoGP/WSBK (and other) racers as well as cyclists will have surgery on a collarbone and be back riding within a week. Rule 5.

davis

lostboysaint wrote:

You're worried about collarbone surgery? You need to get off the internet and the horror stories and just get it sorted. Plenty of MotoGP/WSBK (and other) racers as well as cyclists will have surgery on a collarbone and be back riding within a week. Rule 5.

This. 99.9% of these are absolutely fine, otherwise you'd be hearing about "donations for collarbone surgery research"...

cycleclinic

I was lopsided for a while too. There are no complication from leaving it heal. if it does not heal right the surgoen will break the bone anyway. 90% of the time apparatnly these breaks sort themselves out without intervention. if intervention is needed then so be it. The risk of surgery outweighs the gains. The risk is not just death that the extreme risk. There are a bunch of other risks like the bone not healing right anyway. There are folk born without collar bones they function just fine.

The A&E doc will say surgery but they are not surgeons. You will get an appointment with the ortho doc soon enough and he will say probably lets wait and see.

Intervention is more common on the continent. Even if you have surgery you should not be loading it after a week.

If a bone heals by itself and it will self align but it take a 3=5 weeks of discomfort and pain then let it. You'll just have one arm for the time being. I ran a shop with one arm and had a broken thumb on the other. So if I can get by you can too.

In short it will heal. If your fit it will be on your bike again in 4 weeks. My break was not as clean as yours. You bones are still in the right place. Mine pointing the wrong directions.

snowboarder0

well i went for my appointment. I was all prepared with all my evidence and other orthopedics comments on my xray. he was like no you don't need surgery, it will bond. i was pissed started arguing with him like but these surgeons don't agree with you, i have more than a 2cm shortening, im not happy with your decision, he said thats fine go to your gb and ask for to have a second opinion. grrrr jbj.bjhb.jnjknhjvghc what not cost effective on the nhs !! sooo now im trying to catch nhs orthopaedics out who work privately to say yes you need a plate, then book them though the nhs, an be like but you said i did need a plate.

elbowloh

elbowloh wrote:

Well, if you will insist on going snowboarding...

snowboarder0 wrote:

oh and i did it snowboarding, trying to show off to all my sons school friends and landed a jump wrong. ffs

I was only joking based on the username.

Life imitates art.

snowboarder0

I DIDN'T GET AN OPERATION !!!! [email protected]{*K sakes man. i was so pissed off oh wait ive already wrote about it

nich

Mine bonded ok - most of them do, you may end up with a orrible bump (like mine), but you may get lucky and it'll set straight

They heal strong!

snowboarder0

nich wrote:

Mine bonded ok - most of them do, you may end up with a orrible bump (like mine), but you may get lucky and it'll set straight

They heal strong!

and wait till we are in the 60 and we cant do nothing with chronic pain etc