Exercising with broken collarbone?

Thanks for the insight guys, will give the thera-band a serious look.

Is it good to do stretches etc at 5 weeks or are you better just keeping it steady?

I've been doing some walking the last couple weeks but not that much, fleece-sling thing has been sweaty as hell in warmer weather. Though today I got a wrist-mounted sling thing Cazzdevil recommended elsewhere that will be a lot better for exercise.

Doh, Ffluff [B)]. Which part of Reigate Hill was it, I'd take a guess at the fun downhill that starts across the road from the carpark?

The shoulder's feeling pretty solid now, I'm trying not to put much force through it but it feels good, have a fracture clinic appointment on Tuesday so I'm hoping for a good x-ray.

I stuck to just doing walking (was hopefully gonna get some miles in this weekend if not for the crap weather). The idea of sitting inside a hot room working away in a fleecy sling put me off a turbo trainer (probably drive my flatmate mad aswell), would make a lot more sense if you had some outside space like a garden to play in.

For the first couple weeks it's probably best to do little exercise at all to avoid jolting it. For me 90% of the pain went after 2 weeks, and 99% after 3 weeks. Buy (or get someone else to) plenty of short-sleeve shirts etc as you won't want to be wearing a normal t-shirt for a while. I made the mistake of putting on a t-shirt first day after I broke it; wasn't pleasant!

If it's any consolation I've read that the collarbone can actually heal back stronger than it was originally, eventually, as you get some bone overlap and it's slightly shortened.

Try not to do too much too soon, I keep having to remind myself this - my friend broke his early this year and did that, bike ride and carrying heavy shopping turned his recovery period into 13 weeks.

No probs, the one handed typing's fun isn't it [;)]

Not a bad place to crash all in all then! I think most breakages are quite embarassing, don't feel too bad. First week or so I spent most of my days outside reading in the sun, was quite pleasant.

I was out near Holmbury hill on a beautiful day, sun scorching down. Had been riding my old hardtail all week, getting increasingly reckless off little jumps and sliding around corners. Finally replaced my fs bike's isis BB that morning, about a mile or so down the trail we came across a large log that had a bit of dirt built up it so had a go. Came up much faster than I should have, clicked the top of the log with my back wheel and nose-dived into the ground. Should've known better really, and really embarrasing.

I think I was used to my hardtail manualling much easier etc and was complacent.

Not back on the bike yet, waiting for the doc to hopefully ok it on Tuesday.

Thanks, hope yours heals well too. I'll keep you updated to how it goes.

Had my check up this morning, some good news and bad news.

The bones are in place to heal etc, but they aren't joined yet. Doc said they are being pretty slow to start developing callus stuff, probably due to it being a big impact which might have deadened the ends of the bones. I'm drinking loads of milk and taking calcium tablets so this is a bit disappointing.

However, he wants me to start using it as normal immediately. I mentioned mountain biking, and said is it ok for rigorous activity and he said "I would encourage it".

I have another appointment in two months to see how it's doing, late July.

I was quite shattered for the first couple of weeks, but it waned off after then. The pain had mostly all gone by 3 weeks compared to what it was initially.

I've been back riding off road the last week or so, was meaning to give you an update. Shoulder feels fine but I'm being careful on rooty sections and not feeling enough confidence in the shoulder to pull wheelies/manuals etc yet. Good to be back on the bike properly though.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1345770/