broken clavicle...surgery or not?

trevortorseth

Good God! You win. How goes it now?

youhaditcoming

a friend of mine says that you're not yet a cyclist until you broke your clavicle for the 1st time !

Curb

I/We suggest you get it together and get some sound advice. Unless you have something going on with your insurance, If you are unsure/unhappy about the office/Doctors that you are seeing, well man make the move to see someone else. It's all that simple. If you have to, go see a Physical Therapist and ask them and see what they say or get a recommend Dr from them.

Please, don't procrastinate with your health.

alienator

Other than some asymmetry, interesting bumps, and atypical xrays, I'm groovy.

Curb

Anyone believe in the weather making your broken bones hurt? Seems like ever time it get cloudy and ready to rain my new 12 week old broken clavicle ache like hell. I just don’t understand it. Anyone experience this? I have the plate and screw versions if you need to know.

Also how long will I experience aches and pains with this plate and screws? I go back to the Orthopedic Jan 4.2008 I hope he says the plate is solid enough and I can get back on my bike. I can’t take that trainer anymore!

What do everyone think, is 14 weeks long enough to head back on the road or am I setting myself up or a disappointment from the orthopedic?

alienator

Whether weather changes make a person hurt or not is entirely dependent on that person's physiology. After all my fractures.....80+......I don't get any aches or pains with weather changes.

Ask your orthopod about the pain. Any hardware I've had installed hasn't caused any pain, but I also don't have hardware in my clavicle.

And ask your orthopod about riding. Telling him/her/it about wanting to get back on the bike as quickly as possible.

feetorfish

The old timers used to say they knew when the weather or rain was coming. There really is something to that. Some believe its a change in the barometric pressure that occurs before a front comes through. The change in the pressure can definatly affect how your joints feel. I'm going through it now as we have cold fronts come through in NorthEast Florida.
Most hardware can stay in for life If a screw backs out or a part of a screw or plate irritates you it may need to be taken out.The aches and pains this early on are probably not due to your hardware.
How fast you get back depends on how your X rays look and is up to your surgeon. Listen to him/her.
I saw my Orthopedist yesterday and was given the greenlight to start PT and strength training.

santanaf

I figured I would drop by this trusty thread to give a brief update on my status. Look back a few pages, I'm in there. Broken left Clavicle about May 22nd 2007. Surgery (ORIF) with plate and 8 screws followed a few days later on May 25th, and a nice vacation to the Bahamas about 5 days later

Today is just shy of 7 months post op (as of Xmas). I feel 100% and have full strength and mobility. My scar is noticable but not severe. I have almost all sensation back south of the incision with the exception of the skin on the front of my left shoulder feeling about 50%. This means I have to really scratch an itch there to get relief. I am pretty skinny (5'10" and ~150lbs) so my collar bones protrude a bit just while standing regularly. The "bump" left from the plate is noticeable without a shirt, but my shoulders are very symetrical. I will take that over poor symatry.

My surgeon paid special attention to attach the tendons and other tissue on top of the plate. It is his plan not to remove the plate and leave it in place. Due to this, and his attachment of the tendons on top of the plate, it gives the edge of the plate less of a "sharp" appearance through my skin. The tendons in my neck on the left side were very tight to begin with, almost able to pluck them like a guitar, but have since stretched back to "normal".

I am back to full physical activity, weigth lifting, etc, and have been since the end of September.

I can still feel the where the bone was broken throgh my skin, and if I push on it with my finger, my left bicep feels "hot." Hard to describe.

I have no problems sleeping on either side at night, and occasionally can "feel" the rain coming, but only in my shoulder where the last screw is inserted.

End result is that I am 100% satisfied with my surgery and doctor. I feel lucky at this to some extent, but moreso, I feel fortunate to have a very good and very well qualified Dr.

If anyone has any questions about my injury or recovery, please ask, this thread is amazing and did so much to help me prepare for the decisions I needed to make.

Alex

Curb

Hey Alex, I have a few questions. I’ve broke my right clavicle in three pieces just like yours but have the plate and 6 screws and now in my 12 week. I have the same numbness in a small circular section of the front shoulder.

I am 5-10 158 pounds. Skin is thin so you can see outline of the plate and noticeable bump without the shirt.



I did not however have the bone poke through the skin like yours although it was tented pretty well.



Here are my questions. Did you experience tightness in the area from the shoulder and around the clavicle during your healing, and how long did the tenderness around the skin above the plate last or do you still have it?



Dr said I will have to leave mine in also. I’ve been doing PT 3 times a week got 95% full range of motion except sometimes when I put on my coat, something catches and hurt a little but I don’t think it’s from the plate and screws.

How long did you go to PT before you ended?



I am using a 2 pound weight in PT and doing standing pushups against the wall. How much weight have you recently been doing? Just curious what I can look forward to in the coming months.

And last, but I will think of something later I am sure, what kind of diet were you on the last 7 months?



I value your answers and I understand everyone is different so what good for you might be different for me. I just can’t wait to heal up and get past this part of my life.



And you are right, this is an excellent forum. A few guys like Feetorish and Alienator and now you have been excellent in giving some advice. So that helps provides us newbies with a little motivation and positive hope.

santanaf

I actually never had it break the skin, so you and I are in the same boat. I only broke it in one place, but there were a few small chips and lots of distance between the pieces.

I did have a lot of tightness, but the PT I did helped that a TON. Doing PT before I was out of the sling, passive motion assisted by the therapist, was the key to loosening me up. So once the sling was off, I progressed very quickly.

I think I did PT 2 or 3 times a week for 8 weeks, beginning at week 3.5 post op. Oddly, I have had little to no pain since about 1 week after surgery, slight tenderness in the surgery site is the extent, never within my clavicle/shoulder.

I massaged the surgery site, sometimes with Vit. E, sometimes just pushing the skin around a lot with my fingers, to break apart the scar tissue and make sure it didn't heal to the bone. This also helped with general mobility as I was able to do more.

Weightlifting started back up at bench press of 45 lb dumbells. I had noticable lag in my left arm. That was back in September. I am back up to 3 sets of 10 with 80lb bells on chest days, and can rep at 190lbs with the bar. I love weighted dips, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do those, but that causes no pain at all. I do those on chest/shoulder/tri days and am comfortable. Military press is the slowest to come back at this point. I am probably about 85%-90% of my normal weight. My right arm would have no problem, its my left with the issue :-) The only excercise that causes any odd feeling, not even discomformt, just different, is the seated row. It is at the very end of the pull that something just feels different, hard to describe.

I will be going back for a 9 month checkup here in a bit to make sure everything looks good, and at Christmas I will have a pretty sweet thing to show all of my family.

As for diet, I'm 30 now, but luckily have a high metabolism. So my diet has more or less been, try to eat healthy with lots of fiber for most of the week, and go out to eat and have some wine or beer when I can get my wife or friends to tag along. Not a real scientific diet, but def a fun one. I will appreciate my ability to do that as long as I can stay healthy doing it.

Felt_Rider

Sounds like you are doing pretty good.
My crash was back in early September, but the injury was only a grade 2 or 3 separated shoulder so there was no medical treatment. Only home treatment and therapy. There is a noticeable bump and I have full range of motion now. However, the weights that I am using are still disappointingly light especially when training chest. There is a good bit of discomfort, but that is part of rebuilding/therapy. I have a feeling mine will take a long time to heal and to get back to using weights that I once used.

On the bike it is kind of weird. Like today we did a lot of elevation change so the torque I use while climbing the shoulder joint pops in and out, but there is no discomfort. On descents there is some shifting in the joint with my weight over the bars and that is kind of an uneasy feeling as we twist through the turns. Mentally I am still really apprehensive. I am now the last one down the hill in my group and they did drop me, but I have to be cautious. I can't imagine another wreck on this shoulder at the moment.

Curb

Thanks Santana, this is good information and glad you are progressing very well. I only hope I have the same outcome as you.

Was there ever a time where you felt a little depress and worried about loosing your fitness and returning to normal fitness activities?



I used to be 230 pounds high blood pressure and other monkeys on my back, you name it!

I got myself down to 158 pounds, clean and healthy no more high blood pressure and can out perform many guys younger than me. Average speed 19-22 mph.

It took me 5 years to get to this point, and to loose it because a rider (Cyclist) got fatigue in a paceline and crash in front of me and took a bunch of us out is really hard to swallow.



And just like you FELT RIDER, I am so worried about getting on the bike.

I will see the orthopedic in January, and as I said previously, hope he gives me the ok to get on the road. But hell man, I don’t want to crash and start over!



Anyway Santana, we appreciate you coming back and keeping us posted on your status and sharing your recovery. I will do the same here also.

As you may have gather from my responses, one of the biggest issues we have in this thread for all of us over achiever and super fit athletes, is that damn dark cloud lurking around the corner call DEPRESSION and being PAITENT for recovery.



That little cheap bone called the clavicle…WHY ME!!!!!



I know, I know, hang in there Curb!

jetnjeff

I had my break exactly on 4/22. No surgery, Used bone stimulator after a few weeks. I had no pain and stayed off the pain killers to stay aware of poor movement choices. I was pretty good at just doing enough movement. No actual PT I just used it to it's limit ( which was very little at the beginning). I was road riding early (Week 4), before doc said to stop. Just alone to work and back a few times a week (10 miles one way) no standing or intensity, just had to move. Did not get the green light until week 12. No PT prescribed. I am a Cycling coach and used to be a personal trainer and know my body pretty well. The doc was happy with my range of motion and basically do what feels good. I never stopped riding and I think it helped. Early I put very little weight on the bad side and gradually added more and was very careful to float over bumps. Later I started standing for short periods and increased from there. I was using the hand as much as by body allowed to turn screw drivers etc.

I have been 100% for months and even MTB raced a single speed rigid on 10/14 after only a few MTB rides. Had built up intensity on the road from mid July. Including a century with 11K feet of climbing in September.

My body is now more symetrical since I broke the other colar bone a couple decades ago. This one was easier, maybe cause of the experiance with the first one. I know from that one that tendons will rub and snap over the bulge like a ruber band for quite a while, until the limp smooths and later as the bone remodels itself.

Oh yeah I get to shovel and break ice now

Odd note. Other parts of my body would get sore while doing things with only one arm, mostly my back, Boy did my good arm get stong. Before long I could lift a bike on to a second tier rack with no assistance from my damaged wing. Get it up into the trough with out getting hit with the flopping from wheel and flailing was the turning point

SJP784

Before and After surgery xrays are here
http://grrrip.com/pictures/claviclepics
along with some comentary.

As to the questions I had for the doctor,
"Will the screw bend or break if I break my clavicle again ?"
His answer was no, it will not bend or break, the bone will break at the end of the screw.

Hmmm, not a lot there to put things back to gether ???
He stated, if it where to break at the end of the screw, it should not be as bad and it would be a no-surgery heal.

So 3 months after surgery things are well. 95% of the movement is back (no physical thearopy), pain is almost zero (except when I sleep on my right side, about 30 minutes in it starts to ache, and when I move, holly crap! for the first 30 seconds while attempting to roll over to the left side). There is still quite a bit of numbness, and it will take a bit longer to regain all my strength (can't start my snow blower right handed yet, but can do most other things).

If any one is interested in compiling the stuff on this board andcreating a FAQ let me know. I have room to host it on my site.

Steve
lrrs@juno.com
make the subject clear, this address gets lots of spam and your message may get missed if you don't.