broken clavicle...surgery or not?

lifting_in_CA

i broke my lt collarbone during a motorcycle accident 4 years ago. with all the other broken and busted things with my body, i decided to let the collarbone (the least of my worries) decision go by the wayside. once my lungs, ribs, skull, and spine healed (2 years completely) i notice i had a huge lump in my lower trap area. the doctors confirmed that the non-union was fine as is and unless it casued me pain - let it be.

another year goes by and i am in the weight room and i during a shoulder press i dropped several hundred pounds to the floor because i had a shooting pain down my left arm. apparently, the bone ends had started to pinch off the axillary nevres that run underneath the arm pit.

i had the plate and pin surgery a few weeks later. five months goes by and i am again in the weight room and the bone re-breaks cause me an ambulance trip to the ER. the break was along a screw that was reportedly set to deep into my bone.

i am now at home recovering from the second plate & screw operation that included a hip bone graft (which is totally more painful then the shoulder). i wanted to share the importance of the skill of the surgeon as well as the need to follow rehab instructions.

lifting_in_CA

8 inch scar from shoulder to neck.

Curb

Interesting, how much were you lifting the second time it broke?
How old are you. you heal quickly.

horseRider

Madmanc,
I have the same pain. My opinion...it is related. At the least in that I am not able to give that shoulder and neck a good ol' stretch like I can on the good side. I also believe that since I have to work to hold the bad shoulder up, so it doesn't sag, the muscles just get tired and ache.
Question: In your break do the ends meet up? Or is one above the other?
Mine do not meet at all. I can not give you a measurement of how far apart they are, but you can see space between them in the xray and one is above the other. I have learned from this thread that what I have is called a "non-union". My left shoulder is actually shorter than the good shoulder and lower. Without seeing my golfball size knot, you can easily tell that something is wrong just by looking at my shoulders. I don't care about the knot. I just want to be able to wear a coat without the weight of it causing me pain and to ride my horse again. And like the other guy said, "it just isn't natural" to go around with a broken bone!

I called my Ortho today and got my appointment bumped up to this Friday. I don't feel like waiting for surgery any longer than I have to. Four months is too long already!

Thanks again Curb! You are the bomb!

Oh, one more thing. Last time I was in to see my Doc, he asked me if I had re-broke it! How can you break it if it never was mended?

horseRider

For those of you that have had the surgery (either Pin or Plate).
I have lived with my break for 4+ months and have more pain when the weather is changing. Do you still feel the weather after surgery and would you say it is better or worse?

Curb

Horse rider, if you read further down in these thread you will hear me complain about the weather. I ask a couple of questiosn and got some responses too.
I owe a lot of information from two of the regular guys in this forum name Alenatior and FeetorFish.

One thing about my body is that it's very sensitive. I feel everything. Not sure if that's good but that's the way i am.

MADMANC

Hi I Mean Do You Or Any One Know If The Back Pain I Have May Be Connected To This Or Is It Just Something Lesle And Do You Think That I Should Go Back To My Gp For The Klicks Or Not Is It Something I Have To Live With.

horseRider

Well Madmanc, I am not a Dr. but anything is possible. As I said, I have the same sort of pain. Read in this link what the Mayo Clinic says about the veins that run under the clavicle. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/th...0800/DSECTION=1 I'm surprised you aren't seeing a Orthopedic specialist.

MADMANC

CHEERS FOR THAT LINK I WILL GET BACK TO MY DOC .PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON

horseRider

jetnjeff

My lower back hurt while is was tring to compensate for the broken colar bone.

My left arm got stronger as did the back and I had less pain as I aclimated.

horseRider

Just got a call from my surgeon saying he had my MRI report in and the verdict is......I'm having surgery this Thursday. Besides it not healing and I have some bone spurs on my rotator cuff area that are hindering my range of motion. I knew it! However, I do understand the need to leave a broken collar bone to heal on it's own. I believe that most of the time they do. I just wasn't so lucky. So, I do not regret my Dr's original decision to wait. I am, however, ready to get it overwith. My surgery will be 5 months do the day since my accident. He will plate it and will use bone graph from my hip if needed. He will also see what he can do to help my rotator cuff while he is in there. Day surgery! I'll be back here as soon as I am able to type.

Curb

Great, keep us posted.

horseRider

Amazing! Had the surgery yesterday and already I have more range of motion! Got some healing to do, but am feeling much better. Will upload a picture of the incision as soon as I see it myself! The bone graft was a walk in the park. He used a needle to extract the bone. I have a puncture wound on my hip but it doesn't hurt at all. Will post more later.