Non-op collarbone recovery

Read some of the previous threads on collarbones. Saw a lot of “just get the plate” and “I could ride weeks after I got my plate”.

Interested to hear recovery stories of people who went non-op. How long before you could ride/race again?

 

If not a financial burden, I'd get a plate.

I broke mine at Memphis Motorsports in 1998. Doc said not much of an advantage to get plated.

After months of not being 100%, I disagree. Not to mention surgical procedures today are a walk in the park relative to 25+ years ago.

 

I spent close to two months in a recliner, after breaking my left one for the third time. I also had some internal bleeding,which kept me down longer.Never have had surgery on it,so cant elaborate on the time table.

 

I wish I would have had the surgery as well.It still bothers me daily with what I can only assume is nerve pain

 

I know 2 guys who didn't get plated, both took months to " heal", were in pain alot longer than I and both have a big knot where it finally healed.

 

I didn't break my collarbone clear through. It was a greenstick fracture. Wore a strap, and four weeks later I was racing again after fixing the bike. There is a bump in the area of the fracture but no residual pain. I'd plate with a fully displaced fracture.

 

Plate that bitch.

I went with no cast on a broken hand {per Docs recommendation} and ended up displacing the bone when I was playing with my son without realizing it. It healed "wrong".

Now I got two hands and neither of them fucking work quite right.

 

35 years ago I broke a collarbone in a minor dirt bike get off. They x-rayed it and gave me one of those slings that holds your shoulders apart. I did not wear the sling more than a couple weeks and had little pain after a few days. It healed straight and has never caused problems. I do know of guys that their collarbone is not perfectly straight with the sling method. Modern surgery vs the sling would be a hard choice for me today ...BUT

I will always try not to get cut on. My brother-in-law got an infection likely while in the hospital that almost killed him. Months of problems. It did finally get resolved.

A friend of mine is currently on his death bed. He is about 60. Several years ago he got a staff infection from selective weight loss surgery. It has been a multi-year hell of the infection attacking organs. He is free of the infection but can no longer walk and has limited heart and lung function that will get him soon.

I have had surgeries when really needed but elective (however you define that) not for me.

 

get the plate

 

if you dont want the plate, find a used exogen 4000 its a bone growth promoter, i got one after 3 months of no union.insurance paid for it. 30 days later i was back to work. this was a 7mm gap on my foot. ive used it many times and it cuts the healing in 1/3

 

I blew the end of mine apart, there wasn't anything to plate and two different orthos would not do surgery. Healed cleanly on its own.

 

Had a multiple break, displaced fracture and didn't get surgery on the advice of a supposedly top surgeon. One of the worst injury-related decisions I've ever made and it took nearly a year to be able to shoot and ride again.

Could have had it fixed at some point, but wasn't worth it. I was very close to filing a malpractice suit.

Get the surgery if it's anywhere near this bad.

 

cool. What was your recovery timeline like?

 

Timeline will vary by age and degree of fracture. Young kids can heal in just a few weeks. Being 44 and smashing the crap out of it, mine took a little over 2 months until out of a sling. Maybe 3.5 months until really back to normal. Alcohol and Tobacco use can affect timeline as well.

I went without the surgery at the advice of the doctor. Though they said they would do it if I insisted. Healed well. Surgery makes it faster, but comes with it own inherit risks and cost.

 

^^^^^^^ (pointing at that xray) That ortho should be stripped of his license!!! Go see a Sports med ortho doc, and sports med rehab. We as racers dont want to go back to "regular life" on the couch, we want to be better, stronger, faster. Yes... like the 6 million dollar man.

Plates will get you back to "normal" faster. I broke my left collar bone clean, at 19 (motocross), it was set at the ER. I was on the unicycle the next day (no not smart but, I was still a teen). I was on the bike riding practice at 6 weeks, racing at 8 back in the top five in my class, in 10. But, remember... I was 19. I have the "collarbone lump" from the healing calcium build up. I was sore for a long time though.

My right (dominant) wrist was shattered... 26 breaks, both bones. 2 plates 6 screws and I was back riding snowmobiles in 4-5 weeks, no cast, just a brace. Get the surgery but, find a sports med ortho. dont use a regular orthopod.

Ski

 

My first one was in multiple pieces, got it plated, 10 screws, back racing in 6 weeks. Crashed on the same side/ shoulder on Sat. and it held up fine. Wife wasn't too impressed though.

 

I did similar. Shattered the inside end of the collarbone into fragments (flying bike hit back of helmet which tilted head down and hit/shattered collarbone). Nothing to operate on as fragments were too small, and too close to nerves/artery to risk anyway.
Aside from the two-three weeks to deal with the worst of the concussion, the bone fragments reformed/solidified in about 6-8 weeks, and normal activity after 8-10 weeks of PT.
have a big knot at the site and that shoulder droops a bit compared to the other one. no long term issues with the collarbone.

I have friends who got plated. Seems to shorten heal time a few weeks. But at least one of them has had to have some of the hardware removed as it caused issues later.

Talk to a good ortho doc, get a second opinion form a different doc, and then evaluate options and make an informed choice.

 

Similar, though I don't have much of a knot and I don't think my shoulder drooped much. I actually raced mini sumo fairly soon after the accident, enough laps to earn a couple points and secure my season standings. Freaked out person running the event as they saw me roll up in the sling, then next thing they saw was me in leathers letting 'rip', then back in the sling.

 

When I was in my teens, I broke it in a couple places and could easily race 6 weeks later. In my 40s I broke the other in a couple places and it took a little over 4 months. YMMV.

 

broke my left in 1992 took like three months to be able to do anything with it. broke my right 3 years ago got plated rode 3 weeks later.
I would get a plate again no doubt even though now it's heeled i am tempted to get it removed.