Broke my collarbone yesterday at Southern Enduro. 20 yards from end of last stage on the sprint through the field…

I can feel bits of bone poking out and fragments in there but the A&E doctor reckons it’ll heal up on its own. I’m not a doctor so didn’t argue but how is it going to find its way back into alignment and mend up?

Please share your stories of breaking collarbones and being back on the bike within days, I need some encouragement! 😕

mine broke into 3, and healed up all wonky, so theres a lumpy bit poking out now. they did mention shaving the lump of bone down, but even typing that makes me feel sick. think i was 3 month to heal and complete physio

Nice… Apart from the lump does it give you any hassle though?

I can’t offer stories if healing but I feel your pain. I broke mine last week during the Trans Provence tour. The French hospital gave me a shoulder strap that goes around both shoulders & uses the good one to pull the broken one back in line whilst it heals but this is only a glorified version of the bandage tied in a figure of eight around the shoulders that I had when I broke one as a kid.

Hope you feel better soon, heal fast.

Blimey mine was like that but had to have surgery and plated and screwed, that was 7 years ago and still aches if i sleep on that side or the kids hit it.
Heal up soon matey!

Have you seen a shoulder specialist?

The reason I ask is that I had a break that was seen by the duty orthopaedic consultant who was a knee person. He assured me it would heal. 18 months later still having a complete non union which was causing significant discomfort I saw a shoulder specialist who dealt in sports injuries ( jockeys mostly apparently) who saw the original films and said words to the effect “that was never going to join”
I had it plated 20 months after the original injury

As far as the reassurance thing, bear in mind I was in my late 40’s when this happened and if younger It may well have healed more quickly. I had broken my collar bone previously earlier in my 40’s and that went on to heal all by itself, I was on a road bike in six weeks and off road in 12

I broke mine about 6 years ago. It’s healed a bit wonky, and I’ve got a bit of a bump where the break has healed, but I haven’t noticed any restriction in movement. It just aches a bit if I slouch for too long propping myself up on that side.

Took me about 6-8 weeks before I was able to properly use my arm again, and about 3 months before there was no pain.

I broke mine when i was fourteen, hit a tree on my bike. Was agony ! Heal up and hope you feel better soon

I broke my collarbone over 2 weeks ago and was told it would heal up in time 4-8 weeks it was giving me moderate pain and was given a shoulder strap to wear and still completed Ard Moors yesterday totally strapped/taped up shoulder and strong painkillers !

Only really hurt riding uphills as it was pulling my collarbone but going down it didn’t hurt that much!?

Now time to rest it and let it heal properly

This was me a few years back.

After two weeks, they finally plated it and now I’m bionic. But it was at least 8 weeks before I could stand the pressure of holding onto handlebars.

It still hurts at times, and when I lost weight, the screws were visible under my skin, which I think is cool, but everyone else thinks is gross.

And if you have kids, you definitely DON’T want them to grab you unexpectedly by the shoulder!

I think it’s quite common for collar bones to join up again even when they look far out of alignment. It’s common to have a lump and an wonky bone but should heal up fine.

How confident was the doctor that it would heal without intervention? You may want to get a second opinion about the best course of treatment if borderline.

Short version of my story: Mine was borderline and NHS left it to me to make a decision whether to operate or not. Not being a doctor I said I’ll have go home and think about it. I got 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinions who all said as I was an active person they would operate and put a plate in. But it would have taken 2 weeks to get another appointment with the NHS just to let them know of my choice to operate and who knows when they would operate. So I ended up using private healthcare scheme I get from work. 4 days later I was a bionic man and back at home recovering.

I broke mine into 3 pieces last year – two big bits and a fragment in the middle. Doctor told me that it would most likely heal but there was a chance it wouldn’t fuse together properly so they opted to operate and pinned/plated it back together. I was slightly surprised that the (cash-strapped) NHS did this, but there you go. I had (surgeon-instructed) restricted movement and wasn’t allowed to pick up/push anything too heavy for 8 weeks, but in reality I could do most things – which if it had been left to heal naturally I wouldn’t have done. I can occasionally feel it – though it’s more the muscle/nerve damage from them slicing me open rather than the pin. Kids whacking it isn’t ideal but not too bad! And I’ve got a mean scar now that impresses…. well no-one probably, but I think it’s mean!

I’d be tempted to push for an op if I were you, but there are obviously pros and cons – not least having to be knocked out for the op, which was a slightly scary experience!

Bean – fair play if you completed the Ard Mooors with it broken – I found it tough enough all fixed up!

I would try and get to see Leanard Funk here, asap:

https://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk

If you have private medical at work, get it seen by them. When I broke mine in Morzine, the French doc informed me they didn’t operate on clavicles in France, and strapped me up in the double shoulder contraption.

My private doc took 1 look at my x-Ray and said “no chance – 100% needs an op” I now have a 6″ titanium plated collar bone – thank god it doesn’t set off airport scanners, or I would have cried! I was offered an op to remove the plate after a year, but told to leave it in if I wasn’t bothered by it.

After my NHS experience regarding my collarbone of “it’ll probably heal on its own, if it doesn’t we can look at surgery in 9-12month and you’ll have a reasonable degree of movement in your shoulder”

I would be considering a second opinion. I was lucky that I hadn’t long taken out Health insurance and was in surgery 48hrs later.

I think mine wasn’t too bad but it healed pretty fast. I was back on a bike after 18 days and commuting regularly after 21. I was back on the MTB after 28 days. I was able to get rid of the sling after a day or two, and just kept my hand in my pocket.

Did mine on June 1st, was back riding (albeit flat stuff) after 56 days, on the 66th day I was back riding my normal trails albeit very cautiously.
Like you I had a clean break so the doctors just made me wear a brace for the first 6 weeks and then I removed that once they were happy the bone had fused correctly. After that I did acupuncture, chinese cups and very light weight training, still need a little physio work to get back to what I would say is 90% off my pre-break strength.
Think the first 6 weeks where I did my best to not do anything to stop the bones fusing were the most important, I even traveled back to the UK for 10 days soon after so I could just sit on my mums sofa and be spoilt 🙂
On day 2….

With brace on day 5, took a while before I stopped bleeding into the bed sheets.

Don’t have a picture of the front but most of my left hand side chest was purple for a week or so.

Broke mine 11 weeks ago, along with other things, and was told it was a nice break and would heal on its own. Went for my outpatients appointment 10 days later at my local hospital and was told it was a real mess and would need screwing and plating. Might be worth getting a second opinion.

I broke my left collarbone 10 days ago, being left handed it’s a bit inconvenient. Also badly bruised my pelvis so it’s taken that time to be able to walk properly again. There is a lump on my shoulder, I’m guessing that the bone is not aligned. I go for the follow appointment tomorrow, I don’t know what to expect.

Default position will be to let it heal in whatever position assuming most people will just live with it. Stress your need for a solid repair, your mountain biking and how that may be adversely affected if it’s wonky or not joined at all. They might do something about it. Or go private.

Lumps on healing, that can happen. Bones often knit a larger chunk around the join which may be a noticeable lump. Not necessarily a problem.

Thanks for the replies, not inspiring much faith in the NHS… I have life insurance through work but pretty sure it won’t cover this, what’s the cost of going private?

I honestly can’t see this fixing well enough for me to be riding 100% again, however I’m not a doctor

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah201/christiandavid1989/Mobile%20Uploads/DSC_5521_zpsrgfbcc9p.jpg~original%5B/img%5D

I’m not a doctor but the advice I got from other doctors is that a 4 to 5cm overlap when broken is not uncommon (similar to the xray above) and the bone will usually push itself back out reducing the overlap significantly and heal up fine if a little wonky.

But every break is different and I get the impression that small subtle differences in the break can lead to very different outcomes. So best to get a second opinion from a doctor in a related field.

NHS usually nowadays lets it heal naturally. this is better long run than having metal in there. However if its badly displaced or there are fragments then surgery might be the way to go. If I did mine again ( I did one as a kid) then I would be going for the figure of eight as I believe it gives the best results

I broke my right one 4 weeks ago in Chatel after breaking the left one 5 years ago in Spain (Switchbacks DH). No op either time just the weird figure 8 strap thing. Left one is now fine. Right one is a significant lump but its getting lower and lower and I think will end up similar to the other. been doing one handed spin classes since 2 days after the crash and running after 1 week. I think I will be back riding in 3-4 more weeks once my new bike is built up!

If it’s an option, get it plated. I fannied about when told ‘it would heal on its own’; some internal bleeding caused by the broken bone nicking shoulder muscle while swimming convinced me to go under the knife a few years later.

Eight bolts and a plate here.

Did mine last September. Was a very bad break where the bone broke in two places, rotates 90 degrees and then split vertically again. I had surgery the next day where they plated it up. In your position I’d be begging for surgery. I couldn’t have asked for a better recovery.

After two weeks I could use the turbo trainer and continued to use it for 3 months before venturing outside again. Now 12 months later I’m fitter and stronger than ever and have just had my most successful XC race season. I have no pain what so ever.

It would appear from the OP that the only dr you have seen is an a&e dr.
Wait till you’ve seen the specialist in fracture clinic.
Or alternatively go with the opinions of a load of strangers on the internet.
I’m a GP not an orthopod so not going to comment on your X-ray, other than to say it looks similar to when I broke mine, which healed without surgery, but might have healed quicker with surgery. Of course there are risks with surgery and I might also have ended up worse off. Which is why you need to speak to the person treating you not the Internet.

Yes between my OP and last post I’ve seen the fracture clinic doctor, he reckons it’ll fix. To be honest from what you guys are saying if it doesn’t heal I can still get it plated later. I’m in my 20s as well whoch supposedly means I can still heal up pretty well.

I’ll do as the doc says and see what the x ray looks like in 2 weeks, if there’s no evidence of healing I’ll maybe push for plating but if I don’t need it I’d rather not have it.

Winter is coming so if it takes a bit longer to fix I can deal with not riding I suppose

had mine plated…the pic might put you off but i am happy i had it done. I was using it pretty much straight away for light work.

Had mine pinned after 2 weeks, but was told initially that it should heal up itself. When the specialist saw it he was in no doubt whatsoever. Six screws and a plate back in Feb. I’m almost symmetrical and no pain at all. Unless my little 2.5 YO girl doesn’t kneel directly on it – nearly threw her across the lounge in fully automated response fashion!

As I was to be operated on, I was told not to wear the £33 Procare clavicle figure of eight I purchased so have it fully boxed and as new for £18 posted to any poor bugger on this thread 😛

I know a doctor who thinks it’s ridiculous that the nhs are quick to fix collarbones with plates(as he reckons very high percentage heal without surgery)

He actually broke his around year after telling us and he was out on chaingang week after breaking it 😯

He said holding the bars kept it in place when not wearing his sling !

He healed without problem and yes he’s a surgeon ..

I could post my xray but I think stuker has nicked it.

You’ll be fine.

Mentally it’s a time warp thing, right now it feels like you’re out forever, but pretty soon and looking back it’ll feel like a blip. Don’t rush it.

Or alternatively go with the opinions of a load of strangers on the internet.

Hey! I know Chris. 😉

May be interested in that if you’ll post if quick with a fast delivery beagle, drop me an email.

Had my follow up appointment today. Unfortunately for me the break is right at the end of the clavicle, not enough bone to insert more than one screw, even one is touch and go. So I’m off to the physio next week to try to get some movement back in my shoulder.
Then in about 6 months it will be (key hole) surgically strapped to the scapula. It seems I’ll be off my bike for a long time.

Broke mine about 18 months ago – repaired on it’s own and now has a rather ugly looking bump.

I also broke my elbow on the same side in the same fall – that had to be pinned and set in a cast for some time, so I couldn’t do the best possible physio for the collarbone. That said, the collarbone feels fairly strong now, just an annoying bump, and a heavy rucksack digging in is sometimes annoying (cycling is 100% fine on it).

Collarbones are super painful when they break, but they do heal up fairly quickly usually 😀

Having it pinned = looks nicer, but my pinned elbow gives me some pain (i.e. putting elbow down on a hard surface) and I’m very wary of it, so given the choice, I’d rather let things heal naturally if they can 🙂

Thanks again for all the advice, proving very useful.

I’ve got one of the figure of 8 things and ut seems to be helping but how tight should it be? Having it really tight makes sense as it should keep the shoulder still, but at the same time having it tight over the broken bone can’t be ideal, and is also very uncomfortable!

I did mine on my 50th. Consultant said it would heal on its own and it did. After around a week it had ‘stuck’ together and i couldn’t feel the ends rubbing together any more. Was back to work in 5 weeks and riding in 8, nothing too hard though.

I had a lump where the break was but over time it seems to have re modelled and reduced a bit. Has never really been an issue but looks like they vary widely and I’ve been lucky.

I only got a triangular bandage from the NHS and I thought those figure 8 jobbies were out of favour, but that’s coming from first aid training in the 80’s.

Broke my clavicle just over 2 years ago. The A&E doctor of the day just sent me home he was not to bothered so offered me no pain killers and some student nurse botched a sling together , on the way out I stopped at the reception desk and begged to see a speaclist the earliest appointment all I could get was 5 days later 🙁 the next 5 days were super painful and by the time I saw the speaclist 2 of my fingers had gone white and tingly. The speaclist was well unhappy when I saw him he said I should of had surgery on the day I broke my clavicle, the reason I had a problem with my fingers was some nerve damage from the break. So less than 18 hours later I had a new plate and 7 screws installed a massive scar and no strength in my shoulder and a op lasting nearly 3 hours due to the mess in my shoulder , I also broke 5 ribs in the crash. 6 months later I started getting problems with tingling in my elbow and little finger ended up having a nerve tumour from the crash trauma in my finger which I had to have surgery to remove. So I would definitely get a few speaclist to take a look 🙂

Mine doesn’t appear anywhere near as bad as some of the carnage seen on here that was left to heal naturally, yet I was told right from the very outset that it would be surgery, I wasn’t given an option. Strangely I had no requirement of pain killers other than immediately after op. I still get some weird sensations with it occasionally, bit like wearing a shirt with the coat hanger still in.