Bust my collarbone whilst road-biking last weekend, consultant has advised against pinning so it’s being left to heal naturally.

I’m not sleeping too badly, although the lying down and the getting up bit are absolute agony.

Any advice from others who’ve done similar would be greatly appreciated!

Biggest problems at the moment – apart from a frustrating lack of mobility – are coming from my other injuries: acres of missing skin, badly bruised ribs and a sprained neck… :o(

If I do mine for a third time I’ll be going to Norwich for electromagnets and witchcraft. Would have last time had I known about it.

Can’t link from phone, but sure someone else will clarify what I’m on about

Edit: I lied.. http://www.physioclinic.net/
Sounds like bollox, works like a charm – apparently

It’s Ipswich rather than Norwich 🙂

But go anyway

I did, would do again

Give them a call, they’ll ask to see that xray… send it over and see what they say.

Both shitholes

Not that I’ve been to either…

I’m in the north-west and unable to drive! So Ipswich is a bit impractical… What does this place do?

G

I broke mine 19th Aug last year. Was advised not to get anything done to it. Still can’t sleep on the broken side. No climbing, or biking, can’t carry a rucksack, or shopping bags and still have numbness in my little and ring finger (as well as tricep!).

I hope you have better luck!

My xray for fun… http://imgur.com/MjS9LEj

Did mine 10 years ago. I was quite surprised how quickly the pain went from absolute agony to not too bad, really. The worst moment was having a falling dream the day after my accident – a full body twitch when one collarbone is in multiple pieces isn’t nice!

My only real advice would be to see a physio fairly soon. The fracture clinic I went to didn’t think this was necessary, so I didn’t. In the years following the injured shoulder’s muscles are prone to aches, probably because the reshaped collarbone means they’re not in the positions they expect to be anymore.

my only advice is to keep on top of pestering for physio once it has started knitting. My physio started too late and I ended up with a frozen shoulder, it was several months before I could move my shoulder enough to ride again, and I still don’t have full movement in the shoulder.

oh and do you have a decent sling? All I got from the NHS was a bit of collar and cuff and a safety pin. Had a better one knitted for me though.

Did mine a couple of years ago and at first I was told it would be operated on, then the senior consultant said to leave it to heal naturally (cost savings no doubt).

To be honest it wasn’t as painful as people warned me about and hasn’t given me huge grief since. I have the expected parrot perch and occasionally it can be uncomfortable wearing a heavy rucksack but it’s not affected my cycling or any other activities. Give it another 10 years and it might 🙁

Worth bearing in mind I did not ride a bike (other than a turbo trainer…once) for 3 months. I let it heal and did my physio.

NHS will never advocate plating; their approach has always been let’s wait and see if it works without and then do surgery later if it doesn’t. There might not be anything inherently wrong with that, other than potentially doubling your recovery period.

Avoiding surgery you don’t need is the advice I’ve always had. But when I broke both my collar bones, they were severly displaced. That is when it makes more sense to plate as you restore the bone to its original length. Overlaps are where the problems arise. As it was explained to me by a shoulder specialist, it can impact your posture and your back because the shortening of the bone pulls your arm forward.

Your break doesn’t look displaced much at all. But it will still hurt for about a week to ten days. Keep taking your pain mediaction. That is what it is there for. I was given co-codomol in full horse size doses and it worked a treat (but it does make you consitpated).

After about 10 days it stops hurting and you can go about your day without too much discomfort. Just keep it well protected.

I’ve got the full poly-sling with velcro straps over-the-shoulder and round-the-back. seems to hold it quite well…

I’ve had 3 ortho consultants advise against pinning, and whilst the first one seemed a bit dithery, the second and third opinions have settled my mind a bit.

Like I said, the worst bit is lowering myself onto my back to sleep, and then getting up in the morning without the aid of painkillers!

A lot of that pain seems to be coming from badly bruised ribs so I’m hoping that will ease soon.

It was a 40mph crash – badly repaired road bucked me off – so every joint is bruised, twisted or whiplashed!

[edit] Thanks Geetee, I’m “codiene intollerant” so cocopops are off the menu. I’ve been prescribed Tramodol for emergencies but I’m trying to cope with ibu/para…

They filled me with Morphine in the ambulance which was OK… I was violently sick but I’m not sure if it was shock, pain, the concussion, the morph or all-of-the-above that caused that!!

Sleep in an armchair for a couple of weeks. Preferably longer, to mitigate the chances of rolling and snapping again before it’s properly strong enough.

I didn’t try it myself, but I hear a figure of 8 brace is good for getting it to heal it the correct place.

Did mine a little over 3 weeks ago. Similar break to yours but also had a 1.5cm piece snapped off the one piece so was free floating. For some reason it has never been painful, (pushed my bike down off the hill and rode one handed for 3 miles after breaking it). Was able to ride quad after less than a week and have been happily driving the tractor for past 2 weeks. Have done several sessions on the turbo and had first gentle bike ride yesterday. Going out again now too. I was keen to get it plated but like you was talked out of it. I can still feel the injury, it is a constant dull feeling there, but I have pretty mush a full range of movement now, except in extremis. Sleeping on that side still not really and option. There are a few good youtube videos to help you with recovery and a good NHS brochure as pdf that gives some advice. If any one thing has been evident for me with this injury it is the complete lack of information and advice offered at any stage by the medical professionals out there. It really is a case of if you don’t ask, you will be told nothing. A bit sad really.

If I remember righty … I’m sure I heard from the guys in ipswich there is another place in manchester offering this treatment…

But…

On the basis that none of the Manc lads have ever mentioned it… I’m not so sure … sorry I cant remember… maybe give ipswich a call and ask them.

It’s lasers and magnets to get the bone healing itself quicker… but more than that it’s their excellent excellent knowledge (they have seen every type of break before) as well and the advice they give you…. (ditch the antinflammatories get it out of the sling and use it… etc etc)

Hey… Polish pro motornbike racer get over to ipswich for 24hour, have a couple of treatments and are back racing the next weekend

Good Luck

Cheers farmer, I’ll look up those vids and leaflets you mentioned. Thanks, hope I recover as quickly!

How old are you by the way? I’m 41..

Enjoy the nice bump! Did mine in Jan along with a broken elbow that got plated. Just keep it still. A sling is comfy but I didn’t have one for a few weeks as my arm was in a straight cast grrr.

gastsby,

where abouts in the NW are you ?

my break looked very similar to yours & I too was successfully advised against pinning. It was the correct solution for me I believe.

Anyway back to location.
Whatever else you do get yourself to a private physio now.
he will give you exercises to do immediately

I went to a sports physio in Bury – Bartek 07922863860
Can’t reccoemend him enough.

I’m in the Preston area, the crash was on the decent off Boundary a Fell in the a Trough of Bowland.

Funnily enough, some people from Bury lent me a blanket, put me in their van and drove me to the mountain rescue centre as we were struggling to make contact with the emergency services. They even took my bike to a local cafe so it could be collected later by a club mate. Can’t thank them enough!!

good luck

To repeat – do get a physio asap.
You need to start the micro movement exercises as soon as possible,
& build up from there.

If any one thing has been evident for me with this injury it is the complete lack of information and advice offered at any stage by the medical professionals out there.

My experience too. I broke mine in France and the doctor there told me that surgery was required, and it needed doing quickly. I headed back to the UK rather than be operated on in France, but on contacting a GP got no examination or guidance whatsoever, and about 2 weeks until a fracture clinic visit. As I’d been effectively told to worry by the French doctor, but my GP hadn’t done anything, I ended up in A&E thinking I was in some sort of race against time…

It was the nurse in A&E who set my mind at ease, simply by showing me some other XRays of collarbones that had been left untreated, and telling me a bit about the process. However, if the initial contact with the NHS had explained their treatment policy, and why an operation wasn’t required, I’d have accepted it and saved time and money.

In the end I was very glad not to have surgery, as it healed OK albeit over a period of about 5 months. Was just frustrating not to have basic explanations. No physio offered (or recommended) either.

I reckon this prob needs pinning! If it can be strapped properly, as in brought in line and held there then ought to be ok. The Europeans have a different approach to collar bone breaks, wanting to get them aligned and held and if this can’t be done with straps or a shoulder butterfly bandage ie. Figure of 8, then they pin.
Over here they are not keen and just leave them!!
I’ve broken three and really encourage you to pester them into pinning. Mine overlap and give no end of grief, shoulders aren’t aligned so arms don’t move properly or through equal movements and the shoulders are significantly different widths and levels.
Good luck with and I hope it get sorted appropriately.

Here’s mine – bust Feb 2014

An utterly pathetic crash involving plenty of enthusiasm, running out of skill, and clipping a fence on the 4 mile commute home from work.

NHS were (for balance) really helpful. A&E staff really good fun. In a sling for 8 weeks, then slowly slowly use it and gain the mobility back. No pinning and a nice clean heal – looking at some of the other posts perhaps I was fortunate.

Yes, taking things on and off was horrible for a number of weeks. Soft tissues take a long while to recover and to be honest if I spend hours on the really lumpy off road (e.g. smashing over many rocks) then the shoulder aches quite a lot!

still – got a new singlespeed and love riding that – if I had issues then I would feel differently I am sure 🙂 I have a full range of movement too. The shoulder joint is amazingly tolerant, even with a massive bone overlap!

I guess every case is different. talk to your GP as time goes on. enjoy the sympathy. Hope you heal quickly and well.

TM

Gatsby, I am 48, so there is hope for a young un like you to recover quicker! Did 7 miles tonight, all offroad with some single track and a few rocky bits. Maybe a bit daft less than 4 weeks after the break but it feels good and stable and I didn’t take any risks, i.e. I got off and walked over the roughest bits where normally I would have had a go.

Just as an example of NHS treatment here. I went to A&E in a nice soft sling knowing it was broken (I am advanced first aider and carry a trianglar bandage in my pack). Xray was used to confirm it was broken (Cominuted) and my sling was replaced with a cheap linen sling that was nothing like as comfy as my one. No advice given as to how long to wear sling, whether to sleep with it on or not, etc, and an appointment with fracture clinic for 4 days time. At fracture clinic consultant tells me it is broken and sends me to have a nice comfy padded sling fitted. Now why could I have not had that sling in A&E, which was about 50 metres away from outpatients, on the day of the breakage???

And that was the total amount of information and post accidnet care and advice I have had to date.

Mind you, I did get 60 co-codamol tablets and have only used 5 in total 🙂

I think I had a better nhs experience than most! The paramedics were fantastic, they even came back to see me at the end if their shift… Felt like I was in an episode of Casualty!!

I got a referral for the frac clinic for the following day, in and out – including X-rays – in an hour.

The only blip was a very young and inexperienced nurse fitted the sling without dressing a particularly deep wound on my elbow so my girlfriend had to remove the sling (big ouch), clean it out and dress it before refitting.

They took me to Lancaster infirmary – my only other hospital experiences have been at Preston – and I have to say, if you’re gonna get off a bike at 40mph, do it near Lancaster!!!

Mrs MR was twice recommended to ‘leave’ a clavicle fracture (5 parts) until past a month in agony when we demanded a second opinion (both NHS). Eventually they took a third X ray, this time from a useful angle. Ended up plated but with ongoing serious shoulder problems and resultant arthritis. It was a particularly bad break (poking out nearly breaking the skin) and she has early osteoporosis/migratory osteolysis – so guessing not a similar situation to OP. Second opinions can’t hurt tho…good luck.

Broke my left collar three weeks ago.
Fracture clinc two weeks ago
Plate and four pins one week ago
Back on bike if heals in 2016

Felt miserable until I saw what others were in hospital for and then had a reality check

I did mine 3 years ago and was given the option of getting It plated or healing naturally . I got it plated after a week and was back on my bike after 5 weeks. The only advice I would give is DO the exercises as I didn’t and my muscles on the broken side were way weaker and meant I crashed a couple of times as my left hand side was pretty weak.
The only real grief I get is in the winter when the plate can get a bit niggly with the cold weather like arthritis I spose. For the record I did my ligaments in my shoulder and the pain was excruciating compared to a collarbone break.

Did mine a couple of years ago, very similar x-ray to the OP. Consultant didn’t want to plate it. First few days were agony but eased off fairly quickly. Was on the turbo within 9 days and back on the road bike after 4 weeks, but very cautious. Racing after 6 weeks but confidence was severly knocked.

I broke mine in mid-August last year and my experience is slightly different to most above – I had mine plated and would do so again in a heartbeat. Ok, it was a bit worse than yours judging by the x-ray but three days after the op (itself four days after the crash) I had full movement, painful granted, and a couple of days after that was riding on the turbo. I was back racing after two months with no ill-effects whatsoever other than a slight modification to my bike carrying technique for CX.
It’s not for everyone and obviously carries some risks. My NHS experience up to and including the op was faultless, immediately post op terrible (no info, sent home with insufficient painkillers over a BH weekend, and so on), then phsyio/follow-ups faultless again.

Edit – Also knackered a ligament in the crash and had an artificial one fitted, it was that which determined that I had to be more careful than I would’ve been if it was just the break/plate to worry about.

Natural healer here.
Bust after a simple over the bars.
If you are not happy/ want a 2nd opinion then go and get it.
Mine seemed to bond back together. Back on my bike in a month.
Big lump now, but no problems and I use my shoulders a lot..

Gatsby,

Bust mine in de 2013, same day as Schumi has his crash. The bone was in three pieces and I also had a punctured/collapsed lung and a 10cms tear in my liver.

Saw a great guy called Jepson in Northampton – he’s a specialist in upper limb injuries. I had to wait 6 weeks before the op (for the lung to heal enough to tolerate air being forced in whilst under a general).

I got back on the bike in the middle of May but this was mostly due to the healing time for my liver tear (they were worried about the tear opening and extending, if I came off again.

The main advantages to the pinning are that the shoulder retained its original shape and I was able to move easily straight after the surgery. This means no frozen shoulder, which speeds recovery a lot. If a broke my clavical again I wouldn’t hesitate to have it plated- you’re not on this planet for long and it gets you back on the bike much quicker (as well as giving you a definite time scale).

Just one thing, do your absolute best not to take the tramadol – it’s an evil drug, with horrible side effects. Just goggle ‘ weaning off tramadol’ if you need convincing !

Good luck 🙂

[Quote]NHS will never advocate plating; their approach has always been let’s wait and see if it works without and then do surgery later if it doesn’t.[/quote]
What an absolute crock of horse sh!t, they put me straight into surgery last Friday no messing about, it’s on a case by case basis, surgery has it’s advantages and disadvantages, they decided what to do based on assessment of your injury, not on hospital budgets.

Edit: I lied.. http://www.physioclinic.net/
Sounds like bollox, works like a charm – apparently

+1 for these guys, thankfully never had to use their services but my mate has been down there a few times after 150+ mph dismounts and they keep putting him back together pretty well.

He’s from the North west so goes down for a couple of days of treatment at a time.

Latest fun and games is that his back ache turned out to be a couple of cracked vertebrae.

Mine broke near the shoulder, and had a free-floating shard of bone, plus it had detached from the sternum. I was surprised when the A&E Doc told me they weren’t likely to plate it. However, half an hour later I was visited by an orthopaedic consultant who told me he would plate it if I wanted him to. Advantages were a greatly reduced recovery time, disadvantages were of course the risks associated with a general anaesthetic, and the fact that the plating op would immediately sever a nerve which leaves the area numb. He also told me the free-floating shard was likely to be a nuisance if it wasn’t plated. The duty surgeon the next morning was an upper limb expert, so he reckoned I was in good hands. I opted for plating.

Seven weeks later and it’s much better. I still get a bit of pain, but I take 60mg codeine and 1000mg paracetamol three or four times a day for my hip anyway, so I don’t know how painful it would be without the codeine. The skin is completely without sensation all around the AC joint, as promised.

A 14 day X-ray showed no signs of bone repair, but I go again in a couple of weeks’ time, so fingers crossed.

I have broken mine several times as a kid and young adult and I second the advice about sleeping in comfy chair or propped up with pillows around you. Waking due to searing pain as you have moved in your sleep is not nice.
I have managed to get away without surgery but was told last time that if I break it again it will require it. The only real issues are that my trap over that shoulder is a bit smaller. Other people probably dont notice but I do. I am led to believe that the figure of 8 straps are excellent but medical advice has probably moved on quite a bit.

I have an op in July, after 12 months it hadn’t healed properly. Just get it sorted quickly, if the ends of the bone are left too long it will never heal. I am having a bone graft to try and fix mine.

Mrs FD took a look at OP’s X-ray and said within a second or two she wouldn’t operate. In less technical language than was explained to me, unless the fracture is more than 2cm overlapped or separated, or closer to the shoulder, they won’t operate.

Bugger all to do with saving money, just about the best, safest outcome for the patient!

BA Nana – BRI or Airedale?

Natural healer here,mine was in 3 bits but reasonably well aligned,so I was happy to wait wand see,healed rapidly,refered to physio and started after 3 weeks,healed well,only thing I did different was eat a can of sardines a day for calcium,and took cod liver oil capsules and zinc and magnesium supplements,probably made no difference,but made me feel better 😆

I broke mine a couple of years ago. Carried on riding for another 25 miles, got showered and changed then took myself off to A&E.
The most painful part of that was trying to take my base layer off and put a T-shirt on. The second most painful was the jolty bouncy bus ride to hospital!

They left it to heal naturally although it still gives me occasional aches and I’m prone to seized back muscles every once in a while. Fortunately I also know an excellent physio and I’m flexible enough that any damage is minimal.

A&E and the ongoing care from fracture clinic were both excellent. I was back on a bike within 10 days although it took another couple of weeks to get back to full fitness.

They treat on a case-by-case basis. I was discussing it with the head physio at Team GB, he said all their cyclists get broken collar bones pinned/plated as standard. Guess it makes sense for a pro athlete.