[Closed] Anyone got a good story about how their broken collar bone healed without an op?

The laser guy out east? Google it/search here no idea skepticism off the chart but seems to work for people.

Mine did.

Not technically a "good story" though 😀

Mine healed well enough when I was 17.

I say well enough, one shoulder's now an inch lower than the other, and physio reckons that this might be the cause of shoulder / back pains when carrying heavy rucksacks and the like. It also aches a lot after a day sat at my desk if I've not moved enough.

Done the left one twice, 1st time they left it far too long and caused me a shitload of grief and pain delaying nailing it back together; the 2nd time it did it all itself just fine.

Not sure there's any way of knowing it'll go smoothly. I didn't know about http://www.physioclinic.net/ until after the 2nd time; if I get a third go I'll be going to see them - it might be black magic, but...

I am told it works even if you don't believe in it.

I broke mine and "stepped it" when I was 21. Consultant reckoned it would be fine despite the "step" being about 1/2". Now at age 40 it causes uneven tension in my neck and pulls my head slightly to one side. Cue regular osteopath visits.

Mine healed fine and other than a bit ache now and then as is common with bones that have been broken it's fine.

Broke mine in 2 places 11 weeks ago. Getting xray today to see if it has joined properly.
Worst bit (other than breaking it in the first place) was when I stopped using the sling, elbow was painful for about a week.
Theres a lump sticking out now, thinking of getting a tattoo on it.

3 breaks in total for me all have healed fine naturally. First and second were big ones with 3 and 4 breaks and a step but healed fine.
I can't recommend the physioclinic guys highly enough, i was sceptical the first time I went but the results speak for themselves. Back on the bike in 3 weeks, more movement and less pain after treatment. I know a chunk of people who've been and all would go again.

Twice

Ok, that's a little more reassuring. Mines broken in one place, looks a bit like a scarfed joint with the two bits a few mm apart.

yeah sounds similar to both of my breaks, both of which healed fine in 6 weeks with nothing more than prolific sling usage.

I still can't play the piano 🙁

Broke the same collar bone 3 times. All in school hours and none from the bike. All healed perfectly with no problems 30 years later

yep

beach, motorbike, wetsand, broom, broom, powersliding goes wrong, thrown right up over the top, crunch, collarbone gone. Then had to pick the bike up and ride home 5 miles (*that was sore), mum put it in a sling and then train to nearest hospital, they very helpfully did some checks, put a loop round each arm (at top) and tied them together to hold bone and then I didn't do much for a while, but it healed fine and no problems with it since

Mine went in 1 clean break and works fine without issue and without surgery. I also went to Brian Simpson, but not for the collar bone as it was just one of many bones broken that weekend 🙂

Done mine three times (one on one side, twice on the other) all of them healed fine on their own. One healed fine without a visit to any medical people.

Bodies are clever things (as long as you don't wreck them too far...)

Thanks for the replies. Those that used physios, did u get referred or just ring them up cold. can.t go to suffolk sadly as am in dorset

Yep all good.... but I went here.

www.physioclinic.net

They are very very good

Would go again for myself or if ever the kids fall out of a tree/do something silly (touch wood they don't etc)

cfsl - It's not physios in general but this specific guy in Norwich. I'm in sheffield it was 5 hours each way on the train to go and see him but it was that good I'd do it again in a heartbeat. He's the only guy in the country that I know of doing the things he does, have a look on his website at some of the case studies.

Sorry didnt read your last post.

If you can afford it go ... think is was about £150 ??

He has pro motorbikes come over from Poland to see him.

Rang them up cold after reading about then on here.... emailed them a copy of my xray ... "yeah we can fix that no probs" (or words to that effect)

And that was my experience of them .... they have seen it ALL before and are very confident in thier methods... which made me feel I was in very safe, knowledgable hands who fix me the quickest

Did mine 12 weeks ago, clean break in the middle. Pretty much fine now apart from a good sized lump. Aches very slightly if i'm lifting lots. Was back on the commuter after 6/7 weeks, riding DH and MX again after 10 weeks. Body checked a tree first ride out just to test the repair 🙁 It passed.

Its those first 4 weeks that are critical, keep your arm/shoulder as immobilized as you can and wear your sling high. This stops your shoulder dropping and helps with posture.

Fast healing

Yes I broke mine into 5 bits - the specialist said that unless I wanted to wear any off the shoulder dresses in the future it would be fine to leave it to heal without intervention. I now have a rather wiggly / lumpy but very strong collar bone, took about 6 weeks initially to get back to swimming and light activity. But then I was 23 - I'm not sure it would all heal so quickly now I'm 38 but its not an extremety and so has great blood flow. Not like my ankle - that's a different story, took AGES to heal.

Mine healed without surgery but it took 3 months till I was okay to drive and start riding again. The consultants say positive things and then say it is not quite there, come back in 4 weeks. The cynic in me thinks the operation costs money whereas natural healing doesn't. My shoulder is a little lower and closer in and I have to see the osteo regularly to loosen it up

I had a clean break with a significant overlap (think that's what others are calling 'step'). Has healed well. I only get a bit of minor ache sometimes in the gym but was good to get back on the bike for towpath riding within six weeks I think. Longer til I was out in the hills again. I tend to caution on the bike as I really don't want another long lay off.

my son's did.. he was only 2 at the time though so was very good at healing

[img] [/img]

Mine healed fine, as did my wifes. Wee bump on the shoulder is a badge of honor.

Mine healed fine without surgery. Massive lump but so what.

Had sports clinic physio rather than NHS physio - lots of work rebuilding the local muscle control before moving on to strength.

[img] [/img]

Mine healed fine with minimal sling use (though that's not to be recommended). The ends must have been quite close together because I could make them crunch by shrugging. Once the novelty of doing that wore off and I let it get on with it the bone healed fine, just a wee lump as is normal.

mattbiltong - Member
Its those first 4 weeks that are critical, keep your arm/shoulder as immobilized as you can and wear your sling high. This stops your shoulder dropping and helps with posture.

That is only one school of thought. In my experience (doing the above the first time then keeping it mobile the second and third after advise from the sports clinic guys I had much better and quicker healing with keeping it mobile. It also gave less pain and a reduced healing period. Positioning wise it made no difference on two very similar breaks.

Guess it depends on the break .. Was told to kept mine moving (break was "small/clean/straight") but then I kind of had too anyway as we'd just had a baby.... Two o'clock in the morning trying to get the lad off to sleep with a broken shouler ... happy days.

Actually that wasn't the worst pain ... it's months down the line, when the shoulder feels fine... but then all of a sudden you'll get the sharpest shooting pain from it... bit like ripping off of a scab but inside you body (which is basically what it is... as it's the scare tissue breaking down)

Broke mine in 2004 coming down Minton Batch.

I made a sling out of an inner tube, waited for the mild shock to pass then wheeled my bike the rest of the way down to meet a mate who had gone to get the car.

Driving out of Minton we almost knocked over Pete Poslethwaite and his daughter.

Picked up some beer on the way home and sat in the garden in the sun drinking it mixed with some co-codamol.

Went to work the following day (it was my right collarbone and I was able to hold the steering wheel with right hand and change gear with left ok).

Work sent me to casualty, Dr asked me what I thought they would be able to do, I said "nothing?", he said "correct".

7 weeks later I rode the Borrowdale Base route.

Dr asked me what I thought they would be able to do, I said "nothing?", he said "correct".

good story?

i fell off,
hurt myself,
took painkillers and mtfu a bit
eventually go to a doc/nurse, they make my shoulder make a horrible grating noise
sent for an x-ray
demonstrate to the tech how it hurts and i cant easily do *this
tech goes white
shows me the x-ray
i stop using my arm for a while
its fixed itself.

afraid i cant remember the timescales exactly, but think i was only off the bike for a month

*swing my arm above my head.

Mine healed fine all by itself, the human body is amazing you know, don't get sucked in by the magicke brigade. I had a frozen shoulder afterwards though, worth chasing up physio to keep everything moving nicely once it sets.

Thanks fellas. How can keeping it moving before it heals help? I can see how u might keep strength up in muscles but surely its going to upset the bones?

Broke mine in 3 places 18 months ago. Used a figure of 8 sling & regular sling at first to try and align the bones properly, which worked to a degree. I've now got a nice step & lump on the bone though which has completely ruined my previously stunning good looks 😉

Couldn't use my right arm properly for about 6 weeks & it was pretty weak when I finally stopped using the slings, but a bit of determination & gradually increasing the intensity of exercise sorted that out fairly quickly. I don't have any aches or pains from the shoulder or my back, so I guess it worked out fine in the end.

In the days after the accident I seriously contemplated whether I should push for an operation to get it plated (against my consultants advice), but I'm now glad that I didn't. Plates & pins are fine if you really need them but in my case I'm sure they'd only increase the likelihood of problems in future, especially if I crashed on that side again.

I guess every cae is differnet, but if keeping a broken bone "mobile" was a benfit then surely plaster casts would no longer be used.

The bones need time to knit back together, by moving it you're only increasing this time. Once the bones have knitted then easy, rotator-cuff type excerises (google it) will help keep muscles and tendons supple, also reducing muscle wastage.

I was told sling for a month then slowly start working it, i had no physio and was back to full strength after 10 weeks i'd say.

But i'm no doc.

steveh - Member

mattbiltong - Member
Its those first 4 weeks that are critical, keep your arm/shoulder as immobilized as you can and wear your sling high. This stops your shoulder dropping and helps with posture.

That is only one school of thought. In my experience (doing the above the first time then keeping it mobile the second and third after advise from the sports clinic guys I had much better and quicker healing with keeping it mobile. It also gave less pain and a reduced healing period. Positioning wise it made no difference on two very similar breaks.

Posted 2 hours ago #Report-Post

Next time you're in there whip out you're iPhone and ask for permission to photograph the X-rays on his computer. You won't regret it

Did mine 3 1/2 weeks ago in 2 places, clean break with no surgery.

Started losing the sling on Sunday but still using it every now and then when it gets a bit sore.

I've got some good movement but no strength, but seems to ne healing ok.

I've used the turbo every other day sinc day 8 with it strapped up.

Xray in 2 weeks to check how its healing and hope to be cleared to get back on the bike then.

My collarbones are both different, it looks like I broke one but I haven't. The tendons in my neck are also differently arranged on eiter side which is only visible if I grimace. However I don't look asymmetric in any othe rway.

Broke collar bone and shoulder blade in the same bike related incident. It hurt. Took two days off work... worked reduced hours (ave 4-5 hours per day) for next 3 weeks, then returned to work.
After 8 week check at hospital they said I could return to work and start to drive a car again (never stopped) and referred me for phisio.
Phisio was a bit surprised as I had full mobility and was back on the bike by then.

Broke my left collarbone, healed fine without any surgery. Just don't do anything with it until it's time to get the sling off. Of course each break is different but I've come of the bike several times and landed on my left side and it's held up to the impact.

Really ugly bumpy where the bone knitted together but it serves as a constant reminder that I'm not a biking god 😀

Thanks again chaps. it helps to have another perspective

Thanks fellas. How can keeping it moving before it heals help? I can see how u might keep strength up in muscles but surely its going to upset the bones?

You need to let it knit, you'll get an x ray a few weeks in and if it is knitting the doctor will give the go ahead for physio to start, at least thats what I had. The gap between this and physio starting was too long in my case and I got a frozen shoulder.

broke my left one twice. didn't know about the first break until i had an xray for the second break, both ok so far without any ops, but expecting loads of pain in later life.

mattbiltong - Member
I guess every cae is differnet, but if keeping a broken bone "mobile" was a benfit then surely plaster casts would no longer be used.

The bones need time to knit back together, by moving it you're only increasing this time. Once the bones have knitted then easy, rotator-cuff type excerises (google it) will help keep muscles and tendons supple, also reducing muscle wastage.

I was told sling for a month then slowly start working it, i had no physio and was back to full strength after 10 weeks i'd say.

But i'm no doc.

I'm also no doc but was riding easily in 3 weeks after a multi location break, 5 weeks and I did a week of stuff in Scotland. I had another break before and did nothing and with the treatment the recovery was definitely better. The jointing of the bone was quicker with the treatment, I can tell from the point at which the grinding/clicking of the bones stops.

It does depend on the injury but there is definitely evidence that for collar bones mobility (within limits) is better than a sling and no movement. I was sceptical that it would help when I went but went on the basis of very good reports from people I know who'd been before and am in no doubt that it helped and got me repaired quicker.

I did mine about a year ago, clean break in the middle. Back on the bike after 3 weeks but only very gently and it did hurt a lot..... Took about 3 months to sort itself to decent level but still struggling to pull on the bars. After six months it was nearly fully sorted, now completely ok.

Beware of the painkillers with a high amount of codine, the constipation from them was worse that the broken bone! 🙁

Also don't try and move it in the early stages and keep it supported to allow the bones to knit. However I did get out the sling fairly early and it seemed not to be a problem.

Good luck!

Broke mine two years ago. Went private and have the MRI scans to show......that it would heal fine. And it did.

Painkillers are great. Try a day without them a week in to provide a nice gauge of their effects. And I found the sling terrible. Could never get my arm in the right place, so I gave up on it unless I was looking for attention.

Healing took three months. As the bones knit together, they come apart again and you can hear them click. Try it in a pool, but don't swim breastroke. then the clicking stops and then they are healed. I found it most noticeable at night in bed.

And then you can go and fall off again after three months, confident that the new bone is much stronger and it won't break. Well I gave it quite a stress test, which it passed. Now have just a small lump.

And it counts as a long bone break, so milk it 😉

Nothing? I suspect you at least had an x-ray to confirm it was a simple break. and that the doc arranged for follow-up appointments at the Fracture Clinic to make sure it was healing up alright? And they probably gave you a nice sling, which you were free to use or not as you preferred.

Yes, sorry, I had an x-ray, I already had a nice sling as I had broken my collar bone before on a motorbike, other than that, erm nothing, no follow up appointment no pretty nurse asking if it was sore, nothing.

And I really did ride the Borrowdale bash 7 weeks to the day.

Broke my right (dominant) clavicle 6 weeks ago.

Short story:
Very bad break, had to beg for surgery, very glad I had it done.

Long story:
Very bad break, type 2, shortened with main bits pointing in different directions, very far apart with a nice sized fragment floating around at the front.
They sent me home saying no operation needed, come back in three weeks.
Shoulder was completely "floppy" and occasionally the bone ends would lock together in a completely unnatural position, agonising (10 on the scale!) had to "bang" them apart. Felt like sharpened antler-scissors in there 🙁

Luckily my friend is a physio, she got some other physios to have a look at the x-rays, they couldn't believe that I hadn't had it pinned.
Got another appointment, Physio friend came with me and we had to battle with the registrar for about 20 minutes to try and get surgery (he mumbled 12 months to heal at one point!)
He finally went off to ask the consultant, who came in and said yes if it was his shoulder he would have surgery.

From that point on the NHS couldn't have treated me better, it all went very well and everyone I came into contact with during the op was excellent.

Surgeon said the break was worse than it looked in the X-rays, the fragment of bone at the front was from around the back!

I now own my first titanium parts 🙂