Broken collarbone advice

Broke my collarbone today out in finale. Gutted.

Hospital here have given me a support and told me surgery needed once back in the UK. Presume I just sort through my GP? Anyone been through similar and have any nuggets of wisdom to get that sorted?

my partner broke her wrist snowboarding and when we got back to the uk we phoned 111 and then went to minors to get into the system.

It depends. I’ve broken left and right. Right 15 yrs ago complex break and ligament damage, required surgery / plating and lots of medical intervention. I broke the left 9 weeks ago (first day in alps and same day of the year as 15 yrs before) distal break and has pretty much fixed itself, sling for a week, I didn’t even bother to see the GP. Just a bit of physio on it now.

2 posts of mine copy/pasted from the last time this came up and I replied:-

“Laser bone welders.

Its all very snake-oily but, both times I’ve properly broken stuff, I’ve employed their services and both times I’ve been healing faster and functioning better than the docs have expected and have had zero issues afterwards.

Originally I went to Physioclinic in Ipswich but the guy who ran that (Brian Simpson) has now retired so when I snapped my collar bone last summer I saw one of his ex-employees at Mid Suffolk Physiotherapy.

I’m guessing if you were at Twisted Oaks your in that kind of area?

Whether it does anything, whether its just placebo, whether I’ve just got good genes, I couldn’t honestly say, but I do feel that in both instances it made a difference (the collarbone effort, the advice given about posture, sling setup, sleeping etc was worth the entry price alone, compared to the (lack of ) info given to me by the NHS “here’s a sling, don’t call us, we’ll call you”). When I eventually got to a fracture clinic a couple of weeks after the break, all the docs who saw my X-rays were impressed with how quickly and well the callous around the break had formed.

And yes, clean living, no alcohol, definitely no smoking, I did lots of walking in both cases, just to stay active and vaguely fit.”

…and…

“The basic premise was to rotate arm and shoulder out to pull the ends of the collarbone into line – the natural instinct is to hunch over and protect the hurty bits, which means the ends can overlap and it heals shorter.

To that end – when up and about – hold your arm (in the sling!) by your side – forearm pointing fore/aft, rather than held across your stomach.

Sleeping, I booted the missus out, and faffed around with pillows so I could sleep on my back with my arm out at 90° to my body, palm up, as if I was signaling to turn on the bike.

Plenty of gentle exercise (walking for me, as above) as soon as you feel able to – get oxygenated blood moving round the body. I was due to go on an MTB holiday 3 weeks after breaking the bone, turned it into a hiking trip instead

Spend time out of the sling every day to avoid your shoulder seizing up and reduce muscle loss – initially just while you’re sat in a chair, by 3 weeks in I was spending breakfast and then evenings without it on, or minimal use. My rhomboids were still ‘ked by the end of it, but no frozen shoulder. Started gentle riding (gravel bike on tarmac) after 4 weeks and physio shortly after.”

From here:- (nominally a broken wrist thread, but also covers collarbones)

Bone healing – Any tips

Most of the time they’re loathe to operating on a broken collarbone unless absolutely necessary, so if you’re back from holiday, get a GP appointment, then a referral to Orthopaedics, then an op you’ll be lucky, it’ll have ‘healed’ up enough.

As someone who still has a non-union and mal-union brake 4 years after i broke mine you’ll be lucky to get anything these days out of the NHS bar an x-ray and the usual ‘if it gets worse…’ stuff.

I’m not sure what your GP is going to do other than send you to A&E. When I broke my collar bone away from home (but still in the UK) they gave me a sling and some pain killers and told me to go to the fractures clinic at my nearest hospital when it opened on the Monday morning. They then did an x-ray and gave me a better sling.

I doubt the GP will want to see you

That’s not dissing GPs by the way, just not sure what they will do apart from being another step in the chain and they’re probably juggling enough stuff

Say nothing, get home…  then go to GP.

Yep, find the best time to nip to A&E and be seen quickly, then they’ll set up an appointment in the Ortho Dept later, but as stated earlier, you’ll probably be on the way to healing naturally, just make sure to tell the airline you’ve got this injury, you might actually get some preferential treatment, or not, but good to check as it’ll be a long journey with the annoyance of a broken collarbone.

I’ve had to do this previously for another injury, ended up going to A&E about 1100 on a weekday as it’s quieter around then and got seen and sorted within an hour, Minor Injuries won’t do anything, they are like their title, only for minor stuff and when i had another issue that i went there with, they just sent me away straight away to A&E, as always, a lot of us avoid A&E unless proper broken, but in reality, they’re there for everyone and if you time it, they’re pretty good.

Depends on how you’ve broken it. Did they X ray it? Some countries have different approaches but in the UK it has to be a bad break before they consider surgery. I fractured my right collarbone about 10 weeks ago. The break was classed as a minor displacement and left to heal naturally. X rays at start two weeks in then at 6 weeks. I’m due to start physio in a week or so to try to build up the shoulder again. It’s amazing how much muscle you lose when you don’t use the arm for a short time.

Anyway make sure you get it reviewed by orthopaedics. My collar bone moved a bit during the healing process and it can impinge on important nerves and blood supplies through your neck.

Luckily it has not impacted my fitness much as I went on the turbo two days later and back on the bike, low risk stuff, at 4 weeks.

Go straight to A&E, I broke mine in Wales, the local hospital told me it was just a collar bone and go and to see GP for referral.

I was in a lot of pain so the wife took me to Reading A&E the next day to make sure I was checked over properly. X-ray and CT scan showed broken collar bone, 3 ribs and 2 vertebrae were all cracked. Collar bone was ****.

had mine operated on as it was in 5 pieces.

Forget the GP, go straight to A&E, make a BIG deal out of it to make sure you’re checked over properly and the op is down to how bad it is. but try to get it plated

Forget the GP, go straight to A&E, make a BIG deal out of it to make sure you’re checked over properly and the op is down to how bad it is. but try to get it plated

I hope it works for him, add in anything about activity and work needing a fully functioning arm, sob stories are always good, i’m in my 40s so just went with the flow, if i was in my 20s or early 30s i’d definitely have been more pushy for an op!

I’d agree, son did his collarbone a few years ago. Went to A&E. No surgery required but thoroughly checked over and as he was 16 he healed pretty quickly.

Or phone 111, who will tell you to go to A&E, but at least they’ll be expecting you.

I remember reading somewhere that the clavicle is designed to break. Something about how it does so to prevent the spine at the neck from taking the full brunt of an impact.

Cheers all.

Had an xray here and was told surgery needed. Not seen xrays myself but have a copy of them on a CD of all things. Does seem based on a bit of reading as though things are done differently in different places, NHS may just treat non-invasively where here they might operate on the same thing.

Will just pop to a&e on my return then by the sounds of it! Wednesday morning hopefully will be quiet.

Thanks again!

Have you got health insurance through work – you may have more success getting it operated on if you do and run the process via them rather than GP.

I do, but they don’t do anything fast.

Good tips from Jonedwards you definitely need to be careful about your sling maybe see an osteopath -mine was set too short I was told by a physio who I chatted to 5 weeks in, so almost healed (also I hunched due to the pain and protective instinct, having not come across Jons advice, since it happened in the 80’s) – my bone set a bit short with a kink and the shoulder is still high almost 40 years later. .
Not ideal

took mine 6 weeks to heal. I was offered a plate (I had private medical cover through work) by a surgeon who repaired jockeys but as I was managing he was reluctant to go it. All operations come with risk. If I could turn back time I’d have the plate.

I’m 10day short of three months in, as per my own thread One arm down and this..

Most of the time they’re loathe to operating on a broken collarbone unless absolutely necessary,

is the truth.. my early x-ray is on that thread, but the later one is exactly the same, no movement together, but also shows a 1cm chip of bone floating around too. My partner works in the medical world, all the ppl she has shown the x-rays to, have done the whole teeth sucking noise.. My first NHS factrure clinic appointment, usually via telephone but the nurse practictioner who initally saw me, thought it was severe enough that a doctor might have more to say. I walked in to doctor telling me they don’t operate, he must have told me 5 times in a 5/10min appointment, that they don’t operate. I had not asked anything, I was there because the nurse said to go. Next appointment, was a farce of a 4 hr wait for a booked clinic appointment, & when pressed the doctor was a hip expert, who told me 3 times I could die if I had a op, and he would email a colleague about me. At this point they asked for feedback, and I gave them both barrels. Que a quicker followup appointment, with a upper skeletal expert. He explained that case studies report that non surgical healing would occur for the majority of cases, as quickly as if surgery took place, so they simply will not operate at least for three months. Though I hadn’t had a further x-ray, he suggest that gray fuzziness on my previous x-ray suggest callus was forming (Im no expert but the x-ray is covered in grey fuzziness… is my whole shoulder turning to bone? meh). I’ve also paid for a private assessment, but realistically they still said it needed more to time to potentially heal itself, but that surgery should be considered, if no callusing was forming. He also said that there a lot specialists  involved with collar bone plating, and even private hospitals prefer the NHS to do it.

So I’m in limbo awaitng my next appointment, when I hope they will tell me there is actually callus forming or worst case I need an op… which **** knows how long will take to organise. I am thoroughly fustrated, bored, angry, as not only do I have a broke (apparently its still called a fracture) collarbone, my shoulder joint is a mess from immobilize the arm in the sling. It was only in the sling for three weeks, but I’ve spent 5 weeks doing physio. ASK FOR PHYSIO AT YOUR FIRST APPOINTMENT! I had to ask at my second appointment, as it was not offered, and still am no where near getting my full range of moment back. If nothing else, right from the beginning, do pendulum exercises, also known as Codman’s exercise, as it’s a passive shoulder exercise, to keep flexibilty in the joint

Sorry that’s all quite doom and gloom, it seems to me if you have a fratured collarbone, where the bones are still close or next to each other or just cracked,  you should be healed and on the go in no time.

@z1ppy

That’s shit mate but very much in line with the way I was treated.

Just keep on at them and maybe ask for a second opinion at a different hospital.

That seemed to spur them into a bit more action in my case.

On the positive side once they had agreed it needed a plate they got me in pretty quickly.

Is there any reason that it wasnt fixed out in Finale using holiday insurance

Reason I ask is Kevin got badly injured in the Alps last year and although some of it was mended in Switzerland the main damages weren’t picked up on till we got back and the holiday insurance wouldn’t cover the UK costs. In hindsight it should have been all sorted before we came back.

We were lucky as the Swiss third party insurers picked up all the UK hospital and physio bills.

Took 12 months to get him back on the bike although his injuries limit the techy riding and jumping.

We have just got back from Finale and San Remo this week. Had a great time and can’t wait to get back

Sending  healing vibes

I went to a walk in centre and referred to A&E following the x-ray. Collarbone was broken in 2 places. The surgeon (who was a cyclist) gave me the option of surgery, quicker fix but the chance of issues in the future or wait to see how it healed by itself, longer healing time but less chance of issues in the future. I went for the second option. Luckily it all healed well by itself.

Don’t take Ibuprofen as pain relief. I was also prescribed Vitamin D and Iron tablets.

Followed similar advice as above on sling and keeping the joint moving. Got physio booked in early on and worked with a PT on strength training after about 4 months. I had 19 breaks in total, some which needed surgery, and 14 months on I’m pretty much back to normal.

I do, but they don’t do anything fast

Neither does the NHS.

Had surgery on mine after a couple of months not healing. Six months all in, not ideal for someone with a physical job.

More recently, a knee injury I picked up in France. A very large Pre Patella Hematoma. French doctor diagnosed it immediately and said an MRI was required after two weeks.

Minor injuries xrayed and referred me to Orthopaedics, who discharged me over the phone and told me to wear sturdy boots

Leg was pretty much purple camouflage and zero flex.

I then had to get back into the system, Doctor diagnosed Bursitis.
Eventually got a scan almost 3 months after the injury as I still only had 30% flexion and infection/other damage was a concern.

8.5cmx13cmx4cm Hemetoma and some other stuff. Still healing.

TLDR

If private care is available is take it.

Broke mine earlier this year. The consultant was loathed to operate unless really necessary because the main nerves that control your arm are next to that bone. Mine healed exactly as they said it would with just a sling and pain killers for the first few days. Note I’m just working on getting the strength and mobility back fully

I wish I’d had surgery.  Mine ‘healed itself’ after about 10 months …… The nerve damage to my shoulder still causes problems after 15 months, though.

Edit – I’m 69 so someone considerably younger would probably have a better experience.

thanks all for your messages. i’m now back home. trip to minor injuries on the day i got back – xrays redone and told to come back in a week, keep arm in sling and don’t use, with a decision on surgery to follow.

had second appointment yesterday – was told by a consultant that surgery not required. the bone is still in two bits (normal, was broken <2 weeks ago), but displacement not large enough to justify an op. back in a month for another look. am now out of sling and most day to day stuff is ok, certainly a hell of a lot better than a week ago. 6-8 weeks until normal activities can resume.

nhs have been very efficient in my view. fingers crossed for an uncomplicated recovery!

my latest update (apologies I’m not trying to take over your thread), 3months in, they say mine is now starting to heal, but due to complications, I’m to have a CT scan to be evaluted in two weeks to see if I need an op.

@ehrob, you might not be able to use it, but do exercies to keep everything supple & moving. I believe my shoulder issues, lie in not doing anything for the first three weeks (what they told me). Good luck with your recovery

FWIW, my NHS collar bone experience – 18 years ago now:

Non-union of displaced clavicle fracture finally decided upon after over two months of pain and immobility. Fianlly they decided it would need operating on, despite it being obvious (to me at least!) that the two bones were never going to reconnect. I had a few weeks more wait for an opperation to have it plated, then further three weeks recovery. In all, I broke my collar bone mid-July, I think it was early November when I was able to begin some gentle swimming to rehabilitate the shoulder, so 4 to 5 months out of action in total.

I believe in other countries, such as Aussie, they are more likely to immediately operate on a collar bone fracture as a matter of course, because complications such as I experienced are considered typical. On the NHS, however, it is a very different story…

Owchies.. hope you are not in too much pain and recover well OP. Just reading this thread after so much time passing is still making me wince a tad, it brings back vivid memories. Not much fun.

Incidentally, swimming (for me) was an excellent rehabilitation exercise from having my shoulder completely out of action for 5 months, so much so that I actually never stopped swimming. 18 years and around 1,200 miles of swimming later, I’m still going! Definitely recommended…

 He explained that case studies report that non surgical healing would occur for the majority of cases, as quickly as if surgery took place, so they simply will not operate at least for three months.

Riding mate just did three ribs and a clavicle. Two weeks in they’ve decided it’s not healing fast enough so he’s in to get it plated next week.

Broke mine July 2022, clavicle broke in 2 places with a rotation of the “spare bit”. Was told to wait for it to heal, it was never going to as none of the bones lined up.

Surgery in the November, significantly better except “frozen shoulder” had set in.

Not, the feeling has returned in the associated chest area, the chest nerves run across the top of the shoulder so you lose them when you’re cut open. Most of my movement has returned, but I struggle to reach up my back with the affected arm. Sleeping on that side is uncomfortable (and it’s my preferred sleeping side, unfortunately). Whole thing is a bit rubbish really, I suggest anyone considering breaking their shoulder to not bother.

Today is two weeks since I did it, and I’m doing about 30 minutes of gentle movements a day, which includes some neck and shoulder stuff. I’m treading carefully – don’t want to do anything to irritate it – but keen to avoid problems due to being immobile for too long. It sounds like a very common problem and it feels nice to do some work, even if it is gentle.

Mobility is surprisingly not too bad, and the pain is more of an ache than anything, so I’m optimistic for a good outcome.

I am not medically trained, so it’s not advice just my observations, as what my physio has had me doing, is trying for the full range of movement of my shoulder, regardless of the broken collarbone*, but using pain as the guide as to how far to go. Basically the first couple of weeks is about allowing the brusing around the bone to heal/go down. I’d suggest little sessions, throughout the day, rather than a single ‘larger’ session

*this was the largest surprise

I went to the NHS physio the other day. She now has me doing some dumbbell exercises (comically light dumbbell) to strengthen the shoulder. It’s all about regaining the range of motion out to the side and up high. Interesting thing was I had to wait to the collarbone had repaired and hardened a bit, 10 weeks. As always be guided by pain don’t push it.

One of those occasions where a turbo trainer gathering dust can be of use. Certainly got used when I broke my wrist, then for broken spine recovery.