Hey ! I was hit by a car and came off my bike 3 weeks ago. After a trip to A+E I was informed I had fractured my collarbone and thumb. I have had surgery on my thumb to pin the fragments together as it was a nasty fracture however I was just given a sling and told to wait 6 weeks for an x-ray for my collarbone. As I am being treated at 2 different hospitals I haven’t been able to speak to anyone in regards to my collarbone. I did briefly mention my concerns to the surgeon who operated on my thumb but was told that collarbones usually heal on their own and not to worry. During the first week I could feel the fragments move whenever I walked however this has now subsided but for the past couple of days I have a dull ache at the top of my chest and near to my neck and also in my shoulder. Is this normal during healing ? The A+E doctors told me the bone was fractured from the shoulder side so the ache in my chest and neck has me concerned. I am also worried about the type of sling they have given me as my arm isn’t resting properly as only my hand is resting inside it and at times i can feel a stretch in my shoulder. I did get the surgeon operating on thumb to check it for me and he said it was fine but it doesn’t feel it. This is the sling: https://www.purplesurgical.com/product/purple-arm-slings/

I have been removing it to shower but each time I have done this I can feel a stretch in my shoulder and around my collarbone.

I rang the NHS non emergency for advice but they just told me to rest and wait for my x ray which is in 3 weeks. Please could someone tell me of their experience so I know what to expect?

Thank you 🙂

6 weeks for an x-ray? WTF? My mate broke his collarbone at Llandegla on Saturday morning and was x-rayed and home in Ashby before 3pm.

What you re experiencing sounds about normal to me. The idea with the sling is that the weight of your arm pulls the clavicle into place IIRC

I am astonished you have not been seen in fracture clinic for the clavicle. I take it you had an xray to provide the initial diagnosis and the 6 weeks is the check up?

Sorry I forgot to mention they did x ray it at A+E shortly after my accident but the next x-ray to check healing is after 6 weeks

This is all standard practice. It takes weeks to heal and if surgery not required treatment is just a sling. The 6 week wait is not for the X-ray to diagnose the fracture… that’s already happened.
Nothing to worry about just give it time.

My experience with hospitals is they only like to fix one thing at a time and they have done your thumb.
I was given the fob off with mine, it will get better, we don’t operate on them anymore blah blah shut the door on the way out.
Once I got someone to listen and re x-ray after 2 weeks, oh yeah, that’s smashed to bits, come back tomorrow and we will operate.
You need to keep on at them.

I won’t put a downer on you with how I was dealt with but if you want to know my experiences search my post history from the last 12 months.

Good luck and hope things go better for you than they did me.

Yes, same for me. Initial X ray then wait for six weeks for follow up, then another three months for another follow up.
As for the aches and pains, again it sounds fairly normal. I had tremendous aches in my shoulder bladed and down my arm. That said on different days with damp or cold weather I could have trouble anywhere on my upper torso.
I suspect we are all different but what you describe does sound similar to my own experience.
As far as sling is concerned, the hospital give away was useless. On the evening after breaking it I went on Amazon and bought my own. Not only was it a sling but it had a chest strap which was invaluable in stabilising my shoulder and reducing pain.
The hospital had said initially to wear it for a couple of weeks, I ended up wearing it for about a month, and then began to slowly wean myself off it.
Good luck.

Sounds normal.
Sitting here 8 weeks after doing mine. 2nd X-ray last week.
Consultant says it’s not healing. Is it because I was out on the bike last week or cos I am an old barstewrd?
Take it easy, be patient I guess is the key to recovery.

Sounds like several breaks I’ve had and the fact that you know can’t feel the bits moving is a good sign. Nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the replies! I guess I’ll just have to be patient and hope for the best! Scared s*itless of being under a general anaesthetic so don’t want to be too pushy for surgery just yet lol i was glad they could fix my thumb whilst being awake haha

NHS has been reduced to doing the minimum they can to get you back out the door without being able to sue them. You now need to be a Dr to self-diagnose properly and decide if the treatment you have been given is correct. Often with bone setting this is time critical.

Having said that, most of what you are describing sounds normal but you could try going back to A&E complaining about the pain in the shoulder and see if they x-ray again but might just be sent home with 2 paracetamol and an earful of MTFU

Mine didnt heal in 5 months so had surgery.
It was a clean break. Must be cos Im 60ish

Did mine 5 weeks ago, got an X-ray, was given a sling, told to wear it for 6 weeks and not to come back.

Looking forward to my trip to Jedi next week 🤞

Got my 3rd appointment tomorrow after breaking the clavicle into 4 bits on 13th May.

I’ve been out on the mtb and road bike the last week or so but taking it easy (no dicking about, pulling on the bars etc..) and it feels good.

I did ask about surgery but was advised that it’ll heal ok without and at the last appointment (4 weeks ago) they were happy with the healing progress. Don’t really want a plate unless I have to, but as I’ve not been in pain, just some discomfort in the early weeks I’m happy to let it heal naturally.

Each injury is slightly different, the aches I had were across from the base of my neck to the end of the shoulder, which I assume were the tendons/muscles recovering. Apparently when bones heal they also ache.

Hope it was good news for you mate! I popped into A&E yesterday and they said it wasn’t showing any signs of healing…mine broke into 4 too but having a look at the x rays ( which the radiographer showed me) the fragments did look like they had lined up a bit compared to the day I fractured it. I couldn’t really discuss it because the registrar that spoke to me said he hadn’t seen the x rays and the consultant had told him it wasn’t showing signs of healing so to keep it in the sling. Felt a bit fobbed off. How long did you keep your sling on?

Ta, you’re not going to like reading this but Yeah it was good news for me. Had another x-ray and saw the consultant. Shirt off, reach over shoulder to touch my back and round the back to reach over to the otherwise. He had a good squeeze/feel of the area and commented how pleased he was with my mobility and the solid feel of the broken area. He basically told me the best thing moving forward was to carry on as I would before the break and itll get stronger again over time. I asked about physio and strengthening but was told that what he’d seen, if wasn’t necessary.

I had the sling on 24/7 for 3 weeks, then I started to take it off at work (desk jockey) so I could type with 2 hands. I wore it for walking about for another 2 weeks just to support the arm weight.

Doesn’t sound great for you though. Defo a good thing to have gone back to A&E, pity it wasn’t more productive for you, I’d prob feel a bit fobbed off too.

NHS has been reduced to doing the minimum they can to get you back out the door without being able to sue them.

this is 100% bolllox sorry WCA

Clavicle fractures are an area where there is no clear cut “best” treatment

Get to a good sports physio… Now

I am a week into my broken collarbone, does anyone have experience with the figure of 8 braces I have seen for sale?

maca – it my preffered option and widely used in some countries but the actual evidence is not clear. discuss with your doctor

maca – depends on type of break, location etc. I’ve used them before but also slings are more appropriate for some breaks.

thanks for the replies, I will speak to the doctor on Wednesday.

Quick update on mine, despite my wondering if ‘wear this for 6 weeks, don’t come back’ was a satisfactory recovery plan, it’s seems to have done the job. Shoulder is a bit stiff still, but I can ride, and it feels strong enough to deal with off road, so long as I don’t do anything silly.

So I’m racing on Saturday.

Any time you have concern, just nip to Minor Injuries, they have the ability to X-Ray if required, your doctor can also make an appointment for one via the minor injuries, so saving you hitting the A&E or major hospital annoyance.

As for the wear this for 6 weeks, i did that mine healed up strong enough to get motion back at that point so allowed to remove, and do some light cycling, but it that hid the fact it didn’t heal right, as others say the NHS tend to do minimum these days with this type of injury unless you kick up a fuss about quality of life, range of motion, hobbies, etc, i now have a collarbone that’s got a non union and mal-union, and a shoulder blade that’s not in the correct position anymore, causing a bit of an issue with motion and strength, should’ve kicked up a fuss, but at the point where i need an op to straighten it out, or wait for it to break again and have it done then!

Just think, you could win a gold medal in a XC race. After all Tom Pidcock broke his collar bone a few weeks ago & look what he did today

Yeah, i’m guessing he had a specialist op on it, so pinned and set with the olympics in mind, this is one of the issues you see, the NHS does tend to set the limit to what they’ll do against the individual in front of them, or whoever complains the loudest.

Not to say Tom had the NHS do it, i’m guessing it was private, you see the same with footballers and so on getting more in-depth surgeries aimed at an outcome, rather than triaging and then seeing how it does in 6-8 weeks