How long for a compound collar bone break to heal?

Busted a week ago during a bodged bunny hop over a nasty water bar. Nice break into 3 bits with a couple of cms floating around in the middle. Not a lot of other damage to be fair. Bruising and 2 sore wrists. Have gotten by with only half a dozen painkillers over the last week and have some mobility back.

However, I had already booked and paid for an Alps trip, leaving in 8 weeks time.

What is the prognosis from those who have been here before.

PS 48 and first proper break so not been here before!

Is there much to do where your going without a bike?

Rule of thumb seems to be about 6 weeks to heal up then it needs to get stronger or crashing could be bad, there is the Motorcross Laser Guy out east who seems to get very good reports on shoulder fixes. Few here have been.

its this place

Home

couple of local lads have used it,

yours sounds a bad break though, i know its more successful when its a clean break and there is not much space between the bones

as above, how much space between the bones? I’d look at getting it fixed. I busted mine snowboarding, i was probably on a bike 8 weeks or so after the op to tie it all back together (the gap on mine was massive) but I was taking it pretty easy for a good while.

6-8 weeks is about average without complications.

How to go about getting it fixed/pinned. The docs don’t seem interested in doing anything other than leaving it to heal itself. Another 3 weeks till next appointment to see how it is healing.

You would be a mug to go on a biking trip to the alps 8 weeks after a compound collar bone fracture.

painkillers can slow down the healing process, so try and take as few as possible, I managed just take one to sleep once in a while.

also some multivitamins, milk and sunshine.

was nearly 12 weeks for me till mine stopped clcking and felt OK. and it was a pretty clean break.

You do not want to be that far from home with a re-break of a collarbone

Just sat here with my 2nd,
1st at 40, simple break took 8 weeks to get on bike. Ride in terror of fall for quite a while. Would not go to Alps as part of recovery!!

they were pretty disinterested in mine too, despite the x ray suggesting it would never heal on its own. I got a second opinion privately then went back to the NHS with that as ammo and basically demanded an operation.

I bust mine into three pieces before an alps trip, was off the bike for about 8 weeks, the doctors insisted on leaving it to “heal” by itself. I ended up going and riding with the whiterooms while it was bust and got on ok, it was sore by the end of the day and I was lucky not to fall off. The big problem was no insurance company would cover my shoulder only the rest of me, but with E111 i took the risk and turned out ok..

Had to wait another couple of months after coming back from the alps and they finally decided to plate it as it hadn’t joined one bit.

It could heal nicely and be ok or heal badly and not be fine. Mine took about 4 months, 6 weeks not to mend and six weeks after surgery, with a wait in between. This was in my late twenties.
For what its worth after it was decided that healing itself wasn’t going to happen, I started riding again, up until the op as the pain was minimal.
Good luck with it.

12 weeks for me to get back to work and on the mtb. age is against you for healing well enough in 8 weeks. The hospital will wait and see if it starts to mend on its own before opening you up.

painkillers can slow down the healing process, so try and take as few as possible, I managed just take one to sleep once in a while.

There’s evidence to suggest anti-inflammatories may but I’ve not seen any for pain relief.

Welshfarmer my understanding of a compound fracture is that it involves the bone piercing the skin, was this the car when you broke yours?

Mine took 3 months and even then I was only doing gentle road riding. Broke in August had my first fall (ice on Tarmac) December and it held up though I was convinced it had gone again.

This will sound harsh but it is plain stupid if you do go ahead with a downhill holiday within 8 weeks even if you feel ok. Take the time to heal it properly. You could knacker it permanently and not ride again.

Take a decent camera, do some hiking and take nice pics of the landscape and your mates riding. Someone probably has an slr you can borrow and learn. You also have the bonus of not worrying about the hangover.

Doubt that is what you wanted to hear, but seriously you will regret it if you break it again.

@ Shermer.. you are correct and I have forgotten all my first aid training. I meant to say it was a comminuted fracture (more than one break), rather than a compound fracture (where the bone punctures soft tissue and usually pierces the skin). I would have called that an open fracture see!

My break has been characterised by a more or less complete lack of pain. I had to wheel my bike a mile off the hill and then ride 3 miles one handed back to the cars with my arm in a sling. No need for pain killers . But the Xray was pretty shocking with the bone in 3 bits! I will see how it goes I guess. I have asked an ex of mine for some advice as she is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon! Managed to ride the bike around the lawn today with both hands on the bars.

Unfortunately, before any Alps trip I have 300 odd sheep to shear and 50 acres of hay to make. So holidays are really the least of my worries 🙁

Twelve weeks for mine to heal. Crashed onto the same shoulder on my first ride off road, just to confirm it was healed.

I’d be surprised if any medical insurance covered your Alps trip for another break, since it could be argued that’s it’s unhealed and pre-existing.

Cancel the trip, I’m afraid to say.

Paracetamol works wonders for bone pain. Ibuprofen may slow the healing process. Tramadol gave me odd dreams but also worked when paracetamol did not.

I’m from farming stock and can appreciate the temptation (and perhaps the necessity) to try and push your recovery but I urge you to keep your arm as immobile as possible to help the bones to knit. I tried to do too much too early and a simple stumble set me back to square one after a fortnight. I didn’t even go down, the natural reaction was to stick my arm out but I couldn’t because of my sling. I can send you some of this stuff if you want, I found it more comfortable and easier to put on and adjust than the standard NHS sling

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1797366180001?bckey=AQ~~,AAABontbgKE~,lf0Iq9xunTMsPQ8NEY9VIVUuEWs3-mqj&bctid=2616833305001

Arghhh… i was just about to tap you up to show me around at the weekend as i’m over that way.

Sorry to hear about your break, the timing is crap huh.

I have had 4 collar bone breaks and I am normally riding within 5 weeks on lanes and about 6 to 8 weeks on the mountain bike, proper riding such as the Alps at 10 weeks.

I don’t take pain killers, maintain a good diet and take some bone tablets osteo something or another.

I also use a magnet wrap thingy to aid healing, all a bit voodoo but with over 20 broken bones so far (lousy motorbike rider) I have found it helps during and after healing.

The other thing I do is keep active, I walk lots, my theory is that sitting around resting doesn’t promote bone growth but by maintaining a load on the skeleton it has to heal, sustain itself.

I guess the upshot is that you are likely to be able to ride in the Alps, whether it is a good idea or not is another thing.

As you say, working the farm is your biggest concern, hope it all works out for you.

My break has been characterised by a more or less complete lack of pain. I had to wheel my bike a mile off the hill and then ride 3 miles one handed back to the cars with my arm in a sling. No need for pain killers . But the Xray was pretty shocking with the bone in 3 bits!

This sounds very similar to mine. I actually pushed to have surgery, because I was self employed at the time and if I didn’t work I didn’t get paid. It was costing me a fortune so I didn’t want to risk waiting 6 weeks to see if had healed knowing that it might not.
When I explained my financial situation to the consultant he was very understanding and I had the surgery pretty much straight away. I was back out working etc within 8 weeks after that, I can’t remember the length of time exactly, but one thing that slowed me down a bit was being a nob and not doing the excercises given to me by the physio! I regret that now, but consider it to be a valuable lesson learned 🙂

what ever you do get yourself to a good sports physio NOW.

Do not wait for the GP/nhs, they will tell you to sit & be good for about 6 weeks.

The physio will give you a whole load of progressive exercises starting with (insert some proper technical name) micro movements that keep all the muscles exercised & gradually build up.

I did collarbone & shoulderbloade at 50, 13 months ago.

At 6 weeks I was gentle riding.
At 8 weeks I could do both road & non technical MTB rides with no pain.

But mine was a clean brake.

Get yourself to Brian in Ipswich …. from the third post down.

He and his team are truly excellent…. Polish racing motorbikers come over to visit him are and racing again the next week.

At the very least you’ll get the right answer to your question.

I broke mine last June, it hasn’t healed so am waiting for it to be pinned with a bone graft in July. Sadly I have had to put off the op because I have a trip to whistler planned and thought it was better to just go with it broken. Been a thoroughly depressing year. Even bought a road bike it got so bad.