griffin_

it seems like a lot of people here have had one or more of these so here it goes

have you ridden with it? did it heal alright?

i broke mine about two months ago and i've been riding with it and it hasn't bothered me at all in a while but i worry that it might not be healing right. have any relevant expierences to share?

Ken Cox

I think most people heal all right on their own.
Check the range of motion of your shoulder.
Raise your hand like taking a pledge.
Any pain?

Seggybop

what exactly happens that results in a broken collarbone? do you fall directly on it? seems a rather awkward place to take a hit.

LóFarkas

Most common of the serious non-head bike injuries. You fall on your side in a corner, land on your shoulder, done.
I have no personal experience, though, thankfully.
Heal fast, griffin. (2 months and it's still not over? ouch)

rattlecan

had my surgery like 3 months ago been riding after two months of recovery no problem yet

absntr

Ah, welcome to the CCC - Cycling Collarbone Club. As LoFarkas said, it's the most common of non-head bike injuries, maybe even more common than head injuries.

I separated by collarbone last summer - not quite a break but I had a grade III separartion (the most severe kind) and mostly it ached for a few days (I still rode) but without surgery, it's permanently deformed. Since it's cosmetic and I kept up with physical rehab, I've opted not to do any cosmetic surgery.



Broken collarbones can heal is a few different ways. If not set right, the two ends can fuse on top of each creating a "bump" down the collarbone which I've seen on cyclists. Otherwise it'll set right. Keep the cycling light so it sets right (aka, don't re-break it) and keep up with either physical rehab or stretching and rotation exercises so you retain or work towards full range of motion.

dolface

i've broken mine a combined total of 5 times, and i rode through pretty much all of the healing periods.

they healed fine, in fact, i can't even find the bumps any more.

mcoine

Get your doc to check it. I have seen two people break theirs, they were both fine in about 2 months.

brunning

i've broken my right twice and my left once, all while mountain biking. out of all the bones i've broken, it's been one of the least painful.

the most treatment i've ever gotten for it has been an x-brace designed to apply a bit of pressure to hold things in place.

the one time i really rushed back onto the bike, the two sides ended up healing out of alignment and leaving a bump, similar to absntr (but not as extreme).

Wierd Beard

As with any injury, there are various levels of severity. The most common way for a cyclist to end up with a broken collar bone is from breaking your fall with your hand and the shock travelling up your arm, breaking the collar bone. I broke mine against a car door frame in a high speed collision and as such it took about 4 months to completely heal. After about a month the pain had subsided enough to not be much of a hassle but it was another month before I could cycle with no pain.
My doctor told me that I could do whatever I wanted with it without worrying about doing further damage. In fact, he said that it was preferable to keep it active to ensure I wasn't left with limited movement when it healed.
Hope you have a swift recovery!

squeakywheel

Broke my left one twice. First time was at age 12 while playing football. Complete break of the bone. Shoulder was hanging in front of my chest.

Second time was a fall on my bike. Bounced off a bush hanging out into the road. Went over sideways. Heard my helmet bounce off the road. Just a fracture in the collar bone right next to the bump caused by the first break. I wasn't even sure it was broken at first. It was just sore. It hurt more later after the adrenalin wore off.

In both cases, I wore a strap that pulled both shoulders back. I didn't ride my bike while healing. I didn't even want to lift my bike out of the car trunk for 2 months after the second break.

If it is just a fracture (crack in the bone), then I don't think there is any concern about healing correctly. The complete breaks are more problematic that way.

My oldest son was born with a broken collar bone. The doctor said, "I'm pretty sure his collar bone is broken, but we aren't going to x-ray because to tell the truth, we don't do anything about it even if it is broken." I think collar bones are a fragile part of human anatomy.

MLPROJECT

i broke mine in 8th grade skateboarding. they couldn't re-set it so it healed like naz was talking about with the bump. i had to stay in this brace that was kind of like two backpack straps that pulled my shoulders back for two weeks and was back swimming/training about two months later.

i had to do regular stretches and light weights before i got my full range of motion back, but i think you should be fine.

mascher

Thanks for posting the pic absntr, I did the same thing last summer, shoulder separation, same grade, same bump, and also a little crunchiness in the rotation of my shoulder. The doc I saw (the emergency room doc that I only went to because my arm was behind me and it was too painful to move it forward myself ) was like, meh, surgery, everyone always wants to do surgery on this kind of stuff, I think that's dumb.

bla bla bla, I'm glad to see a pic of someone else equally "deformed" and that I haven't got myself into some orthopedic trouble.

Thanks.

absntr

I think the funny thing about separations or breaking collarbones or maybe the oddest thing is that "crunchiness" -- feeling the bone rub up against the other bone is mildly disconcerting and in the first few weeks, when showering, hearing it crack (internally) was just creepy.

But it feels pretty normal these days. occasionally if I sleep on it in a weird angle I wake up sore but otherwise, a-ok.

mascher

Didn't even think to respond to griffin_'s query: I waited until it stopped hurting when I reached in front of me, and then gave it another week - off the bikes for 2 weeks total. I had some aching at first, and pulling up the front end of the road fix to get up curbs and on the mtn bike just generally was painful and I avoided it for a month.

I've got the same bump as absentr, and now 5 months after the fact no pain or restriction of movement at all except a couple of times with an extremely heavy shoulder bag while riding, which probably would have ached anyway.

Separated shoulders aren't breaks though, so ymmv of course.

dolface

that crunching sound is called crepitus https://www.medterms.com/script/main/...ticlekey=12061

i LOVE that word, it's my favorite onomatopoeia (not sure if it actually is one, but it sure sounds like one).

absntr

Yay for crepitus!

griffin_

i haven't felt any pain since the first two weeks but i've also been riding pretty much everyday and i'm not so sure the bones are actually fusing back together

rattlecan, i was lead to believe surgery was fairly uncommon with this kind of why did you have it? what did they do, plate it?

mascher

I wonder if that's the same root as when Carcass are discussing Crepitating Bowel Erosion. I never got what that was, but it also didn't matter. Now I'm happy to think of it as crunching and rattling sounds during bowel erosion, sounding kind of like my shoulder.

Can any medically minded types elaborate on this? Is it evidence of ligament/cartiledge damage? Fluid pockets caused by the deformation? Anything dangerous or degenerative about it?

vobopl

Mine broke at the joint to the shoulderblade as a result of a bad drunken mae kaiten ukemi. 20-odd years later I still have a bump like absntr. The range of movement was severly limited (like no movement) until after physical therapy.

mrbertfixy

i broke mine pretty bad. one of the bones was trying to break the skin ('tenting' as the doctor said) had to get surgery to put a plate over the bone where the two parts met, then staple the skin shut to keep it in place. not fun, or cheap.

MLPROJECT

mine did the opposite and almost punctured my lung. they took xrays immediately because i kept passing out and they though it had collapsed my lung. fun times.

meb

I broke mine Sat. (1/21) and my understanding of the sling is it is pulling the shoulder forward rather than back. Do I have the concept backwards (I was still under the effect of morphene when the intern explained it to me) or is it injury specific?

How soon till it sets?

How long before one usually regains lifting strength?

gally99

the collar bone is the body's crumple zone...

the problem with not setting it right is that the loss of movement and pain can set in way after it's "healed"...
i'm friends with an orthopod... there was a good chunk of time when she was training where she was rebreaking and sticking screws in 3 or 4 collarbones a day...

jrowe

Same thing here, except mine was in about 5 pieces. I have a 5-inch plate.