Mojo GoGo

Just looking to hear from folks who have plates in their shoulders. I was operated on 4 weeks ago and had a plate inserted and bone graft for a double break. Having never gone through this before I'm not sure if my recuperation is typical and want to hear from others who have been through this...

My collarbone feels stable but I'm having problems with shoulder and neck spasms/cramps. The PT team says these are due to the limited range of motion exercises I can do. There is also occasional burning in the my shoulder - not sure if this is scar tissue breaking up or something worse. Also, I'm beginning to feel the plate through my skin - it feels like it's trying to pop through (assume this is because the swelling is down).

Is this all typical stuff?

Retro Grouch 

It's been over 10 years so I don't remember in detail.

I can tell you that I slept in a recliner chair for about 6 weeksafter my surgery. I remember thinking that the screws would pop through my skin but they never did. The funny thing was pain in my opposite bicept. That took a couple of years before it disappeared entirely.

I'll also tell you that I've since talked with dozens of folks who have broken collar bones and my experience is far from typical. The other people that I've talked with had significantly fewer problems.

merlin55

I broke my clavicle 5 years ago in a BIG mountain bike fall, the break didn't ever heal, so I had a plate, bone graft from hip and seven dry wall screws installed. I keep the arm in a sling for 5 weeks post-op. After 4 months of riding with a broken clavicle I was ready for surgery.

4 weeks post op, your are over the hump pain wise. The hip pain was much worse for me than the shoulder. Yes you lose a lot of range of motion because the sholder capsule tightens up from not moving the upper arm. However I resumed road riding at 6 weeks, but not in large packs, just with other experienced and skilled riders to reduce my risk of falling. After 8 month or so the MD said my shoulder would be 100% strong. With PT the range of motion will return, but this will take work and a little pain, just like training. The skin is very thin on the top of the plate, hence yes you can feel the heads of the screws, during the racing season when I'm thin you can even see the bumps. At first it kinds of creeps you out, but after a while you will probably forget about it 99.9% of the time. I broke my left clavicle, so occasionaly the shoulder belt in the car rides right on the plate and hurts it a little.

I had only one break, and could have another surgery to remove it but the risks don't make sense, another chance for a nasty staph infections, a weaker clavicle until the screws hole fill back in with bone, and another recovery off the bike. Good luck, and welcome to club.

Mojo GoGo

Thanks for the input.

I know I'm making progress as (in the morning) getting out of bed is typically pain free but the rest of the day seems so random. A co-worker told me about his botched shoulder job where the alignment wasn't correct and how he needed a second operation to fix the alignment issue and the a scope to repair rotator cuff damage (from the incorrect alignment) and my brain probably started working too much.

Having heard the horror stories from others about healing problems I get concerned whether the daytime pain is alignment/bone or muscular... Hearing there will be an end is comforting (as typing with 1 hand has rendered my effectiveness at work in the toilet and I'm pretty much useless doing the yard work (tried using the riding lawn mower but that led to 2 days of heavy Vicodin use)).

I doubt I'll be riding before July. The end of May will be 6 weeks but without any strength training and 8 weeks of atrophy I don't plan to get on my bike until I've done at least a couple weeks of strength training.

I'd love to see the x-rays for the pros who are back on their bikes within a week. Somehow, I'm guessing they are fractures instead of breaks (as I can't see any way I could be riding at this point in time).

https://bp0.blogger.com/_w8Pm2YO8UQ8/...-h/4430893.JPG

https://bp0.blogger.com/_w8Pm2YO8UQ8/...00-h/plate.jpg

cyclingvirtual

I am 18 months since mine was plated, and had the plate taken out after 14 months. Can ride bike fine but movment is limited to 85% and still uncomfortable.

formulaben

Mojo, check your PMs dude. We're in the same boat...

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...7&postcount=40

GeeBee650

I broke my clavicle about 26 years ago when I was just a tot. I had to sleep in a recliner and wear this figure-eight bra looking thing.

Nowadays, I can't carry anything very heavy for too long, as it pulls down on my arm, and my shoulder will be in pain for about a week. I can't sleep on my side that it's on all night or I'll be in the same pain. I'm only 32.

Military press and lat pull downs cause a clicking noise in my shoulder on each rep. There's cracking in my shoulder if I do windmills with my arms. Undoubtedly, I'll have arthritis in my shoulder when I get older.

Sounds like the doctors are going to greater lengths nowadays to correct the break better.

Luckily, this problem doesn't affect my riding or running. Swimming hasn't been a problem either so far.

uspspro

It's been a year since my break and the neck/shoulder/arm cramping thing was really bad in the first few months after. It was mostly brought on by walking around with my arm hanging, riding was not a problem. The neck/shoulder muscles all tightened up to compensate for the injury, this compounded with lack of use caused the next phase which was neck pain, and clicking in my neck.

It has been about a year now, and I can say it is finally on it's way to being mostly gone. I don't have any more pain. However, I still get occasional tightness and clicking of the neck. It's much better than before, and seems to be getting better still.

I ride around 200 miles per week, no problem. I can swim no problem either.

formulaben

Ain't it great?! Curious, did you have a titanium plate or just the traditional method?