Clavicle Error - Broken Collarbone

That looks very uncomfortable. Hope the bruising goes down quickly.

Broke my clav* at the beginning of the year. No surgery (I had bigger problems for the docs to worry about) and it's healed with about an inch of overlap. I still have a bit of discomfort carrying a heavy bag over that shoulder. Anyone here experienced similar? Will the pain go away, or do I need to hire a valet for future hiking trips?

* and scap, ribs, wrist, my "acetabulum" (I didn't know I had one of those) and fractured nine vertebrae 😳

Shit, that looks painful. I had maybe 20% of that amount of bruising on my shoulder. You must of hit really fucking hard.

Regarding the little info from the NHS, it was the same here. Infact a week after the crash, they wanted me to just go every day to the hospital and wait there with only a small chance they would have space to see me. Of course I told them that was a terrible way to operate and I wasn't going to sit around a hospital every day just to be sent back home.

The anaesthetic will be absolutely fine. They will talk to you to distract you and keep you relaxed and next thing you know you will be waking up in recovery. I've had 3 or 4 times now. This time round I didn't feel bad from it but previous times I have just felt groggy and lethargic. They will still be feeding you painkillers at this point, probably Tramadol. For me the worst pain was at this point and probably why I didn't notice any post anaesthetic groggyness. You will then be taken back to a ward and they will feed you, give you a drink etc. You will have to eat, drink and have a piss before they discharge you, quite likely the same day as your surgery. You need an escort if so. I forgot this and had to call my sister 1 hour before surgery or they wouldn't of done it.

For me the pain lessened drastically the same day as the surgery. But it was bad the day after. For a few more days, maybe 2, the pain stayed pretty bad but then it went and the only time it was bad was in the mornings and night. Its best to just keep to a routine with the codeine they give you even if you don't think the pains too bad. It will lessen it when it does kick in.

Obviously it's going to vary person to person but it will be ok. When you are out of surgery it will be at its worst and will get better with only some moments of it feeling worse.

Recovery will seem slow at first but after a week and a half I was not using my sling much. I'm 3 weeks in and yesterday I went for a skate. Admittedly only pushing about and doing a few ollies but the fact that I could has made me more confident that recovery will be quicker than the high estimate of 8 weeks and 12 weeks for sports. Just rest, eat a lot of protein and look after it for as long as you can. If you are like me and feel isolated and lonely when there is so much free time, fill it with walks and contact with people.

because I had to wait 3.5 weeks for the op, I kind of got a taste of both recovery options (leaving it and plating) I still felt just as uncomfortable walking around without the plate as the displacement was so big (it looks pretty similar to yours actually) there was a distinct disconnectedness about it all.

With the surgery I'm now 2 weeks out and laughing really. You'll be a bit ache-y and twitchy the first day but that gets better much quicker than just walking around waiting for that massive gap to bridge. I was anxious about the anaesthetic as well, the come down from it that evening was shit but manageable, just felt woozy and spacey but did get a full sleep that night still. It's a proper routine op, the bone is really close to the surface so there is very little chance of it complicating other bits of your body. You'll also get a bit of numbness around the cut which I've still got a little bit of. It only feels like pins and needles when you touch it, I don't notice it all unless I prod around.

The lack of info thing is something i've found as well. They'll tell you all of the above but only when you get into day surgery.

Here's my plate, the trauma nurse who cleaned the wound before the x-ray said it was the neatest stitching she'd ever seen. Probably says that to everyone though. The scar is still a healing wound so that's a little sore still but I feel no pain/soreness from the bone. The vague timeline he gave was 1 month in a sling still with light physio, 1 month getting the range of movement back and then the next month building the strength again. Which is different/longer to what he said last time but i'm not the medical professional.