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@Clwydian
I'm just recovering from a double fracture that was repaired surgically. Although I was hospitalised after the accident nobody from orthopaedics looked at me until I attended fracture clinic a week after being discharged (other injuries were more urgent).
After being discharged I did some research on surgical vs non-surgical healing and subsequently went in to the fracture clinic armed with an argument for getting surgery. My other half is a doctor so she actually did most of the research and came in with me. We found that surgical intervention is just about the norm now in the US and becoming far more prevalent in the UK, especially for acive people. It turned out not to be necessary as the consultant immediately told me how bad the situation was and recommended I go in for surgery the next day. The key issue is whether or not the fracture is displaced or not. My right shoulder was effectively 3.5 cm shorter than my left (ie closer to my neck) because the bone sections weren't lined up. Apart from looking odd, this would have left me with some mobility issues: something I can't live with as a kayaker / swimmer.
The attached file gives a pretty good summary of the thinking.
Even after surgery my recovery is taking quite some time as the floating section of bone had to be secured with plates at both ends and "filled" with artificail bone to get some blood flow going to start the repair.
As I write, I'm ten weeks post accident and eight weeks post op. I've been out of the sling for three weeks now but I'm still not allowed to do any weight-bearing. I've been able to run since getting out of the sling and just started some gentle cycling this week (on my tourer as it's a more comfortable ride). I have about 80% mobility of the shoulder at the moment and very little strength. Hopefully I will start physio after my next fracture clinic in a week from now.
Unfortunately, I'm also getting quite a bit of pain at the moment while I work hard at regaining mobility: hence being up at this time checking out the forum. It's not really that bad but I prefer to manage my pain by being active rather than taking a load of drugs as I find the side effects to be more irritating than the pain.
Good luck with your recovery.
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