Clavicle Error - Broken Collarbone

Smoke shit loads of herb.

Haha, that's what I've been doing, it's the only thing keeping me from screaming every time i breath/ move a muscle. cos the doctor's painkilling solution (codyromol) is pretty pathetic fortuitously i picked up a lot of herb on friday so i am set for a while.

Hey thanks for the kind words and advice, it's appreciated, seeing the xray put horror images in my head. Spent last night worried about how a sling will help move bones into place, and got paranoid about it all not healing properly etc etc but i now know it's a normal process, i have a fracture clinic appointment on thurs so that should tell me how things are going etc.

I guess 5/ 6 weeks is a write off. Ah well, cheers for the thoughts and comments everyone.

Previous 2 posts related at all?
A lot of the evidence re: operative fixation comes from US where there is a fee for service healthcare system, so more operations = more monies.Doesnt mean its duff, but worth thinking about. Also interested how many people have ended up having several ops and longer term issues.
Cosmetic lumps and bumps are common even when structurally healed well. If you aren't happy you should speak with an orthopaedic surgeon with specialist interest in upper limb (they don't all have this interest).
Smoking (usually tobacco) is not good for bone healing.
Broke mine 8 weeks ago - it's rubbish.
Heal up well.
d_s

Merge.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread45458.html

Previous 2 posts related at all?
A lot of the evidence re: operative fixation comes from US where there is a fee for service healthcare system, so more operations = more monies.Doesnt mean its duff, but worth thinking about. Also interested how many people have ended up having several ops and longer term issues.
Cosmetic lumps and bumps are common even when structurally healed well. If you aren't happy you should speak with an orthopaedic surgeon with specialist interest in upper limb (they don't all have this interest).
Smoking (usually tobacco) is not good for bone healing.
Broke mine 8 weeks ago - it's rubbish.
Heal up well.
d_s

Hey man, thanks for the post, particularly the bit about the smoking being bad for bone healing. It led me to do some searching around and reading some research literature on the science of smoking and bone healing and frankly it's terrifyingly compelling, the numbers are significant enough to have made me decide to go cold turkey. Don't want jeopardise or undermine the healing process. Thanks once again.

As for herbs..well might just switch to vaporisers or cooking with it.

I remember now, after it was diagnosed as non-union I did see a private consultant about whether to get it pinned. He said since I have full movement he didn't recommend it because if the join is too strong (ie held together with metal) and I had a similar fall in future the impact would be forced into my shoulder which is a harder injury to heal. Between snowboarding and mountainboarding we decided there was a reasonable risk of more heavy falls in future so it would be better to leave it flexy (though as it turned out my next injury happened washing up)

Does anyone know where I can pick up a theraband right now? Called Runners Need in Croydon but the guy said "no" before admitting that he didn't even know what it was. I have a bee in by bonnet and wanna get on some ankle strengthening exercises today.

Cheers

So, 4 weeks realistic to be back on a bike?

And any advice on speeding up recovery? Exercises and, may sound daft, but things like protein shakes or other supplements that will help the bone to strengthen, flesh to heal?

I would slap the saucy cunt that called you gauche.

Unless you were wearing tasseled loafers at the time.

I wouldn't slap him/her/it with your left hand.

Unless you were feeling louche.

Unless he was a real Douche

Think he was referring to the smell of my fingers...

Calcium, magnesium and vitamin d3 all good for bone health/repair.

I considerably upped the milkshake, icecream and cheese portion of my diet
I also drank a lot of orange juice but I do anyway
And ate a lot of rare steak. Not sure if it helped but it was lovely.

Anyway I was all healed and back on the bike in 5 weeks so I must have been doing something right.

Sounds good to me, maybe not the icecream. Cheers for the advice.

Did you do any physio?

Not sure if it helped but it was lovely.

Good enough reason in my book

Bad luck Malaysian. I did my clavicle in early jan, simple fracture at the shoulder end of the bone. After 6 weeks luckily had set in place, but becuase I was told the joint would not be up to full strength until 16 weeks, I stayed off the bike until about 10 weeks (i.e. about 2 weeks ago) as a precaution. Now all seems fine, touch wood. fondles desk

I am going to be pretty unpopular for saying this, but the kind of calcium that you get from dairy is hard for your body to digest and use.

I think you get a more processable calcium from green leafy vegetables combined with a citrus.

Now I know I do not sound at all like a doctor, but I am paraphrasing what has been said to me over the years by doctors when relatives of mine have expressed concern over my diet, I can't say I listened closely to the reasoning behind why milk isn't that helpful, but I did follow the advice and I'm pretty healthy.

I am going to be pretty unpopular for saying this, but the kind of calcium that you get from dairy is hard for your body to digest and use.

I think you get a more processable calcium from green leafy vegetables combined with a citrus.

Now I know I do not sound at all like a doctor, but I am paraphrasing what has been said to me over the years by doctors when relatives of mine have expressed concern over my diet, I can't say I listened closely to the reasoning behind why milk isn't that helpful, but I did follow the advice and I'm pretty healthy.

It's true. You also can't absorb calcium without vitamin D3. We get vitamin D3 from sunlight but because of the low levels of sunlight here most people are deficient. You can take a vitamin D3 supplement to help.

If you want to absorb more calcium you should also up your levels of magnesium as it needs to be present for calcium absorbtion. Low salt diets can help bone repair too. The more salt in your diet, the more calcium your body pulls from your bones to compensate.

I am going to be pretty unpopular for saying this, but the kind of calcium that you get from dairy is hard for your body to digest and use.

I think you get a more processable calcium from green leafy vegetables combined with a citrus.

Now I know I do not sound at all like a doctor, but I am paraphrasing what has been said to me over the years by doctors when relatives of mine have expressed concern over my diet, I can't say I listened closely to the reasoning behind why milk isn't that helpful, but I did follow the advice and I'm pretty healthy.

The experts disagree with you. Milk has very high levels of calcium and it's in a form that is very easy for the human body to absorb. At least if you are of European descent and therefore have the milk digesting gene.* Full fat milk is better than skimmed.

To further help this along I ate more steak for the high levels of D3 and protein which both help calcium absorption. Salmon and eggs are also good. Spinach, chard and some other green leaves (specifically those high in oxalic acid) have a lot of calcium but the acid binds with it and makes it hard for the body to absorb.

If you have paler skin by the way you will absorb more D3 from sunlight and are less likely to have a deficiency.

*Weaver, CM (2006). "29 Calcium". In Barbara A. Bowman, Robert M. Russell. Present Knowledge in Nutrition. I (9th ed.). ILSI Press. p. 377. ISBN 1-57881-198-8.

If you're a smoker, give up smoking. If you're not, don't start.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/brokenbones/a/smokingbones.htm

Yes, and they are more flexible, which is why babies bounce.

Thanks for your post

Cool bro... now back to the nursery!

Well I hadn't considered the calcium content of veg, tend to eat brocolli, courgette, green beans and petit pois regularly, will stock up on fresh spinach as well.

I'll continue to consume plenty of milk and yoghurt though, like to think the more sources the better.

Olly I'm sorry to hear you've had such a long time off the bike that must have sucked, I met a girl in hospital (who was visiting someone else) and she had fractured hers also, 6 weeks ago. She'd worn a brace (no surgery) for 5 weeks and was still struggling with mobility. I think I'm lucky I acquired the injury in France, although they don't always operate in my case it was straight to theatre, I'm hoping with the plate and screws the bone repair should be much quicker. Even though there is a fair bit of pain and stiffness from the tissue healing, I've had bad flesh wounds before and they tend to heal in less than a month.

Wow. They stapled you back together. I had to put up with lots of stitches (which I had to resist the urge not to remove myself - very satisfying if you've never done it).

I would've preferred stitches I think...? The staples are pretty uncomfortable, and can't see them being as satisfying to remove as stitches....

However, you ever had a drain? Seeing 7 or 8 inches of tube whipped from inside my shoulder was nother level.

If you have paler skin by the way you will absorb more D3 from sunlight and are less likely to have a deficiency.
.

If you have paler skin you are more likely to be using sun block, covering up or staying out of the sun. It's not the level of light per se that is the problem, it's the fact that we've been swept up into absolute paranoia about skin cancer by public health and that many people spend the day indoors.