Most recent activity
-
about to get back on the bike - it's been 7 weeks since the op and I have been running/swimming since week 5, but have avoided the bike as I'm told I'm still in the 'fall off and you'll break it again' phase of recovery.
I'm planning to take it easy for the next few weeks, but am pretty excited about even just a gentle ride down to the South Bank...
Josh - glad to hear you are now screwed back together. You'll be back on the bike before you know it - and the physio makes a world of difference to speed of recovery.
Shall we pick a date for that collarbone ride...?
-
good luck dude. nobody wants to be cut up if they don't have to - but like gralegrav says, it's never as bad as you think. I'm 6 weeks post op, back on the bike and did 50 lengths of crawl in the pool on Monday... the op hurt, but going from the uncertainty of 'is it healing' to seeing it all lined up with screws and plates on an xray does wonders for your state of mind.
-
Cheers all. An update (for completeness, not sympathy!):
I spoke to a bloke who is the son of some friends of my parents', who is an orthopaedic surgeon, who suggested I wait it out and see how it goes. He's a really decent guy who knows his eggs. He suggested that if /there is no pain when I touch the bone, and if I can't move my arm freely, then it is likely beginning to heal. He said I would be stupid to give up on it after waiting only the bare minimum length of time expected for healing.
He also reiterated that an op isn't advisable, citing a case he dealt with just recently where the metal hardware 'reversed' back out of the stapled incision. Nasty. Whilst I don't want to wait around indefinitely, I feel reluctant to commit to two operations and another painful spell. It's already ruined my plans for the Summer, so I've nothing to lose.
Your orthopaedic surgeon friend of a friend is a wise man. Surgery is definitely something to be avoided if possible. It has lots of risk (and some certainties like pain, and scarring, and numbness around the incision) and even though I ended up having it, I wouldn't have done if I thought there was a chance it would have healed without.
Have you got a follow-up xray booked to tell you for certain whether it is starting to heal or not?
-
To add to the collection of gruesome pictures
before:
you can't tell from the xray, but the pointy looking bit was being held away from the blunt looking bit by a load of flesh that it had punched through. the bits shifted further apart after a week - leaving the pointy bit resting gently against my ribcage. Which was nice.
after:
-
This is from my last one. That long screw was causing me pain, was glad to be rid of it. The photo underneath is what the plate looks like.
I still can't believe the size of that screw - was it a fuckup? did they run out of sensible sized screws or did they actually have some sort of logic for using a screw so ridiculously long it scraped a hole in one of your other bones...?
-
There seem to be a lot of different surgeons with a lot of different ideas about the balance between keeping things moving and avoiding doing yourself further injury.
I'm now three and a bit weeks post op and if I was following doctors orders I'd be wearing a sling all the time, not running, not cycling and definitely not raising my arm above my shoulder until my six week follow-up. As it happens I ditched the sling after two weeks and have been religiously doing all of the exercises that eastend posted earlier (including the above the shoulder ones for the last few days). I can see the logic for not getting the bike for another couple of weeks, but I reckon the only reason I've been told not to run is because I might fall over. Given that I haven't fallen over for a decade or so I've decided to ignore that bit of advice as well.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that I went for a run this morning. And it felt good...
-
I might be stating the obvious, given the photos on this page, but it is probably worth pointing out that if you go down the surgical route you are basically signing up to two operations - the majority of people (two thirds of my surgeon's patients) who have surgical fixation have the plate and screws removed 9-12 months after the original op, mainly because there is so little meat between your clavicle and the outside world that the plate itself can cause irritation to the skin, particularly when wearing rucksacks/shoulder bags etc.
dublinkevin - good luck with the op on Monday. was it your decision to have your metalwork taken out first time round?
-
Went back for my one month check-up this avo, expecting to be told that it's nearly there, and was told that it's made very little progress and that if it's not looking better in another month they'll operate. The x-ray was a joke... the bone is just floating around. I'm feeling pretty miffed (furious) about the advice I've received up until today, which was entirely at odds with what the bloke today said. Another month with this cunting sling hanging round my neck just to be told I need an op? Let me.
...So the (touring) holiday I've been looking forward to for 18 months goes up in smoke.
Fuck, shit, cunt.
Dude, I really feel for you. I only had to endure two weeks of floating around broken bits before I had surgery. I had it done on the NHS and it was two weeks ago on monday - I'm now off painkillers, not using a sling and am allowed to do most things except lift my arm above shoulder height (I'm not allowed back on the bike for another couple of weeks...)
As it sounds like you still have bones floating around and a doctor who doesn't seem to be inclined to consider surgery, I STRONGLY recommend getting a second opinion from a shoulder specialist orthopaedic surgeon. If you have private insurance then all the better.
I am a total pussy when it comes to pain (I had a general anaesthetic to remove two wisdom teeth) and was very against the idea of surgery if it could be avoided, but I spoke to two different shoulder specialists at King's College Hospital and made the decision after a week of floating bones and exquisite pain to opt for surgery. From the surgeons I discovered that until relatively recently 95% of all clavicle fractures were treated conservatively, but a big study in 2006 showed significantly displaced (>2cm) midshaft fractures have a high rate of non-union (ie. failing to connect together at all) and has tipped the balance towards surgery in these cases.
The study is here:
http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/1/35
will post more tomorrow, including some pics if I can work out how to.hang in there.
-
I'm with you on the sling - incredibly annoying. but I keep trying to remind myself that it's a hell of a lot better than being in a fat sweaty plaster cast... and without it I find myself picking stuff up and reaching for things that I really shouldn't be at this stage.
I think I'm a cup half full kinda guy - great summer weather for cycling, but still pretty good to sit outside in the sunshine while I'm still lucky enough to be off work. and when it clouds over there's always the Tour and what's left of the football to watch on telly...
east end - the exercises look great for when the xrays confirm the bone is well healed, but I'm not sure they would be safe before then. will see what the NHS physio has to say about my particular break when I go in tomorrow - if they say yes I'll be on it with the exercises 4 times a day...
crappy luck BlueQuinn - sorry to hear you have joined the club.
Josh - congrats on making it through to the other side. I had the metalwork out at King's as daysurgery last week, stitches came out yesterday, and I am pleased to report that everything is back to normal - still as strong (weak) as I always was...