Sorry unable to copy or attach X-ray image (only showing in preview)

I'm hesitant to give anything resembling advice, but I had a plate and 7 screws put in right away and was swimming 8 weeks later, though I did skip a scheduled race.

Slight numbness on shoulder skin now, but the ortho said I had one big knot of nerves that was easier to work around than most.

I think it's been long enough for you that you may be better without surgery.

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What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

Broke mine, no surgery. Have the nice bump. I thought this would be an issue, but has been 100% fine. Your docs will give you the best advice.

Yep, I rode my bike trainer just sitting up and using my powercranks. I did some water jogging.

Enjoy the break in training!!

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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I didn't have surgery either. There's a small bump but otherwise no problem. I wouldn't advise it but I was riding outside in about 4 weeks. Stick to the trainer, take some walks until you can run, etc.

get a second opinion. was told on mine we don't do surgery except pro athletes,then told by pt that I should get second opinion and had surgery.

Everyone that I know that didn't have surgery wished that they did. If there is potential for the fractured ends to overlap, it will be difficult to avoid and long term issues will likely arise. The bone will heal solidly but the shoulder mechanics will be somewhat dysfunctional because of the altered alignment of the overall shoulder structure. I like the recommendation to get a 2nd opinion (and a third if necessary).

snapped my collar bone clean in two and never imagined it would heal properly without surgery, but it did, and no issues since. yes, I have a small bump but people can only notice it if they touch it, and a scar would definitely be more noticable. v glad I went for no surgery despite a v uncomfortable first two weeks.

Same here...bump on my shoulder but no surgery. Mine was broken in the middle 30%. That was important to my doctor. You can see my bump on my left shoulder in this pic.

I did not have surgery and never wished I did.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I would get a 2nd opinion. I had a break in 3 pieces that had a large bump on 6/1. First ortho said wait 3 weeks, then another 4 weeks. Decided to get 2nd opinion as shoulder was substantially shortened and pulled forward. Happy with surgery as symmetry as has been restored. Still working on getting full range of motion with PT now.

my fractured ends were 0.5cm apart (one above the other). didn't have surgery. never wished I did.

I guess everyone I know (me included) are just unlucky. We all had significant overlap which then led to rotator cuff issues 10-15 years downstream. Maybe those issues would have materialized anyway, I don't know. If the docs think the bone can set without overlap, I'd go without surgery. If so, hopefully the doc or a PT could give you guidance how to facilitate that. When I broke mine, the standard treatment was the over-the-shoulder figure-eight sling, which seemed to press on the very bone that was trying to mend!

Good luck.

Immediate relief for me post-surgery and, I believe, much faster and much more straight-forward recovery process afterwards as a result. Yes, there are risks with surgery but much more control over how quickly and how aligned the bones fuse back together. Granted, I had breaks in 4-5 places so maybe more serious that you are dealing with but if you can afford it or if insurance will cover it, you should definitely opt for surgery.

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Well, I have a lot to say on this as I fractured my left clavicle 2 weeks ago today. It was mid clavicle and the bayonet apposition was substantial. I was worried about shortening of the clavicle and long term effects of this. I got 4 different professional opinions(2 surgeons, 1 radiologist and 1 biker MD). They were 50/50 on the decision to have surgery vs. no surgery. My surgery was scheduled for Tuesday the 5th and when I went to bed that Monday night didn't know if I was actually going to go through with it.

I did and that day was quite possibly one of the worst days of my life (-and I've had quite a few significant painful sport injuries). I was home by 1:00 that afternoon and Getting worse by the minute. I had my wife call the surgeons nurse to get some more powerful pain medicine. So I got some oxy, that night after finally falling to sleep I awoke 45 minutes later at 11:00 and was in some of the worst pain ever. I woke my wife and kids and made her take me to the ER. I had so much muscle spasm going on around the affected area it was constant burning pain. I got some Valium and that helped a lot. The next few days were rough but slowly improved up to today. I feel pretty good right now. Today was my third 60 minute ride on the trainer and I think I'm going to try to jog 1-2 miles tomorrow already. My pain meds are decreasing daily and pretty much relieved with OTC meds now.

Other than that first 1-2 days after the surgery I'm glad I had the surgery. I'm not to concerned about having a scar. I looked at it as either a scar or a big bump. I felt my best option for long term success was to have the surgery done. I am also a competitive golfer and still play significant amounts of basketball, so those things also weighed in my decision for surgery. Just for the record, i am an extremely anti-surgery person. Everyone's situation is different, so do your best to weigh your options and go from there. Best of luck.

Thanks for all your views and comments from your experience. I think I will opt for a 2nd opinion as have private medical so can get a GP referral either to Consultant or maybe sports PT also. Shoulder shortening sounds like could be a concern as a massive bony growth in fusion. How do you paste pictures onto thread BTW as can't seem to get x- Ray up.
Now 14 days post break for me.

I am recovering right right now, 3 weeks in from my broken collar bone. I went the no surgery route. My doc said that in most cases when the overlap is less than 2 cm (and a single break point) surgery was not warranted. Mine was 1.6 cm. The best tell I got is that she said if she was looking at her own x-ray when looking at mine she wouldn't have surgery for herself.

I have since heard many stories of broken collar bones without surgery and none said they wished they had the surgery.

Good luck with the recovery.

Everyone's situation is different. I've broken my right shoulder three (3)! times and have never had surgery.

30 yrs ago - R Clavicle break, in those times they put me in a harness. Ended up with a bump but the shoulder never bothered me
2 yrs ago - R Scapula break, wore a sling for 4-5 weeks.
1 yr ago - R Clavicle break again. Almost same place as 30 yr old break. Wore a sling for 4-5 weeks. The bump is bigger now, but does not physically bother me.

After all that, I am still glad I did not have surgery. I don't like the bump, but I also don't like the idea of having metal in my shoulder if/when I break it again. I am resigned to the probable fact that if I do this again, they're probably going to need to go in and clean things up. The shoulder does have very minor pain sometimes, but sh*t I'm almost 50 years old and broke it three times. I still have full mobility of it and it doesn't slow me down or stop me.

I don't know if that helps or not. It's just my experience. Good luck with recovery.

Broke mine 6/17 and they did a sonoma pin. Have a fraternity brother who was an ortho and he took one look at my xrays and said I needed surgery. I was walking before surgery and riding a road bike on the trainer about 5 days later. I've tried swimming but Rom still limited. Was jogging while still in the sling.

My ortho that did the surgery basically said that I didn't "have" to get surgery but that recovery would be much longer. I'm happy I did have the surgery. He also recommended having the pin removed after every thing has healed up. I'm also using an exogen ultrasonic bone growth stimultor by bioenventis. He suggested as it will help speed bone growth. So if you don't have surgery you may want to ask about the exogen. It may help speed things a long.

I broke mine in a motorcycle accident where I landed shoulder/head first and ended up with an oblique fracture almost 3" long. 2 surgeons (1 outside Kaiser to to validate) believed a plate would require a lot of work to be successful and that healing naturally in just a simple sling was my best option. I've had no range of motion issues in the 2 years since and don't even notice it if I'm not looking at it in the mirror.

Doctors can give you professional opinions specific to your circumstances and you can supplement that with actual clinical studies to see the prognosis of non-surgical treatment.

This study doesn't compare surgery vs. conservative treatment but it does seem that surgery is not required for acceptable outcomes.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2011/507287/
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2011/507287/tab2/


I broke my clavicle as well recently and am also in a similar decision process; union has occurred and shortening appears limited. First orthopedist said I didn't need it and referred me to a specialist for a second opinion. I might get surgery but am leaning towards not, for the many the issues already presented in this topic.

Anyone who tells you to go for surgery or non-operative treatment without seeing your x-rays and evaluating your potential for fracture healing and compliance is just giving you anecdotal stories. Listen to your surgeon. If you don't like his answer then just keep seeing surgeons until you find one that will operate on you. But you should be aware of the risk factors. Death, stroke, lung injury, large blood vessel injury, hardware breakage, infection, non-union... You should expect to have numbness in the area of the supraclavicular nerves. The plate and screws may bother you enough to undergo a second surgery to remove them.

Non-operative treatment will give you a lump where the bone callus is. Some studies suggest that non-surgical treatment can leave slight decreases in strength and muscle endurance, though most patients were asymptomatic in this regard.

The debate between plate and screws or just a sling has been going on since the first clavicle fracture. The research is trending toward fixing fractures that are significantly displaced or in people with several risk factors for not healing.


Good luck.

My clavicle was broken into two pieces 3 months ago due to an accident and doctors gave me a suggestion of surgery in which a plate was inserted with 6 screws. 2 days ago suddenly when i was walking i got a sound in my ears which resulted in a lot of pain again in the same part . X-ray reports told that the plate is broken and the collar bone is again back to the same position as it was before. What best can be done now. I dont prefer to opt for surgery again and the doctors are tellun that now in this case bone grafting will be done..what do u say i should go for?

Not an MD, but I'm a research scientist in bone grafting. did they say where they are going to graft the bone from? bone grafting is pretty safe but it can be a pretty invasive procedure with potential for complications . if they're grafting from hip or tibia I'd recommend against any strenous physical activity for at least a month post surgery, maybe more. ( like running, especially.biking should be fine, provided you dont get into any accidents. ). All things considered tibia is usually alot safer than hip though be careful not to do lots of jumping while the bone graft area is healing. Do ensure you know what you're in for.

In your case an implant failure is usually quite serious. The plate will almost certainly have to be taken out anyway. are they going to put in another plate?