Hehe. One of the orthos in San Diego has taken TWO friends to the OR from group rides and fixed em that day. One hip fracture and one collarbone fracture. Apparently SD Tri Club rides are a good source of patients.

Walked 3.5 miles yesterday and 4 miles today, all at ~ 15:45 pace (still a Garmin geek in recovery!). I'm training for the last 6 miles of my next IronMan.

I think it's more mental now. Yesterday I held the arm gingerly across the belly and reacted to every little twinge. Today I just turned the iPod up louder, let the arm hang, and ignored the stiffness and sharp "pings". Doc letting me walk w/o the sling as long as limited movement.

Any discomfort is coming from the bicep, through the front of the shoulder, and across the pec (?). There's still a notciable brusie at the bicep. I must have slammed that pretty good. There is no discomfort or stinging along the clavicle, where the acutal plate and incesion are.

That ball of muscle, on front of the AC (?) joint still feels "asleep" like how your foot feels when asleep.

Am I going to die? Should I buy a new Felt DA before I go...

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

no.
and definitely. ;-)

numbness around the fracture is not unexpected considering you took a hard enough hit to break a bone. additionally, a very important bundle of nerves runs right behind the clavicle (likely right in the area you broke) and supplies the feeling and movement to the muscles of your chest and arm. more than likely that will all resolve on its own over the next few weeks.

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"But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" -Rocky Balboa

Well, whoever had 3 weeks and 2 days would win. I couldn't take it any more and got on the trainer this AM for 30 minutes. "Qualified for Hawaii" is in bold for no reason.

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

I'm at 7 weeks from a clean break, no surgery.

Riding and running normally now (started both at 3-4 weeks). Only trainer and walking for first 3 weeks. Fitness seems o.k. in these two disciplines.

Started swimming at 6 weeks (last weekend). Tried at both 4 and 5 weeks but too much pain and concern about the joint moving around stopped me. It's o.k. now (4x easy workouts in pool this week) but range of motion and strength are still poor.

More serious triathletes that I ride with warned about taking so much time off from everything, and they were probably right. Follow-up X-Rays show a golf-ball + sized callous (doc's word) around the break of stuff that will need to get broken up again before I can feel normal again.

If I had one key recommendation for anyone with this injury, it would be to work on range of motion from day one. Doctor's recommendations are for normal people, not triathletes.

Scheduled to race a sprint next weekend. We'll see...

or you could see an orthodoc that is a triathlete, and then they will make recs based on what's best for you and your training :-)

that golf ball of callus is good healing bone; and it is so large because of the motion at the fracture site. it should remodel to a much smaller size, but you will always have a bump there.

when people can tolerate it, we usually rec beginning ROM around 7-10days. no need to get stiff, but it's important to let the bones heal.

cheers.

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"But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" -Rocky Balboa

Today is day 6 of wind trainer for me, 2 weeks and 3 days post fracture. Should have hopped on the trainer sooner as the aero position keeps the ends lined up nicely. Had to lift the bars 6cm though as having my knees hitting damaged ribs wasn't so cool for the first couple of sessions.

I had 100% displacement, it now has partial union and hinges on the connection point. I haven't really had pain at any point. At current rate of progress I'm expecting to start running next week when I go back to work, will get back in the pool but won't use right arm for a couple more weeks.

Let's see:

Orthogirl is recommending you listen to your Dr. I'm sure she's an idiot.

Instead, what you should work on is breaking up the golf ball sized callus around the broken bone.

Or not.

You should work to maintain ROM in your shoulder and leave the bones to healing. But
I'm not a Dr or an orthogirl, so you could probably help it out a lot with a ballpeen hammer.

-Jot "symmetrically asymmetric with clavicle breaks"

"Gravity Grip 1 lb" hand squeeze to the rescue! I'm all over these ROM exercises!

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

Realizing an unfulfilled need in the triathlon community, we invented the Clavicle Recovery Grip or "CRG" as we liked to call it. The CRG can be used by athletes slowly returning to cyclng after a clavicle break, to dampen vibrations while training indoors. Our proprietery design fits 31 or 26mm bars and is covered with a special moisture resistance coating to prevent moisture build-up and potentially harmful mold or bacteria deposits. Although we do not yet recommend outdoor use, initial wind tunnel test indicate 52.8 second advantage over a 1-hour period - as the curved surfaces actually deflect wind around the rider's body. Depending on the availability of 1" plumber pipe insulation from Home Depot, custom production can take up to 4 weeks. Therefore, it's important that you order your CRG at least 2 weeks before your crash. Each CRG comes with installation instructions and multi-colored CRG tape to match most popular bikes models. In a special partnership arrangement with Garmin, the Garmin 305 can be attached directly to the CRG with no additional clip-on devices. Simply wrap the Garmin 305 around the CRG as you would your wrist. Call 1-800-Clavicl today! $29.99 plus shipping and handling.

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

5 1/2 weeks post surgery:

"Swimming" - 8-10 laps mix of breast stroke, kick, one arm drill. Can't really get the "Finger drag" motion yet w injured side.

Biking - Rode outdoors open roads yesterday 20 miles at 18mph always seated, and little pulling on the bars. Still favor injured side with most weight on other arm. Roadie bike, have not got on the aero bars yet.

Running - Ran 4x800 w 400 walk rest at river on gravel flat trails. Surprised w fitness level. 800s were 8:53pace, 7:04 pace, 6:49 pace, 7:30 pace (when fit I run 38-39 minute open 10K)

There is no pain at the incesion, just a lot of tightness in surrounding muscle - but again nothing painful or really uncomfortable. Ever once in a while, I move the injured side a certain way and get a trigger - like you might in an arm overused throwing baseballs.

I'm next going by a local sheep farm to start the shaving down process in hopes of racing USAT Nationals.

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

8 1/2 weeks post op (8 pins and plate), 9 weeks post crash.

I've ridden 5 hours in the mountains (on the roads), run 10 (slow) and swam a few 2700-2900 masters. I have 85% range of motion, and about 75% strength.

Went to the ortho two days ago, and he released me for any tri activities - including light to moderate weight lifting.

Based on my ROM, he said I did not need to go to physical therapy - just keep doing what I've been doing. Apparently I got a gold star, and saved myself $40 a pop for co-pay on PT.

He released me to get sports massage around the break.

I gained 8 lbs.

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

Good to hear. Swimming and yoga ultimately proved to be the best therapy for me along with the ROM exercises that my surgeon had me doing. Best of luck!

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Thanks!

Clavicle surgery, plate and 8 pins:

Week # 11 update -

11 weeks post operation - climbing trees, chopping wood, swimming 2-3K, mountain biking, lifting light weights, riding aero bike.

Dont feel like shoulder is holding me back in any area. It remains tight, with slight pain/discomfort when pushing stretching. Can feel screws along clavicle ridge under skin. Neat!

First triathlon is next weekend at week #12.

BTW, I'm just posting this for anyone's future search on this topic.

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

How fitting for me! I'm 4.5 weeks post op. Broke it in 4 places, both horizontally and vertically. 12 screws.
ROM is good. Doc says only stationary bike for now, while its in the sling, and then in 1.5 weeks when I go back to see him I'll be able to take the sling off, but can't "use" the arm for another 6 weeks.

I'll take my chances at gaining a couple of pounds just so I can heal correctly, and go play when it's all said and done.

Here's to a speedy 7 more weeks! I miss my bike!

Ha. Beautiful!

Glad you're feeling better. Heal up quick, both of you, so you can get back to kickin butt!

I had complete break pretty distal (toward the shoulder, away from breastbone) with about 3 cm of displacement between the broken ends. Surgery at 6 days; steel plate (titantium seems to favor fusion between the plate and bone whereas steel stays separate) with 7 screws (one tangential across the diagonal of the broken ends, not in the plate).

Doc advised that I stay in the sling for 4 weeks except for elbow and wrist flexing 3 times a day. I cheated a little and did some passive movement of the shoulder (lifting it and moving the humerus to and fro a little with the other arm) about once a day. Exercise: a strenuous hour each on elliptical and stationary bike, alternate days; some weightlifting on machines: leg extension, hammie curl, leg press, calf press, and back extension (hoping this would help keep the tendons strong in the absence of the eccentric stress of running).

From Day 4 (first time I did passive movement of the shoulder) I could feel a LOT of soreness in the deltoid. I suppose the distal (lateral-most) end of the plate may be clamped down on top of the deltoid's tendon.

From Day 16 I started getting a dull ache in the joint (shoulder socket), especially while sleeping. It went away with passive movement of the shoulder.

I am now at 30 days (two days out of sling). I ran 3 today (surprised at how much fitness I've lost, considering the exercise I did while in the sling). The dull ache in the joint has progressed to be much more painful; it's still mostly while sleeping-- wakes me up 5-6 times per night. It's really quite sore, right in the socket. I'm starting to wonder if I may have torn the rotator cuff or something when I crashed....

Has anyone else experienced this socket pain as a result of a simple clavicle break with surgery? Is it just stiffness due to being immobilized so long?

Hi, thanks for the time scale - do you remember how long it took post operation before you could hold a plank and pushup position comfortably? did you have to sleep in a sitting position for a long period of time?

Sleeping upright or slightly propped up wasn't long maybe a few weeks at the very most, although it wasn't until about nine months that I could comfortably sleep on that side again. For the plank/pushup, I did have to do some of that as part of the post-op PT (about 4-6 weeks after) and it was tough at first, maybe another month or so before I could hold it normally if I remember correct. I had better luck with yoga than the PT sessions themselves, but I do realize that everyone heals/recovers differently.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I don't know how far you are along in recover but I'm just 3 weeks out from a broken clavicle (three pieces, required surgery) and was back sleeping on my back about a week-and-a-half out from surgery.

If you want to get back laying horizontal, I would recommend trying to barricade yourself in on the mattress with pillows if you can, to keep yourself from rolling over. The first night I didn't have any sort of pillow barrier, I accidentally rolled over onto the bad side and it was incredibly painful.

Best of luck to your recovery!

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Rusch Racing | website | @maggieru | Instagram
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Thank you all for this insightful information. I am probably committing the typical error of searching the internet too much and scaring the daylights out of myself.....all the same, caution is a good thing with healing and it isn't part of the native operating system with athletes and such!
I was creamed by a driver running a red and managed to tricky swerve/break to avoid death but not avoid a 4-5 place compound colminuted fracture of my clavicle. Hey, at least i gave it my collarbone and not my shoulder or pelvis etc.
I managed to sweet talk my way out of "go home with vicodin and a sling, never mind that shard pointing up that's trying to poke out of your skin' and into the best surgeon's OR for 2 titanium plates and 10-12 screws. For the surgery nerds, the screws are only at the ends and not through each bone. That surprised me but makes sense in terms of the structure buttressing the free floating bones and hey, the few drill holes the better right?

The first 5-7 days post surgery were horrendous, with swelling that made my injured side look like the arm of a 450 pound person while the uninjured side looked like a 115lb athlete, or maybe 110 after 5 days of eating through an IV. By the 10 day check up, i could raise my hand up over my head gracefully. I'd hoisted my arm up 30 degrees more each day and retained and improved the range each day after the initial acute swelling freakout. By day 4 i did one arm yoga and step mill cardio and dance class. No bike because i hate trainers and my bike needs to be repaired. Not to mention the risk is not worth it before at least 6 weeks. What i have NOT read ANYWHERE is what i also did. 2.5 weeks post surgery i was given the okay to swim. I'm not sure the guy meant a km, he may have meant pool noodles with a beer and I'm also jogging a few miles slowly and lifting light weights with my good arm, mirroring weightless with the busted side. My range of motion would fool anyone and the surgeon told me to get out of the sling asap because "stiffness is the enemy". I feel more of the plates and incision after the 3 days of 1km swimming , i think mostly due to numbness subsiding and muscles reawakening. Still, i'm a bit concerned because nowhere have i read about any triathlete or anyone hitting the pool for a km of freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke 2.5 weeks post surgery. With that said, i was in peak condition before i got mowed down and stiffness and atrophy can't possibly be helpful. I don't know how many pounds of pressure the freestyle stroke involves, and i haven't been swimming aggressively but that's relative. I kept lapping the guy in my lane today....

Anyone else have an improbably range of motion that ended up being safe so soon? With 2 plates, I feel that the structure must be robust enough to stand up to swimming much more so than opening my car door or for that matter, getting out of the pool! All the same I don't want to have loose screws in my clavicle since my profession depends on it completely. Loose screws in my head are a given.
this is an old thread so if I don't get any replies, ah well, but thanks to all of you for your insights all the same!