I have a friend who took a dive over his handle bars Monday on a recovery ride after Hy-Vee. He just found out today that he broke his collar bone in three spots. He says it doesn’t really hurt all that bad but the doc said no activity for six weeks. He qualified for the 70.3 world champs this weekend and he is thinking about just pushing on and trying to race. Is there any long term damage that can be done from a collar bone break if you race through it? (I know there are some pretty serious risks on the swim when you are a half mile off shore). Thoughts? He is clearly disappointed and it looking for some advice.
I broke mine in high school, and was a swimmer. I can’t imagine trying to swim with a broken collar bone, it would be almost impossible.
I would look at it like this:
- Do the race, maybe finish fine, maybe I’ll screw up my collar bone/shoulder and never be able to race without pain again
- Don’t do the race, let it heal correctly, and live to fight another day
It must not be a complete break, I can’t believe anyone would think about swimming with a totally broken collar bone.
Swinging a sharp fragment of bone within inches of my lung and great vessels sounds like a great idea!
Jodi
Broke mine in half and the pieces were splintered but still close together with a 2" arrowhead looking piece sticking straight down. Hurt like hell. Doctor was woried about the sharp fragment sticking down that might cause trouble with the brachial plexus nerves and thought surgery was a good idea. I’m not a big fan of any surgery and decided to let it heal without surgery. He also said we could watch it and see is there is any nubness or trouble and could always go in latter and cut out the sharp fragment. First doctor told me if I did not do surgery, I had to let it heal and not do anything for 6 weeks and keep arm in sling. Second doctor told me if I did not need surgery…yet and most people don’t need surgery but are worried about how they will look after it heals. It turns out I could handle the pain (probably because I’m getting old) and the bones stayed together I could do what I wanted. There is a risk that the bones will not mend if they are not too close together, so every case is different. I got on the bike trainer the day after I broke it in a bike crash, kept arm in a sling (seldom used a sling after the first week) and could not get into the aerobars. I was able to run slow in two weeks without too much pain and a lot of vitimin I (ibuprofen). Started swimming real easy in 3 weeks and that hurt a lot and made a lot of noise, got scared and only swam 100meters…but came back next day …etc…and things healed very fast once I started swimming regular. I have to admit it is not for everyone as it is spooky to hear all the crackling and clicking noise along with the pain when swimming wondering what damage must I be doing. My doctor told me that would be normal and that a callous of sticky bone like material was forming arround the break and over time it would get hard and the bones would no longer move and make all the noise. He was correct. It has been about a year now and I have a big bump and my times are as good as they were before. I ran a 2:57 open marathon 6 weeks after I broke it and I’m over 50 so I believe as long as you are not doing more damage, keeping it moving and working out if you can will help get you back quick. The swim did not get back to normal time for about 2 months or more, but I clean up on the run and stay in the game with the swim. Only your Doctor can tell how close the bones are and if moving your arm will cause more damage. I know that the two doctors I saw had total different ideas about what I could and could not do…so I chose the guy who works with athletes and gave me the answer I wanted to hear…not sure if it was the correct answer but It worked for me. Not sure this is any help for you, but when I was in your shoes, any information was worth knowing about.
I recently broke mine (first x-ray) and also had no pain whatsoever on the first few days. Doc said it was probably due to the fact that I didn’t damage any tendom or muscle, just the bone. Since I had my crack on the far end of the bone and it was actually in aligment, I had no surgery. After a few days, it really started to get swollen and stiff and on week two I could hardly move it from place. No pain, just a strange feeling of stiffness.
I got back to trainer 4 weeks and running 5 weeks later. It took me 6 weeks to get back in the water.Today, 10 weeks after the crash I still feel like it’s not at 100% but can swim, bike and run without any stiffness. Just a minor pain when I use paddles.
My guess is that your friend will suffer from the crazyness of going to the 70.3 world champs with a broken bone. And my second guess is it will start to hurt a lot right on the swim, not to mention the bike. My advice is: do not do it.
I’d listen to the doc and skip the race. I had a double displacement that left mine in three separate pieces and needed the surgery so my situation was different, but if your friend has breaks that haven’t yet gone through the healing process, all it’ll take is one inadvertent bump or kick on the swim to put him in a world of hurt, and to your point putting himself at risk being away from the shore. Rest up and recover, turn the disappointment into off-season motivation and come back stronger (and healthy) next year.
Best of luck to him.
I seperated my clavicle and the pull portion of the stroke while swimming still hurt very much at six weeks out. Breaks got to hurt also. I would not try it.
I’ve broken both collar bones (hockey & motorcycle). Both hurt. One broken in 1 place, the other in 2 places. No figure 8, but a sling and wrap for the first week or 2. The idea is to stabilize it to get it started. A lot of difficulty in sleeping, had to sleep on the opposite side with my arm kinda behind me.
While cycling and running may be possible (although should be quite painful), I can’t see how you can swim. Catching an artery between the ends of the bone likely would not hurt any more than what you are already going through but you’d be dead in a couple of minutes.
I’d listen the Doc and take some time off to heal properly.
Race over, period.
Doing that race with a broken collarbone (in three places!) is basically impossible. If somehow he is able to override the pain of that injury while swimming 1.2 miles and riding 56 in the aero position, it’s still not worth the potential damage he might do long term. Lastly, he is unnecessarily putting all the other racers at risk during the ride. No question he will not be at full strength and agility on the bike in the aero position. It puts him and all other riders at risk to ride in a race with that kind of injury. Heal, recover, come back next year at full strength.
Thanks everyone for the personal perspectives. I will relay this thread on to him.
pro cyclists get theirs surgically repaired and are back racing within a week. that will be the route i would recommend for anyone with a broken collarbone. however, not sure how a surgically repaired one would do with swimming.
I agree. I would have mine repaired. Still hurts but early stability And range of motion is nice.
however, not sure how a surgically repaired one would do with swimming.
For me, it was six weeks post-surgery before I was cleared to swim, and even then it was basic drills to help restore full range of motion.
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My advice: He should listen to his doctor and not some internet message board.
I broke my collarbone into four pieces last September and it took almost two hours of surgery to clean it up and get the plate installed properly. With a collarbone in 3-4 pieces I cannot imagine how he could even remotely consider swimming, let alone risk crashing the bike again.
Tell your friend to deal with his disappointment and not race.
Bob
This is MASSIVE generalization and most cyclists are NOT racing within a week. Additionally pro-cyclists aren’t swimming, an activity that, well, the collarbone is essential for.
The amount of time you are restricted depends on the severity of the break and amount of repair needed. Most pro-cyclists have simple breaks where you can plate the bone and you’re done. A break in 3-4 places in the bone is a bit more involved.
Bob