# How I broke my collarbone, surgery and recovery.



## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

Well, had my first major MTB injury. As you'll see from the video took a big slam on my left shoulder, clean breaking my clavicle in two.

Managed to ride myself out over an hour to home, before heading straight to the hospital.

Had it put in a sling before heading home on heavy painkillers and going to see an orthopedic specialist who suggested surgery.

Just on 2 weeks later I'm now recovering at home after a two day stay in hospital, with a plate and screws now holding it all together.

I'll keep this thread updated as I continue through my recovery.
Hope everyone stays safe out there.


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## Suns_PSD (Dec 13, 2013)

At least you were smart enough to go to the doctor. 
Broke mine 2x in 6 weeks motorcycle racing and didn't go to the doctor cause no health insurance and now my shoulder is permanently sideways. Been like that for 26 years. 
Heal up. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## stellarider (Mar 17, 2018)

i went through the same thing in 2015 - not as displaced as yours though, props for riding yourself out to safety!!

had a second surgery a year later to remove the plate - highly recommended!!!!


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

Speedy recovery chris79


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## Outhouse (Jul 26, 2019)

4 weeks ago i broke mine on the end. Almost off pain meds, and rode a 1/2 mile today.

It was the 2 broke ribs and cracked cartilage in the front of the chest with 2 broken bones that attched to the vertebrae that really hurt.


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## plummet (Jul 8, 2005)

Ouch!

At least its a break rather than a torn ligaments. I'm still rehabbing my shoulder after a torn ligament 11 months ago!


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## Animatorman (Apr 24, 2006)

Keep up the recovery I broke mine the end of May.


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

Had a friend broke his, Doc said to let it heal without surgery. 1 month into it, he went in to get an x-ray of the progress. Lets just say, there was no progress. He had to get surgery and be out another 2 months.
Another friend broke his and opted for surgery right away.


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

Suns_PSD said:


> At least you were smart enough to go to the doctor.
> Broke mine 2x in 6 weeks motorcycle racing and didn't go to the doctor cause no health insurance and now my shoulder is permanently sideways. Been like that for 26 years.
> Heal up.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Ouch mate,
I had heard of the horror storys of letting it heal natural, so was willing to push for surgery. Luckily the docs had the same idea as me anyway.


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

Outhouse said:


> 4 weeks ago i broke mine on the end. Almost off pain meds, and rode a 1/2 mile today.
> 
> It was the 2 broke ribs and cracked cartilage in the front of the chest with 2 broken bones that attched to the vertebrae that really hurt.


Heal well mate.
This is bad enough by itself. Would be horrible while also nursing ribs!


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

the-one1 said:


> Had a friend broke his, Doc said to let it heal without surgery. 1 month into it, he went in to get an x-ray of the progress. Lets just say, there was not progress. He had to get surgery and be our another 2 months.
> Another friend broke his and opted for surgery right away.


Yeah, that would suck, I also know someone going through similar at the moment.
But even worse developed pneumonia off the back of broken ribs, so is now having surgery delayed until that is resolved.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

chriso79 said:


> Ouch mate,
> I had heard of the horror storys of letting it heal natural, so was willing to push for surgery. Luckily the docs had the same idea as me anyway.


Mine looked similar to yours and I didn't get surgery. It was kind of a long healing process but everything turned out alright other than the fact that now my left shoulder is about an inch shorter than my right one


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

Thanks to all you other guys for the responses and advice, appreciated.
And all the best with your recoveries.

Sorry for all the individual quotes.
Multi-quote while one handed is not going to happen lol.

Cheers


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

J.B. Weld said:


> Mine looked similar to yours and I didn't get surgery. It was kind of a long healing process but everything turned out alright other than the fact that now my left shoulder is about an inch shorter than my right one


There seems to be plus and minus for both.
Range of movement and dropped shoulder like yours one of them, long or not healing properly the other.

Surgery definitely has its issues too.
Risks in the procedure and after affects like numbness, or discomfort due to the plate/screws.

I'm hoping for the best outcome


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## stellarider (Mar 17, 2018)

i am sooooo glad i had the surgery. risks in the procedure are pretty low with a competent surgeon - this **** is pretty routine for them. numbness is a thing that has persisted (5 years later) but i never think about it. its a part of my body i don't need the sense of touch for. the plate/screws were extremely uncomfortable and i had another surgery to have them removed. recovery from the 2nd surgery was very quick and i got 100% ROM back pretty damn quickly. not i have the plate as a keychain reminder of my accident! 

anyway i hope that you heal quickly and get back on the trails soon!!!!


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## stellarider (Mar 17, 2018)

also wanted to say that i do have some other longterm residual effects from the surgery. after all, they had to cut through a bunch of muscle and nerves, then sew it all back together. as long as i get regular massage its usually not an issue.


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## Outhouse (Jul 26, 2019)

chriso79 said:


> Surgery definitely has its issues too.
> Risks in the procedure and after affects like numbness, or discomfort due to the plate/screws.
> 
> I'm hoping for the best outcome


You will be right as rain in no time.

You really cant go wrong with a decent surgery. You know it will heal right the first time, and when the bones are not touching, it reduces the chances for a natural recovery.

Mine brakes were touching and if i would have been injured in my home town, I would have still elected for surgery.

Im going in for cat scan and hoping the bones are knitted. I have much less pain and a lot of range has come back, so I feel like i am on my way. [keeping fingers crossed still lol]


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## Lenny7 (Sep 1, 2008)

I had a similar but a little worse break from snow skiing. Mine looked like a Z but the middle of the Z was tiny little pieces and they had to wire that part together along with the plate. Wasn't biking at the time so i can't give you a timeline to be back on the bike. Mine took a little longer cause about 2 weeks after my surgery, my wound split open and the plate was exposed. Looked like the Terminator. They had to go in and clean it out and sew it back up. Then I had to have the plate removed. I'm a thin guy and the plate stuck out on my collar bone like brick. So, 3 surgeries over 9 months. Oh, I do have nerve damage on and around the scar. It's numb but hurts like a SOB if hit right. Weird. Better than having a jacked up shoulder and looking like Quasimoto. It was a rough go. Sweet scar tho.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Outhouse said:


> You will be right as rain in no time.
> 
> You really cant go wrong with a decent surgery. You know it will heal right the first time, and when the bones are not touching, it reduces the chances for a natural recovery.
> 
> ...


At the time I really wished I had gotten the plate surgery but in retrospect I'm not sure. I didn't have to get cut open or have a potentially irritating piece of metal bolted to my bones.

I can't remember exactly but my clavicle(s) were about 1 cm apart and overlapped about the same. Now I have a golf ball sized knot knitting everything together and it seems to be holding ok


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

Just got back from seeing the Doc, they're very happy with progress so far.
Another couple of days and dressing can come off the wound, just had the ends of stitching trimmed today then redressed again. And can then slowly lose the sling after seeing physio on Thursday.

Got to see what the cut and shut job looks like for the first time. Inside and out!



















Before









After


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## 4g63pwr (Aug 20, 2012)

Hopefully your recovery goes well Chris. I'm 4 weeks into a broken collar bone. Also broke my back, 7 ribs, collapsed and punctured both lungs. I had the clavical surgery as well, and will probably get the plate removed next winter. No issues so far with the surgery, definitely some numbness under the incision though.


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## chriso79 (Jun 19, 2019)

4g63pwr said:


> Hopefully your recovery goes well Chris. I'm 4 weeks into a broken collar bone. Also broke my back, 7 ribs, collapsed and punctured both lungs. I had the clavical surgery as well, and will probably get the plate removed next winter. No issues so far with the surgery, definitely some numbness under the incision though.


Wow man! That sounds like a hectic crash.
Glad your surgery has gone well so far, rest up and heal well.

I'm now 3 and a half weeks since surgery, have full movement of my arm/shoulder but are not allowed to pick up anything heavier than a cup of coffee.
Yeah, I still have a lot of numbness and the tendon that goes up into my neck still feels very tight/inflammed. But very happy so far with the outcome.
Another 3 weeks or so might be able to do some light riding.


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

For me, 2008 was a bad year: Single night light suddenly shut off, while going 20mph+ DH. Lucky, it was a simple, left Clavicle fracture and I spent six weeks sleeping my ass off. You need 12hrs+ a day, to promote healing. 

Nine weeks later - I got T-boned by a turning female driver, while on her cellphone, doing an easy recovery road ride. That sent me over her hood, breaking my right shoulder blade. At least her insurer compensated me $12,000.... which got me a new bike and cheap used truck.

Eat lots of Apples. They have bone-mending Boron in them. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Start mobility therapy and practice extending the healing arm high above your head 3x a day. Heal well....


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