# Ever broken your Collar Bone? How long till you ditched the sling?



## Rotary16 (Mar 14, 2004)

OK, I know what the doctor said, and what my wife says and what everyone else NOT wearing the aggravating sling says....... But it drives me crazy!!

So, you who have had broken collar bones, how long did you really wear your sling???


----------



## Duckman (Jan 12, 2004)

6 times man. Yup...count'm. Six. 2 motocross...2 superbike roadracing...and now 2 mtbing(I'm 45). At least I'm consistant. Its one of the worst/easiest things you can break, that affects alot of stuff that you do(getting dressed, washing up, driving a straight shift like my ride, etc). 2yrs ago I broke my right one 2 times in 2 diff places over 2.5 months(damn me!) Anyways...I tried going backpacking right after the 2nd one(winter/snow camping, so my packs sorta heavy too). Big mistake. Yes indeedy. Tried to loosen the pack strap up on that side, but the upper body uses both sides in a cantilever setup. Long trip. 

Oh, back to your Q...wear that thing man. Nothing worse then having to start all over, or even worse..the need to have it operated on cause you keep moving it so it willnto "take". Its a process called "calusing(sp?)". The body generates calcium all around like a sloppy weld sorta...then it "sticks"..then as it heals, the body re-absorbs it all back into itself for the most part. Amazing stuff. Afterward, its really hard just to reach out and "hold" the bar/grip. Really hard, and painful. Sounds fun, eh?

About 5 weeks.


----------



## keen (Jan 13, 2004)

Rotary16 said:


> OK, I know what the doctor said, and what my wife says and what everyone else NOT wearing the aggravating sling says....... But it drives me crazy!!
> 
> So, you who have had broken collar bones, how long did you really wear your sling???


 I wore my sling out - I wore it as long as I was told, 5-6 weeks. My doctor was a biker himself and understood what I was going thru and even the urge to ride sooner than recomended. It was over 2 mo. before I rode again (rode lightly), a full year before all the creaks and pains subsided.


----------



## mcms25 (Jun 5, 2004)

*Wear the sling*

The first time I broke my right one and I stopped wearing the sling and ended up re-breaking it... and then the doctor told me it was healed and I broke it again that day sledding  I then broke my left one playing football but it was a small fracture and didn't take long to heal.... Wear the sling


----------



## skihillguy (Mar 29, 2004)

try having a torn retina. Have already been off 3 weeks since surgery and now have to wait til July to have another round of surgery to repair more tears in the retina. I've had the full works and have had to stay laying down in a certain position to help the gas bubble do its job. Yet i'm healthy in every other way...and can lay here and see people biking on the bike trail....now thats frustrating :confused


----------



## M-U-M (Dec 19, 2003)

*Duckbones are soft anyway*

When I see/feel my Official MTB Clavicle Club Lumps, I am fondly reminded of one of Duckman's initial injury list posts. Ah, the good ole days of crunching bone stories! Sigh... shiver, shiver.

You didn't mention being pinned, so I'd have to agree with the other Club Members. Wear the hated sling and let the bone heal. How dull, uh?


----------



## Duzitall (Feb 4, 2004)

Duckman is exactly right. 

Mine needed a 6" plate with 9 screws. Before it healed I crashed on a motocross track and bent the plate and 3 of the screws are forever more poking me on the shoulder. My fault. The Dr. fixed it good, I "F'ed it up.

My friend didn't wear his sling and now he needs surgery to cut out the "bad weld" called fibroid something er other.

Don't screw around or you'll be sorry!

Chris


----------



## fantom1 (May 31, 2004)

I broke mine in a pretty nasty way..taking a slapshot (hockey puck) to the collar bone, so not only was it broken, but the bone was pretty bruised as well. I think it took me about 4-5 weeks to get out of the sling, still pretty sore for a few weeks after that though.


----------



## Biking Viking (Jan 12, 2004)

Rotary16 said:


> OK, I know what the doctor said, and what my wife says and what everyone else NOT wearing the aggravating sling says....... But it drives me crazy!!
> 
> So, you who have had broken collar bones, how long did you really wear your sling???


Took the sling off after five weeks and went for a short road ride.


----------



## Mike T. (Dec 30, 2003)

Rotary16 said:


> OK, I know what the doctor said, and what my wife says and what everyone else NOT wearing the aggravating sling says....... But it drives me crazy!!
> 
> So, you who have had broken collar bones, how long did you really wear your sling???


Wear the sling! Six whole weeks for me, of course complete breaks are worse than Tyler's fractures. He wouldn't have finished the TDF with a clean break.

Yeah wearing that sling through a hot, humid summer is miserable but.........

Go hike some hills!


----------



## upendoed (Feb 13, 2004)

I broke mine on March 30th. Had surgery on April 5th. I am still in the sling!!  After 6 weeks the Dr. said that I could take the sling off to sleep and sit around the house. If I am going to do anything that will require me lifting anything heavier that 2 lbs. then I need the sling. It is a pain in the butt, but after $600 ti screw that is holding 4 piece of bone together. And the whip tie that is holding the ligament that tore off with a piece of bone back on. Man I thought bike parts were expensive. I figured that I should do what the Dr. says. I started light passive PT 3 weeks ago and that is going well. I go see the Dr. on June 18th. I hope he tells me I can burn the sling and I can start some more intense PT. Oh yeah and the most important part, Yes you can go for a LIGHT ride. I am sick of the damn trainer!! PS thanks to all that post pics and ride reports to help keep the sanity. Good luck on you healing!!


----------



## shanedawg (Jan 9, 2004)

As everyone else said keep the thing imobile. I broke mine about 15 yrs ago when I was a teenager. I started riding after 4 weeks. On one of my first rides I went on the bike path because I figured it would be smooth and less jarring on the bone. Sure enough some lady stepped out in front of me while I was riding and since I could not control the bike very well I ended up crashing into the lake. Quite a spectactular bail. I think I dislodged the healing bone and then when I was rolling over in the night it moved and healed wrong. It now seems shorter than my other collarbone because it's kinda overlapping itself. I now have weird grinding and clicking in my shoulder that I am going to have to get looked at. Make sure it heals straight and have the doc re-x-ray it to make sure. Otherwise 15yrs down the road you'll be having shoulder surgery too.


----------



## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

I had the sling off in 4 days and the figure-8 off in a week. My doc said the sling and figure-8 are only for comfort. I found that the figure-8 was only for discomfort after a few days. My doc said, "wear the figure-8 for a week to ten days. You will know by when the figure 8 is more uncomfortable to wear than it is to not wear."

Within two weeks, I was riding around the hood on my bike and 4 weeks, riding trails. At 6 weeks, I felt near perfect. Thus, for me, the six week recovery was a full recover point.


----------



## Berkeley Mike (Jan 13, 2004)

*5-6 weeks.*

Try to keep in mind that it really does help the healing. Not only has your clavical broken but now all the musculatur and connective tissues around it have been torqued and are out of position and can use some support. Dedicate yourself to healing, your body is just like anyone elses, and work within your doctors instructions; it isn't rocket science.
Patience. 
Patience. 
Patience. 
Patience. 
Patience. 
And, as opposed to another poster above, I believe the clavical break is one of the best to break. Consider a broken leg, arm, wrist, or ankle. You can still walk and all that ambulatory stuff, and write (and type, I guess.)
And, any time you feel the need to whine and piss and moan about this break feel free to do it here.
We understand.
For now, take all legal drugs and chill.
Good luck.


----------



## wolfmansbro (May 25, 2004)

I broke my clavical last septeber mountain biking. Broke the thing in 2 places and has the one peice sticking out. The doc had me wear the figure 8 brace around for a week until I decided if i wanted to stick with it and have a bone stick out which i would need to get filed down or opt for sergery. Well after doing a little research i found out about people having worse problems with it not heeling right or having to deel with a 12 week heeling as apose to a 4-6 week heeling if i got sergery. 
Well i ended up opting for the surgery, got a plate and 8 screws put in and i never had to wear that figure 8 brace after, jsut the sling for a week then i was back to normal excpet lifting heavy objects. 
anyways that heeled up great except now the screws and plate are starting to stick out so i need to get them removed. 
But lets just say breaking your collar bone is nothing compared to breaking your jaw and having that wired shut for 4 weeks. Lets just say i got really sick of milk shakes and soup


----------



## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

wolfmansbro said:


> I broke my clavical last septeber mountain biking. Broke the thing in 2 places and has the one peice sticking out. The doc had me wear the figure 8 brace around for a week until I decided if i wanted to stick with it and have a bone stick out which i would need to get filed down or opt for sergery. Well after doing a little research i found out about people having worse problems with it not heeling right or having to deel with a 12 week heeling as apose to a 4-6 week heeling if i got sergery.
> Well i ended up opting for the surgery, got a plate and 8 screws put in and i never had to wear that figure 8 brace after, jsut the sling for a week then i was back to normal excpet lifting heavy objects.
> anyways that heeled up great except now the screws and plate are starting to stick out so i need to get them removed.
> But lets just say breaking your collar bone is nothing compared to breaking your jaw and having that wired shut for 4 weeks. Lets just say i got really sick of milk shakes and soup


 What do you mean, "one peice sticking out"? Are you talking about the normal lump when a person breaks a collar bone? I was told surgery usually causes more problems than not doing it.


----------



## Redriderpro (Dec 20, 2003)

*RE:Ever broken your Collarbone?*

Yup, Like the Duckman... first time was doing Moto on my KTM( down hill jump), the second on a MTB with no suspension doing a downhill jump. ( Yeah, I like downhill jumps)

Anyway... the key is to wear it "TIGHT" from day one, and wear it long enough for the bone to heal, this time is different for different people.
My problem was that the ER guy did not pull my x straps tight, by the time I saw a specialist a week later, the bone had started to heal but in an overlapping way. ( So today, wearing should pads is a real pain, along with seatbelts in my truck)

My specialist had me wear that thing TIGHT for 6 weeks. And yes I was back on the KTM doing one handed rides in two weeks.

If it's not uncomfortable it probably is not tight enough.

Good luck.


----------

