xray of broken collarbone

[pantablo]

5 weeks have past since I broke it. this was taken this morning. tomorrow I see the doc for a follow up eval.

[Roadstergal]

That looks kinda off.. can't they pin it?

[Kessen]

some nice lookin ribs there man, collarbone is another story alltogether.

[RVertigo]

Holy crap!!!  It wasn't healing right?!?    

Man, that sucks so bad...  

[Caffeine]

CRYBABY!   When I was a kid, our REWARD for doing chores around the house was a broken collarbone, and we were thankful our mother cared enough to give us one!   I weep for the future generations who consider a broken collarbone to be a handicap!

I'm kidding, of course.   That sucks!   Why is it not healing?   Better question...why hasn't it even been set back in place???   It's gonna hurt like a MoFo when they DO set it back in place!  

Bartender!  I'll have a Vicodin with a morphine chaser!

[un1261]

your looking a little boney man.   :lol:



ouch..that's not right.

[jake42]

um Pablo, you're saying noone noticed that it wasn't setting after the first couple weeks.  damn that looks like it was just broken today.

keep us updated.

Jake

[davipu]

dude, it whouldn't take me 20 minutes to safty wire a plate on there and in a week when the stiches come out you could be back on the bike

[Blueknyt]

5 weeks with a known broken collar bone and they didnt pin it? i gotta hear the reason for this.   I realise you cant put a cast on it, but damn, its a bone that needs to be set.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I don't see it.. what's wrong?



















:lol:  :lol:

[pantablo]

5 weeks with a known broken collar bone and they didnt pin it? i gotta hear the reason for this.   I realise you cant put a cast on it, but damn, its a bone that needs to be set.

most broken collarbones are let to heal by themselves. pins/plates create lots of other complications, much more so than letting them heal mmisaligned, from what I've been told.

[Blueknyt]

i could understand that to a point, this is a Gross Missalignment of the fractured ends, im sure if it has started to set, THIS would be the WORSE position to have it do so. while granted ive been lucky and only chipped a bone, if you looked like this 5 weeks ago i dont think it would have been that hard to put you under and plate it with 6 screws to let it start mending in proper position.  few weeks down the road the plate can be removed if needed.   i mean, hell even waiting a week to schedule the surgery thats still a month of PROPER healing you could have been doing.  there is no way in hell one can look at that picture and say, yeah, it will heal up almost good as new.   Might be lawyer material man, this song and dance should not have gone on like that.  

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2004/letters07-12

from collerbone 1

Clavicle fractures are undoubtedly one of the most common cycling injuries and, until fairly recently, were generally left to mend on their own. This resulted in 4-6 weeks of significantly altered training, loss of fitness, etc. However, more and more frequently I am seeing surgical correction (via screws) with excellent results. I have had 4 clients this year have surgery on their clavicle fractures and they have all been back on their bike within 3 days and were racing within about 3 weeks. Two of these clients had waited 6 weeks and had encountered a scenario similar to yours. The other two had surgery within three days of their accident. All are doing very well and having minimal problems. They all reported general local irritation from the screw - we're a skinny bunch without much muscle covering that area - and two have already had the screw removed. The risks of the surgery include the standard infection concerns (as with any surgery) and the concern of a crash damaging the area before adequate bone callous formation has occurred. I would note that, 6 weeks after one of my clients had their surgery, they crashed quite spectacularly and impacted that area with no effects whatsoever. I would also point that different surgeons will have different opinions on this injury, but in general, for a population that quickly needs to return to activity, this is an excellent option.

[pandy]

So what does the doc say now?

[pantablo]

it all looks good. yes, there are rib fractures...common for them to not show up in initial xrays. yes, there is actually bone growth indicated at the collarbone. no, dont need surgery-not racing anytime soon, collarbone broken in middle so likelyhood of good solid bonding is high, nerves not concentrated there so no future nerve/arthritis/arm/hand damage likely. I can take figure-8 brace and sling off. Going to see ortho surgeon tomorrow for second opinion and to get an eta on when I can ride again. Looks alright so far.

[pandy]

*phew* I'm glad to hear that the news is better than we thought!!!!!!  

[RVertigo]

But...  The bones...  Not touching...  

That just can't be good...  

[pantablo]

the xray is deceiving (the photo I took even more so). they are touching and they are growing bone. they just arent lined up end to end...over time the bump will get smaller as well.

[pandy]

the xray is deceiving (the photo I took even more so). they are touching and they are growing bone. they just arent lined up end to end...over time the bump will get smaller as well.

Just a postwhore looking for our sympathy!?  

Well....it worked.  :kiss:    :lol:

[pantablo]

HEY! I didnt know that then!

[RVertigo]

they are touching and they are growing bone.

OH!!!  Well, that's good...

Still makes me want to puke every time I look at it...  They look like they're nowhere near each other.