You should still be wearing the sling for another week or two in my opinion. I wore it for 3 or 4 weeks, but I only wore it when I needed it. If I was in the house on the computer or watching TV I would just prop my arm on a pillow. If i went out or was walking around I would wear the sling. The bone still has not calcified enough at 2 weeks and your arm is being supported purely by the metal, which causes strain and results in the pain you are experiencing. Let the sling take some of the plate's load for a bit longer.
You should be asking your doctor how long you need to wear the sling. If the doc says you no longer need to wear it, ask him what the benefits of not wearing it vs. wearing it are. No one here is qualified to make that call for you, especially given that your state is unique even among the injuries posted here.Dane Girl said:
that's right, DG you better keep wearing the sling for at least 4 weeks, probably 6. You can have it on and off depending on the time of the day and what you actually do. the sling, apart from resting your arm, protects you from two really dangerous situations, first yourself, your unintentional moves which can overload the plate and second it protects you from other people's ignorance that you are still an injured person and you should be treated with care. I kept it on at night and it restricted me from sleeping on my affected side. Just be careful, you are STILL an injured person.bsbs1876 said:
What he said. The surgeons understand all of this much better than anyone here. The now repaired bone is likely stronger than you think with the metal in place, but at the same time it's not invulnerable. It's the surgeon who can tell you what the limits are. You're likely having pain as the result of so many pieces being in new positions after having been in incorrect positions for so long. Soft tissue is being stretched. The bone is irritated from hardware placement, and any swelling will also cause pain. In fact, swelling is often a big source of pain. Be forewarned that you'll likely have pain for a while as you work to increase your range of motion. I don't know about others, but the only real difficulty I had with the fx'd clavicle was sleeping. It was quite a while--a couple months--that I spend sleeping in a reclining chair. My fx, however, was not surgically repaired. I don't know what meds your taking, but you might want to avoid--at least ask the doctor first--taking ibuprofen or other NSAIDS. They can slow healing, or so all of my orthopedic surgeons have said.Anything But said:
Sounds like a good plan. I did complain something about not knowing exactly how much I was allowed to use my arm without the sling. Later on, I did notice the pain would tell me when there had been some strain. I'm most likely going to leave the hardware in myself. Another surgery doesn't sound attractive even when everything has went smoothly so far.Dane Girl said:
Same here, although I have the plate and I'm able to sleep in the bed again, with minor difficulties. It's been 9 weeks from accident and 7 from operation and I can tell there's less pain in wider movements every week. DG mentioned she took Tylenol so it's ok, but according to litterature or pharmacological books the anti-inflammatory effects of ibuprofen starts at 2400 mg/day (average?). There might be other prostaglandin synthesis involved, too, but I' d say the small dozes I took didn't affect my healing because it's gone well. Hopefully. You never know unless something bad happens.alienator said:
I don't think we could've avoided the fractures by drinking more milk. Clavicle fractures in general occur in young adults and more often men than women. In most cases it's a rather high force impact. It's not a typical fracture of people with osteopenia or -porosis. And yes, I consume if not milk then other dairy products + vitamin D.ambal said:
. Going the same route: eat lots of broccoli (much more calcium than milk!), keep in sling even at night for a couple weeks (otherwise your body forgets and you will try to roll over with it), and probably three weeks til I start trying to jog, ride bike machine. Like previous break, bone length looks like it'll be unaffected and recovery will be to 100%. I'm optimistic, amazed what the body can do on its own, and am only preaching my anecdote . I'm 30 by the way (strike findings #1 against me =/).
It's gonna take longer to regain range of motion since you went so long before repairs were done. Tendons and ligaments shorten and take a while to regain optimum function. Frustration is normal. The best you can do however is follow the advice of your doc and PT and work hard at the PT.Dane Girl said:Four week update. Things are ok but just getting annoyed with the whole process in general. Pain is better but my shoulder is still very stuck. I have been doing the exercises a lot but it's not helping to change the way my shoulder was already stuck before the surgery. It's actually a little worse than before. I am pretty sure that I will have to do PT to get it better. Good amount of numbness under my scar and in my armpit but it doesn't bother me too much. Still itching some. My main problem right now is horrendous back pain from only being able to sleep on my back in one position all night long. I can't wait until I can sleep on my side some. I tried to sleep on my opposite side some but it still hurts too much to do that. My scar is looking great. It will hardly be noticeable after a while I think. I have my next appt in two weeks and I will ask about PT. Not using the sling anymore. Weaning off of it over time worked well for me. Here is a pic of my scar now.
I was glad that if I had to get a fracture, it was the clavicle. I didn't want the operation if it wasn't needed, but truthfully, my shoulder was so short and ugly that I was glad to have the operation when the bones position had worsened. Plus, I would've been on a sick leave much longer if the bone had been left to heal on it's own. But yes, it's always better if you don't need an operation, I agree on that. I had to add that Danegirl, your scar looks already much better than mine. Mine is rather red and wider than I'd hope, but it's fading. But your scar is really nice.
