broken clavicle...surgery or not?
- Thread starter James Thomas
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I unavoidably direct hit a roo at 100+ a couple of weeks ago on my motorbike. Flipped it, hit the deck hard then the bike landed on top of me. Shattered my clavicle into 5 bits, did my scapula and half a dozen ribs plus a 270degree labral tear. Walked out of hospital the next day as they misdiagnosed me several times (been through similar before) and wouldn't help plus I had to take the bike apart myself before insurance got it and kept all my expensive carbon and go-fast bits the next day. I knew I needed surgery - had around 40-50mm of separation and bone fragments all through the nerves causing issues. They refused surgery ('fracture clinic will see you in three weeks') and wouldn't even give me my x-rays, conduct an mri or even refer me on to my specialist or advise my health fund, just gave me painkillers I didn't want. Called my specialist (had a 360 degree torn other shoulder and bicep detachment last year) after rebuilding the bike and the next day I'd had a full shoulder recon with 4 anchors, bone graft, titanium collarbone and box of screws in. Turns out it was a type injury that required urgent surgical intervention no if buts or maybes apparently. Probably wouldn't have done the mech work if I knew that 
Got some groovy pics and vids of the surgery too. Enough story anyways and I haven't read all 1841 posts before this but some general points I take out of my previous collarbone/shoulder experiences are if you need surgery, your doctor *should* be able tell you if it is for you (either that or your body will), everyone and every body is different and second opinions of respected specialists are vital. Knowing your body well, being educated on the issue, getting adequate rest and following and being committed to PT is a must and in all things remember it is your body and you are stuck with it for life so get the best treatment you can
Got some groovy pics and vids of the surgery too. Enough story anyways and I haven't read all 1841 posts before this but some general points I take out of my previous collarbone/shoulder experiences are if you need surgery, your doctor *should* be able tell you if it is for you (either that or your body will), everyone and every body is different and second opinions of respected specialists are vital. Knowing your body well, being educated on the issue, getting adequate rest and following and being committed to PT is a must and in all things remember it is your body and you are stuck with it for life so get the best treatment you can 
Hi All,
I really find this thread very useful , i broke my left collar bone 25 days ago in a triathlon race and as my break was in the outer third of the bone half the doctors i consulted said i need operation and the other half said to leave it heal on it's own , i decided to give it a chance to heal on it's hoping i will have full range of movement for swimming later.
Now I have a good range of motion (about 75%) but it still hurts when i lift my arm while stretched and beyond 75% reach i feel that my arm is generally weak (I barely moved it in the first three weeks so i'm must have lost strength) I expect it to be better within the next few weeks . Now my left shoulder as the doctor told me is about 1.5-2cm shorter than the other one but its not very noticeable unless you stare !
I was wondering if that pain is normal and will it go away by time and when shall i expect it to go away completely and will i get full range of movement later ?
I really find this thread very useful , i broke my left collar bone 25 days ago in a triathlon race and as my break was in the outer third of the bone half the doctors i consulted said i need operation and the other half said to leave it heal on it's own , i decided to give it a chance to heal on it's hoping i will have full range of movement for swimming later.
Now I have a good range of motion (about 75%) but it still hurts when i lift my arm while stretched and beyond 75% reach i feel that my arm is generally weak (I barely moved it in the first three weeks so i'm must have lost strength) I expect it to be better within the next few weeks . Now my left shoulder as the doctor told me is about 1.5-2cm shorter than the other one but its not very noticeable unless you stare !
I was wondering if that pain is normal and will it go away by time and when shall i expect it to go away completely and will i get full range of movement later ?
I also read about people staying for up to 4 months and the bone do not heal ! how it is like if it's left all this time without healing ? i broke my clavicle 25 days ago i decided not to do the operation but i feel it's healing cause i have about 75% of arm movement with a little pain , would i be able to do that if it wasn't healing ?
of course you are fortunate because if it was a complete fracture as it happened to the most of us the two parts would have been moved away from each other. In the case of a complete fracture the two parts move away from each other because there is nothing to hold them together, this part of our body has significant loads even if you don't move your arm at all. the fact that your two parts were still so close to each other even in a deformed shape (they form an angle, they are not aligned as before the accident) proves that there is something to hold them together and it is not your muscles that keep them close to each other, most probably is that some elements of your bone are not broken. what else could hold the two parts close to each other?trek240 said:
mhdkandil,
I was recently perusing the latest postings here and noticed your posts. I couldn't help but feel that your broken clavicle and situation was very similiar to mine. Notwithstanding, that my accident was a high speed car crash, where my chest was basically crushed with some 12 other broken bones, plus the broken collarbone. All these other injuries turned out to be a good/bad thing as far as the clavicle break was concerned. The good thing was the fact that some of the other breaks were more important at first and diverted all the attention away from the collar break. The bad thing was I was a basket case for awhile. My general surgeons wanted to give me the old plate & screw job even though I was obviously just too sick with fever and ancilliary injuries to undergo it. I had been a competitive swimmer all my life and I knew my body would have a extremely hard time weathering that type of surgery. So, I begged off. It turned out to be one of the smartest things I ever did. The first couple of weeks I was flat on my back and everything was kind of immobilized. Then I realized and studied how important the clavicle is to swimming (basically acting as a strut to hold the arm in good position.) So, I got worried about it like you appear to be.
My clavicle break was a clean one at about the halfway point (which most are) but overly displaced. At about four weeks I became extremely concerned about it and did everthing I could to remedy the situation because of my swimming lifestyle. I posted about this continually for over a year on this blog as it fused together. I researched it extensively, got xrays, and talked to all kinds of professionals in the health care industry. The important thing to remember is this fusing process takes time and is different for each individual. This time timetable depends on a lot of factors such as: age, severity of break, smoker/non-smoker, calcium, etc. And, there is very little one can do to speed up this process. But, one could conceivable reinjure it with heavy weight lifting, over-working it, etc. Even at six weeks my xrays showed that the break had not come together but was just putting out the calcium type fibers to fill the gap. The other thing to remember is just use common sense: do not lie on it while sleeping, use a sling in public so people are less apt to run into you, and in my opinion do not let the doctors talk you into something you are not comfortable with doing. They all told me the same old story that the break would not heal right, it would shorten the bone and look terrible, and other half-truths. The ironic thing was when it finally healed up nice they had to admit that I did everything right. I will not take the time to tell you how I re-habed myself with my swimming but it is all here on this blog.
However, the long and the short of it is not only has it healed completely, but, I believe it is stronger now than before. The proof is in the pudding. Yesterday, I did a two mile lake swim hard. I swam backstroke the first mile and practically sprinted freestyle the last mile. This was in ocean type conditions.. two to three foot waves and pretty cold water. Let me tell you that collar bone break got slapped around real good. My arm muscles were good and sore today but there was absolutely no pain or soreness emminating from the break. If anything it felt like it almost liked the extra stress. Weird but true...
Well, I guess that is about it for now. Time to pack up and travel to a big open water swim. Take care and good luck on your clavicle journey!
Robert
I was recently perusing the latest postings here and noticed your posts. I couldn't help but feel that your broken clavicle and situation was very similiar to mine. Notwithstanding, that my accident was a high speed car crash, where my chest was basically crushed with some 12 other broken bones, plus the broken collarbone. All these other injuries turned out to be a good/bad thing as far as the clavicle break was concerned. The good thing was the fact that some of the other breaks were more important at first and diverted all the attention away from the collar break. The bad thing was I was a basket case for awhile. My general surgeons wanted to give me the old plate & screw job even though I was obviously just too sick with fever and ancilliary injuries to undergo it. I had been a competitive swimmer all my life and I knew my body would have a extremely hard time weathering that type of surgery. So, I begged off. It turned out to be one of the smartest things I ever did. The first couple of weeks I was flat on my back and everything was kind of immobilized. Then I realized and studied how important the clavicle is to swimming (basically acting as a strut to hold the arm in good position.) So, I got worried about it like you appear to be.
My clavicle break was a clean one at about the halfway point (which most are) but overly displaced. At about four weeks I became extremely concerned about it and did everthing I could to remedy the situation because of my swimming lifestyle. I posted about this continually for over a year on this blog as it fused together. I researched it extensively, got xrays, and talked to all kinds of professionals in the health care industry. The important thing to remember is this fusing process takes time and is different for each individual. This time timetable depends on a lot of factors such as: age, severity of break, smoker/non-smoker, calcium, etc. And, there is very little one can do to speed up this process. But, one could conceivable reinjure it with heavy weight lifting, over-working it, etc. Even at six weeks my xrays showed that the break had not come together but was just putting out the calcium type fibers to fill the gap. The other thing to remember is just use common sense: do not lie on it while sleeping, use a sling in public so people are less apt to run into you, and in my opinion do not let the doctors talk you into something you are not comfortable with doing. They all told me the same old story that the break would not heal right, it would shorten the bone and look terrible, and other half-truths. The ironic thing was when it finally healed up nice they had to admit that I did everything right. I will not take the time to tell you how I re-habed myself with my swimming but it is all here on this blog.
However, the long and the short of it is not only has it healed completely, but, I believe it is stronger now than before. The proof is in the pudding. Yesterday, I did a two mile lake swim hard. I swam backstroke the first mile and practically sprinted freestyle the last mile. This was in ocean type conditions.. two to three foot waves and pretty cold water. Let me tell you that collar bone break got slapped around real good. My arm muscles were good and sore today but there was absolutely no pain or soreness emminating from the break. If anything it felt like it almost liked the extra stress. Weird but true...
Well, I guess that is about it for now. Time to pack up and travel to a big open water swim. Take care and good luck on your clavicle journey!
Robert
Thanks a lot Robert , that's very relieving , clavicle-wise I feel I'm getting better already 4 weeks now after tge injury all my concern was that all the pain but some goes away after some time when it's too late for a simple early operation. I would say that my arm reach is pretty good now but generally weak , I started to do some rehab simple exercises. Thanks again for sharing your experience .. enjoy ur swim Kandil
Kandil
Hello all,
This is not a club I wanted to join, but unfortunately, like many of you, membership was forced upon me in a fraction-of-a-second.
Has anyone suffered a clavicle break similar to mine shown in the attached picture? Please let me know if you had surgery to help repair the break or let the break heal w/o surgery; and what outcome you experienced.
Once healed and rehabed, I want to regain at least 95% range of motion/movement (ROM) and strength compared to my pre-accident health (as my 100% was good, I think 95% would not limit me from enjoying or being good enough as an all-around amateur athlete at any activity because of diminished ROM or strength). I realize that I will not receive a "medical" opinion, but based on your personal experience, the picture of my break, and my desire for at least 95% return to health, what option (a) surgery or (b) no surgery would you go for?
The photo was taken 34 days post break.
I broke my left clavicle and I'm right handed.
I had a lot of other injuries, too, but they'll heal 100% over time without me worrying about them. My doctor says I'm lucky to be alive. Oh...this happened in a high-speed mountain biking accident.
If you have questions, please ask and I'll reply.
Thanks in advance for your opinions and insights, Doug
This is not a club I wanted to join, but unfortunately, like many of you, membership was forced upon me in a fraction-of-a-second.
Has anyone suffered a clavicle break similar to mine shown in the attached picture? Please let me know if you had surgery to help repair the break or let the break heal w/o surgery; and what outcome you experienced.
Once healed and rehabed, I want to regain at least 95% range of motion/movement (ROM) and strength compared to my pre-accident health (as my 100% was good, I think 95% would not limit me from enjoying or being good enough as an all-around amateur athlete at any activity because of diminished ROM or strength). I realize that I will not receive a "medical" opinion, but based on your personal experience, the picture of my break, and my desire for at least 95% return to health, what option (a) surgery or (b) no surgery would you go for?
The photo was taken 34 days post break.
I broke my left clavicle and I'm right handed.
I had a lot of other injuries, too, but they'll heal 100% over time without me worrying about them. My doctor says I'm lucky to be alive. Oh...this happened in a high-speed mountain biking accident.
If you have questions, please ask and I'll reply.
Thanks in advance for your opinions and insights, Doug
Yes, Iwant, I did have a break very close to yours, where one half of the clavicle significantly overlapped the other. Technically, I had four pieces in the end, but the two major parts were the two halves like you have here. I can't believe this is 34 days after the break and nobody has suggested surgery yet. After just four or five days of my break, a orthopedic surgeon looked at mine and said right off, you'll need surgery and the ER should have called me to get it set up quickly. But I did have a protrusion of bone seen under my skin; do you?
I have no regrets about surgery at all and would recommend it. I have a metal plate with six screws. The bone healed beautifully. And I felt better right away after the surgery -- no painful bone rubbish. To be sure, I had significant swelling and needed physical therapy because all the muscles got torn up, too. But I did my six or seven weeks of that, carried on with my exercises, and got back to near full strength (only hernias that I acquired the following winter shoveling snow impeded my progress) and I'd call it 95 percent range of motion.
You've probably already experienced a month of your arm in a sling and don't move your shoulder *at all* because it impedes healing. With surgery and the plate, I'm not saying you can go crazy moving, but you can worry less about a little movement -- muscles and tendons will give you more trouble than the bone will.
Another consideration will be your resulting shoulder width and height, and posture. Not to mention subsequent collarbone strength. If you wind up with a bend, will strength be compromised? Certainly you'd simply not have the same shoulder width and height without surgery, though you will probably find others in this thread who can speak to that better than I.
I'm sorry you're with us. But really, I'm going through a series of injuries -- after the break, then the hernias and now a bulging disc in the spine, and the collarbone injury turned out to be the easiest, because it heals in a pretty definite time, the six to eight weeks.
I have no regrets about surgery at all and would recommend it. I have a metal plate with six screws. The bone healed beautifully. And I felt better right away after the surgery -- no painful bone rubbish. To be sure, I had significant swelling and needed physical therapy because all the muscles got torn up, too. But I did my six or seven weeks of that, carried on with my exercises, and got back to near full strength (only hernias that I acquired the following winter shoveling snow impeded my progress) and I'd call it 95 percent range of motion.
You've probably already experienced a month of your arm in a sling and don't move your shoulder *at all* because it impedes healing. With surgery and the plate, I'm not saying you can go crazy moving, but you can worry less about a little movement -- muscles and tendons will give you more trouble than the bone will.
Another consideration will be your resulting shoulder width and height, and posture. Not to mention subsequent collarbone strength. If you wind up with a bend, will strength be compromised? Certainly you'd simply not have the same shoulder width and height without surgery, though you will probably find others in this thread who can speak to that better than I.
I'm sorry you're with us. But really, I'm going through a series of injuries -- after the break, then the hernias and now a bulging disc in the spine, and the collarbone injury turned out to be the easiest, because it heals in a pretty definite time, the six to eight weeks.
If you get surgery you could very likely expect 100% ROM. In my experience a break like that definitely should be surgically repaired. Mine didn't even look as bad as that but required a plate and 10 screws. Much happier with a straight collar bone.Originally Posted by Iwantdoover
Hello all,
This is not a club I wanted to join, but unfortunately, like many of you, membership was forced upon me in a fraction-of-a-second.
Has anyone suffered a clavicle break similar to mine shown in the attached picture? Please let me know if you had surgery to help repair the break or let the break heal w/o surgery; and what outcome you experienced.
Once healed and rehabed, I want to regain at least 95% range of motion/movement (ROM) and strength compared to my pre-accident health (as my 100% was good, I think 95% would not limit me from enjoying or being good enough as an all-around amateur athlete at any activity because of diminished ROM or strength). I realize that I will not receive a "medical" opinion, but based on your personal experience, the picture of my break, and my desire for at least 95% return to health, what option (a) surgery or (b) no surgery would you go for?
The photo was taken 34 days post break.
I broke my left clavicle and I'm right handed.
I had a lot of other injuries, too, but they'll heal 100% over time without me worrying about them. My doctor says I'm lucky to be alive. Oh...this happened in a high-speed mountain biking accident.
If you have questions, please ask and I'll reply.
Thanks in advance for your opinions and insights, Doug
Thanks nahho.
I have no bone or other visible protrusion at this time. Dr. says there will be a visible bump when all healing and new bone growth done. At this time surgery has not been presented as an option for me by my current Dr. So I'm trying to figure out what to do.
Sorry about your current injuries; I know it can be difficult to stay positive, but it's a fight worth fighting.
Yikes about your bulging disc: these and related back injuries can be very painful and debilitating. I herniated a disc in my lower lumbar about a decade ago; sometimes the pain made me feel like I just wanted to cry like a baby (lol)--it was way more intense & constant painful (in fact no comparison) to the pain from my current injuries (broken clavicle, bruised ribs, torn ligaments, orbital fracture, etc.). That herniated disc taught me great empathy for people with back injuries; although I did not get addicted to painkillers, I understand how and why it can happen. I read a lot of medical journal articles and decided for my type of disc injury non-surgery should produce a good outcome (50% doctors I saw wanted to cut/50% said let it heal on its own). The pain did go away and I resumed all of my pre-herniated disc activities with no noticeable diminished capacity, despite the disc being herniated; however, once in awhile, less than 1% of the time, I do get a severe flash of pain from the spinal area of the herniated disc. For me, routinely exercising my core and back muscles seems to help keep the back pain away.
Thanks, again and I hope you heal faster than you expect.
Doug
I have no bone or other visible protrusion at this time. Dr. says there will be a visible bump when all healing and new bone growth done. At this time surgery has not been presented as an option for me by my current Dr. So I'm trying to figure out what to do.
Sorry about your current injuries; I know it can be difficult to stay positive, but it's a fight worth fighting.
Yikes about your bulging disc: these and related back injuries can be very painful and debilitating. I herniated a disc in my lower lumbar about a decade ago; sometimes the pain made me feel like I just wanted to cry like a baby (lol)--it was way more intense & constant painful (in fact no comparison) to the pain from my current injuries (broken clavicle, bruised ribs, torn ligaments, orbital fracture, etc.). That herniated disc taught me great empathy for people with back injuries; although I did not get addicted to painkillers, I understand how and why it can happen. I read a lot of medical journal articles and decided for my type of disc injury non-surgery should produce a good outcome (50% doctors I saw wanted to cut/50% said let it heal on its own). The pain did go away and I resumed all of my pre-herniated disc activities with no noticeable diminished capacity, despite the disc being herniated; however, once in awhile, less than 1% of the time, I do get a severe flash of pain from the spinal area of the herniated disc. For me, routinely exercising my core and back muscles seems to help keep the back pain away.
Thanks, again and I hope you heal faster than you expect.
Doug
Hey mhdkandil,
Do I understand correctly that you allowed your clavicle break to heal without any surgical intervention and you have resumed all of your previous pre-break activities with zero diminished capacity or limitation? Would you please elaborate?
I looked, but I failed to find a description or a picture of the type, nature, or severity of your clavicle break. Would you please tell me what amount, the measurement (in mm, cm, or inches), of clavicle overlap, displacement, and clavicle shortening you had (or have)? Is there somewhere I can see the x-ray picture of your break?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Doug
Do I understand correctly that you allowed your clavicle break to heal without any surgical intervention and you have resumed all of your previous pre-break activities with zero diminished capacity or limitation? Would you please elaborate?
I looked, but I failed to find a description or a picture of the type, nature, or severity of your clavicle break. Would you please tell me what amount, the measurement (in mm, cm, or inches), of clavicle overlap, displacement, and clavicle shortening you had (or have)? Is there somewhere I can see the x-ray picture of your break?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Doug
pnkcoral,
Sorry, this question was intended for pnkcoral; I incorrectly addressed my first reply to mhdkandil.
Do I understand correctly that you allowed your clavicle break to heal without any surgical intervention and you have resumed all of your previous pre-break activities with zero diminished capacity or limitation? Would you please elaborate?
I looked, but I failed to find a description or a picture of the type, nature, or severity of your clavicle break. Would you please tell me what amount, the measurement (in mm, cm, or inches), of clavicle overlap, displacement, and clavicle shortening you had (or have)? Is there somewhere I can see the x-ray picture of your break?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Doug
Sorry, this question was intended for pnkcoral; I incorrectly addressed my first reply to mhdkandil.
Do I understand correctly that you allowed your clavicle break to heal without any surgical intervention and you have resumed all of your previous pre-break activities with zero diminished capacity or limitation? Would you please elaborate?
I looked, but I failed to find a description or a picture of the type, nature, or severity of your clavicle break. Would you please tell me what amount, the measurement (in mm, cm, or inches), of clavicle overlap, displacement, and clavicle shortening you had (or have)? Is there somewhere I can see the x-ray picture of your break?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Doug
Iwantdoover,
Yes, you are correct, I did not elect to have surgery on my broken clavicle. However, not from thinking that it may be the best option at the time, but, because I was just to sick with all the other injuries from my accident: concussion, broken sternum that almost ruptured my aorta, 10 broken ribs, two broken knee caps, three fractured vertabrae, broken collarbone, torn ligaments, etc. to undergo a surgery. Nevertheless, my general surgeon and ortho-surgeon pushed the plate and screw job on my clavicle like it was life or death. Meanwhile, I am just like whatever..I'll think about it if I make it through this pneumonia and all this other ****.
I have the orginal xrays somewhere on a disk with all the broken stuff but it was a clean clavicle mid-break that somehow by the time I got out of the hospital it had become 140% displaced. I cannot attest to what it would have been like if it had been severely overlapped, so I will leave that to someone that has experienced that situation. However, I did post a link to a series of xrays on pg. 122 post #1819...that showed a progression of the collar bone fusing together naturally on someone else (not me). And, this was a fragmented break that was displaced and overlapped/cantilevered and it healed up nicely.
Now, I have posted my whole saga going back to April of 2013 on this forum. So, if you are interested in my individual story it is all there. However, I will say from my experience and other people I have talked to with broken clavicles, that there often does not seem to be any easy solution. In a way my post accident was as enlightening as the actual accident itself. Life kind of stopped for me in the first four weeks of recovery. I lost my job, the medical bills where absolutely outrageous (think five bucks for an aspirin) and it took me like ten minutes to just get out of bed. But, at six weeks I was swimming in a 110 degree hot springs and at two months I was back swimming miles at a time.
Today, I do not think much about all the broken bones and how busted up I was. I had a good solid masters swim season this year and am really looking forward to the Nationals next year when I turn 65. I try to swim hard for about two hours ever day whether in the pool or the lake. Sometime when I swim a lot of butterfly I cannot believe that the collar bone can take all that pressure but it does and I am never sore either. Well, I hope this cleared up some of your question about my break..
Best of luck to you..
Robert
Yes, you are correct, I did not elect to have surgery on my broken clavicle. However, not from thinking that it may be the best option at the time, but, because I was just to sick with all the other injuries from my accident: concussion, broken sternum that almost ruptured my aorta, 10 broken ribs, two broken knee caps, three fractured vertabrae, broken collarbone, torn ligaments, etc. to undergo a surgery. Nevertheless, my general surgeon and ortho-surgeon pushed the plate and screw job on my clavicle like it was life or death. Meanwhile, I am just like whatever..I'll think about it if I make it through this pneumonia and all this other ****.
I have the orginal xrays somewhere on a disk with all the broken stuff but it was a clean clavicle mid-break that somehow by the time I got out of the hospital it had become 140% displaced. I cannot attest to what it would have been like if it had been severely overlapped, so I will leave that to someone that has experienced that situation. However, I did post a link to a series of xrays on pg. 122 post #1819...that showed a progression of the collar bone fusing together naturally on someone else (not me). And, this was a fragmented break that was displaced and overlapped/cantilevered and it healed up nicely.
Now, I have posted my whole saga going back to April of 2013 on this forum. So, if you are interested in my individual story it is all there. However, I will say from my experience and other people I have talked to with broken clavicles, that there often does not seem to be any easy solution. In a way my post accident was as enlightening as the actual accident itself. Life kind of stopped for me in the first four weeks of recovery. I lost my job, the medical bills where absolutely outrageous (think five bucks for an aspirin) and it took me like ten minutes to just get out of bed. But, at six weeks I was swimming in a 110 degree hot springs and at two months I was back swimming miles at a time.
Today, I do not think much about all the broken bones and how busted up I was. I had a good solid masters swim season this year and am really looking forward to the Nationals next year when I turn 65. I try to swim hard for about two hours ever day whether in the pool or the lake. Sometime when I swim a lot of butterfly I cannot believe that the collar bone can take all that pressure but it does and I am never sore either. Well, I hope this cleared up some of your question about my break..
Best of luck to you..
Robert
Hello all, my Doctor has recommended me to let my collarbone heel naturally. I broke my lleft Clavical bone playing football about a week ago. The pain has subsided very much. But due to misalignment of 20mm my left shoulder is shorter than the right one. my question is will this imbalance be there forever or will my shoulder profile return to its original shape/dimensions gradually? or is surgery the only option to get the shoulder profile corrected?
your shoulder will be shorter for the rest of your life and it will create big muscle problems to you. Common sense says that it is impossible for a broken bone to get back to its proper place without surgery. Doctors just say "you will fine" meaning that you are not gonna die, this is what they mean. They don't take into account the fact that your life will be degraded. All people who had surgery are happy, of course this is not the case for those who didn't.trader98 said:
Hey *****, long time no see. I went to see my surgeon about the removal in May. He said it is completely healed and ready to come out whenever I want. That was 5 months ago and I have not called the office since. Truth is my shoulder feels so great these days that I just cannot bring myself to go in for surgery. The plate, though I feel it and know it is there, really doesn't bother me all that much lately. I am also the strongest I have ever been in my life, having bench pressed 250 lbs recently. I am progressing athletically and pleased with my life, so at this point I have no plans to call him in the near future. Maybe one day down the road.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
PS. I don't say these bench press numbers here to try to be a "Bro" or brag. I just think it is some good information for this thread if anyone is sitting there with a broken collarbone thinking that they will never be strong again.
B
