Broken Collar Bone best rehab? slings?

Does anyone know of anything about heeling these better? Any slings or gizmos?

 

I have broken both sides a total of 5 times. I'm like a lawn dart. Figure 8 brace is the best you can do. Make sure you really crank it back so your shoulder doesn't drop when it heals. I have found that there are supplements available (I used a mineral supplement called Bone-Aid) that greatly speeded the healing/ calcification process. My doctor turned me on to the stuff and later x-rays showed how much faster the bones were knitting. It worked great for me. I got it at Clark's natural foods.

 

huge thanks yall, this thread confirms cyclist are awesome and efficient

 

Big second to figure brace, I have broken both my collar bones. When I broke it last time they just gave me a sling I asked about figure 8 brace, they said they found it didnt heal any better then the sling so most are using slings again due to most patients complaining about figure eight brace. I went out and got my own, sure they can be a little uncomfortable but it also allows some use of that are while healing.

I found this to be the best one, as I went through 2-3 last time.
http://www.dme-direct.com/hely-weber-clavicle-brace-splint-661/

 

When I broke mine, the doctor (a very good trauma surgeon who also put a 4" plate and 11 screws in my leg at the same time I broke my collarbone . . . damn motocross bikes) gave me a sling, but told me it was really only for the pain and wouldn't help the collar bone heal. He said it was fine to start moving the shoulder as much as possible as soon as I could tolerate the pain, which for me was crucial because I had to be on crutches at the same time my collar bone was healing.

 

First have you seen a doctor? AC separation or fracture? what type of fracture?
Second I was told not take ibuprofen (motrin) because it slows bone healing, acetaminophen was the recommended pain killer.

I recommend seeing a very good highly recommended ortho doctor. I had a distal clavicle fracture in the first week of June, first ortho doc said it was an AC separation. 4 week later still in a lot of pain so I went to see a different ortho doctor and correctly diagnosed, type 2b distal clavicle fracture. Had surgery 6 weeks ago and can barely raise my hand over my head right now.

 

Just ordered the DBX today because a few weeks ago I took a digger and shoved my helmet in to my collar bone. I know it is still possible to injure your collar bone with the brace but at least I can eliminate some instances.
Azonic/Oneal now owns Leatt.

 

I shattered my collar bone 2 years ago in a road race. They don't domuch for you, just pain med and waiting. Be sure to take your calcium and vit D throughout the day, not all at once. Also, vitamin K helps the healing process and gives your bones more flexibility. My healing was very slow, over 6 months actually. Don't smoke. Yes, check with doc about motrin, i think it slows fracture healing. Don't start using your arm until you have an xray or ct scan that CONFIRMS the fracture/brake is secured with new bone tissue/material. I used mine to much (high pain tollerance and small children to take care of) and prevented the original break from connecting (kept josling/destroying the connective tissue)I ended up getting a bone stimulator machine to use each day which is an ultra sound type thing that stimulates the bone into thinking its a fresh break, sending more white blood cells and whatever other healing cells it needs. 1 year later i'm totally back into racing. now it stick to mtb racing, road racing is way to dangerous!

 

I think if i had opted for the pin & screws, the healing process would have been faster...

 

Sorry to see you've had problems.

Broke mine 5-1/2 weeks ago. Originally the break was nicely aligned, so we didn't plan on surgery. 2 weeks ago, a new x-ray showed the bones had shifted, so they operated 2 days later. As of this morning, the shoulder feels much more stable, though of course I'm still in a sling for 3-4 more weeks, and it'll take plenty of rehab after that.

I'm stunned to see a few comments in this thread that people are not getting good diagnoses & treatment. Personally, I'm a big fan of being able to use my arms, so I wouldn't mess around with this kind of thing!

Good luck!

 

Me too. I broke my collarbone clean and after they set it, I was issued a figure 8 brace like the one pictured in mfoga's post. I wore my figure 8 brace along with a sling and mine healed fine after 6 weeks, no surgery. It did take a while to get full movement and strength since I didn't use my left arm.

 

I used my sling for about a week, then ditched it. Now I have this rediculous lump on my shoulder where the bones did not join correctly, its OK, but iritates me in the winter when it gets cold. When I swim underwater it sounds awful with the amount of clicking coming form that shoulder. Morol of the story, don't be a tit like me and wear the sling.

When I broke the other arm I did exactly as the doc said and it healed perfect and quicker. Also I took ARNACA / ARNICA. See if you can get hold of any.

 

Was your break lined out 100%? If not the lump has nothing to do with the lack of sling but more to do with the location of where the bones settled after the break. They can't set a collar bone and cast it to keep it from moving, even a sling is not going to hold those two parts in that position. The sling is comfort not to hold bones in place. Short of surgery there is NOTHING they can do for you on a broken clavicle except make you comfortable while nature takes its course.

 

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/for...n-collar-bone-rehab-exercises.html#post806359

I broke mine 12/11/2010, I was wearing a figure 8 for two weeks and after that just a immobilizer, after 5 weeks I started with the rehab and now I can move my arm 100%, some movements still cause pain, I will get better, but I do have a lump.

I am riding only my road bike for the moment.

 

FWIW I broke mine and wore a fig brace for about a month and it was not healing. I did have 3cm separation so i wound up having a plate, 8 screws and bone graft from my hip put in. It healed very fast. This was 5 years ago and all is good. Bottom line is if it is not healing right keep going to the doc.

 

Broke my collar bone back on August 1st. Takes a while to heal. The figure 8 brace works well and like the other post it allows you some use of your shoulder. It allowed me to strip my bike, get it powdercoated and put back together. I think the worst part of my broken collarbone was landing in poison oak..f'd up!!!! Lots of vicodin, motrin and time. I was turned on to a product called "Bone-up". It aided in the healing. I believe if i wasn't taking it the healing process would have been a lot longer.

 

I broke mine a few years back, I had a sling that attached my arm to my waist the was great and and kept it completely imobilized for awhile, healing for me took 4 weeks so it wasn't as long as some people

 

Your saying you had a complete break in your clavicle and it was completely healed in 4 weeks? How do you know it was healed, did you get xrays to show it was 100% healed 4 weeks after you broke it?

 

I should say I was out of the sling in 4 weeks but I was not cleared to go back to wrestling or any other sports for about 8 weeks and It was just a fracture.

 

Ok so you were not healed you were pain free, I was pain free in less then 2 weeks but it was still not 100% healed for about 3 months. Very rarely do people ever let it heal 100% before they start doing sport again, I know I didn't either time but I also went and had extra x rays done after about 2 months to see where things were.