Discussion: BROKEN COLLARBONE-please help

Does anyone know how long a broken collar bone should take me to heal (age 13). It has been a week since i broke it and it feels good and i have started moving it. The doctor says to take my sling off next friday. I hope to be ok for the british champs. ANY INFOMATION WELCOME.

six weeks.

There are of course a lot of variables - how and what part of the clavicle is broken impacts healing for sure. In a healthy, non-smoking, 14-year-old with a non-displaced fracture, you might well expect to be fairly well-healed within 4 weeks. But if it's badly displaced, or if you're doing things to interfere with the healing (excess activity, re-injuring it, moving the bone sections around too much), then six weeks or more might be accurate. It really depends.

You could/should get it re-checked the week before the British Champs and get an opinion from an MD at that time. But optimistically, it could be a reasonable goal to expect to be pretty well-healed within 4 weeks.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Thanks wilsmith for that, it is usefull.
I am getting it checkedout four days before the british champs. Lets hope it will be ok.

Make sure the doctor who checks it has some clue about what you are planning to do. If they say no, listen to them. A collarbone should heal with minimal long-term effects UNLESS you jack it up enough times while it's repairing. Get enough scar tissue in there and it may be a problem for a loooong time. One race, even champs, isn't worth that.

I had one recently - running didn't seem to be a good idea for a while, but I was able to cycle on a trainer almost immediatley for fitness. After it had healed for a while, i would run but hold the edge of my jersey to stabilize the arm. Listen to your body - if there is the slightest twinge of pain, back off.

I stuffed up my leg at BNOC when I knew I shouldn't have been running. Now I might miss BOC. If in doubt don't do it and aim for JK instead. All the best.

i had one last year in september. there is very little to worry about honestly. mine was displaced 3 centimetres and had two shards and i could run within 8 weeks. itll feel fragile but because it doesnt take any weight youll find pain is rare. just until you get the sling off be careful. and your 5 years younger than me which makes a big difference too.

Broke my right collar bone 8 times while I was younger, yes 8 times! I would stick with the 4-6 week recs already mentioned and expect some discomfort when it is jarred the right way even after your doc gives you the green light. Make sure you get a hand out in front of you when you crash, don't lead with the shoulder, it will break every time!

I am recovering from a broken collar bone. It is 8 weeks & still sore at times, especially cycling. I had an x-ray after 6 weeks & it still wasn't completely healed. I did orienteer after 4 weeks & running was OK. If the terrain is likely to be something that you might fall in I recommend wearing a sling, just to stop yourself from subconsciously sticking your hand out & doing further damage.

Simple ones fine. I did the OMM elite last year (OK, we finished the first day before being told the race was off!) with my partner who had broken his in a MTB race 6 weeks before. But it was a simple break, and he rested properly, only doing some gentle runs in the week leading up to the OMM to loosen himself up.
The answer is to rest properly and let it heal. the simpler the break, the less the mend time.

get well soon

nick

i havent heard of a doctor underestimating healing time. but they can heal themselves very effectively c-bones. dont be tempted by surgery! there is a very high chance of uniting failure after surgery in comparison with other bones, and there are blood vessels and nerves near the bone that could lead to loss of arm movement if damaged

Thanks for everyones replys I am finding them useful.

As you know i did mine when i was ur age about the same time, i missed the JK, i wasnt in pain but they said if i fell it would break again, but was back for the rest of the big events.

thanks

My sympathies. I snapped mine about 5 weeks ago. It was a stress fracture from weightlifting (rare, but it happens), and non-displaced. I couldn't even tell from the X-ray, but the specialist could. They didn't give me a sling. I was back in the gym doing light exercises about 3 weeks after I cracked it, and I'm a lot older than you! If you were feeling that good that soon I'm betting your break was similar to mine. The only thing that bothers me is that sometimes my shoulder muscles squeeze against the lump (the "bridging callus"). But I'm told that thing goes down (but sometimes doesn't completely . Anyway, still get another x-ray and talk to a sports injury doc before you start going hard again.