[wheel1]

I'm wondering if anyone has a broken clavicle that never healed / nonunion. What is your experience?

I broke my clavicle 5 months ago biking. It was a distal displaced fracture. I was advised by a surgery-prone doctor that surgery wasn't necessary. He thought it would heal - but it has not. With physical therapy, I have good range of motion and strength back. X-ray still looks like day 1 (image below).

The 2 criteria for surgery in this case seem to be 1) length is too short, or 2) pain.
The length is very close to normal and I don't really have much pain.

A second well-known sports shoulder specialist said he loves to do surgery and he'll do it if I want -but he agrees with the 1st Dr; he doesn't think it will make things better. I just started with an electrical stimulator for bone healing (long shot, but possible).

The doctor said "you had 1 joint there, and now you have 2 - no big deal" and that I can do any activity. I have a gut feeling that it isn't that stable. I'd love to hear from someone who has gotten the same advice. Is everything working out fine with the clavicle in 2 pieces??

Thanks!

 

[Petrfydsap]

3 years of a non-union clavicle and I'm totally fine. Really glad I didn't choose surgery. I have a visible bump on my clavicle but it doesn't bother me. Push-ups and other exercises are no problem, and I can ride as well as before. The ortho surgeon who first saw me after my bike-crash said I had to have surgery immediately, I said I wanted to wait and saw another ortho surgeon who said choosing no-surgery was an option but the bone was unlikely to heal together. At the time I had two good things going for me which helped me make my no-surgery decision: 1) just barely, I could wash my hair and get my hair in a pony tail, 2) I was going on a carribean cruise in two weeks and didn't want to be told I couldn't swim! Most importantly, as a nurse I had seen the risks of surgery and didn't want any part of that. Now, 3 years later I'm fine and happy with my choice. I will warn you: the healing process is long. Almost 9-12 months before I had zero pain. I was on lots of ibuprofen and Tylenol for the first 3 months, it was 45 days before I could sleep on my side for the first time, and frequent shoulder/upper back muscles cramping for months as the muscles tried to realign in this new broken-bone configuration. But I just waited all of that out til finally all of the pain was gone and I have no scar and no hardware!

 

[KenW449]

Have to tried cutting it off and gluing it back on?

 

[PepperJester]

I did my shoulder in about 10 years ago. I didn't get surgery and haven't had any significant long term issues with it. It's a bit lumpy and makes crunching sounds some times but has not effected my riding at all or caused me any real grief for work. The only thing that seems to bother it is raking leaves and sometime snow shovelling makes it sore. Oddly, I can swing a pick axe all day when building trails and that doesn't cause any pain.

 

[Jkjk89]

This is the only place on the internet I've been able to find any info from people with nonunion collarbones. I broke my collarbone biking. Oddly enough, I experienced almost no pain during or after. It just felt a bit odd.

However, months earlier, I had excruciating pain on the same shoulder after a wipeout, but the doctors said there was nothing wrong that time. I doubt they were right. I felt soft tissue snap, so I probably tore a ligament, but their x-ray showed "no damage to bones or soft tissue." Not sure how they could see soft tissue on an x-ray.

Anyways, with the broken collarbone, I had 2 docs recommended no surgery. I was also told to not limit mobility or activity. I was throwing 60lb bags immediately after returning to work, which was immediately after seeing the doctor.

6 months of checkups and I felt like the doctor used a magic 8 ball to decide how to play it off each time. One day he'd say it's healing. The next time he'd say it's not. Then he'd say he thinks it is healing but it just doesn't show up on the x-ray. His final answer was that it did not heal and it won't heal, but if there's no pain then don't worry about it.

I had struck out with insurance trying to get a bone stimulator. I also found out I have an extra rib up by the broken collarbone, which I'm thinking may be why it had trouble healing because my body felt there was enough stabilization there already. It also may have been due in part to my earlier shoulder injury which I believe to have been some sort of soft tissue damage that may have somehow limited the healing ability after the clavicle broke. I have read medical journals about a specific ligament tear causing higher rates of clavicular nonunion.

I went on with my life, but a year later it started bothering me with daily activity. Shortly after the nonunion, I fell on that shoulder numerous times while biking, never experiencing any pain. But now, just putting my arms out to the handlebars and riding at all, I will get pectoralis pain and shoulder joint area pain on the outside and back . When I ride a bike now, my pec area gets so painful, inflamed and riddled with muscle knots that I have to take 3 weeks of limiting use to practically zero and getting regular massages just to recover. It feels very weak and unstable. It is more painful after riding now than when it broke initially. The range of motion, however, is excellent. Better, even, than my good shoulder.

I don't know why it never healed and I also don't trust any of the local docs. Never had great results in any health matter with them. Acupuncture helps the pain but doesn't treat the problem. I don't want to risk complications with surgery, so I may try getting physical therapy if I can find a reputable therapist.

I went in once for runner's knee and they thought I had a structural leg length discrepancy. They had me try a heel lift. It immediately triggered immense back pain that I have been fighting for nearly 5 years now. I can't run one mile without developing runner's knee which puts me in a debilitated state for 3 weeks or so. The specialist told me that's just the way I am, even though I had no problem running 5 or 10 miles just before. He noticed my IT band was tight , but he said it is supposed to be tight. He said there is no damage being done when I have runner's knee pain, so I should just toughen up and ignore the pain while loading up on NSAIDs. I'm definitely not doing that. I do everything I can to avoid NSAIDs altogether. I gave up running. I kept trying rehab but I still could only get one mile before developing runner's knee. That's when I switched to mtb and now I've run the course on my body's limit for that as well. About the only option left is swimming. Unfortunately, finding a spot to practice swimming is becoming increasingly difficult where I am.

Anyone else out there develop pain awhile after the nonunion diagnosis? I'd like to know if there are any worthwhile treatments I could try.

 

[StiHacka]

Anyone else out there develop pain awhile after the nonunion diagnosis? I'd like to know if there are any worthwhile treatments I could try.

Ask and you shall receive, aß:

Have to tried cutting it off and gluing it back on?

 

[robbartkowiak]

I too have a distal clavicle fracture with significant displacement but little pain associated with it and no ligament damage or damage to the AC joint. I am a week into the healing process and waiting for a second consult. Will post updates as I get them but was happy to hear some success stories without surgery. I am hoping to be saying the same thing in 6 months.

I have a decent range of motion but am told to immobilize. I do have to sleep on my back but other than that and keep big the arm in a sling, I can do quite a bit. Hoping for no pain in the future as I heal and regain functions.
Picture of fracture attached. Maybe it will works it’s way back and create a union but im doubtful. Initial Ortho consult said 50/50 on surgery. Next appointment is to review images with surgeon.

 

[Windrider23]

I have a displaced nonunion clavical fracture. I am 7 months since my break. I saw 2 surgeons. The first surgeon said I had an 80% chance of a full recovery and Union without any surgery. The second surgeon told me there’s no way it will heal on its own and recommended surgery. I choose to wait and see. Recovery was tough. The first 2 weeks were hell. I didn’t use any narcotics, I’ve got a history of liking them too much. Then it slowly got tolerable after that. I was in a sling for about 6 weeks. After 6 weeks I really didn’t have much pain so the surgeon just recommended I keep waiting it out to see if it would unionize but he officially told me it was considered a delayed union at that point. He said it didn’t matter if I did the surgery at that point or in 5 years so I chose to wait.

It took 2 months for me to be able to lift a glass above my head and put it away in the cabinet. It took about 5 months to do a push up (painful, but I could finally do one) and once I got to that point progress went real fast. Within 6 months I was back at the gym lifting weights and I am almost back to my pre-accident lifting weight at 7 months. I can do a push-up without pain now. There is one weight machine that gives me pain when I use it so I’ll just avoid that for the rest of my life. Biking is fine and pain free. I’m happy I didn’t do the surgery. I’m probably 95% pain free with most things. The other 5% is just annoying and is a dull pain that comes and goes. It’s not enough to even warrant taking Tylenol.

I am a backpacker so I do worry a little bit about hiking with a 50 pound pack on my shoulders for a week and how that will feel rubbing against it with all of that weight. I also worry about taking a hard fall and hope that the hard callus that has formed around it holds and doesn’t break.