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Collarbone surgery options, round 2
Does anyone ride with a broken collarbone?
I mean one that hasnt joined itself back together?
Is it doable, What are the dangers,will I notice the difference?
My collarbone break didnt heal so I had a plate put in last year.
One screw has broken
Surgeon offered to a) leave it, b) remove the plate and/or c) graft/ take some bone marrow from the hip and try to regrow the bone with it
Has anyone had this done?
Is there much more chance of the bone healing with this bonegraft?
Im over 60, its 2 years since it broke and it hasnt regrown yet. Im thinking it will be a slightly more serious surgery to get the bonegraft, with longer recovery time so need to consider it more.
Obviously I'll get more info from the surgeon first but I want too hear from riders who had the same dilemma
Last time I went for a ride I thought, great, I found a place I can get back nto some fun riding and get fitter, but after that the collarbone hurt and I realised something there had changed
I broke mine right near to the sternum, I was dissuaded from surgery and have a soft joint.
This has become less soft over the years, I do feel it a little in cold damp weather.
I did some nerve damage by lifting my bike off a ski lift after it.
This was in 2005 in my mid 30s, it has made me ride more within my limits which isn’t that high.
I try to keep my core strong with some callisthenics and dumbbells.
I’d recommend some Ti handlebars or those Spank Vibrocore.
When I had mine plated the bone graft subject was raised. The surgeon wanted to 'harvest' from my hip. Bolleaux said I. He then zeroed in on a rib. Bolleaux! Said I.
He then suggested 'donated bone' as a source. Presumably bits left over from other operations or mebbies dead people. Aye that'll do fine said I. No additional pain involved.
As for whether you need to do something, anything or nothing depends on the advice of your quack. Mine was a rebreak from an earlier fracture and I wanted a quick fix to go on a long tour. I might not have bothered if I hadn't been going away imminently for a few months cycling.
My first plate failed after about 7 days (the screws pulled out of one half).
There is no way I would have riden with it broken. Being a passenger in a car on anything but a very smooth road had my eyes watering.
The surgeon who offered to fix it with a new/bigger plate than the original surgeon used told me I could have it removed and left to heal, but the danger was that I now had something akin to a Swiss cheese as a collar bone and it would likely shatter rather than snap in the future.
I got is plated again, but no bone added. I would have agreed to a bone graft if it had been suggested.
so Is a bone graft as simple as it sounds? they just take some marrow out with a syringe, then inject it into the broken bone and leave it to heal?
Im told 2weeks off work with a plate removal, or 6weeks with the bone graft. So why the difference?
I was offered a bone graft from my hip for a tibial fracture that didn’t heal (2 years). It was fall back in case the final plate didn’t work. Was told in no uncertain terms by the surgeon that the bone removal process was ‘bloody painful’ and the healing from that would be worse than the leg. In the end the graft wasn’t needed but I had in my mind it would take some time to recover from it.
I had a bone graft under my collarbone plate.
They used fragments of the collarbone itself and packed them under the plate.
They said they had to cut the ends off to encourage new growth as they'd started to heal over instead of bonding back together.
The gap was to big to bridge on it's own despite waiting several months.
Before and after pics.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50214088918_7762b8bb26_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50214088918_7762b8bb26_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jvfkcL ]Six weeks on and still not fixed[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/ ]StuartBrettle[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50458271723_3578f648dd_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50458271723_3578f648dd_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jSPQf8 ]plate and screws[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/ ]StuartBrettle[/url], on Flickr
Was told in no uncertain terms by the surgeon that the bone removal process was ‘bloody painful’ and the healing from that would be worse than the leg
That's what I heard, hence the 'no way' decision. They use chips of bone mashed up in your own blood (apparently). No fear, hold out for dead man's bones...
I find any conversation about collarbones and plates etc very interesting. I had mine done in 2006 and it looks like the local blacksmith did it. I'm quite petite and guess they are one size fits all. There's no hiding it if I'm wearing a vest top or open necked top.
I opted for the plate as my surgeon basically said it's what he'd have done in my situation! I was also told 9 months for bones to heal even with the plate and be back to pre-break strength.
It healed perfectly plus I've had a couple of big crashes in the years since and it's been fine.
I would love to have it removed but suspect it's way too late now as everything will have bonded around it, but I'd be interested to hear what others have had done.
I rode with a non healing collar Bone whilst waiting for surgery. So not quite the same.
I rode an old freeride bike with triple crown forks set soft.
I rode one handed where possible and had friends load and unload the bike from the car for me.
Was slow but more fun than walking.
I've been riding for 3 years with a Non-Union and a Mal-Union collarbone, mine was broken into 4 pieces, hence a mal and non union in the same break, not had much issue with it, bar things i can't do, but riding isn't one of them.
Was told that it would require re-beaking it and then pinning it up, i asked if this would happen anyway if it broke again, which they said it would, so it'll only get fixed if i do the right collarbone again 😁
i recently had my collarbone plated, with a bone graft, but the surgeon used a synthetic bone. No idea about other than thats what he said it was.
I dont have any holes in my hip or rib cage, so i guess he was right