Displaced clavicular fracture

[Stoo]

Bike riding for me. Shoulder meet gutter. At speed. The nerve block in the arm and hand is seriously unsettling...!

You guys should seriously consider giving up riding and take up something safe like SCUBA diving! Or get balance wheels!

 

[kr2y5]

Ouch. Hope you get well soon, brother. Maybe sidemount diving is in your future? Can attach tank in the water. Maybe helps a bit...

 

[TSandM]

I have a honeycomb plate and a bunch of screws in my right clavicle. Once it healed (minimum three months, more likely four or five) it was fine with the weight of a harness and tank. The only time I've noticed it is when I've been in the Red Sea or down here in MX, diving doubles with virtually no exposure protection. Then it gets sore. I wouldn't imagine scuba would be a driver for having the hardware removed, going by my experience.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Just had surgery today to repair a severely displaced clavicular fracture. 6 screws and a plate.

When will I be diving again? Sigh...

I have 10 screws and what looks like a strip of "plumber's tape" in my left shoulder thanks to a dirt bike get off in Nov 2013.

I was back diving in the spring of 2014 in doubles. I can still reach my valves and the harness is not uncomfortable. I lost some "scuba specific" fitness from being out of the water for ~4 months but that came back pretty quickly.

I'm 56 and I don't heal as quickly as I did 20 years ago, but having said that I'd suggest there is a good chance your diving won't be impacted very much.

Every "body" is different of course, but a collar bone rebuild doesn't have to be the end of diving.


Good luck and speedy recovery

Tobin

 

[Drin]

My right humerus is artificial from elbow to shoulder. 4-part hemiarthroplasty as a result of a motorcycle accident in 1998. The glenoid fossa and rotator cuff were left intact somehow, thank goodness.

Anyway, proper trim while diving becomes an issue after a while, as does scootering. The right arm extension to hold the trigger makes it ache.

Still, it works and I'm able to dive so it's worth the pain.

-Adrian

 

[boulderjohn]

I was able to dive about 3 months after a bad bicycle crash gave me a plate and 7 screws. I still have all the hardware, and it has never bothered me at all either carrying scuba gear or my golf bag. I was walking around with doubles on that first post injury trip without any trouble.

What I was worried about the most in my rehab was range of motion. My doctor gave me a target date for being able to dive, and I scheduled a two week dive trip for two weeks after that. My plan was for technical diving, including cave diving, and I was worried that I would not be able to reach my valves with the injured limb (left side). I worked hard on range of motion exercises with that fear in mind, but when I went into the pool two weeks before the trip, I could not do it. I worked intensely those two weeks, including two very valuable massages by a masseuse who really knew her stuff, and I was just fine when I actually left for the trip.

 

[tridacna]

Thanks everyone for the positive and encouraging feedback. I was really worried but think that getting back into the gym and working out will be key to to getting back to diving. Last night was agonizing. After the nerve block wore off, I took a Oxycontin and several Percosets. Never helped-still hurts like heck. Hoping that it starts to subside today....

 

[cool_hardware52]

Thanks everyone for the positive and encouraging feedback. I was really worried but think that getting back into the gym and working out will be key to to getting back to diving. Last night was agonizing. After the nerve block wore off, I took a Oxycontin and several Percosets. Never helped-still hurts like heck. Hoping that it starts to subside today....

Thank goodness for opiates. It gets better, the first week is tough. I broke my collar bone, three ribs and cracked my pelvis (anything worth doing is worth doing well)

The ribs were the worst and longest lasting. The collarbone became tolerable in about 3 weeks.

Tobin

 

[Drin]

Tobin - I broke three ribs playing rugby in 2004 (lesson learned: playing rugby against Samoans on a frozen pitch in a night game in Japan is never a good idea). They still ache at random intervals. Do yours ever flare up?

To the OP: hang in there! The pain WILL diminish in time.

-Adrian

 

[cool_hardware52]

Tobin - I broke three ribs playing rugby in 2004 (lesson learned: playing rugby against Samoans on a frozen pitch in a night game in Japan is never a good idea). They still ache at random intervals. Do yours ever flare up?

To the OP: hang in there! The pain WILL diminish in time.

-Adrian

So far the ribs are like new. The hardware in the shoulder often feels a little "odd" but not painful. The pelvis is fully healed and gives me no problem.

Note to self, no Rugby.

Tobin