Collar-bone, plate or natural heal?

[KBolgen]

I recently snapped my collarbone clear in half. Two options are let it heal naturally with a gnarly bump left-over. Or use a plate to fuse the two pieces of bone, creating a flush heal and some minor hard-wear retained. Obviously neither is considered disqualifying for my SNA contract (was supposed to start TBS in oct...now make that march..ish).

However, I am curious if there is anyone out there who has had a collar-bone break that has left a noticeable bump, and if it affects weight distribution with a flak/ruck on, or irritation in a harness?

Having spent 6 years as a radio operator I know full well how important weight distribution of a pack is. Hopefully my ground-pounding days are numbered but I'm sure a FAC tour somewhere down (way down) the road will load a full pack up again, and I just want to make sure some past bone break that didn't heal flush will not come back and haunt me.

Obviously a very specific situation, but any feedback would be great.

RAH.

 

[zab1001]

Broke mine on both ends. Let it heal naturally. No issues. The bumps aren't noticeable.

Can't speak to packs though.

 

[beaverslayer]

I did exactly the same thing last August, and was given the same options. I was told it would heal just fine by itself with no help, or I could have a 6 inch plate and 7 screws put into it. The way it was described to me, avoiding surgery would be easier on my body in the short term (obviously), but surgery would be better in the long run.

The collar bone will heal by itself, with a bump like you said, but that misalignment will cause it to be slightly weaker than it used to be, and less stable. The weakness will make it more likely to re-injure. After giving it time to heal properly though, I don't think there is likely to be any irritation from a pack or harness.

On the other hand, having surgery to put in a plate is rough. It is a rough week or so after you wake up. However, as far as recovery time goes, after that first week the process goes remarkably quickly. Even though it hurt like hell, even a few days after the surgery I already had a better range of motion than before the surgery. After surgery in late August, I had recovered 100% in terms of range of motion, pain, and load bearing by early December, and was given the all clear by an orthopedist.

Like you said, the Doctor I saw at MEPS didn't care at all about the plate, since I still had my full range of motion and all that. So over all, I would definitely recommend getting the plate put in. It is a rough week, but after that it just goes so much quicker than anything else. Plus after the healing is over, that bone will be way stronger than it was originally will the metal reinforcement. Having that there gives me a sense of confidence--I don't have to worry about breaking that one again without doing something really stupid.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

Oh, you will probably set off metal detectors in airports sometimes, but who doesn't love that much more of a hassle from TSA? :icon_tong

 

[scoolbubba]

I broke mine when I was way younger, so this might be a little bit different. The doc and parents agreed that I was young enough to let it heal naturally and see what happened. I ended up with a gnarly bump (imagine a super ball under the skin) and when I was 14 had surgery to fix the bump. Essentially an orthopedic surgeon took a belt sander to my bone. Rehab didn't take long. So...take that FWIW.

 

[UCbearcat]

I broke my collarbone playing hockey a few years back. It definitely was not as bad as your break, but still broken. No need for surgery and it healed up fine.

I skydive and even when hauling around some larger rigs (when I was starting out) and some hard openings I haven't had any problems with it. I also continued to play hockey without any more complications.

If you haven’t broken a collarbone before, I suggest sleeping in a Lazyboy Chair. Those things saved me for the first three days. It kept me from rolling onto my side.

As for the bump, it isn't very big. Then again, mine wasn't a major fracture.

Best of luck.

 

[feddoc]

Either way, you will have a bump (scar tissue) of some kind. One way to help eliminate that bump would be to massage the area over the break on a frequent basis.

 

[Rocketman]

I broke mine at 50 trying to run out a down wind landing in my glider. Not good. It snapped in 5 maybe 6 pieces in what the docs call a Zed fracture. I think because that's kind of like what it looks like on an Xray. Even with that kind of a break they gave me the option of letting it heal or or putting in a plate.

I chose to have them do the plate. I'll have to echo all of what beaverslayer said. (right on down to the number of screws) It wasn't much fun. I had a good deal of pain, about a 6 inch scar and some left over numbness below the incision, a known potential side effect. You can see by the Xray that they didn't do a great job of getting all the pieces screwed to the plate but it healed just fine. It feels at least as strong as it was and I can lift with it no problem. I'm certain it wouldn't be as strong without the plate.

What is a problem is that anything rubbing the skin back and forth over the plate is relatively painful for me even 4 years later. It's my left shoulder and I would hate like hell to get into a pretty good fender bender where the seat belt really tightens down on it. I don't think it would break again but it might make my wimpy ass cry.

I tell you what else might make me cry. Having to hump a heavy ruck on a forced march with that damn thing in there. YMMV