Broken collarbone recovery

[Ludo]

Guys,

Looking for some advice on broken collarbone recovery. I fell and broke my clavicle last weekend. I will find out on Tuesday if I have to go through surgery or not, but already thinking about what can I do over the next two months in order not to lose too much muscle mass. If anyone went through that and have some feedback to share that would be great.

[kbernstein]

If you get surgery, don't be an idiot like I was and follow PT asap. Pick up resistance bands if you don't have any, they are very easy on the joints and a great way to get some movement back. You won't be able to bike at all for a good 2 weeks post surgery but I walked as much as I could to cope. You can probably resume home trainer after that depending on what your doctor says

[Ludo]

Thanks for the pointers! They told me 12 weeks off the bike. If surgery 3-4 w les in a sling and then PT for 5-6 weeks

[kbernstein]

Thanks for the pointers! They told me 12 weeks off the bike. If surgery 3-4 w les in a sling and then PT for 5-6 weeks

it was 4 months for me but only because i had a pretty severe case, a bad surgery and skipped PT. 12 weeks is typically a worst case scenario. Most people I've heard can hop on the trainer after a month tops
Maybe you're already used to surgery and like it, but if you are given the choice (which i wasn't), I would choose no surgery any day of the week. The side effects you get for life really suck and the first week after surgery is really painful even on horse grade PKs. It would be worth taking the extra month to recover if it means no pain (personally the broken bone didn't hurt at all unless I moved wrong but the week post surgery is 7/10 pain minimum), no scar and no lifelong arthritis at an early age

[Ludo]

Sorry to hear, good luck.
I assume youtube has a lot of content on that, owing to how common it is for cyclists to break their collarbone.
Luckily, despite all my crashes, i didn't break bones.

Stupid me paying for 2s lack of attention, drifted towards my friend and my front wheel got picked up by his rear and threw me off. I am just glad he stayed upright

[jonathanf2]

After you recover, I'd hit the creatine, protein and weight training. I've had a few high speed crashes and I attribute my strength training for minimizing injuries. Same crashes to other cyclists have resulted to broken collar bones and even hip injuries.

[Ludo]

My shoulder area are probably my strongest point as I swim 8 to 10 K a week. I fell before many times never broke a bone so I guess I was just due
I am meeting with the surgeon today to decide on surgery or not. My biggest concern right now is what my injured shoulder sits one or 2 inch below the other one and I don’t see how that get fixed without surgery.

[Ludo]

Surgery scheduled for Thursday, surgeon says back on the bike in 4 weeks

[ausmtb8989]

Guys,

Looking for some advice on broken collarbone recovery. I fell and broke my clavicle last weekend. I will find out on Tuesday if I have to go through surgery or not, but already thinking about what can I do over the next two months in order not to lose too much muscle mass. If anyone went through that and have some feedback to share that would be great.

I've broken both collarbones so can speak from experience.  Most recent one was last November.
My advise is get the surgery, you will feel much better and recovering much quicker.    I was able to hit the trainer pretty much after surgery and light riding 3 months after. 

Also, do your PT!  In my latest case, I suffered a pretty bad case of frozen shoulder after several weeks in-mobile in a sling.  Its taken 6 months of PT to get my full range of motion back, and there is still some stiffness I am working through.

[Ludo]

thanks for all the good advice. I am getting surgery and PT at a facility focused on sport medicine so they really emphasized the necessity of PT post surgery

[cyruscycles]

just eat enough protein and don't worry about it. muscle memory is a very real thing. you'll very quickly bounce back to your previous muscle mass when you get back to training. if you want to speed it up, lift some weights

[Ludo]

Surgery done, let’s go for a speedy recovery! Surgery went smooth, arrived at 5.30 and left at 12! So far no pain at all but taking some medicine so it may flare up later…

[ausmtb8989]

welcome to the titanium club!

[cyruscycles]

welcome to the titanium club!

should’ve asked for carbon to save a few grams. smh

[Ludo]

Well, days after surgery and I was back on the stationnary bike, 3 times 1h this week, will do 4-5 sessions weekly for the next couple of weeks before getting back out.
Arm is now out of the sling and working on getting the range of motion back, I have physical therapy twice a week for 6 weeks.

Thanks for the advices