Surgery for Broken Clavicle

After 5 and a half weeks, i opted for surgery to mend my broken collar bone.
There was no signs of healing by itself, as there was no ' putty' or ' spindling' that was meant to be there and be seen by the xrays even a month post the clavical break. View post here.

Here is a picture of what it looks like now:

Plate and Screws inserted 

Looks quite scary huh?
You can read about my Pre surgical anxiety and post surgery state here.


After surgery it was a bit painful as they must've bruised the meat while moving the bone into place. I now have a plate and screws in place to hold the bones together. It finally feels normal again. The shortage of my arm has gone, and the feelings of straining is also no longer there. The cut is about 5cm long (Thanks to a wonderful surgeon that has discovered that a big cut is not necessary).
I still am not able to lift anything heavier than a light coffee mug and have been instructed to not lift my hand over my head. The bone still needs 6-8 weeks to mend itself.

In conclusion, if i was to go back in time and tell myself if i should have gone for surgery or not, i would say DO IT! The pain is less as the initial break ( heaps less). Say if i gave the intial break a pain score between 1-10, 10 being the most painful i've felt. i would have given it a 7/10.
The pain score after surgery is a 5/10 which after a day drops drastically to a 3/10 and so on.

Journey with a broken clavicle

I thought that i would write a post in regards to a broken clavical as when i first broke mine, i googled desperately to find some help, some advice, to ease my pain.. to find comfort.. to see how many people had surgery, and how many people didnt, and how did it heal? and how long did it take.. and if it was a better decision? this that and this... yes i know them all. i am one of the most paranoid people that i know. Lol so here's my story...

On July 7th 2012, i left home and driving to work, as usual i took my usual route, driving down my street, i pressed my radio for the next song, and looked down to see if it was working, next thing i know my car is riding up the kerb, i turned the wheel in hopes to get back on the road, i  must've panicked and stepped hard on the accelerator instead hoping it was the brake. and slammed into the tree. seat belt fractured my collarbone. it was so painful.. the doctors put me in a sling and said it will heal with time : 6-8 weeks and that most people don't need surgery unless if they were a professional athlete. 

This is how my experience went:

My Broken Clavicle

• the first week, the pain was sharp, like sharp blades cutting from inside. i could not move that arm much at all. After every shower, i had my arm in a sling under my PJs  because it was too painful to straighten that arm to wear the sleeves. Wearing the sling was also hard when placing the elbow too narrowly. I also noticed a line of yellow discolouring from the break of the bone that travelled down my chest. The GP advised this was the blood traveling down.
• Eating the first few days hurt, as the muscles that were connected to the collarbone was torn, so i had to chew slowly and eat small pieces. Sneezing hurt, and so did yawning or accidently choking or coughing on food/water.
• I was also fatigued alot, and required a lot of water or i felt as if i was going to faint. I guess this was because the body was using so much to mend it. Lots of rest was needed
• By 2.5 weeks,  i paid the orthopedic doctor a visit, and he recommended that i have surgery because the gap was too big (non touching for around 7mm) . He also said, i could wait til 6 weeks post injury to see if it will heal. (Six weeks post injury surgery is considered to be mandatory, while pre 6 weeks surgery is considered to be cosmetic.) i chose to wait as i was paranoid about surgery.
• During this time, i had more energy and did not feel as fatigued or tired, my shoulder did feel short, and because it was winter when i was cold and shivering i felt that my arm moved more than usual - this might be due to it not being connected at the collar bone. In the mornings it felt strained.. like something was tiring it out. 
• After about 4 weeks , i went for another check up (to another doctor this time for a second opinion) and it was the exact same.. there was no signs of bondage.. he also suggested surgery. i was terrified! And delayed this surgery procedure til mid of week 5....

Post Surgery - Read here.