Badly broken collar bone and Ligaments.

Hello all,

first of all thanks for reading, so 2 weeks ago i got hit by a car on my bike. All my weight landed on my left shoulder, i got admitted to hospital where i was told to lay still and not to move. After 24 hours passed i went for surgery on my collar bone, it snapped right at the end where it attaches to your shoulder. Straight forward surgery till they got in there and i had 3 torn ligaments. They have sewn them back together and put a metal plate on my collar bone. Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on what to expect recovery time wise. Also i start physio next wednesday, what should i expect its going to hurt right?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi,

Sounds like a significant injury. I suspect in addition to the collar bone fracture, you have also damaged the Acromioclavicular Joint (ACJ). This is basically the joint that attaches your collar bone to you shoulder blade. Recovery time is slightly dependant on what sort of activity you want to get back to (i.e.. how much shoulder stability you will require).

I would certainly be prepared for some of the initial treatment to hurt a little as it will be important to gradually increase your range of motion through the shoulder. One of the really important areas of rehabilitation from this type of injury is recovering the stability of the shoulder. I'm sure your physiotherapist will give you some strength work to do when the time is right.

It is difficult to give accurate timescales without assessing you but I would look at approximately 8-12 weeks for the bone to heal and then a further 8-12 weeks of rehabilitation to get the shoulder strong again.

Hope this helps, but feel free to fire any questions over

A broken collarbone (also known as a clavicular fracture) most often happens from falling and landing directly onto your shoulder, such as while bicycling, skiing, or snowboarding.

The collarbone, or clavicle, is directly under the skin with very little overlying tissue, which makes fractures visible to the naked eye. Sometimes, the fractured ends of the bones can even protrude through the skin. Clavicular fractures are generally very painful at the time of the fracture.The clavicle is challenging for your body to heal on its own, as an immobilizing cast cannot be placed correctly around the fracture. In a less serious fracture, when the broken ends of the bones don’t overlap (less than 1.5 cm), the collarbone can heal without surgical intervention. We recommend treating this fracture with a shoulder sling for immobilization and gentle range of motion exercises.