Broken Collar Bone

[bekster 0]

Hi

It's been broken 3 weeks now and the first 2 weeks were really painfull .. the last week was way better!

Today it was x-rayed again and the doc said its healing perfectly: no displacement + a nice visible "callus"! And i dont have to wear the sling anymore! And he said i can play hockey and lift weights in 2 weeks!!?

Would you guys say its too early for no sling from now on and hockey in two weeks?

I dont want to hurry anything and probably just wait until i feel good to play.

Krev and lancerplayer how long did it take all in all for you to feel 100% comfortable again?

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

I read something about the clavicle takes about 2-3 months to really strengthen back to normal and 6 months to regain it's former strength after a break.

[Krev 86]

For me, I was at 100% after 2 months. Lifted weights after 5 weeks, was skating after 3 weeks. :)

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

hey thats just the average not saying you cant come back sooner or wont be out longer....just depends on how bad you broke it and how quickly your body recovers

[goodguy 7]

My 13 year old son broke his during a hit/fall about 4 weeks month ago. Doc said no contact for AT LEAST 8 weeks. His was very similar to Krev's x-ray above (broken about 3/4 through but not all the way - thank god). Funny thing is - he got hit, got up skated to bench, sat out for a few shifts, waved me down and said it hurts just a little (no crying, no major complaining). Since he had separated that shoulder last season in a similar fall, I thought it was same thing and just needed rest. After, a coach looked at it (he's an EMT), he was pressing on it, etc and thought it wasn't broken due to no real pain at time of incident (no screaming, no odd looking unbalanced shoulder, etc).

So I was going to have him play a tourney that weekend. My buddy said, at least have him get an xray just in case. Since I was taking his brother to docs for checkup anyway i scheduled a visit at same time assuming they would say it was "bruised". they x-rayed it and said it was broken - no playing for 8 weeks.

He could have skated after 2 but didn't trust that he wouldn't fall on it. So to be safe waited 4 weeks and had his skating with no contact. Probably contact in 2-3 more weeks.

That is with a break that was not fully through. He wont take slapshots yet and says shooting tweaks it a bit. He did start working out with the team after 4 weeks (no pushups or lifting) and got some pain in his collarbone where he had to stop.

No reason to push it too soon and REALLY break the thing.

Lesson learned: get it checked out just in case - if I would have had him play and he took a hit, would have snapped it all the way through and maybe through the skin necessitating surgery, etc and maybe being out for a hell of a lot longer and maybe not having a spot on his team. Very weak bone (apparently gets stronger after youth) but if you research it- it is about as strong as a same diameter tree branch - not very much PSI to break it. No sense being out longer or making it worse.

Final x-rays at 5 week point (next week) to and thinking doctor will say "give it another 4 weeks" (which would be about before contact but we will probably go ahead and get back after 6-7 weeks out - this was not for a FULL on break though. My guess is we could have come back sooner as he seems to be healing fast but no sense forcing it and making things worse. it is spring season and his AAA has many kids wanting his spot - hard for him to watch others playing and him watching from bench but?

After seeing how this all worked out - I would guess 6 weeks for partial break and at least 8 -12 for full break.

Our remedy (which is what taylor hall did for his ankle break) was packet of Jello powder, orange juice, and sugar mixed and drink it down....ugh but seems to have worked ?

Might be better to use the Knox NutraJoint unflavored product mixed with something for flavor (like OJ). Apparently the gelatin is known to heal bones and joints fast (something about collagen production) ... you can read reviews of the Knox NutraJoint product on Walgreens website. Might have to order online. Might avoid the pure sugar effect of the Jello packets - but not sure if the sugar has some effect as it releases insulin which improve uptake of compounds (at least glucose post workout) quickly ??? I.m not a sports science expert.

Another person swore by saving empty egg shells, baking them, crushing them to a powder and mixing into a drink and sucking it down. Apparently egg shells are pure calcium (or something like that). i didn't try that one as it sounded like alot of work.