Dislocated collarbone

[shannonwooten]

Has anyone ever had surgery on their collarbone? I am having surgery in  a few days... and I am wondering how bad the scar will be. I have a dislocated collarbone (Where the collarbone meets the breast bone) and the surgery is going to make it a stable joint.

Has anyone else had a surgery like this? Or something like it?
Can you give me info on the scar or pictures?


Thanks!
Shannon Wooten

[Enoch Choi]

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/shoulderelbow/a/scjoint.htm
is a good article on the problem

http://images.google.com/images?q=sternoclavicular%20dislocation
are good pictures, although none of a post-surgical scar.  It shouldn't scar much since it's small incisions

Enoch Choi, MD

[shannonwooten]

Thanks, I appreciate your response! I checked out the links. The first one was very helpful and the second one was neat.
THanks.

[Enoch Choi]

You're welcome!

Enoch Choi, MD

[monkey269]

I had dislocated my sc joint in a motocross wreck. It took me forever to find a surgeon just to be willing to help. They took my palmaris longus tendon out of my wrist and drilled some holes in the clavicle and tied it back to my sternum. For two years I delt with sleepless nights and knots in my neck muscles. I had the surgery and things seemed to be better for a few months while I was in a sling. Now that I am out I have the same old pains and my collarbone clicks and pops just as much as before. It seems like it just "undid" itself. I find it hard to believe that this is a career ending injury.

[JainMD]

Hi,
How are you feeling?
I feel sorry for you that an injury like this can be career ending.
The clavicle serves as the primary bony connection between the thorax and upper limb.
Clavicle fractures are primarily direct trauma to shoulder girdle. In the adult, clavicle fractures typically result from sports or motor vehicle accidents and are caused by a direct blow to the shoulder.
The mainstay of treatment for improvement is physical therapy and analgesics.
Codman exercises should be instituted early in the course, using a pendulum-type movement of the shoulder with the trunk bent and supported. Passive ROM to the overhead position increases as the pain diminishes in several weeks. Strengthening exercises are used when pain resolves.
Prognosis in patients with displaced fractures develops a generally asymptomatic deformity from the fracture. Functional deficits are unusual but can occur with markedly displaced fractures. Return to full function should occur by 6 to12 weeks.
The average recovery is 4 months after injury. Some patients require >6 months to recover fully.
I think you need to see an orthopaedician as early as possible for further intervention. I would recommend you to see another orthopedist this time around.
Keep me informed if you have any queries.
Bye

[trimbo]

hi, am 16 and have dislocated my clavical at the brest bone. i have been told by doctors that i have streached my tendons and that is why my coller bone is not going back and staying in place. i had alot of pain at first but after two and a half weeks it only hurts when i use my arm to lift something heavy. i did it falling of my bike in a 4 x race. is this going to mean i cant ride again? i did try ride today, but just pulling the front wheel up on a curb hurt! the doctors have told me to leave it for 3 weeks and return if the pain is still present. is there something i can do to ensure i will ride again? thank you

[Brokenpath]

Don't worry! I had  the exact same injury also bmxing.

It's going to hurt for quite a while and it's going to hurt bad but my collarbone is still dislocated and i can't tell the difference whatseover at all. It's just visual.

I was scared too because the doctor said that it will NEVER go back to normal but after 30 years it will be close.. LOL!

Yeah just leave it alone for a month or so.

After a while you'll be back on your bike again don't worry

[dukes831]

i dislocated my collarbone in a motocross wreck, i went to the er they took x rays and said it had torn ligaments and dislocated it happened two weeks ago my bone is still protruding is this normal or should i consult another doctor

[daisey16]

my friend broke her collar bone and got surgery, I don't think the scar was bad,

[hali66]

I was at a concert and tried to catch my friend as she fell off someones shoulders, ever since then my collorbone has been dislocated, i did it in march and now its late september. its taken me this long to get past doctors saying just take antiinflamitories and rest. now i have been prescribed arthritis medication and if that doesnt reduce the inflamtion in 2 weeks, ill have to get quarterzone injections. I am so scared, has anyone had them in there collarbone? the doctor said it can be dangerous because of the arteries behind???

[Dowsey_No11]

I dislocated my collarbone (x-ray pic shud be my profile pic) on 22nd Jan 2009. This was somehow missed by the original A&E doctor that examined my x-ray that night who told me that if it still hurting in 6mths to come back and have it looked at again! It was only because I flatly refused to leave that I was eventually given an appt at the fracture clinic the following Tuesday where a different Doc said that it was dislocated.

My questions are
1. how long can I expect to be in pain for roughly? the doc has not suggested an operation just sent me packing with a sling on and told me to come back in a month or so ... he also said that Rugby players that get this injury normally have a sling on for a couple of weeks and then are back playing 3-4 wks later ... well i'm a day or 2 short of 3 wks and I dont think there is anyway that I'd be able to play football/soccer.
2. should this be operated on ... they doc that i saw said he would advise against it but if I had seen his colleague he would strongly suggest an operation

Help please

[helanne]

I am 15, I dislocated my collarbone in november 2007, it took me 3 months in a sling, 6 months of physio and countless hospital visits before my physio finally found a surgen who was willing to help. I was reffered to a doctor in leicester who decided to operate in june this year after i finnish my gcse's. i'd say you should have physio before turning to surgery, physio definatly helped me, but it still popped when i lift my arm, i'm a dancer and need my arm, and at the moment i get really bad aching pains when i lift my arm and for a while after it's down.
hope this helped.

[danielbman]

yo. my xray looks exactly the same as yours. just different side.
I had xray at a+e then got fracture clinic appointment another xray and the only option i got was an operation to have a hook plate put in. now it hurt like hell coming out of my anestetic but after a good hit on the morphine it was just uncomfortable. the plate has 2 come out hopefully sooner rather than late cos i dont wanna ruin my summer season wakeboarding. http://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/documents/synthes_clavicle_hook.pdf this shows what i had done pg 5.

there seem to be 2 opions on our injury.
hook plate sugery
or conservative sling.

apprently ill get good movement back soon but i won't be able to lift my arm above shoulders till the plate comes out.

Peace out

[cpsystem32]

i dislocated my collar playing football. i went to a physical therapist and he told me i also messed up my rib and dislocated my collarbone. i had pain from the top of my shoulder down my triceps. i could not pick up my phone to my ear from the pain.I could barely drive my standard car cause shifting hurt and shake people hands hurt too.  He told me i got tendonitis as a result from dislocating my collar bone. He gave me some work outs using therapy bands. Two days after starting them i could do push up, dribble a basketball and lift heavy objects. The only pain i have know is from my rib. The therapist told me my rib cause inflammation which is why when i reach down to pick stuff up with my hurt arm, which is my right arm, i fell pain. He told me after he push my rib back into place that a day or two and that pain will be gone. He said as soon as that pain was good i could start working again.

couple thing he told me about dislocated shoulders:
the shoulder joint will strengthen naturally.
almost all the time you dislocate your shoulder you do not fell pain at the point of the joint but down your shoulder.
And he also told me rarely do people need surgery to fix it

Hope this information helps

[pretzle09]

hello there, i dislocated my collarbone over 15 years ago and have only just found this site.  various operations were discussed, fusing the shoulder originally then 5 years ago the use of tendons from the wrist but again refused as only within a 10% chance of success. the pain comes and goes but my problem is now my hand and i am getting know where.  it is the hand on the side of the collarbone, i get pins and needles, swelling and i cannot write for more than a couple of mins.  typing this and i have now got sharp pains in the wrist. arthrits ruled out, nerve testing revealed nothing any one any ideas and possibly sufferd the same????