I did a barrel roll

Ouch! Nasty! All the best to you healing.

Ouch!!  I broke my collarbone, but not that bad.  Hope everything heals well and they can fix things.

This user's post has been ignored.

Edited by Zilla 2009-01-04 10:11 AM

Ouch - sorry to hear about your injury.  Like others I wish you a full and speedy recovery.  Great illustration - your seat's too high.

Oops,  heal up swiftly,  like the xray and the diagram, really explained what happened....

OUCH!   Good luck with surgery and the recovery.  I do like the illustration though.

ETA: I take it you were wearing a better helmet than your drawing suggests?

Edited by Sprint_DA 2009-01-04 11:51 AM

Ouch.  Hope you feel better

For those of you that have broken their collar bone before, about how long of a recovery should I be expecting? I know its gonna be a long time before I can swim again, but I really want to know when I can run and ride again.

Also, my brother and dad went riding this morning and took some pictures of the trail:

This is looking down the trail from the top of the drop off:



This pic shows the correct line down, and my dad is standing on the line I took, right over the big root, then straight down.



This is the view from the other side of the half-pipe. You can see the scale and how far I actually fell from beginning to end.

 FWIW, that looks like an outside loop, not a barrel roll. The outside loop is much harder to perform on a MTB, so you get bonus points for style!!! Best wishes on a speedy recovery.

Sorry to hear about your crash! I know how painful & annoying it is. I broke my right collarbone, also in a bike accident (although due to a dog) earlier this year.

I had surgery a week and a half after the accident. The first surgeon (the staff person at the hospital the ambulance took me to) was not very helpful. He said he'd do surgery if I wanted it, but then went on vacation for two weeks and I was just supposed to wait around. (?!?!) Then his PA was saying they wouldn't do it at all. So I went to the hospital where my boyfriend (now husband!) works and saw an ortho guy there. My bone was broken all the way through in two places mid-shaft and one of the pieces was about to poke through my skin. He did my surgery a few days later. I now have a titanium plate along the length of the bone with 14 screws through the bone, holding it in place. It was very important to me that the bone be fixed correctly, because I wanted to be able to swim again and I play the cello. I don't know what they'll tell you. I heard that 90% of broken collarbones won't require surgery, but I'd make sure they know you're a swimmer, so you need full range of motion ultimately.

As far as recovery, I was out walking (slowly, though - I also had a broken rib) a week after the surgery. But I was told that I had to take it easy - I was not allowed to even move my right arm under my own power for the first 4 weeks. I had to waer a sling all the time, and do passive range-of-motion physical therapy 3 times a day. So basically my mom/boyfriend/neighbor would move my arm/shoulder around 3 times a day for about 15 min each. It hurt like a b!thc at first, but wasn't so bad after a couple weeks. After 4 weeks, he said I could wean myself off the sling, and I took it off and never wore it again. The Dr. also said I could start riding the trainer inside after the first 4 weeks as long as I didn't lean over and put pressure on my shoulder. I would ride 30-40 min twice a week, but that was it. I also did active physical therapy for weeks 5-12. It was hard because I'd lost all strength in the arm during the first 5 weeks of inactivity.

I did my first run 8 weeks after surgery. The only real problem there (besides just being out of shape) was that my sports bra was really hard to get on/off and the pressure the strap put on the bone hurt, so I had to hold it up. Even now, 8 months after the surgery, the bone will ache sometimes if there's too much pressure on it from the, uh, "bouncing." I guess you shouldn't have to worry about that, though!

I was supposed to wait 12 weeks before doing any "real" riding outside, but I went out at 11 weeks. I was determined to get a little road time in, because I was going to do a short tri at the 14 week timeframe. I was able to ride pretty much without incident, although I had to do one-armed swimming for the race.

You are right, you won't be able to swim for a long time. I still can't.... supposedly the screws in my bone go 2-3 mm past the bone on the underside, and the surgeon said no freestyle until they come out. Hopefully, that surgery will be within the next month. I did have to try it once at the pool before my race, but it was quite painful, so I'm listening to the doc and waiting.


Well, hopefully that gives you some helpful information regarding recovery times. (Sorry it's so long - I tend to get wordy!) I hope you heal up quickly. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I also have some before/after pics in my log if you're interested. Good luck! oh, and I also enjoyed your illustration. It's good to see that you have a good attitude about it!

This user's post has been ignored.

Thanks for all the good vibes and information. It still aches, but the pain meds are goood. I am hopefully seeing a doctor tomorrow to see if I require surgery or not. I sure hope that I didn't ruin my entire tri year before it even started.

And to think I was out tinkering with one of my mtn bikes in the garage this afternoon...

Nice! That is one serious break there, yo!

My former spouse broke her collar bone when her arm stopped at a tree and the horse she was riding kept going. She has a pretty significant deformity there, and backpacking is very challenging for her due to pressure on the bone. Shop docs until you find one that really gets your active lifestyle and will fix you up right. Taking an extra week or two now is so much better than dealing with a messed up job for the rest of your life.

Be prepared to be crawling out of your skin with lack of exercise while you heal. I see mall walking in your future...

Ok, just got back from the doctor. He said that no surgery is required! Instead, I am in some kind of medieval torture device that holds my shoulders back and up. It is supposed to put the bones back in alignment so that I can heal properly. It hurts beyond belief for now, but he said that the pain will go away eventually. I have a follow-up in two weeks to get more x-rays done and see how I am healing. I was too excited about hearing no surgery that I forgot to ask about when I could start training again. I am going to assume at least two months, but I'll be sure to ask when I go for my follow-up.

get better soon,,   or at least get a video camera and see if someone will recreate your barrel roll,, if not,,, those are some great pics