Typically, treating complex breaks involve:
- repositioning your collarbone
- placing metal screws and a metal plate or pins and screws alone to hold the bone in place so that it heals properly
- wearing a sling after surgery to immobilize the arm for a few weeks
- taking painkillers as prescribed after surgery
- having follow-up X-rays to monitor healing
What is the healing time for a broken collar bone?
The time for a broken collarbone to fully heal depends on the severity of the injury. In children, complete healing may take as little as three to six weeks. In adults, six to 16 weeks or more are often necessary for a collarbone to heal solidly.
How long does it take for a collar bone to heal?
It might take six to 12 weeks for a broken collarbone to heal. But that's just a rough estimate. People recover at different speeds. You are ready to return to your previous level of physical activity when: You can move your arm and shoulder without any pain. Your doctor has taken an X-ray...
How do you treat a broken collar bone?
With nonsurgical treatment, here’s what you can expect:
- Arm support. Your injured arm will be immobilized in a sling or wrap to keep the bone in place. ...
- Pain medication. A doctor may prescribe over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
- Ice. A doctor may recommend ice packs to help with pain for the first few days.
- Physical therapy. ...
How do you repair a broken collar bone?
While recovering from a broken collarbone you may find it helpful to:
- use extra pillows at night to keep yourself more upright if you find sleeping uncomfortable
- use ice packs and painkillers if pain and swelling continues while your arm is in a sling
- move your elbow, hand and fingers regularly as soon as it's comfortable to do so
Do Broken collar bones need surgery?
Most collarbone fractures heal in six to eight weeks, without surgery or complications. Most people are able to start getting back to normal activities by three months or so, but full recovery may take up to six to 12 months. You may feel a bump where the fracture healed.
What is the fastest way to heal a broken collarbone?
To help speed the healing, you might get:A splint or brace to keep your shoulder from moving.A sling for your arm, which you might use for a few days.Anti-inflammatory painkillers, like aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, which will help with pain and swelling. ... Range-of-motion and strengthening exercises.More items...•
How long should a broken collarbone take to heal?
In adults, it usually takes about 6 to 8 weeks for a broken collarbone to heal, although it can take longer. In children, it usually takes about 3 to 6 weeks to heal. However, it will take at least the same period again to restore full strength to your shoulder.
What happens if a broken collarbone goes untreated?
Delayed Union. When a bone fracture is untreated, it can result in either a nonunion or a delayed union. In the former case, the bone doesn't heal at all, which means that it will remain broken. As a result, swelling, tenderness, and pain will continue to worsen over time.
How serious is a broken collar bone?
Most broken collarbones heal without difficulty. Complications, when they occur, might include: Nerve or blood vessel injury. The jagged ends of a broken collarbone may injure nearby nerves and blood vessels.
Should you sleep with a sling on with a broken collarbone?
common fracture. You will be given a sling to support your arm; this should be used for 2 to 6 weeks whilst the injury heals. Wear the sling during the day but remove it for exercises and personal hygiene. You can wear it at night time if you find it more comfortable but you don't have to.
Can I sleep on my side with a broken collarbone?
Holding the broken bone above your heart prevents blood from pooling and causing swelling. First, try sleeping on your back while supporting yourself on several pillows. If this doesn't help, adjust slowly to the side position if possible. Sleep in the middle of the bed, so you don't fall in the middle of the night.
Is it OK to walk with a broken collarbone?
Within a few days of the fracture you should be able to move your fingers, wrist and elbow without too much discomfort. As the pain in the clavicle area improves you should be able to begin moving the shoulder joint a little to prevent the joint from tightening up too much.
How much force does it take to break a collarbone?
When it restrains you during a collision, it applies a tremendous amount of pressure on your clavicle—it only takes 25 pounds of pressure to break a bone. Therefore, although the restraint will keep you secure, it could also cause severe damage to your collarbone.
How do you sleep with a broken collarbone?
Try sleeping with pillows propped under your arm for comfort. After a few days, put your fingers, wrist, and elbow through their full range of motion several times a day. This will keep them from getting stiff.
Can I drive with a broken collarbone?
With a broken collarbone, you should avoid doing anything that worsens the pain. For example, if driving is painful, then avoid driving until the fracture is healed. You can gradually ease yourself into doing activities that involve little to no pain.
Is it OK to walk with a broken collarbone?
Can I exercise with a broken collarbone? Yes. In fact, as long as you don't need surgery, you should be able to start doing exercises for elbow motion soon after the injury.
How do you sleep with a broken collarbone?
Try sleeping with pillows propped under your arm for comfort. After a few days, put your fingers, wrist, and elbow through their full range of motion several times a day. This will keep them from getting stiff.
Do Broken collar bones heal stronger?
Despite one misconception, there is no evidence that a bone that breaks will heal to be stronger than it was before. When a bone fractures, it begins the healing process by forming a callus at the fracture site, where calcium is deposited to aid rebuilding, said Dr. Terry D.
How to treat a collarbone fracture?
The vast majority of collarbone fractures can be treated with a simple sling. Sometimes a swath is wrapped around the sling to hold it to the body. Occasionally a figure-of-eight splint is used. This wraps around both shoulders and the neck to hold the shoulders back and up.
How to tell if your collarbone is broken?
Symptoms of a fractured collarbone include a pop or click sound and feeling when the collarbone breaks, followed by sharp pain. The area will hurt when the arm is moved. The skin over the break may bulge outward, and there may be bruising. A broken collarbone requires medical care and an X-ray of the clavicle is usually needed.
How long does it take for a broken collarbone to heal?
In some cases, surgery may be required. Most clavicle fractures heal within 4 to 8 weeks. Physical therapy may help with rehabilitation.
How long does it take for a clavicle fracture to heal?
These people are often referred to an orthopedic surgeon within 2 to 3 days after breaking their collarbone. Some may require surgery.
What is the X-ray of a broken collarbone?
X-ray of a broken collarbone (clavicle) The clavicle (commonly referred to as the collarbone) is a bone found on both sides of the chest that connects the sternum or breastbone to both shoulders. A fractured clavicle is the medical term used when the collarbone is broken. A broken collarbone can be caused by trauma (sports injuries, car accidents, ...
What does it mean when your clavicle breaks?
If the clavicle is gently touched along its length, pain is usually greatest at one point, locating the break. Often a crunching feeling is noted over the break, known as crepitus. The skin over the break often bulges outward and can be discolored a reddish-purple, indicating an early bruise.
What are the conditions that require surgical repair of the clavicle?
One or more of the following conditions may require surgical repair of the clavicle: Multiple fractures in one clavicle. Clavicle shortening due to bone loss (for example, bone is shattered) Open fracture of the clavicle (clavicle breaks through the skin) Clavicle break that involves vascular or nerve structures.
What is the treatment for a broken collarbone?
After your collarbone and shoulder area heals, the associated joints may be stiff or slightly malpositioned. A chiropractor or osteopath can use manual joint manipulation, also called an adjustment, to reposition joints that are misaligned due to the trauma that broke your collarbone.
How to help a collarbone injury?
1. Rest your injured collarbone and apply ice. Once you're discharged from the hospital or clinic, you'll be told to rest your arm and apply ice to the injury while the arm sling or splint is on in order to help decrease the swelling and numb the pain.
What is the best way to support a collarbone?
Instead, a simple arm sling or "figure-of-eight" wrap or splint is usually used for support and comfort immediately after a collarbone break. A figure-of-eight splint wraps around both shoulders and the base of the neck to help support the injured side and keep it positioned up and back.
Why is my collarbone broken?
A broken (fractured) collarbone is a relatively common injury, particularly in children and young adults, because the bone doesn't completely harden until adulthood (about the age of 20). Common causes of collarbone fractures include falls, sports injuries and trauma from motor vehicle accidents. [2]
What is the most common broken bone in a sling?
Slings come in all sizes, including ones appropriate for small children, as the collarbone is the most commonly broken bone in kids — usually the result of falling onto an outstretched arm. ...
How to know if you have a broken collarbone?
A broken collarbone causes intense pain near the shoulder and top part of the chest, and disables most upper arm movements, especially those involving arm raising and reaching. Other signs and symptoms include bruising, swelling, and/or bulging over the fracture site, a grinding noise and pain with arm movements and sometimes numbness and/or tingling in the hand.
How long does it take for a broken collar bone to heal?
To heal from a broken collar bone, it's important to keep your arm supported in a sling for 4-8 weeks. Ice your collar bone several times per day for the first 2-4 days to control any pain and swelling you're experiencing.
What to do if your collarbone is broken?
Typically, treating complex breaks involve: placing metal screws and a metal plate or pins and screws alone to hold the bone in place so that it heals properly.
What is the treatment for a broken collarbone?
Treatment for a broken collarbone depends on the type and severity of your fracture. There are risks and benefits to both nonsurgical and surgical treatments. It’s best to fully discuss your treatment options with your doctor. In the past, nonsurgical treatment for a break in the middle part ...
What is the name of the bone that connects the arms to the body?
Overview. The collarbone ( clavicle) is a long slender bone that connects your arms to your body. It runs horizontally between the top of your breastbone ( sternum) and shoulder blades ( scapula ). Broken collarbones (also called clavicle fractures) are fairly common, representing about 5 percent of all adult fractures.
How to treat a broken arm?
With nonsurgical treatment, here’s what you can expect: 1 Arm support. Your injured arm will be immobilized in a sling or wrap to keep the bone in place. It’s important to restrict movement until your bone has healed. 2 Pain medication. A doctor may prescribe over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. 3 Ice. A doctor may recommend ice packs to help with pain for the first few days. 4 Physical therapy. A doctor or a physical therapist may show you gentle exercises to prevent stiffness as your bones are healing. Once your bones have healed, your doctor can advise a rehabilitation program to help your arm gain strength and flexibility.
How long does it take for a broken collarbone to heal?
Broken collarbones usually take six to eight weeks to heal for adults and three to six weeks in young children. Healing times vary depending on the individual fracture. In the first four to six weeks, you shouldn’t lift anything heavier than five pounds or try to raise your arm above shoulder level.
How common are clavicle fractures in children?
Clavicle fractures are even more common in children, representing between 8 and 15 percent. of all child fractures. A 2016 Swedish study found that 68 percent of clavicle fractures occurred in males. The 15- to 24-year-olds represented the largest age group among males, at 21 percent.
Why do doctors check for shoulder breaks?
Depending on the type of break, the doctor may want to check to see if nerves or blood vessels were also damaged.
How to fix a broken collarbone?
For severe collarbone fractures in which the bone has broken into several pieces, an orthopedic surgeon will need to perform procedure called an open reduction and internal fixation to realign the bones and fix them with plates, screws, or rods. This will help the bone heal properly and in an aligned position as well as prevent the development of malunions. Depending on the surgeon and your specific injury, your surgeon may remove the hardware once your bone has healed. Along with surgical treatment is regular monitoring of your healing using X-rays to ensure that you are healing properly and that there are no signs of complications.
What is it called when your collarbone breaks?
If your bones have broken into two or more pieces and have moved out of place, they may heal improperly, which is called a malunion. A malunion can cause long-term issues and often has to be addressed with complex surgery.
How long does it take to heal a fractured clavicle?
Healing takes between four to six weeks in younger people and up to 12 weeks in the elderly, but it depends on the severity of the fractured clavicle.
How long does it take for a clavicle to break?
It sometimes takes a week or so until the swelling goes down enough to see the crack clearly. Prepare for surgery in severe cases. Although most fractures of the clavicle are hairline fractures, in some cases the break is serious enough to require surgery — about 5–10% of cases.
How to treat clavicle soreness?
Apply the crushed ice to your clavicle for 15 minutes three to five times daily until the soreness and inflammation eventually fades away. Lightly compressing the crushed ice against your injury with a stretchy Tensor or Ace bandage is also helpful for combating inflammation.
Why does the clavicle need to move?
Your clavicle needs to move a little bit during the later phases of the injury to stimulate complete recovery. Complete lack of activity and total immobilization of your arm for many weeks could trigger loss of bone mineral, which is counterproductive for an injured bone trying to get stronger.
What is the clavicle?
The clavicle (commonly called collarbone) is a long, thin bone that connects the breastbone to the shoulder girdle on each side of the upper body. A fractured (broken) collarbone is a pretty common injury, especially in kids, teenagers and younger adults, because the bone doesn't completely mature until around the age of 20.
What is figure 8 splint?
A figure-eight splint wraps around both shoulders and the base of your neck in order to support the injured shoulder and keep it positioned up and back. Sometimes a larger swath of material is wrapped around the sling to keep it closer to your body.
What is the procedure to realign clavicle?
Surgery involves realigning the bone fragments and keeping them in place with special metal plates, pins and/or screws. The clavicle usually breaks in the middle, as opposed to the ends which attach to the breastbone (sternum) and shoulder blade.
What causes numbness under collarbone?
Nerve Injury. Major nerve damage is very uncommon, but the skin nerves that provide sensation just below the collarbone are often damaged at the time of surgery. 6 Many people who have clavicle fracture surgery notice a patch of numbness or tingling just under their incision.
Why do people with clavicle fractures have a hard time using their arms?
People with a clavicle fracture have a hard time using their arms because the movement causes pain at the site of the fracture. Your doctor will X-ray the clavicle to determine if a fracture is present and to determine the most appropriate treatment.
What is the most common fracture of the clavicle?
Contraindications. When to Have Surgery. Complications. Clavicle fractures, or broken collarbones, are among the most common broken bones that occur. They represent about 5% of all broken bones and are especially common in younger, more active adults. 1 Most fractures of the clavicle occur in the central portion of the collarbone.
What is the clavicle?
The clavicle is the bone in the front of the chest on top of the rib cage. The clavicle is important in helping to support normal shoulder function and is the attachment point for several important muscles including the deltoid and pectoralis muscles .
How long does it take for a bra strap to be removed?
Many people will choose to have the hardware removed after the break has healed, which is usually at least six months after their initial surgery and most commonly about a year after surgery.
Can a clavicle fracture be treated without surgery?
Most clavicle fractures can be treated without surgery. For the vast majority of clavicle fractures that are not out of place, or only minimally out of place, the safest and most effective treatment is with the use of a sling.
Can clavicle fractures be treated surgically?
For many decades, the results of nonsurgical treatment found that the majority of clavicle fractures healed more reliably with less of a complication rate when compared to clavicle fractures treated with surgery. More recently, however, several studies have questioned if more clavicle fractures should be treated surgically.
Where is the plate used for collarbone surgery?
And most commonly is used a plate, either on the top of the collarbone or on the front of the collarbone. Dr. Miller: And you leave that in after the period of healing? Dr. Thomas: On the top, eventually the bone heals, the swelling goes away. And on top, there's not much tissue between the collarbone and the skin.
Where do collarbone fractures occur?
Most of the collarbone fractures occur in the shaft and in the mid portion of it and the smaller percentage will occur way out towards the end of the clavicle near the shoulder. Those require treatment almost uniformly. The ones in the shaft, less, less uniform require treatment.
How does early motion help with a fracture?
And as the fracture becomes more stable, early motion helps reduce the amount of stiffness and aids people getting back to their activities quicker. Dr. Miller: So generally, somebody who's been injured in a sports-related activity or at work, they would know if they had a fracture. I mean it's painful, it's prominent.
Is there tissue between the collarbone and the skin?
And on top, there's not much tissue between the collarbone and the skin. And those are kind of prominent and people will feel them with their seatbelts or backpacks. And so if the plate is on top, it's more likely to be removed later.
