It's possible my collarbone was just fractured after quite a nasty bike wipeout. My fed bcbs ran out this month iirc and im wondering if a trip to the ER is necessary. oO

I can position the arm so that the pain stops, but my buddies want to take me in ;/

6/1/2008 8:57:09 PM

I think they just put it in a sling if it is fractured. You can immobilize it without going to the doctor and spending a ton of money on x-rays and diagnosis.

I doubt it would hurt to just take it easy for a day or two and immobilize it as necessary, but it's your body and I'm no doctor.

[Edited on June 1, 2008 at 9:03 PM. Reason : l]

6/1/2008 9:03:15 PM

this is what i want to do. 900 dollars for a sling and some sage advice to take it easy. maybe some opiates tho


wtb fep blue ;(

6/1/2008 9:05:55 PM

it depends on how badly its broken... if it needs set you may need surgery to basically set it with a metal rod

6/1/2008 9:11:51 PM

regardless, i can wait it out through the night, correct?

6/1/2008 9:13:25 PM

i dont see why not... but if you get feverish i would go straight to the ER

6/1/2008 9:14:44 PM

isnt there a window with broken bones where after that time, you might as well not go?

6/1/2008 9:32:27 PM

can you feel the break? Is it displaced?

6/1/2008 9:37:21 PM

rather large bump when arm isnt in 'sling position'

6/1/2008 9:43:36 PM

Do you know that it isn't separated? Does the bump look like these pics? If so you're going to have to get it back in the socket. It's the same procedure whether you go to a doctor or not, but they''l give you some drugs before they actually put it back in if you go to the doctor. You kind of have to lift the arm up and back to make it slip back in.

[Edited on June 1, 2008 at 9:58 PM. Reason : l]

6/1/2008 9:54:34 PM

i wanna wake up naked next to you, kissing the curve in your clavicle.

6/1/2008 10:07:00 PM

Go to the doctor. Why didn't you get Cobra?

6/1/2008 10:30:22 PM

GO TO OTHE DOCTOR

6/1/2008 11:20:12 PM

who needs doctors when you have completely unqualified internet message board posters to get medical advice from?

6/1/2008 11:24:35 PM

the bump isnt on the top of the shoulder like that. it's more toward my neck and protrudes outward if that makes sense.

6/1/2008 11:26:24 PM

lol, im going, I just didnt think it was bad enough for the ER

6/1/2008 11:27:20 PM

Yeah, that's about what I remember from when I broke mine as a kid.

I tried to take my bike off some sweet jumps, but I ended up going shoulder first into a wooden post.

6/1/2008 11:39:23 PM

this is what a separated clavicle looks like after it's healed... I am twisting my should a little for the most effect... but it's pretty gnarly...



[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 12:12 AM. Reason : full pic]

6/2/2008 12:09:56 AM

how much that shit run you? it fucking figures as soon as i no longer have insurance something like this happens. watch me need surgery.

6/2/2008 12:11:52 AM

well mine was grade 3, I did it snowboarding and it was VERY obvious IMMEDIATELY that something was seriously screwed up... I thought it was like in the movies where a guy dislocates his arm and then pounds it into something to pop it back into place... so I tried banging it against the mountain... bad idea...

I could feel the bone in my shoulder moving around... extremely painful and EXTREMELY gross feeling.

through it all: the oxycotton(sp?) they gave me didn't do much for the pain, it just made me sleep a tiny bit better, Naproxin sodium was the best thing I found to take, and what the dr recommended anyways... They won't do surgery on a seperation unless you opt for it b/c it creates more scar tissue and supposedly more problems in the long run. It took 3 days before it didn't move around in my shoulder anymore, and then on like the 4th day I did something and popped it loose again...

the general message is: It will heal back in its own way, the dr's aren't going to do anything other than monitor its progress... Naproxin sodium works as well if not better than the pain killers they will prescribe for it.

Oh yeah... I had insurance so my out of pocket was like $20... but seeing the medical bills I was kinda surprised b/c it was like $1500 total after everything was said and done... which isn't cheap but compared to an actual stay in the hospital it is... and I had the piece of mind that I was doing the right thing for it... but in general I agree, as long as you aren't running a fever, they are pretty much going to hand you a sling and a script and tell you to visit back in a month... and at that point they will show you rehab exercises for it... which are pretty basic motion stuff... after about a month I had full motion back... but it took like 3 before I could sleep on my stomach... and 1.5years later I can't sleep on that side very well still...

[Edited on June 2, 2008 at 12:23 AM. Reason : it wasn't fun, but it doesn't sound like yours is as bad as mine was]

6/2/2008 12:17:34 AM

i used to have boatloads of Naprosyn left after knee surgery. aleve should suffice i guess. maybe ill try a sling for a day or two.

6/2/2008 12:22:23 AM

I broke mine in three places - in thirds across the bone and the middle part split in two. At the hospital they made me sit for an hour with a broom handle across my back with my elbows hooked over it, x-rayed me, said it's broken, gave me some meds and a figure 8 sling to wear for 2 months. 10 years later, I still have a big ole bump on my shoulder.

6/2/2008 10:25:10 AM

why didn't you get cobra?

6/2/2008 11:30:04 PM

wasn't aware.

6/2/2008 11:32:34 PM

i broke mine as a kid, it hurt like shit. if its broke you will know

6/2/2008 11:36:07 PM

i guess im gonna bite the bullet and hit up an urgent care place for an x ray just to be safe.

6/2/2008 11:39:17 PM

my brother broke his when he was about nine.

at the emergency room, they gave him a sling that looked like a figure-8 that kept his shoulders back so it could heal back to its normal length. he had to wear the sling for a couple of weeks.

6/3/2008 4:25:59 PM

Always go to the doctor, kids.

6/4/2008 5:22:47 PM

Quote :

"It's possible my collarbone was just fractured"

6/4/2008 10:08:50 PM

WTH? 3 days and 28 posts, but no:

Quote :

"clavacle clavicle"

6/4/2008 10:13:18 PM

i'm no radiologist...but that looks to me like a broke ass clavicle

6/4/2008 10:15:00 PM

your clavicle is in your shoulder

6/4/2008 10:21:53 PM

yeah i was totally downplaying it. Oh well, I have some nifty vicoprofen now. They said I might need surgery though which would really suck. I'm in a figure 8 brace for the next 2-3 months and I think my boss is gradually weeding me out re: job. Figured this is a prime example for trying to convince a bunch of unqualified fellow messageboarders to semi-agree with you so that you feel better about the uninformed decisions you are making. Though I wasn't really in that much pain so that might have influenced my 'blindness'

clavicle is definitely my new 'definitely'. I've typed it so much in the past couple of days it's ingrained.

6/4/2008 10:33:56 PM

^^nah, you're thinking about the scapula

and holy shit dude, way to downplay it. Hope you don't need to have surgery.

[Edited on June 4, 2008 at 10:54 PM. Reason : .]

6/4/2008 10:53:39 PM

It might need a plate and four screws. Let me know if you want me to bring the Dewault over and take care of it.

Seriously though...ouch! It sounded broken from what you said. Hope it heals quickly.

6/5/2008 12:39:23 AM

That's pretty much what happened to mine. I had just cracked it, then three weeks later my horse throws me into a pole, I hit it face first and then slammed on the ground, and that little crack cracked again and separated completely. My break was further toward the shoulder.

Saw an orthopedist, the whole nine yards. It healed just fine when it was separated, as long as the shealth that wraps around the bone is still intact and supplying blood. It basically fused together to form SUPER CLAVICLE! And now its supposed to be even harder to break in that spot. I hope. It has left me with a small bump on my shoulder, right where you lay a backpack or luggage strap on, so I can no longer carry very heavy backpacks or anything on just that one shoulder (like a messenger bag). They told me that they could always go back and shave it down, but uh, I'll keep my bump thanks.

6/5/2008 3:01:10 PM