Golfing After a Broken Collarbone

[Jasonp]

So long and short i broke my collarbone March 29th...bummer right.

xrays looked good and doctor said it should heal well without surgery. I Figured id be good to golf come mid may at latest based on my pain etc. However....

Did my followup today Apr 15 and the bones have actually moved further apart and i now require surgery to plate and pin the bones together.

Lucky i can get in for surgery tomorrow morning. Doctor made it sound like i start physio right away and start doing mobility exercises as i dont have to worry about the bone shifting.

he was very non commital on when i can start being active and more specifically golfing. He said no contact sports for likely 10 to 12 weeks but good thing golf isnt contact. Ive gathered this far my surgeron is very conservative and likes to quote on the high side. He made it sound golf would be around 8-10 but ive read guys that are back out after clavicle surgery in 4 to 6.

Dont know if we have any doctors/surgeons/physios on here or anyone whos had the same injury and can speak from experience.

On a side note looks like no soft tissue or muscle damage.

[XboxAmbassador]

Get well soon Jasonp

[spinaltap]

So long and short i broke my collarbone March 29th...bummer right.

xrays looked good and doctor said it should heal well without surgery. I Figured id be good to golf come mid may at latest based on my pain etc. However....

Did my followup today Apr 15 and the bones have actually moved further apart and i now require surgery to plate and pin the bones together.

Lucky i can get in for surgery tomorrow morning. Doctor made it sound like i start physio right away and start doing mobility exercises as i dont have to worry about the bone shifting.

he was very non commital on when i can start being active and more specifically golfing. He said no contact sports for likely 10 to 12 weeks but good thing golf isnt contact. Ive gathered this far my surgeron is very conservative and likes to quote on the high side. He made it sound golf would be around 8-10 but ive read guys that are back out after clavicle surgery in 4 to 6.

Dont know if we have any doctors/surgeons/physios on here or anyone whos had the same injury and can speak from experience.

On a side note looks like no soft tissue or muscle damage.

Although there may be "no soft tissue or muscle damage" your rehab will focus on strengthening the posterior aspect of your shoulder and making sure you don't get too "tight" in the front...or at least that's what I would do if you were a hypothetical patient

Time frames very from person to person as you already know. What may play more of a roll is which clavicle it is and which side you swing from. right handers with a left clavicle fracture may have a more difficult/slower recovery because the left shoulder crosses the AC joint and put stress on the left clavicle as you take your backswing.

Take home message is do your exercises once given the ok, but from the sounds of it, they'll want you rehabing it pretty soon after. which is good in my opinion

[Jasonp]

Although there may be "no soft tissue or muscle damage" your rehab will focus on strengthening the posterior aspect of your shoulder and making sure you don't get too "tight" in the front...or at least that's what I would do if you were a hypothetical patient

Time frames very from person to person as you already know. What may play more of a roll is which clavicle it is and which side you swing from. right handers with a left clavicle fracture may have a more difficult/slower recovery because the left shoulder crosses the AC joint and put stress on the left clavicle as you take your backswing.

Take home message is do your exercises once given the ok, but from the sounds of it, they'll want you rehabing it pretty soon after. which is good in my opinion

Much thx. Yes im right handed and Left clavicle. I obviously am eager to play but wont push it. Ill be very diligent with my exercises.

In your experience how long do you think...obviously many factrs but a 32yr old healthy semi active male.

[4wedges]

Having had a few broken bones, including a collarbone, I can safely say that you should follow your doctor's advice and don't rush back. That way you will avoid long term issues and further aggravation & pain. As much as we want to get out there it's not worth it in the long run.

[the shanks]

My best piece of advice is listen to both your Surgeon and Physiotherapist.

I broke my ankle at the beginning of the summer a couple of years ago which required pins/plate and screws in both the tibia and fibula. I basically lost my entire golf and baseball season, being out from the first week of June to the end of September. The first part of the recovery was to allow the bones to mend, with the final portion of the recovery being more focused on repairing the soft tissue damage.

Your Surgeon will be more focused on the healing progress of the bone while your Physiotherapist will be more concerned with the soft tissue recovery, strength, and range of motion. It differs for each person, but will probably take in the range of about 6-8 weeks for the bones to fully heal after surgery. From there it will be the soft tissue recovery, which I don't have a good guess on for you. The soft tissue recovery for me was lengthy as I was completely non-weight bearing for 9 weeks, and boy does your ankle lock up quickly after you don't use if for an extended period of time.

Here's hoping you have a speedy recovery and get to enjoy the season.

[spinaltap]

Much thx. Yes im right handed and Left clavicle. I obviously am eager to play but wont push it. Ill be very diligent with my exercises.

In your experience how long do you think...obviously many factrs but a 32yr old healthy semi active male.

you'd probably have a better gauge after the first follow up at the 2-4 week mark post-op. Once he/she sees how the bone is healing around the pin/plate then things can be better determined. I've seen people swing a club within 6 weeks, i've also seen up to 18 weeks. But without complications i'm sure you'll be swinging a club in 2019 (as vauge as I can get LOL)

find a good physio/sports medicine clinic in your area. someone with more of a manual therapy background. don't bother if someone is going to use an ultrasound wand on it for 20 minutes and that's your treatment for the day...

[nearace]

I would get out there as soon as i could,golf one handed and it may help with the re hab.

[snaphook]

I broke my collarbone april 2017, no surgery needed. I was on the golf course right after my 10 week check up with my doctor giving me the ok.

It wasn't 100%, it was weak and range of motion was not back to normal but the doc said i couldn't re-injure myself.
To return to pre-broken collarbone condition will take some time.

[synergy]

While not as severe, I've been down this road too and desperately wanted to play sooner than I should have. When you're able to partially come back, maybe leave the tee shots for your buddy's and just drop your ball at the 150 or the 100 marker and just take half-swings. Playing half the game seemed to cure the itch and was a good compromise between sitting out vs delaying the healing process further.

[Jasonp]

While not as severe, I've been down this road too and desperately wanted to play sooner than I should have. When you're able to partially come back, maybe leave the tee shots for your buddy's and just drop your ball at the 150 or the 100 marker and just take half-swings. Playing half the game seemed to cure the itch and was a good compromise between sitting out vs delaying the healing process further.

Excellent piece of advice and i think a perfect rx for me .

on a side note surgery went well. Back next week for more xrays

[ARL67]

Jason, sorry to hear of you injury and hope you are on the mend soon, but don't over do it too early. We need you healthy so you can give us some updates on your MP-4's this season

A few years ago, I tweaked a muscle in my mid back, and had to leave the course, then didn't hit a shot for 3 weeks. Thought I was fine, went out for a round, hit a SW on the 3rd hole, and as the club made contact with the ground, that mid-back muscle exploded in pain. I immediately left the course and didn't touch a club for another 4-5 weeks. It sucked to miss almost 2 months of the season, but we ain't gettin' any younger and recovery time is much longer.

[JamesCL]

Injuries suck. Good luck

[Jasonp]

Youre telling me.

The golf gods are taunting me as the weathers getting nicer. Dont see the surgeron again until May 6th. My goal and hope is to be able to at least get out for 1 or 2 rounds in May god willing.

To anyone whos a doctor or has an understanding of the human body i have a question.

Were the 2.5weeks pre surgery a complete waste of time or was some of the healing done during that time still helpful.

I.e. lets just say it takes 8 weeks to heal a broken bone (i know it can be 4 to 12 but lets just say 8)

Is it a full 8 weeks from date of my surgery or do the 2 weeks pre surgery somewhat count? Obviously it's not ideal and i know id have lost some time but curious if i lost all 2 weeks or if now post surgery my be only 7 weeks per say cuz the heaking process and rebuilding of bone properties already in progress?

[blackhawk]

Youre telling me.

The golf gods are taunting me as the weathers getting nicer. Dont see the surgeron again until May 6th. My goal and hope is to be able to at least get out for 1 or 2 rounds in May god willing.

To anyone whos a doctor or has an understanding of the human body i have a question.

Were the 2.5weeks pre surgery a complete waste of time or was some of the healing done during that time still helpful.

I.e. lets just say it takes 8 weeks to heal a broken bone (i know it can be 4 to 12 but lets just say 8)

Is it a full 8 weeks from date of my surgery or do the 2 weeks pre surgery somewhat count? Obviously it's not ideal and i know id have lost some time but curious if i lost all 2 weeks or if now post surgery my be only 7 weeks per say cuz the heaking process and rebuilding of bone properties already in progress?

ER Doctor here. Usually bone healing begins as soon as you immobilize the break. So, as soon as they put that sling on you, in theory the healing would begin there. Your case was unfortunate as you had non-union (bones failed to start healing, in fact they moved further apart). So in your specific case your timeframe begins after surgery, which is done to bring the bones together to begin the process. 4 weeks is definitely on the short/optimistic end of things.

However most collarbone fractures heal without surgery so it was correct to not jump into surgery right away. You were just an unlucky case where you needed to progress to surgery.