Broken Collar Bone.
 

My wife fell off her horse yesterday and broke her collarbone. The girth wasn't tight enough and the saddle slipped to the side, dumping her off. She hit two wooden posts on the way down - it could have been alot worse.... She is 46 years old.

Anyone here have experience with this injury? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I am wondering how long til she can drive, etc and also how long (realistically) til she can get back on her horse (I saw something on the web that says it can take up to 4 months to heal - but that seems *long*).

thanks,
jeff

Broken collarbone
 

Jeff,
I broke my collar bone on two different occasions about a year or two apart.
I was about your wife's age at the time. It will take about 3 months to heal,
unfortunately it will seem alot longer, especially at first. Getting up out of bed
will be painful for a few weeks at least.
Hopefully the doctor gave her a shoulder harness that pulls her shoulders back, holding them in the position they should be. This is better than a sling
and feels better too, I think it is called a figure 8, not sure.
Trailrider

Jeff,

Sorry to here about your wife's mishap. I wish her a speedy recovery. My friend broke his collar bone about a year ago and his needed to have a plate and screws. His was more severe and took a look time to heal. He finally got the plate removed this year. As Trailrider mentioned, hopefully she can wear a device to get the bones to mend in the right position. My friend's collar bone still looks goofy on that side (it likes to stick up more).

I only know that it is a very painful injury. I wish her well and a speedy recovery.

Been there... twice. First time in highschool football at 14yrs old. Had the sling on for about a month, healed fine. Second time, about 18 yrs old, broke it on the same side, but in a different spot(this time on a bike). Took the sling off after 2 weeks against doctors orders. Healed with a lump. Keeping the shoulders back with the sling is the key.
Good luck to her. At her age, healing time will no doubt take longer, but take lots of calcium !

Happened to me as well. I was 27, am now 35, and high sided my CBR900. It broke in half and almost came through the skin. The doc wanted to pin it and he asked if I was going to continue to ride any time soon and that was a stupid question...of course I was. So I just got the sling so as not to plung a pin in my neck if I crashed again. I went riding about a week later and it was painful but one must ride. It did take about 3 months to heal and was very uncomfortably to sleep as it moved around through out the night. I crashed again about 6 months later and slid on bumpy grass on the same broken bone. Got up thinking I broke it again but like the doc said "It will heal stronger than before". Your wife will be fine but sorry to hear about that as I would be upset if that happened to my wife. So cook dinner for a while and all will be well...maybe. :o

Sorry to here of your wifes injury Jeff. Sounds like she will have to take it easy for awhile. Good to know her collarbone will be stronger afterwards. We have a guy at work who got bucked off his horse and he ended up with the same injury I have. That's a long hard fall. Please wish her a fast complete recovery for us.

Thanks Guys. She is doing well so far. The only trouble I have is to keep her from moving around. She is the type of woman where if you tell her to "go left" - she "goes right"! ;)

So, I tell her to take it easy and she takes to cleaning the house one-handed... hmmm... I could make this work for me... ;)

jeff

Jeff,

Sorry to hear this, just read this thread today.

My buddy broke his on an XR100 supermoto bike he won in a dealers contest. Figured he wouldn't get hurt on a 100 like he could if he dropped his KTM520 on the asphalt at 100 MPH. Guess again. Anyway, he had a tough time healing because he is a shop owner/auto mechanic who works physically. Seems like the insurance company decides to a point how fast you heal. If they go in and fix it with hardware, your good. In his case they wouldn't pay so he spent months healing very slowly. Seems like taking it easy is the fastest way. Good Luck.