OTB and fractured left end of clavicle

hi , 5 days ago i was jumping and fall over my bike's handle bar,
in result i broke left end of my clavicle , (last 2 cm of bone cracked)
it is clear, no pieces of bone anywhere, but bone was displayced- moved
little up.

i live in Poland but used to live in US so i can clearly say that polish
medical service is far from being perfect .

After few Rtg's Orthopedist (who is friend of my brother also MD - i got
special treatment in hospital) decides to put me in something called here
Dasault bandage - kind of plaster immobilizer that covers me completly on
left side with my arm close to my belly so only my hand is out and
covers my left shoulder then goes across my chest.it is to remain there for
4
weeks after that rehabilitation. its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even
scrach, not mention shower...
he excluded surgery as not necessary and
causing possible complications

my question is :
-what do you think about this therapy
(i heard opinions that its extremly long to have arm immobilized for 4 weeks
and i
think they dont use this kind of plaster immobilizer in US any more )

-should i just cut myself free and use sling?
its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even scrach, not mention shower...

-any ideas how it could be done in other way?

- any ideas about rehab?

thank you in advance
when you write to me remove $ sign .

Maciej Galuszka

Maciej Ga³uszka wrote:
hi , 5 days ago i was jumping and fall over my bike's handle bar,
in result i broke left end of my clavicle , (last 2 cm of bone cracked)
it is clear, no pieces of bone anywhere, but bone was displayced- moved
little up.

i live in Poland but used to live in US so i can clearly say that polish
medical service is far from being perfect .

After few Rtg's Orthopedist (who is friend of my brother also MD - i got
special treatment in hospital) decides to put me in something called here
Dasault bandage - kind of plaster immobilizer that covers me completly on
left side with my arm close to my belly so only my hand is out and
covers my left shoulder then goes across my chest.it is to remain there for
4
weeks after that rehabilitation. its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even
scrach, not mention shower...
he excluded surgery as not necessary and
causing possible complications

my question is :
-what do you think about this therapy
(i heard opinions that its extremly long to have arm immobilized for 4 weeks
and i
think they dont use this kind of plaster immobilizer in US any more )

-should i just cut myself free and use sling?
its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even scrach, not mention shower...

-any ideas how it could be done in other way?

- any ideas about rehab?

thank you in advance
when you write to me remove $ sign .

I'm not going to tell you to cut it off - I'm not a doctor.

However, and for what it's worth... I've never heard of anybody being
casted at all, let alone for four weeks, for a broken collar bone. My
mom is a retired orthopedic nurse and she said that back in the "bad ol'
days", if a displaced fracture (even on an arm or leg) had as little as
25% contact between the two pieces they'd leave it be. It would heal,
forming a large "callous" or knot of bony tissue which would eventually
decrease in size as the years passed.

Kathleen

On Tue, 11 May 2004 11:39:09 +0200, Maciej Ga³uszka wrote:

hi , 5 days ago i was jumping and fall over my bike's handle bar,
in result i broke left end of my clavicle , (last 2 cm of bone cracked)
it is clear, no pieces of bone anywhere, but bone was displayced- moved
little up.

[...]

my question is :
-what do you think about this therapy
(i heard opinions that its extremly long to have arm immobilized for 4 weeks
and i
think they dont use this kind of plaster immobilizer in US any more )

-should i just cut myself free and use sling?
its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even scrach, not mention shower...

I'm not a doctor, but I've broken / dislocated clavicles before. The
problem is that you have broken it at the end. This makes things much more
complicated than a typical break in the middle. From this point of view, a
don't think a sling would be a good idea, because although it does take
the weight off the shoulder, it doesn't immobilise the joint, which is
what you really want to do with an end break.

-any ideas how it could be done in other way?

Aren't there sling-strap devices to immobilise a shoulder(?):
http://www.ortopedia-tulipani.ch/images/imb200.jpg

- any ideas about rehab?

Plenty of rest.

Get well soon.

--
a.m-b FAQ: http://www.j-harris.net/bike/ambfaq.htm

a.bmx FAQ: http://www.t-online.de/~jharris/bmx_faq.htm

Maciej Ga³uszka wrote:
hi , 5 days ago i was jumping and fall over my bike's handle bar,
in result i broke left end of my clavicle , (last 2 cm of bone
cracked) it is clear, no pieces of bone anywhere, but bone was
displayced- moved little up.

i live in Poland but used to live in US so i can clearly say that
polish medical service is far from being perfect .

After few Rtg's Orthopedist (who is friend of my brother also MD -
i got special treatment in hospital) decides to put me in something
called here Dasault bandage - kind of plaster immobilizer that
covers me completly on left side with my arm close to my belly so
only my hand is out and covers my left shoulder then goes across my
chest.it is to remain there for 4
weeks after that rehabilitation. its extremly uncomfortable , i cant
even scrach, not mention shower...
he excluded surgery as not necessary and
causing possible complications

my question is :
-what do you think about this therapy
(i heard opinions that its extremly long to have arm immobilized for
4 weeks and i
think they dont use this kind of plaster immobilizer in US any more )

-should i just cut myself free and use sling?
its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even scrach, not mention
shower...

-any ideas how it could be done in other way?

- any ideas about rehab?

thank you in advance
when you write to me remove $ sign .

I wonder if you could get the Polish equivalent of an E111, go to germany or
another EU country and have them look?

U¿ytkownik "Doki" napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
...


I wonder if you could get the Polish equivalent of an E111, go to germany
or
another EU country and have them look?



Yes i could , but that's not an option - my summer exam session begins soon
and i need to be here. anyways i dont feel like traveling. i want to try all
options here.

"Maciej Ga³uszka" $ wrote in message ...
hi , 5 days ago i was jumping and fall over my bike's handle bar,
in result i broke left end of my clavicle , (last 2 cm of bone ed)
it is clear, no pieces of bone anywhere, but bone was displayced- moved
little up.

i live in Poland but used to live in US so i can clearly say that polish
medical service is far from being perfect .

After few Rtg's Orthopedist (who is friend of my brother also MD - i got
special treatment in hospital) decides to put me in something called here
Dasault bandage - kind of plaster immobilizer that covers me completly on
left side with my arm close to my belly so only my hand is out and
covers my left shoulder then goes across my chest.it is to remain there for
4
weeks after that rehabilitation. its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even
scrach, not mention shower...
he excluded surgery as not necessary and
causing possible complications

my question is :
-what do you think about this therapy
(i heard opinions that its extremly long to have arm immobilized for 4 weeks
and i
think they dont use this kind of plaster immobilizer in US any more )

-should i just cut myself free and use sling?
its extremly uncomfortable , i cant even scrach, not mention shower...

-any ideas how it could be done in other way?

- any ideas about rehab?

thank you in advance
when you write to me remove $ sign .

Maciej Galuszka


Well, glad you asked for medical advice because I am a doctor, you
know. Well, not that kind, but hey. When I utterly shattered my left
clavicl and it was in 5 or 6 pieces with lots of little fragments, and
looked like a game of pick up sticks, the md just threw me a brace,
said wear it if it helps, and pay the bill up front.

So I went to another doc, my roadie friend, and he showed me the
x-rays for the first time. I was depressed for 2 days, but he still
said there's nothing to do but let the sucker heal on its own.

paladin