Table of contents:
- What is the collarbone?
- What causes collarbone fracture?
- Signs and symptoms of a broken collarbone
- How to treat a collarbone fracture?
- 1. Take medicine
- 2. Therapy
- 3. Operations
A collarbone fracture is a common injury condition that often affects both adults and children. Broken collarbone is a common wound in young children and adolescents. In children it occurs because the collarbone is not necessarily fully strong and hard until adulthood.
What is the collarbone?
The collarbone is the long, thin bone that sits between your chest and shoulders, also known as the clavicle. Every normal human being has two collarbones, one on each side of your chest. This function of the collarbone helps to keep your shoulders in line.
What causes collarbone fracture?
Broken or fractured collarbones often result from the following conditions:
- Hit in the upper chest or shoulder
- Fall with outstretched arms supporting chest and body weight
- Fall and land on your shoulder
- Car, motorcycle, or bicycle accident
Signs and symptoms of a broken collarbone
Symptoms of a mildly fractured collarbone include:
- It hurts when I breathe
- Has a hard time moving your shoulder or arm, and pain when you move it
- The shoulders feel like they are loose
- Cracking or making noises when you raise your hand
- Bruising, swelling, or protruding above the collarbone
- Reduced tingling feeling or feeling in the arms or fingers
- The collarbone area appears to be tilted, separated or displaced
How to treat a collarbone fracture?
Actually, when you have a broken collarbone, you are obliged to limit body movements which can aggravate the pain in the collarbone. To avoid making a lot of movement in your broken collarbone, you may need to wear bandages on your arms and chest
The healing period itself depends on how badly you have been injured. Bone fusion takes approximately 3 to 6 weeks for children, and 6 to 12 weeks for adults. However, a baby's collarbone that is fractured during delivery can usually heal only with pain control and careful treatment.
The following are ways that can be done to treat collarbone fractures:
1. Take medicine
To reduce pain and inflammation caused by an injured collarbone, your doctor may recommend that you take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If you experience severe pain, you may need a prescription medication containing a high dose for several days of healing.
2. Therapy
After you are diagnosed with a collarbone injury, you can use therapy as a treatment step. In most cases, therapy is important to train and minimize the feeling of stiffness in the shoulder. You will also be advised to use a bandage or sling to prevent excessive shoulder movement.
After the sling is removed, the doctor may recommend exercises, enhancements or other physical therapy to restore muscle strength, joint motion and flexibility.
3. Operations
You may need surgery if the broken collarbone breaks through the skin. This collarbone fracture surgery usually places a fixation device such as a plate, screw or rod to maintain the proper position of the collarbone during healing.
