I broke my right collarbone about 15 years ago, and at times it’s still generally uncomfortable or a bit sore. Not so much that it inhibits anything, but enough to be a nuisance and remind me about flying off my bike!
Has anyone else experienced this? I was curious how common it was. Any thoughts on getting rid of this? I thought maybe weight training (more muscle takes the load off?) or mobility/yoga work to just generally be more mobile and flexible?
Thanks!!
I’ve had my share of shoulder injuries and the best thing you can do, like you said, is a combo of strength training and mobility work. No need to go heavy with the shoulder exercises, just good range of motion and form with light weights is enough.
Good luck 
Broke me collarbone about 15 months ago and after about 6 months after injury I’ve never had any issues or problems with it at all.
Broke my collarbone in 2018, had two surgeries, one to put in a plate and then one to take it out again. Shoulder has been fine since functionally, the only thing I experience is itchy skin around the surgery scar.
Sounds like a functional movement impairment of some sort. Essentially, your body has long healed from the acute injury however it was forced to compensate with new mobility/movement patterns. This typically gets worse with time as the patterns become more and more engrained. I’d recommend finding a good bodyworker that’ll provide a professional assessment and work to restore proper mobility and movement prior to any self strength training.
Speaking from experience with a grade 3 AC joint separation and a 15 yr old ankle fracture.
In my case, efforts to strengthen made things worse until I sorted out the mobility stuff. Wish I would have seen a professional sooner.
No. However I did spend almost a year doing rehab after rotator cuff surgery about 5 years before the broken collarbone, and put that experience to good use on the collarbone. Also used the collarbone recovery to start lifting with a barbell (no weight / low weight).
There’s not really enough info to tell…
A couple of possibilities from my own experience could be:
If there was a significant break (where the collarbone was split into completely separate pieces) it could have caused some nerve damage, I’ve got a patch over my collarbone that will always be over sensitive to pressure as a result of this. This break occurred 14 years ago and the nerve damage hasn’t changed/reduced.
You may have also had some undiagnosed soft tissue damage at the time of the break, not uncommon for the ED to see a great big mess of splintered bone and deal with that straight away but not notice a separation or rotator cuff injury at the time since those wouldn’t be emergencies. As @jrberg mentioned some physiotherapy could yield good results.
I broke my right collarbone in 4 places in 2014. I had it plated and have had no issues with pain or mobility since. I’ve heard mixed reviews from others that have had plates removed … some are fine and others felt worse after removal and wished they kept it in.
Moderate weight training and stretching would be my suggestions. Best of luck.
I broke my collarbone a few years ago, it was in 3 pieces so I did a good job of it. I got a plate put in and was back in action pretty quickly. I got back on the bike within a week (not sure the doctor approved) and back in the gym a couple of weeks later.
My collarbone gave me some pain at first, mostly when doing dips as it’s pretty highly loaded in that position. Front delt raises also hurt for some reason. I figured it was the plate and the bone flexing at different rates, causing the screws to pull in their holes. The pan subsided over time, and once there was pop which hurt. Now I think and plate has snapped in the middle where one of the bolt holes goes through. I can feel a ridge across the plate in one spot. I think the high loads flexed the plate back and forth until it fatigued and cracked. Now it doesn’t hurt so it’s a good result.
@FrankTuna do you have a plate on yours? Do you feel the pain in the bone or just general shoulder pain? Weight training will definitely stimulate the bone to adapt and increase it’s strength/density. If the issue is the bone itself then weight training would definitely be worth a try.
I don’t think you have much to worry about. I have no idea if mine is still connected but it doesn’t hurt, feels a bit odd if I lean on my arm when lying down for example.
I fell over 5 days after it broke and it never really healed properly. If I stand upright with my shoulders back it just looks like a lump. If anyone does feel it though they tend to immediately recoil, it does feel weird.
When I say fell over I was putting bib shorts on to get on the turbo and my foot snagged in the straps and I stumbled 
. Prior to that it was a nice clean shear fracture which I have no doubt would have healed nicely.
No plate and it kind of looks like @ValeCyclist below. I was in a sling for a while and the bone healed with a noticeable hump.
I feel the discomfort in what feels like the bone and surrounding area, not so much the shoulder. I’ve never been consistent with weight training so I really should give that a shot.
Thanks for the info!!!
@FrankTuna did it heal naturally or was it plated (had surgery)?
Mine was a clean break and I opted for the natural route. No issues years and years later. I’ve come across a couple peeps over the years who complain about it and they were plated.
Naturally…I can’t remember how long now, but I was in a sling for a while. I’m wondering if there were nerve issues too.
I did mine 2 weeks into a new job so couldn’t drive. I had to go in as I wouldn’t have been paid otherwise so it was a lift off my wife to a bus station 15 miles away to get the first bus out then change for a 2nd bus. On one journey home I thought i was going to have to get off the bus as I was in so much pain with all the jolting around.
I broke it on a Saturday morning and in the afternoon I was at a wedding reception.
ok that blows my theory. Best of luck figuring it out!
