Broken clavicle? UPDATED w/car seat question

[LBW]

My 6year old broke his clavicle during soccer practice tonight. We're waiting to hear from the orthopedist, but I imagine he'll be in a sling for the next 4-6 weeks. Any advice for surviving this? I'm already thinking we'll need a one-shoulder bag for his school books. At least it's not his right arm.

[lorien_ca]

Oh bummer. Poor little guy!

No personal experience here, but from a PT standpoint I can tell you that he likely won't be comfortable with a single shoulder bag either. The clavicles meet in the middle at the sternum (breast bone). The shoulder depression on the non-broken side from carrying a bag one sided is likely to transmit load forces across to the broken one. Your best bet may be a rolling bag of some sort, but even that may pull on the broken side if it's heavy. I'd ask the ortho when he can pull it either way just to be sure. In the mean time you may need to get the school to provide a second set for the classroom of whatever he'd normally be carrying back and forth. My guess is the ortho won't want him carrying anything heavier than his lunch bag even on the non broken side initially unless it's a tiny hairline crack.

Hugs to your ds!

[g-mama]

Ouch! I broke my collarbone when I was about 11 or 12 and it was the most unbelievably painful thing you could imagine. I had to wear a brace across my back that held both shoulders completely still for about two months. I cannot imagine her will be able to put anything on his back or shoulders, or even carrying anything, to be honest. I'm not sure if it even matters if it's the right or left side; the bone goes all the way across and it's painful throughout.

No real advice, as it's been 25+ years and it happend to me the first week of summer vacation, so no bookbag issues, but just sympathy. They say it is just about the worst bone you can break in your body. Poor little guy.

[elliput]

DD broke her left clavicle about a year and a half ago (she was 3). At her age, the doctor said that once completely healed we will probably never notice that it was broken. The best we could do for DD was to have her arm in a sling and then strapped next to her body with ace bandages. Even then she would worm out of it in a couple hours. One week was the recommendation for trying to keep the arm immobile, and at 4 weeks she had a follow-up. At that time the x-rays revealed that the bone was healing properly.

For your DS, I would imagine that the recovery would be a bit longer, but 4-6 weeks seems more like a recovery time for an adult- children's bones are much more flexible and heal much quicker.

[american_mama]

>> DD broke her left clavicle about a year and a half ago (she was 3). At her age, the doctor said that once completely healed we will probably never notice that it was broken. The best we could do for DD was to have her arm in a sling and then strapped next to her body with ace bandages. Even then she would worm out of it in a couple hours. One week was the recommendation for trying to keep the arm immobile, and at 4 weeks she had a follow-up

We had a very similar experience in terms of the age, the sling, the timeline, and the willingness to move her arm out of the sling often (like every hour). The ped said the bone doesn't really move much, so if she's reaching out of the sling, don't sweat it. But DD2 never had anything strapped to her body and never had a follow up xray (she may never have had a follow up appointment, actually). The ped and a chance encounter with two orthopedic residents at a restaurant all said at this age, the bone heals easily, forms a lump over the break called a callous, and eventually "remodels" to be smooth again. I don't think DD shows any sign of a bump now.

Honestly, DD's recovery was a cinch. She took the sling off for baths/dressing/sleeping (at least I don't think she slept in it), moved her arm as much or little as was comfortable, played the same (even on the playground), and only complained once or twice when her collarbone accidentally got bumped.

Healing vibes to your little guy!

[g-mama]

Wow, maybe I'm wrong. I hope your ds' experience is more like the two pp's experience. Mine broke in half when I fell off of a rope swing and was supposed to land in a lake, but instead landed on the dirt "beach." And age 6 may be a whole world of difference in healing compared to age 12. I had to sleep in a Lazy Boy chair b/c I could not lay flat for the entire two months.

Good luck and let us know how he is doing.

[LBW]

Thanks everyone! They put him in a sling last night to keep the arm immovable. I saw the x-ray, and it looks like the bone is snapped - you can also feel and see the bump where it's pushing up against the skin. I've been giving DS ibuprofen, so he hasn't complained about the pain, but he wasn't happy about not being able to sleep on his left side last night. Once he fell asleep, though, he was fine.

Most of his homework is worksheets, so I'm going to ask his teacher if he can use a simple folder instead of the heavy binder all the students use to carry their homework and other paperwork. Most days he'll just have his lunch bag and the folder. Hopefully that much weight won't bother him.

I'm going out to Target and ON today to see if I can find some inexpensive button-down shirts since I think getting t-shirts on and off will hurt him too much. I'm also going to look for a few pairs of elastic waist pants.

One thing that I'm still not sure about is his carseat. He's in the third row of our van in a Britax Husky that he buckles himself. Obviously he won't be able to do that for a while. But, I'm not sure what the best alternative is. We have a Britax HBB that he could use, but I'll have to climb into the back seat to strap him in. Doable, but not fun. He's also not really secure in the carseat because of the sling. That arm is lying under the straps. Is that okay? Is there any way to secure him without moving his arm? I hate the idea of driving around for the next 6-8 weeks with a child who is not fully secured in his seat.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as time goes on. For now, he's enjoying the novelty of the sling. At the moment, he's at the park with DH showing it off to his soccer teammates and coach!

[elliput]

As far as the car seat goes, I felt it was best to try to use it as close to normal as possible without disturbing her arm- which meant, the arm was under the straps.

[bubbaray]

He's 6, right? and it is his left arm? I'd totally use a HBB for him -- that would be safer than having his arm under the harness in a harnessed seat.

JMHO

I hope he's better soon!

[LBW]

Originally Posted by bubbaray

He's 6, right? and it is his left arm? I'd totally use a HBB for him -- that would be safer than having his arm under the harness in a harnessed seat.

Yep, he's 6 and big for his age. So, he's fine in the HBB, I just prefer the harnessed seat. But, I do think he'll be better off in the HBB for the short term. Thanks!