I repeated a back injury two years ago. Did PT for almost a year, until the PT said I could take what I learned and do it at home.

A lot of it is trunk therapy (it's like "core", but includes shoulders, neck, ribs, hips, and thighs). I still do it now, and I'm still feeling my back pains. I've noticed that if I slack, I can easily re-injure myself. Just an FYI that it's going to be a lot of work.

And good luck driving a stick shift.

 

Compared to finch1750's x-ray, my break was right smack in the middle of the bone rather than the inboard end like his, they pulled both my shoulders back and threw a figure eight sling on me and handed me a bottle of percoset and sent me on my way.
It wound up healing with the outer portion lining up behind the inside part and overlapped by about 3/4-1 inch. Now a days I think they do things like screws and pins so that they can force a collarbone to heal more in line than they could do 25-30 years ago, but collar bones are tough- your pecs anchor across almost their entire length, so trauma like this puts a lot of force on the bones as the muscles contract in an instinctive reflexive attempt to protect the injury.

 

Just my luck, right after I posted this thread (the day after) I injured the other shoulder on the exact spot only opposite side of my upperback (shoulder blade).

Docs think I strained it from exercising but they also think it's due to me not really using my primary arm (right) because Im compensating for the pain.


Right now the most painful thing in my life is driving. When I drive my car (stick shift) I have to hold the wheel with my left arm and that irritates the HELL out of my spine, feels like someone is stabbing my spinal cord. I can't describe how intense the pain is... Very acute and very localized but damn it's INTENSE!

The bad news about that is that I can't drive my STi anymore... (Not for now at least), if I do drive it my back starts spasming REALLY badly to where I have to pull over and let someone else drive. It's the action of holding the wheel and shifting with my right hand... Sigh, I don't want to get rid of my subie but if this pain keeps up I don't think I have a choice. I don't wish this onto anyone.

I just hope it goes away and doesn't become like the other back problem I have which is chronic pain meaning that it hurts EVERY single friggin day without any relief from over the counter pain meds so I just suck it up and wish for something better. It was one thing when I had my original collar-bone injury that I posted about, but having my other arm (upper middle and right where the bottom of my left shoulder blade is) completely useless when I'm driving really REALLY sucks.


To update this thread, on top of my collar bone injury I also have another condition called (and I'm not making this up, it's really what it's called) "Elasticity syndrome" which basically means that my joints have more elasticity than normal people which allows me to stick out my shoulder blades, do the splits, and overall I'm pretty flexible. As cool as that sounds (to be double jointed) it actually is the reason my back hurts THIS much. Normal people can't stick out their shoulder blades like I can, and it's the act of my shoulder blade going in and out and by doing so it creates friction with the muscle/nerves that it's rubbing against every time my shoulder goes in and out which happens like 500+ times a day. Every time I sit or do something with my arm it automatically sticks out.

For those of you who don't know what Im talking about when I say my shoulder blade can stick out... Picture a cat (big wild cat)... You know how their shoulder blades stick out when they walk? That's almost exactly what I can with mine. I can actually stick both of my S.B's out and hold a coke can with just my shoulder blades.


I'm going to see a geneticist to see if there are any other potential problems going on and to make sure I dont have some weird syndrome or anything like that... The reason is because I have pain that isn't explainable... Things that aren't related to my back pain at all and they are afraid it could be something else so they are going to do a crap lode of tests on me.

*sigh*


The key to dealing with chronic pain is to think positive and don't let the pain win... Mind over matter def is real. it took me a long time to learn how to focus on positive things in order to bypass the pain. I used to think that was BS but I got so desperate and I started meditating in a way so that the pain is ignored and it def works. It doesnt get rid of the pain takes off the edge.

 

Ouch man!


I'll get you the doctors name... Just know that he's a specialist and that means that you have to see a regular doctor before you can see him (regular doc refers you to him).


All you have to do is ask you doctor if you can see an orthopedic surgeon (I'll give you the docs name, I dont have it off hand) and explain why. Tell them a friend had a really painful back injury that went unnoticed by other doctors for YEARS and this specialist knew what was wrong with me before I even walked through the door (he looked at my old MRI's and X-Rays).



Quick question for those suffering from severe back pain... Does it cause anxiety or panic feelings? Seems as though anxiety and my back pain go hand in hand, it sucks!

 

oh ****, that is some good news to hear.
im glad there found what the problem was.
Odd though, your right Clavicle is make this huge problem... weird.

i thought the discomfortable would be from your thoaric/ lumbar disks.
if only i had my B/S degree and license i would do help you on the thereapy part; im going for kinesiology.

Im really glad they found the problem, trust me the physical thereapy will help you. obviously it will take some time but in the long run its worth it.