Broken collarbone and shooting

[smle-man]

Broke my collarbone yesterday in a bike crash and of course it is on my shooting side. I asked the doc when I will be able to shoot again. His test is 5 push ups on the floor maybe in 2-3 month's time. If I can do those I can shoot. Anyone else go through this? how long of a recovery period for you?

[rero360]

good time to practice shooting weak side. hope you heal fast.

[JJE]

... or to practice dry-fire. If I did 3 months of daily dry-fire, I think I'd improve a lot.

[NSR500]

1. What caliber?

2. How much pain?

[GSwain]

It depends alot on how bad the break is and how old you are. If it was just the bone, not as bad, if you ripped ligaments or tendons, bad. Younger = heal faster. I broke my leg and was able to start walking on it inside a month, but that was just me.

[Vanguard]

This is a good excuse to get something tripod mounted and belt fed.

[Riodog]

Go for it! In 1991 I was on a hunting trip out of Red Bluff. Went down the side of a lil hill and broke my shoulder. About 12 hours later, getting out of the emergency room with a bunch of percocet and my shgooting arm in a sling, I was back in camp. Next morning I was sitting under a tree and got my deer with a 10mm. My hunting buddies had to gut him for me but after what he put me through->he was gonna die!
Rio

[BillCA]

Broke my collarbone yesterday in a bike crash and of course it is on my shooting side. I asked the doc when I will be able to shoot again. His test is 5 push ups on the floor maybe in 2-3 month's time. If I can do those I can shoot. Anyone else go through this? how long of a recovery period for you?

I broke my collarbone when I was a teen. It was a fracture, not a complete break. That was a lousy 5 weeks in a "figure 8" brace that ran under both armpits. If it's a clean break all the way through, plan on 8 weeks in some kind of brace and an additional 2-4 weeks to heal well enough to be very solid. You'll need to perform some strength building on the muscles too due to the inactivity on your strong side.

The older you are, the longer it'll take to heal.

[turtle12]

How bad a break was it? Any ligament damage? Will you need surgery? Is the bike ok?

I broke my collarbone and scapula in a bike crash just before Thanksgiving. The collarbone was broken at the far end, with about an inch broken off, and the ligaments torn. The scapula was cracked in several places. The orthopaedic surgeon didnt feel comfortable operating immediately, given the fragile state of the scapula, so he suggested waiting about 6 weeks for it to heal enough on it's own before doing a modified Weaver-Dunn procedure. So, I sat around at home with my arm in a sling for 6 weeks!

Surgery went ok, and I was in a sling for 2.5 weeks, after which I started 6 weeks of physical therapy (3x a week). After the 3rd week of PT, I started shooting again. So, I guess in my case, it took about 5-6 weeks before I felt ok to shoot. This is handgun shooting, btw.

Like others have mentioned, recovery will depend on where the break is. I had a co-worker that shattered his collarbone playing football, but it broke cleanly in the middle. They put in a plate and a few screws and he was good to go, without any PT at all, since he had no ligament damage.

If you have any extended amount of time in a sling, your muscles will atrophy rapidly. I was in a sling for a total of 9 weeks, so I was really weak after all that. The PT really helped, both with restoring flexibility and strength. I'm about 4 months removed from surgery now, and I'm reasonably close to my normal strength and mobility. I still have a bit of occasional shoulder pain (not enough to take any painkillers), but the doc says that will eventually subside.

Best wishes with your recovery.

[Southpaw45]

I learned never to tell a doctor that you have guns. They will then report you for being dangerous to yourself and others. Then they will then want to send you to a shrink for counseling. I once told a doctor that I wanted my blood tested for lead because I shoot allot. He just stood there in shock with a blank stare in his face. I just ended up walking out. No Joke!

[dmacintyre]

I tore my rotor cuff on my shooting shoulder a couple of years ago. Went trap shooting too soon and set myself back a couple of months. I'd stick to Doctors Orders or shoot handguns until you know you are definitely OK. It's just not worth prolonging the healing process.

[ir0nclash86]

shoot from the hip

[WDE91]

I would first start with rimfire and work up from there

[Wicked K5]

When I was about 20, I broke mine riding my MX bike at Pismo on Memorial Day weekend. 4th of July weekend, I was riding quads @ 60-75% of my normal speed pretty comfortably. Didn't really feel 100% til around Labor Day. YMMV

[bjl333]

I broke my right collarbone back in '04. I remember shooting about 4-5 weeks after that. I would recomand not shooting until the bone heals. The recoil could keep the bone from mending or mend misaligned.