Riding with a plated collar bone - would you?

Z

zeuscleoharmony

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 May 2009
Messages
778
Location
Portsmouth, Hampshire
Visit site
Am sitting here, almost six months since my silly accident and almost four months post op. Am still recovering and have gained good movement in my shoulder and arm although some days are better than others and my scar is rather sore at the moment and itchy.

In the early days, when I saw my consultant, he said I really should not contemplate riding until at least October and this has always been in my mind. I saw another consultant about two weeks ago and he said not to think about riding for the forseeable future.

I also saw a post from another unfortunate who has had their collar bone plated and another poster emphasised the danger of riding with a plate because in the event of a fall the plate would not give and could cause serious damage to a main artery (I guess the one that feeds your arm) and things could be very serious.

I am not a stupid person and in all likelihood I think I will postpone riding until I possibly have the plate removed but I wondered if any of you have had your collar bone plated and what you did.

I must confess, I am losing more and more confidence and have even thought about about the prospect of selling Archie, something that I am ashamed to admit.

Many thanks xxx
 
I don't have a plated collar bone, but I do have a bone which healed crooked due to me failing to go to hospital, and as a result a very weak right arm and an arthritic shoulder. When I eventually got it x-rayed they wanted to re-break it and pin it but by this time I owned my own horse and couldn't afford to miss work.

The only thing I would say is whatever the doctors advise, stick to it cos its NOT worth sabotaging months of healing for a ride. My shoulder is b*ggered and I wish I'd got it fixed at the time.
 
Aw hun.

Mine was no-where near as bad as yours, but I find that if I over do it (dismount too quickly or without a mounting block), my arm hurts - and by 'hurts' I mean close to crying type hurt (a very deep and ouching ache).

The great thing about confidence is that it will come back.

Hugs.
 
Don't ride until you are totally healed lovey.

I spoke to you recently in PM's about my accident and do think you have to listen to your doctor/consultant. Their intention is not to stop you enjoying your horse, their main focus is in getting you back to where you were health wise.

You can only do that by letting your body take it's time in healing. I think it's not worth letting weeks/months without riding get in your way. Look after your horse and you'll get back riding quicker if you don't push yourself unnecessarily.

Healing vibes your way!!!
 
I'm going to be a bore and say don't do it. I did not have my shoulder plated and yes it mended funny (my days of strapless dresses are very much over!) But when I first started to ride again (before I was allowed to) like Mrs M if I moved too quickly or the horse jerked me I had the most awful I really need to swear a lot and cry pain.

So my rather boring advice would be listen to your docs and do something gentle with the ponies.
 
Oh, thank you all so much for your advice and support. It is a great help that you have ALL said much the same, to wait to heal and I will cling to the thought that my confidence will return (I must say I lost it about 3 years ago before Archie and it was him that I got it back on - aren't I silly).

I expected more gun-ho approaches and that I should just get on and ride (this was on my mind and I felt terrible for not just having the balls to jump back on) and I thought I was being a wuss but now, after your advice and support, I think perhaps I am being rightly cautious.

I hear about people riding whilst they have broken legs, arms, etc and whilst I can't fathom how they do it I think they must want it so badly, more than I do or else I would do the same, wouldn't I. Perhaps I am beating myself up too much.
 
Ditto all of the above... I was really REALLY stupid and got on against all advice after breaking a few things... needless to say I came a cropper, did permenent damage, and now can't get on without a couple of peoples help. Can't jump, can't really do sod all so PLEASE listen to their advice, it's in your best interests and will mean when you get back on Archie (gorgeous boy = me v. jealous!!) you can do so full functional and not have to worry... the time will pass, like someone said, there is other ways you can enjoy him while you wait... good luck, the time will pass!
 
I was told not to ride for 9 to 12 months after breaking my leg badly last year. It seemed forever but the doctors were right and it was that long before I was physically capable of riding (especially getting on!
smile.gif
)

I did all the same worrying as you, would I have to sell my horse if I lost my confidence etc
crazy.gif
but its all turned out fine and I am back in the saddle now, my horse is definitey staying and it was worth all the waiting to get healed properly. Stick with it and all the best for a full recovery xx
 
[ QUOTE ]
I was told not to ride for 9 to 12 months after breaking my leg badly last year. It seemed forever but the doctors were right and it was that long before I was physically capable of riding (especially getting on!
smile.gif
)

I did all the same worrying as you, would I have to sell my horse if I lost my confidence etc
crazy.gif
but its all turned out fine and I am back in the saddle now, my horse is definitey staying and it was worth all the waiting to get healed properly. Stick with it and all the best for a full recovery xx

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a great, great help knowing I am not alone - the thought of parting with my boy is almost unbearable, I love him so much. I definitely have to get more strength up to do more with him, at the moment a soft rub over with a brush is all I can manage.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I was told not to ride for 9 to 12 months after breaking my leg badly last year. It seemed forever but the doctors were right and it was that long before I was physically capable of riding (especially getting on!
smile.gif
)

I did all the same worrying as you, would I have to sell my horse if I lost my confidence etc
crazy.gif
but its all turned out fine and I am back in the saddle now, my horse is definitey staying and it was worth all the waiting to get healed properly. Stick with it and all the best for a full recovery xx

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a great, great help knowing I am not alone - the thought of parting with my boy is almost unbearable, I love him so much. I definitely have to get more strength up to do more with him, at the moment a soft rub over with a brush is all I can manage.

[/ QUOTE ]

If that's all you can manage then that's all you can manage hun. He's not going to disintergrate if he doesn't get more than that. Some days I just went in the field and leant on Dizz, and she followed me round for a bit, and that was it. She still knew that I was her human. Friend did a bit of ground work with her, as Dizz can get a bit bullish, and I admit that was hard to watch, but as soon as I could lead her in and out of the field I started little bits with her. It all adds up hun. Hugs to you.
smile.gif
 
you're doing really well to be able to give him a nice brush, i bet he loves that. When i was on my crutches I couldn't even stand close to my girl in case she moved suddenly and knocked me over.....so it was just pats over the stable door. at that time I found it really hard to imagine that I would be brave enough to look after her and ride happily again, but once you are better and feeling more like your old self again your confidence comes back really quickly, its surprising. I guess its just natures way of looking after us, go easy on yourself and all the best xx
 
Best go with docs advice, I sympathise about the not riding, I was only 9 weeks not riding when I broke mine, did my head in, no plate just got the lump, dont worry about getting confidence back, if you want to ride when healed you will, I worried the whole 9 weeks about how I was going to feel first time back in the saddle, well it was no problem at all, felt the most natural place to be, yes I lost confidence in tanking about everywhere, but that comes back eventually as well if you work at it, best of luck
wink.gif
 
Hi Archiesmummy,

I was the original person who said what my consultant had told me about the danger to the subclavian artery should you fall and the plate buckle.

I admit that I did carry on riding (as soon as I was able) with the plate in place - against the specialist's advice (even though he knew my intentions - he covered his back, fair enough, so had I damaged myself there would have been no recriminations against the consultant, which I can fully understand).

I did however minimise the risk as much as I could (if it's possible to minimise the risks when horse-riding - not really, I suppose) by not jumping, not doing any hard and fast work etc.

I got away with it (yes, I did have a couple of minor falls with the plate in - but luckily only little bounces), but - and I'm going to shout here for emphasis - ON NO ACCOUNT WOULD I CONDONE THIS OR RECOMMEND THAT ANYONE ELSE DOES THIS. I'm not suicidal, but being fully aware of the risks, I decided to carry on, because for me life just wouldn't be the same without riding, but each person is different and from your posts I get a strong feeling that getting back on and riding would not be the right thing for you (or your confidence!).

I had the plate removed after the minimum time for keeping it in had elapsed. The plate removal op was very simple, involved minimal time in hospital and I recovered extremely quickly. I've been back to normal riding ever since (well, I would be but for the fact that my I only had the cast taken off of my leg yesterday, because I broke it 7 weeks ago).

Okay, so I'm accident prone. But that won't stop me riding.

So Archiesmummy, in summary, all I can honestly say is DON'T DO AS I DID.

Wishing you the very best for a speedy and full recovery.
 
My daughter broke her collar bone and shoulder two years ago, didn't have the C/B plated to start with but it didn't heal properly, so then went in and had it sorted about 3 months later. She ws allowed to ride after about 6 weeks, but told not to fall off (how do they think she broke it in the first place!). She's just had the plate out and was told that it she could ride as soon as she liked. I would listen to your doctors, but there are a lot of people out there with plated C/B's who are riding!
 
I broke my collar bone last August and had it plated. I was not allowed to ride again until January. I was then warned by my consultant of the possible outcomes of a fall , however he was pretty positive and said if I wanted to ride I should. This proved slightly more difficult as I had a total loss of confidence ( i responded to an earlier post of yours on the subject) , I went and rode on a simulator and gradually built up to walking out my husbands horse but left it at that . I saw my consultant back in June and he advised that if I wanted to ride "properly " again I should have the plate removed , interestingly his earlier advice to ride was based on the fact he'd picked up on my confidence loss before I had !!! Anyway I had the plate removed 2 weeks ago - 51 weeks after my accident and 11 months after the original op. I was a day case in hospital and the procedure took about 25 minutes under general anasthetic, 2 days in a sling , no driving for a week, stitches came out on Friday and now I have to be careful for 8-12 weeks , limited lifting, no riding etc as the bone is weakened due to the screw holes. Once these fill in the bone should be stronger than ever and I'll be back to normal!!! Good luck with whatever you decide to do but be careful .
confused.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top