Well, for those who want the full picture, so to speak, here it is, a fracture of the right clavicle. My right clavicle, that is, the injury I described in the last blog post. Now this particular image accentuates the appearance of the break in the bone because my arm has been externally rotated, that is, my elbow is touching my torso and my right hand has its palm facing forward with the forearm at a ninety degree angle to the rest of the body. Not too surprisingly, that was the position where it hurt the most.

Now compare this image on the left, with my right arm across my chest, palm facing my body. One can just appreciate the break in the upper border of the bone. Looks better, doesn’t it? Looks like it might even heal decently, if I can just keep it in that position. And that’s the problem, since a right-handed person such as myself can’t do much productive work with his dominant hand continuously folded across his chest. Even the simplest of tasks can be a challenge. Have you ever tried to put on a sock with one hand? Even typing this short post causes my shoulder to ache a little. It’s also hard to write notes, sign prescriptions, or mark worksheets without the hand coming off the chest at least a little. Implanting a pacemaker is well beyond the possible.

But at least my fracture is non-displaced. It can heal if I can keep it immobilized (relatively). Uh, I think that means I can’t ride a bicycle for a while. So I’m going to do a lot of hiking in Vermont, it seems . . .

For those who want more details of collarbone fractures, see this article.

Tags: injuries, fractures