Can a Clavicle Fracture Be Prevented?

Although it’s difficult to prevent a clavicle fracture, you can keep some aspects in mind to avoid one. Read on!

A clavicle fracture is a very painful and disabling injury. For that reason, you must do your best to prevent it. Otherwise, you’ll probably have to undergo physical therapy for a long time. Below, you’ll discover a little more about this bone and what you can do to prevent a fracture.

The clavicle is a bone that extends horizontally from the sternum to the front of the shoulder blade. In fact, you can feel it between your neck and shoulders. One of the consequences of it being so superficial is precisely that it’s quite susceptible to injury.

The function of the clavicle is to provide stability to the area of the bone system it belongs to. Also, it helps stabilize arm movement. Due to these functions, any injury to this bone will make it hard for you to move your arm or make other movements that involve this bone system.

Clavicle fracture

A clavicle fracture occurs when its bone continuity is interrupted. As with any fracture, that discontinuity will lead to inflammation, pain, and functional impotence. In the case of the clavicle, as it helps guide arm movements, it’ll be really painful to do any gesture that involves the shoulder muscles.

In most cases, a clavicle fracture occurs due to a direct impact. For example, a fall or blow to the bone. For this reason, these fractures are common in contact sports such as rugby or falls in sports such as skiing.

Apart from the pain, you’ll know that you have a clavicle fracture if you notice the following symptoms:

• Local inflammation.
• Hematoma or bruise close to the bone.
• A lump in the area of the injury due to separation of the bone. If the injury is very serious, one end of the bone may even pierce the skin and be visible from the outside.
• The shoulder of the opposite side will be sagging (down and forward).

Is it possible to prevent a clavicle fracture?

Due to the fact that a direct impact usually causes a clavicle fracture, it’s very hard to prevent one. However, you should keep three tips in mind to limit the damage the injury causes. They’re the following:

Keep your muscles in shape

Although no muscles cover and protect the clavicle, having strong arm and shoulder muscles can be very helpful. On the one hand, because if you try to break a fall with both hands, there will be significant differences in terms of the severity of the injury if that arm and shoulder are strong or not.

On the other hand, if you do agility and proprioception training, you’ll be able to prevent more falls than if you don’t.

Learn to fall

Many elite athletes work on this precisely to prevent injuries when they fall. Learning to fall safely is essential when you play sports in which a fall is likely.

For example, in sports such as basketball, handball, or skiing, to name a few, athletes learn to fall in order to limit injury or at least try to suffer a minor injury.

Be careful

The third tip is simply to be careful. You’ll be much less likely to suffer a clavicle fracture if you ski on slopes consistent with your level of expertise than if you try to go too fast.

The same goes if you constantly collide with your opponents directly at the shoulder girdle when you play rugby, instead of positioning yourself correctly. Technique is essential to prevent this type of injury.

Avoid a clavicle fracture

Thus, we could say that, more than preventing a clavicle fracture, we should talk about avoiding one. Since the clavicle is a very superficial bone, it’s very susceptible to direct blows that break it. Therefore, if you expose yourself to situations where you may frequently fall or crash into others, you must be very careful.

Thus, training your muscles, making correct movements, learning to fall, and not exceeding your own abilities is essential. Even if you suffer a fracture, with these measures, it’s very likely that you’ll completely recover.

However, you’ll also have to rest for a while, following that with a long period of physical therapy, exercise, and physical means to reach that point and ensure its consolidation. More serious cases may require surgical intervention. Nevertheless, it’s best to avoid having to go through that process.