Fractured collar bone?

wakeupcall

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone,

husband has had a pinched nerve in his back. Went to the chiropractor yesterday.....and I SWEAR I think he has a fractured collar bone!! husband came home complaining that his collar bone hurt. I encouraged him to put ice on it, he did, then said it felt a little better. (He can't take ibuprophen because he only has one kidney). When he got up this morning......omg.....it's swollen almost on his neck, and there's a lump about half the way down towards his sternum. Could the chiropractor have broken it???????????? Just before husband left the office the chiropractor did one last crack. He needs to have it xrayed, I know, but as most men, he has the big bosses in today and all day meetings with them. He doesn't want to look like a woos, so he won't say a word, much less get it xrayed. Is it POSSIBLE that a doctor could do that to him???
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
I suppose depending on the position the chiropracter had him in and what manuver he did. Meetings or not, he should really have it x-rayed asap. If there is a lump, it could be healing in a way that's not quite aligned and could need to have it rebroken.

Oh wait....


We're talking about a MAN. Of COURSE it will be worse than it should be. WHAT was I thinking? :slap:
 

WhymeMom?

No real answers to life..
Well, quite a distraction......does his back bother him now? Tell him to get an xray, broken collar bones can lead to blindness and infertility.............(yeah, I just made that up, but he doesn't need to know)........
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
It certainly could be a fractured collarbone based on the location of the swelling as described.

And...yes, it is possible for a chiropractor to fracture a collarbone during an adustment. Not likely, and not if if an adjustment is done properly, but yes, it could happen.

Untreated/poorly healed collarbones can lead to nerve damage to the arm and ribcage on that side, and also to pressure on major blood vessels running from the chest to neck (Thoracic outlet syndrome)

I speak from experience. I've got TOS on the left side due to an improperly healed collarbone fracture incurred thirty years ago.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Not likely, but it depends upon if you're talking probability or possiblity.

I've had a broken collarbone. It did not swell up like you described. It hurt like &#$%^%%$% though! If your husband has a bit of difficulty moving his arm on that side, it may be a broken bone. If he can still swing his arm about, then it's probably something else.

I'm confused as to how the collarbone could have broken if the area the chiro was working on was your husband's back. Was your husband on his stomach and the chiro did a thrust into his upper back? The only way I can imagine breaking a collarbone that way would be if your husband was lying on a narrow piece of metal direclty beneath his collarbone, instead of a padded table.

I would also want a bone density test for your husband. It's not easy to break a guy's bones. It's more likely a chiro would break an elderly lady's bones. (They have a little hand-held gadget called an Activator that can be used for sensitive patients.)

Does the chiro have an emergency #? My husband does and it's not unusual to get calls at night. Your husband sholuld call the chiro asap and tell him.
 

wakeupcall

Well-Known Member
Terry, the chiropractor I used to go to in another state also used an activator. It worked wonders on me!!! It appears that finding doctors who actually use it is almost impossible. husband did several phone calls to doctors in the area and most of them don't use them. husband (58) was going to the chiropractor because none of the other doctors were doing anything for the pinched nerve except giving him Lyrica. This chiro was given all the xrays and the MRI that husband had done a few days earlier. They used the roller machine thingy on him and the electric impulse thingy (can you tell I'm not a doctor?), then the chiro manipulated him. When he came home from the appointment. he said his collar bone was really hurt. He rubbed it all evening. He said the dr. kinda had him in a fetal position, put his knee in the crook of husband's knee and then crunched him. (Sorry for the terminology.) husband called home from his meetings about 2:00 and said there was no change...no better, no worse. THEN he leaned on it against the wall while we were talking and let out a war whoop! No matter what it is....the doctor has hurt him in a way he shouldn't have.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Oh! That's called Side Posture.

He's probably just got a muscle spasm. Have him ice it for 20 min. every 3 hrs.
(Probably not easy to do at work; maybe on his lunch break?) Note, I said "probably" because I'm not a dr and I haven't examined your husband.

Sometimes, if a patient has lost confidence in the dr, they can be referred to another chiro across the hall. That's what my husband and his partner do. They use different techniques, too. Is there another chiro in the practice?

I know your husband doesn't want to be poked and prodded, but he's going to have to go back and have the chiro tell him which muscle it is and why it's doing that. It could also be a rib out of place just beneath the collarbone, and those are easy to fix with-one pop (but they're not fun. Don't tell your husband that!).
If it really is the collarbone, the chiro should Xray the area. It's less expensive to get an Xray in the chiro's ofc than to go to the ER. And you don't have to wait as long and hang around icky people. :)
I would not worry about something more severe unless it becomes more inflamed, because the Xrays and MRI didn't show anything, right? (Like cancer or DJD or DISH.)

In the meantime, I'd suggest icing.
 

wakeupcall

Well-Known Member
I finally convinced him to go to his primary care physician today (no easy feat, ya know). The doctor about freaked out when he saw his lump in the neck. He, too, thought he had a broken collar bone so sent him for xrays. It isn't broken, but severely bruised. He told him DO NOT GO BACK TO A CHIROPRACTOR! Fat chance on him going anyway. Now he not only has a back problem, but a severely bruised collar bone to go along with it. We keep icing it and that helps! Poor thing....you'd think he was 90!!
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Awww. That's so sad. There are a lot of good chiropractors out there.
I would suggest that he call the chiro's office to tell them that he was injured, went to a gp, and is not coming back. They need to know!
 
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