So sometimes a collar bone just doesn’t want to heal up and weld itself back together. It happens. What that means depends a lot on how the ligaments an whatnot are able to hold the bone in place. If it moves around too much, then it hurts, or sets up all sorts of grinding an popping that can be intolerable.

To help assess that, the doctor ordered some Xrays with me holding something reasonably heavy with my hanging down. The shoulder did fine with that, but my elbow was screaming because it had been bent up in the sling for 2 months and now had about 4kg pulling it straight.

Apparently my bone stayed put well enough that this might not be a problem. The disconnect in the bone might result in a slight, maybe 10%, loss of strength in that shoulder, which, according to the doctor, wouldn’t be noticeable unless I was pumping iron or something (I might develop a right-turning tendency in flight and have to compensate with a left yaw).

The plan now is to get the arm back into service with some PT (Physical Therapy, or what my co-worker calls Pain and Torture). During the first session I could see some immediate improvement in my range of motion. The doctor made use of the arm sling optional: if the arm gets tired and needs to rest, I can use the sling, or if I’m in a situation where my attention might need to be elsewhere and I might therefore make a sudden inadvisable move. In the meantime, I’ve got exercises to do at least daily to stretch and improve the range of motion and to improve strength.

Stay tuned…