Racing a motor bike is a high speed sport with many dangers; one of those dangers is always the problem of breaking a clavicle bone due to a high speed crash and the rider hitting the track surface. It's not very often that the rider has time to put an arm out in the hope it will break his fall.
Unlike most common breaks to the collar bone, when a racer breaks his clavicle this is more often due to the impact of the shoulder hitting the track at speed. This results in the clavicle suffering a number of breaks and fractures along its length.
What is a Broken Collar Bone?
There are 4 basic types of bone in the human body, long, short, irregular and flat. The collar bone is a flat bone and attaches at the Sternum and the Scapula. The Clavicle is one of the most frequently broken bones in the body. A broken Collar bone is an extremely common shoulder injury for Moto GP riders, World Super Bikes and most other forms of bike racing. A broken Collar bone usually occurs during a fall from the bike when the rider falls at speed when entering a corner or exiting a corner. More often than not this is due to the rider being thrown from his bike in what is called a High Side. The rider is thrown into the air or slammed onto the tarmac. The force transmitted through the shoulder is enough to cause the collar bone to break in many places.
What can you do to prevent a Broken Collar Bone?
It would be too easy to say "don't fall off" or "slow down" but the very nature of the sport is to be the first rider into the corner and the fastest out of it. Tyre technology has advanced very quickly over the past 10 years and with it the electrics that control sliding (Traction Control) and breaking forces (ABS). The one area that hasn't changed over the years is the protection offered to riders and very little improvements have been made to leathers compared to the advancements made in motor bike technology. The majority of all riders now wear chest and back protectors and air bags are being slowly introduced. When tyres do let go and high tech electrics fail, it all goes wrong very quickly and before the rider can react he is on the floor and more often than not it is usually a High Side that is the cause of the fall. As tyres improve and technology improves, corner speed is going to get faster, entry speed is going to improve and the riders will be carrying more speed through the corners.
There was an attempt to slow riders down in Moto GP by officials when they reduced the size of Moto GP engines and they went from 1000cc to 800cc, the problem with that is a smaller bike is quicker through the corners and most track records (fastest lap) have been broken this year. The decision has been made to go back to the 1000cc engines at the end of this year. Will this slow down Moto GP riders into corners and will it reduce the amount of broken clavicles that we have seen this year? Time will tell.
What should you do if you suffer a Broken Collar Bone?
The clavicle is an "S" shaped bone that connects the shoulder (Scapula) to the breastplate (sternum). The clavicle is very near the skin, and it can be seen and felt very easily in most people. The joint between the clavicle and the part of the shoulder blade called the acromioclavicular is known as the A/C joint. The joint between the sternum and the clavicle is known as the sternoclavicular or S/C joint. The clavicle is designed to support the shoulder, acting like a strut that helps to align the shoulder with the rest of the chest. It also acts as a fixing point for many of the muscles in the shoulder girdle such as the Trapezius, Deltoid and the Pectoralis major muscles. The clavicle is one of the bones that do not produce marrow in the human body.
After a high side incident and a broken clavicle are suspected a rider will always be referred to hospital for treatment and x-rays. The x-ray will show how the bone has been broken. The result of the x-ray determines what kind of treatment is best suited for the rider.
A break that does not have two ends of the bone out of alignment and overlapping would not normally need operating on and would be left to nature to take its natural course. The muscles of the shoulder girdle will massage the bone back into place along with muscle memory.
When a rider is thrown from his ride at any speed, the end result is the clavicle bone breaking or fracturing in a number of places. In recent months Collin Edwards broke his clavicle in 5 places, Cal Crutchlow broke his at Silverstone and Dani Pedrosa broke his in 4 places. For most riders at this level time is not an option and surgery is the only way ahead.
A clavicle bone will normally repair in about 8 to 12 weeks and should be in a sling or a figure 8 bandage during this time. With surgery this can be reduced to 4 weeks and a rider can be back in the saddle in less. Surgery is normally done when there is a shortening of the bone or displacement.
For whatever reason it is, doctors in the UK are reluctant to pin clavicle breaks. It is their belief that it causes problems in later years. Current research being conducted in the USA on this subject is not of this opinion. US doctors believe that this is out dated and clavicle bones should be repaired as soon as possible there is no need to be in pain for a period of 12 weeks or longer. A broken clavicle can be reset and pinned some 3-4 years later after the initial break took place.
