Steel Plate in Collarbone + Need Solution for Backpack Straps

I recently fractured my collarbone and had a plate & screws installed. The distal end of the plate sticks out of the top of my shoulder pretty far, making backpack straps extremely uncomfortable. I'm brainstorming solutions for how to carry heavy packs (packs full of day-trip ice gear, avy packs, multi-day ski trip packs) with this new addition to my shoulder.

My first thought is to have some type of gel pad sown into the strap of the affected side. The plate only sticks out at the very tip and looks like any other collarbone aside from being much more prominent than normal. The skin over the plate absolutely cannot stand the additional weight and uneven pressure/abrasion. Gel pads or some other soft/malleable material might work.

I will be able to have the plate removed in one year from now, but I'd really like to find a solution in the interim. 

Does anyone in the MP world have any creative solutions? Any input would be appreciated! :) 

A simple solution may just be a piece of memory foam sewn into the shoulder strap (which I would do on both sides to even things up).  Besides that you can really cinch down your waist strap to try and get as much weight onto your hips as possible and off your shoulders. Those combined with asking your partner to carry some extra weight may work OK :) 

For what it's worth, keep your head up and get psyched for when the plate comes out. I had two plates, one on my ulna, the other on the radius and it was the worst. My arm would ache really bad, especially after crimping. Once I got the plates taken out, I haven't had any issues at all.

Ah, that blows. Good luck recovering, cool that you're still planning to get out! For multi-day ski trips a sled might help, but of course there's some stuff like avy gear which should really be on your back. Could you carry most of the weight on your hip belt, not put a shoulder strap on the injured shoulder, and attach the uninjured side shoulder strap to the opposite hip to make a cross-body strap?

Best luck with recovery.
Would a tumpline be an option?

amarius wrote: Best luck with recovery.
Would a tumpline be an option?

Why It’s Better to Carry Weight on Your Head

I bet that lady has some awesome neck muscles. As for me, if I so much as sleep on a pillow wrong, I'm walking with a stiff neck.

Nick Votto wrote: A simple solution may just be a piece of memory foam sewn into the shoulder strap (which I would do on both sides to even things up).  Besides that you can really cinch down your waist strap to try and get as much weight onto your hips as possible and off your shoulders. Those combined with asking your partner to carry some extra weight may work OK :) 

I did not think of memory foam. Great idea! Thank you so much! 

Taylor Spiegelberg wrote: For what it's worth, keep your head up and get psyched for when the plate comes out. I had two plates, one on my ulna, the other on the radius and it was the worst. My arm would ache really bad, especially after crimping. Once I got the plates taken out, I haven't had any issues at all.

Thank you! My head is up pretty high! Thankfully I'm a resilient individual! I can't wait for this thing to come out though! Almost 3 months of being benched has me absolutely DYING to get after it. I'll have to come up with a solution. I appreciate the positive vibes though! :) 

Gerrit Verbeek wrote: Ah, that blows. Good luck recovering, cool that you're still planning to get out! For multi-day ski trips a sled might help, but of course there's some stuff like avy gear which should really be on your back. Could you carry most of the weight on your hip belt, not put a shoulder strap on the injured shoulder, and attach the uninjured side shoulder strap to the opposite hip to make a cross-body strap?

This is not a bad idea at all. For a really heavy pack, I'm not sure this would work but I will definitely consider it! Thank you Gerrit!

Tony Bob wrote:

I bet that lady has some awesome neck muscles. As for me, if I so much as sleep on a pillow wrong, I'm walking with a stiff neck.

OP, did you get an extensive (any at all) PT routine? What do they have you doing? That helped me a ton when I found out my clavicle decided to become a POS

I've been seeing a PT since a couple of weeks after the surgery and she has me doing exercises that are specific to the collarbone but nothing is helping with the prominence of the plate. The surgeon said that due to my size/stature, there's just not much room for the plate & it's going to stick out. I wonder why he couldn't put a shorter plate in there.... The best therapy so far has been lifting weights and returning to climbing! :) 

I have a non-union fracture after they put in a plate and a graft. So the plate stays in because all that’s holding my clavicle together is the steel and scar tissue.  Between that, and the raised areas on the other side of my clavicle from healed fractures (I used to race bicycles...) I have some experience with packs.

I had Dan McHale build me a pack for backpacking with heavy loads. 50+lbs over 8 days has been fine. The key benefits are: 1) making sure that the fit is perfect so as much support as possible is carried by the hips, 2) a more traditional high strap attachment point (as opposed to the “wrap” style that seems to be popular these days), 3) he floats the shoulder strap pads so the pads stay in place while the straps move (he calls it the bypass strap system). Rubbing is just as bad, or maybe worse, than pressure, so this is huge), 4) I had him sew Velcro loop on the inside of each shoulder strap and two pouches that can be stuffed with padding and stuck to the Velcro.

I think the movable pads are important, as different loads and different layers of clothing means that you will want different pad placements. I found that folded fleece in the pads is the right material for me, and I typically position the pads just below my clavicles.

For smaller packs I find that I can get away with narrow set straps, which are typical for climbers packs anyway. However, if I have a full load of water, rack, and rope on my tufa leaders pack, I get about an hour before I’m starting to get bothered, and after 2 hours I’m hurting.

Hope that gives you some ideas.