Son has broken his collarbone - anyone got any experience of this?

[MabelStark]

My son broke his collarbone yesterday in his school PE lesson. He's 12. It's a straightforward break and so should heal in a few weeks.
He's ok when he's laying completely still - but when he moves he's in a great deal of pain. I'm keeping him dosed regularly on paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Has anyone any experience of this?
When might he start being able to move a little more freely?
Any tips on taking care of him?
It's the first time I've dealt with anything like this. He's currently in bed watching tv (after a night in hospital) unwashed, still wearing the rugby kit that the paramedic cut open to look at him.
Should I wake him in the night to give him pain relief?
He's eaten some lunch and I'm cooking him some dinner. He's usually a cheery thing but he's been really tearful all day. It's been a surreal 24 hours.

I did this when I was about 14. You can't do much other than rest and take pain relief. It was the most painful of the bones I've broken!

Definitely don't wake him to give pain relief, if he's asleep he's sleeping through it so that would be totally counterintuitive.

Hope he gets better soon!

That was my first thought, the hustle and bustle of the hall ways at lunch time, kids slamming into one another, chucking bags, mucking about.
I hope he heals quickly.

Just to add. He's usually a really steady cheerful type and he was crying this afternoon through sheer frustration of not being about to move without being in pain and not being able to do anything. I honestly haven't seen him cry for about 3 years.
He had a long wait for the ambulance to get to him at school and he dealt with it all really well. The worst is certainly over though hopefully!

I'd def keep him off the rest of this week. It's easier to heal if you can sleep when pain allows rather than when the clock says its sleep time.

My 16 year old DS broke his collar bone in May playing football. Was a clean break looked bad on the X-ray.
Really painful first couple of days slept propped up on pillows and painkillers every 4 hrs. A&E confirmed broken and put a fabric sling on made an appt for fracture clinic few days later.
Consultant just asked him to do a few different types of stretches to see what movement he had and gave him a proper sling like a sleeve with strap across the back which he wore to school for about a week and a bit .
After first 5 days or so was much less painful and he was fine which was a relief cause was the start of his GCSE's that week. DS broke his on a Friday and was back at school Monday but had the weekend to get over the worst so I would let him have rest week off if u think he needs it.

Repeat X-ray done at about 6 weeks and no contact sports allowed for 4 months. Collar bone still sticks out on that side a lot more but doc said will for quite some time.
Hope he's ok and not in too much pain .

I broke mine as an adult and it was very painful, slightest movement was terribly sore so I think a few days off school is wise. Dr gave me a big standard bandage sling bit a friend gave me a proper padded one that supported elbow and also was secured around my back which massively helped. It took some of the weight off and helped to keep it still. Obviously I got this without medical advice so you might want to ask if something like that is suitable. Just thinking of him in school where there is potential to be jostled a bit. Poor ds, hope he is feeling more like himself soon.

Same as everyone else, lots of pillows so he is comfortable and painkillers as and when. Be guided by him and his recovery regarding his return to school, a friend of DS went mornings only for half the week before managing a full day when he broke his collar bone.

I broke mine as a teen. Sleeping is the worst part of it as trying to move once you're lying down is agony. I set up a sort of armchair out of pillows in my bed so that i slept in a kind of sitting position and couldn't roll. It'd still hurt when i woke up and had to sit up, but I didn't slip down as far so wasn't as bad.

I'd let him take a few days off school if you can. I was in the middle of my GCSEs so couldn't and was scared shitless of getting jostled in the corridors, really painful.

Its does start to heal quite quickly though, was significantly less painful after a week and almost painless after 2 unless I did something stupid.

You say he's in a material sling covering the whole arm? He may be more comfortable in a much smaller "collar & cuff" type sling which allows the weight of the arm to traction the collar bone into a natural position

@GrandmaSharksDentures
It's a sling like this.

He may manage well in that sling. This is the sort that I use for broken collar bones...

Sorry I've only just seen this again. My son was off school for a week each time on the advice of the Dr. We were worried about him being knocked about at school and he was in a lot of pain. He couldn't do P.E for 6 weeks either and during the xray the third time, it was discovered that the bone hadn't fully healed from the second break, even with those precautions.

I think he has just been unlucky as usually they do heal very well.

I don't know if it's the same thing, but my DD fractured her collarbone falling out of bed earlier this year. She was only 3 at the time, poor thing. She was in a lot of pain at the beginning, wouldn't move her arm or head and had arm in a sling but after about 10 days she was moving her arm around quite easily again. I don't know if a fracture is the same as a full on break though.