I have a nonunion clavicle (2 yrs. old..right arm) and my surgeon will not operate because I smoke!?

Question:

I am in pain daily.yet I am having trouble getting SSI. I am also suffering from depression because of this. Where can I get HELP?

Answers:
Your doctor is just looking out for you when he will not operate due to the smoking. Smoking increases your risk factors for surgery. It could effect the way you handle anesthesia, etc. SSI is hard to get and if your condition could be treated then you may not get it at all. My mother has 3-4 bad discs in her lumbar that are inoperable and she lives in constant pain daily. She cannot even stand up halfway straight or sit still for more than 1-3 minutes and she has been turned down for SSI. You might consider quitting smoking in order to have this procedure done it if will relieve your pain and suffering.

Pray. And quit smoking.

I guess you dont want to have surgery smoking can put you more at risk sometimes but if you really want it you should stop smoking it will benefit every part of your life breath better etc there are benefits

stop smoking

They aren't going to waste their time doing surgery on someone who smokes because it puts you at risk for more complications. You HAVE to quit smoking, that is the only way to get the surgery. There are no other options. That might not be what you want to hear but you'll have to deal with it if you want the surgeon to help you.

get a second opinion then..there's more than one surgeon in the world. Is it a nonunion fracture or some type of joint separation? Anyways, certain areas of the body and certain tissue types have really poor blood supply. meaning the nutrients that need to get to the area to heal can't get there. So if its a fracture and hasn't healed itself, the dr can't make your blood flow better.so even if you were operated on, the decreased blood flow is still a problem. On top of that, smoking causes your blood vessels to harden and close off even more, which means that your healing capacity is decreased on top of the fact that the tissue may have a poor healing capacity.so yeah, that's why the smoking plays a big part..

Non-union of the clavicle or collar bone is quite rare. More often than not this fracture heals on its own. Don't know how smoking is a contraindication to your surgery which you need ASAP. Maybe he just wants you to stop but you need the surgery right away to heal the nonunion. The surgeon would probably put in a small plate with screws or a pin to fix your bone. Maybe bone grafting too, depending on how bad the nonunion is. Go see another doctor if your smoking is really the reason why he doesn't want to operate.

I have a nonunion clavicle (2 yrs. old..right arm) and my surgeon will not operate because I smoke!?

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