Sport after a fractured sternum

Not only in car accidents or blows to the sternum can fracture, but also during sports. However, this must involve an enormous amount of violence. This is theoretically possible in almost every sport, for example when cycling, when the rider falls off his bike, or in football, when the opponent strikes the elbow very hard on the sternum.

Riders are also susceptible to a sternum fracture, as a fracture can easily occur, especially after a fall, but also in a horse that is hoofing out. Also martial arts or strength training can lead to a sternum fracture. However, a fracture does not always have to occur, often the sternum is just bruised.

However, if the sternum breaks, a plaster cast or splint to stabilize the sternum is not helpful. It is therefore extremely important to put as little strain as possible on the sternum. The type of sport that can be resumed and from when depends very much on the age of the patient and the severity of the fracture.

The older a patient is, the worse the fracture will heal. It can take up to half a year for the fracture to heal sufficiently for sports that do not put a strain on the sternum (cycling on a cross trainer or jogging) to be able to be performed again without pain. In young patients who have normal bone growth, the fracture should heal after about 6-8 weeks so that slow training is possible again.

However, it takes at least 3 months until the fracture has completely healed and sports such as football, handball, weight training, riding and similar can be practiced again. The Duisburg handball player Flemming, for example, needed more than 3 months until he was fully operational again after he had broken his sternum. It is important to keep to this deadline in any case.

Loose training is often possible again after only 6 weeks. However, if the patient overdoes it, the fracture cannot heal properly. There is a risk that the sternum grows together incorrectly or that false joints (pseudoarthroses) are formed.

If the sternum grows together incorrectly or pseudoarthrosis develops, surgery is usually the only option. In this operation, the rib cage must be opened at the front and the sternum partially assembled with the aid of plates. After such an operation, it can take even longer before the sternum is able to bear weight properly again, especially since many patients are disturbed by the plate and can have it removed again after several months.

An important reason for the slow healing of a sternal fracture is breathing. The sternum is located above the lungs and heart. If increased breathing occurs due to heavy exertion, it irritates the sternum very much and causes severe pain.

In severe cases, the fracture can tear even further. Breathing always puts a strain on the fracture in the sternum, even at rest. Many patients still complain of pain in the sternum even years after their sternum fracture and therefore cannot do any sports at all.

Often, however, it is easy for patients to start running again after a few weeks (about 6 weeks minimum). It is important that the training process is constructive. It should be taken care to start with loose running units.

Sports that put too much strain on the arms and thus also on the thoracic muscles should be avoided in any case. These sports include, for example, dumbbell training in the gym, high bar and gymnastics in general, basketball and handball training, volleyball training and riding. All these sports should be practiced after 3 months at the earliest, otherwise there is a risk of unnecessary complications.

However, as long as you stick to the therapy plan and slowly resume training with a physiotherapist, a sternum fracture should heal properly just like any other fracture. However, as the fracture is very strained due to breathing, it is possible that even after 3 months there is still no complete healing. In this case it can take even longer (sometimes up to half a year or more) until the old sport training can be resumed with the old workload.