Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Fractured vertebrae

Hello,

Has anyone had a fractured vertebrae? It's possible I have one, I'm going for a bone scan later this week. Just wanted to know if you were given pills to heal the bone, as my rhuemy is talking about that.

Thanks
Chris

gidday,good luck with your bone scan later in the weekand heres hoping it isn,t fractured...sorry i cannot help about pills to heal the bone?tho i,d imagine you must be in need of pain relief.i am curious to know how you did it ...was it a fall?or the result of someting else?good luck and best wushes with it anyway,jude2

Hi Chris,
About 4 years ago I had a slip on a patch of ice while carrying my youngest daughter. I did not fall, my right foot slipped out from under me but I caught myself before falling. This minor slip caused a spinal fracture in L4, L5 and disc proplems in L6. My back specialist that I have been seeing at Duke Medical Center put me in a brace with something for the pain and said I should just let it fuse back and have surgery at a later time. This because I am considering surgery to straighten my spine and neck so I can once again stand straight. Pain lasted for several weeks but did get better over time. The medication he prescribed was percocet & flexoril. Hope this helps & good luck to you.

Hi, Chris:

I had a fracture at L1-L2 and they called it 'pseudoarthrosis.' Whatever it was it hurt so bad that I was unable to sleep--that jerking dream would send me into near convulsive states and I could not enter sleep until I was severely deprived (and probably depraved, too).

What helped for a short period of time were epidurals, but I don't recommend them if they can be avoided--there are many reasons NOT to use them, but they were certainly a lifesaver for me. Eventually, since the fracture would not heal on its own, I had to have Harrington rods installed to close the gap. Bone tissue can leap, but they can't really jump--if the gap is too large, the fracture will not heal. I wish I knew what pills heal bone...

Good luck to You--I have experienced some of this,
John

Hi,

I have had the fracture in my coccyx. It is still a part of the vertebre. I slipped and fell down stairs.

The only medication that I was offered at the time was Brufen (ibuprofen). I was given some intensive physiotherapy for a few weeks and then went home. (there is a whole new story behind what happened).

I assume that it depends upon the position of the fracture as to how it is treated. Good luck with the scans etc.

Maggie from Oz

I had a spinal fracture and we didn't actually find it till 6 months later at my yearly Rheum. visit.
Lots of pain and legs going numb...by the time they found it, it was already starting to heal over.
Just kept up with my usual meds.
Dan

Thank you all for your responses. I least I know this has happened to others. My fracture is from a car accident (my fault) in September.