anyone else here break their back before?

[330ci]

Back in March I ended up getting in an accident that shattered my T1, giving me a major concussion, and requiring my head to be stapled and sewed back shut.
When I was in the hospital they told me to get bed rest and not do any physical activity for 12 weeks. IIRC I was only in the hospital a day before they got me squared away and released me.

After 12 weeks the pain was fairly persistent, but I had gained so much weight during the stay at home order from not moving, eating too much etc. so I couldn't wait to get back out working out. I also figured the pain would subside with weight loss and ease up with exercise.

Yoga studios are all but shut down here which was my favorite form of daily exercise before this all happened, I have been kayaking plenty since as well, which seemed to help out with the back pain, but it wasn't as intense of a workout as I was used too so I hopped back on my bikes again.

Road biking and kayaking leave me feeling good every single time, but when I hit mountain bike trails it's like a 50/50 chance of making my upper body and muscles around my T1 feel better, and the other half something happens where i'm practically stuck in bed with so much pain im immobile. it's only been 6 months since the accident so I'm hoping my body will still heal up more. How long did it take for you though? does the pain ever truely go away? or is there always going to be some slight memory every time I try to get a good workout in reminding me that my T1 was broken to bits at some point.
anyone else experience like extreme nerve/muscle pain around the location of their break? did this get better over time? if not how do you manage the symptoms. They were very quick to offer me pain killers at the hospital but I refused as I fear a pill addiction far more than the pain I experience.

[Bluside]

I am so sorry for your injury and hope you heal fast. I know it sucks.

I am in the process of rehabilitating from a broken hip and elbow due to a bicycle accident. I'm ready to get rid of my walker.

The mental state is a hard one to heal for an active person. My thoughts are with you.

[330ci]

Originally Posted by Bluside

I am so sorry for your injury and hope you heal fast. I know it sucks.

I am in the process of rehabilitating from a broken hip and elbow due to a bicycle accident. I'm ready to get rid of my walker.

The mental state is a hard one to heal for an active person. My thoughts are with you.

my thoughts are with you as well, that sounds terrible.

hopefully not too much longer until you're back on your own 2 feet.

I've had a few broken bones in the past, but nothing seems to compare to this injury. hopefully it heals/desensitizes overtime. there really isn't much info out there on the subject that I can find though. lots on slipped discs and such, but very little on recovery from fractures

[superdog]

Damn. Sorry to hear fellas. Injuries are the worst.

I have had many, including a back surgery.

Tons of stuff on YouTube to help. Tons of gentle stuff too.

Best of luck. Stay strong.

[breitlings]

Does your employer have something like Limber Health? MSK rehabilitation tailored by Mayo Clinic tested algorithm delivered electronically.

Hope you feel better, back pain is no joke.

[Kowaco]

Walking is a good exercise if you want to drop some weight, definitely go easy on the Yoga and make sure any pose doesn’t stress your neck, it’s easy to get carried away and do things you shouldn’t.


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[330ci]

Originally Posted by breitlings

Does your employer have something like Limber Health? MSK rehabilitation tailored by Mayo Clinic tested algorithm delivered electronically.

Hope you feel better, back pain is no joke.

I'm going to have to ask. Otherwise I wouldn't mind paying for it, didn't see that option though. would be nice knowing something to do daily. I might have to look into a specialist at this point though.

Originally Posted by Kowaco

Walking is a good exercise if you want to drop some weight, definitely go easy on the Yoga and make sure any pose doesn’t stress your neck, it’s easy to get carried away and do things you shouldn’t.


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Yeah I think that I might've pushed myself a bit too hard biking as I don't recall being in this much pain since the initial injury.

Originally Posted by superdog

Damn. Sorry to hear fellas. Injuries are the worst.

I have had many, including a back surgery.

Tons of stuff on YouTube to help. Tons of gentle stuff too.

Best of luck. Stay strong.

appreciate it, sounds like i'm going to have to find out much gentler forms of exercise at this point. Definitely feels weird finding out that my body has limits, it's something i've always known. but figured I wouldn't have to worry about these pains and aches until later in life

[TheVTCGuy]

I am close to 60 and blessed with health, knees, hips, back, all OK. So I don’t know what you are going through but wish you all the best, I know they can be lengthy to recover from. Best of luck

[330ci]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

I am close to 60 and blessed with health, knees, hips, back, all OK. So I don’t know what you are going through but wish you all the best, I know they can be lengthy to recover from. Best of luck

cherish your good health =D i'm less than half your age and the mental prospect of carrying this pain the rest of my life is nothing shy of depressing lol

trying to do it all without any foreign substances, but fortunately THC/CBD products are available locally should I choose that route.

Giving it as much time as I can at this point and trying to do activities to promote healing. My doctor said my body should continue to recover/replace cells until i'm about 50 and then that's when I have to worry about stuff not fixing itself in my body. just crazy no one can really tell you the extent you will heal. just what you can do to encourage your body to get better over time.

[Burlington]

My brother broke his back whilst overseas on work.

That was over 10 years ago now, he has some good days and some bad when he struggles to get moving.

I don’t know how he manages to get by with it, and he never complains but he has always been tougher than me.

I hope you can recover from it, or at least find good ways to manage the day to day realities of it.

[THC]

Yikes.. cannot imagine, Godspeed sir

[Kowaco]

I’ll throw one more thing out there. I had neck pain from normal wear and tear. I got a tempurpedic pillow and try to sleep with my shoulders sort of on the edge and my head and neck fully supported by the pillow, so no bending from my shoulders flat on the bed and my neck bend up on the pillow. It has really helped. You might try some anti inflammatory and muscle relaxers in there too. Even a crick in your neck can take weeks, not to mention a fracture.


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[ltmgeller]

Short answer is yes. Sorry to hear what you’re going through. I spent 3 months in the hospital and 5 months in a wheel chair after I was cut off on my motorcycle. The best thing I can say is that a positive mental attitude and pushing yourself through the pain to do more than you thought are the nest pathways to recovery. I was told I may never walk again and I can now run a mile and a half. It’s in 27 minutes but it’s better than nothing.

[cascavel]

The reason mountain biking presents a problem is that it causes compression in the vertebrae which may cause swelling which puts pressure on nerves, much like sciatica.
I would ease back into exercise and expect it to take up to two years to effect a, more or less, complete recovery.

[jatco]

My prayers are with you for a recovery. It won't be easy or quick, that's for sure.
I couldn't image road biking, especially challenging roads. I've had back surgery, fusing L4-5 four yrs ago. 3 months of recovery, able to go back to work but still have issues to date. Ain't no party. Now, with a recent heart attack, recovery is even longer.
Take your time and tread carefully...

[uscmatt99]

Sometimes with a spinal bone injury at that level, you can get associated ligamentous injury. The ligaments are responsible for holding the spine in alignment. So even though the fracture may have healed, there could be more movement at T1 and the adjacent levels than you had prior to the injury. This can predispose you to re-injury, or progression of degenerative changes locally. Ligamentous injury won’t show up on an X-ray unless flexion-extension views are done, and even these can be very difficult to interpret as the T1 level is always partially obscured by the shoulders. If your doctor thinks it advisable, you could get X-rays or advanced imaging with MRI to look for these delayed issues.

[330ci]

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

Sometimes with a spinal bone injury at that level, you can get associated ligamentous injury. The ligaments are responsible for holding the spine in alignment. So even though the fracture may have healed, there could be more movement at T1 and the adjacent levels than you had prior to the injury. This can predispose you to re-injury, or progression of degenerative changes locally. Ligamentous injury won’t show up on an X-ray unless flexion-extension views are done, and even these can be very difficult to interpret as the T1 level is always partially obscured by the shoulders. If your doctor thinks it advisable, you could get X-rays or advanced imaging with MRI to look for these delayed issues.

This seems to make the most sense, it does feel like muscle type pain generally speaking. I think I need to speak to someone other than my doctor though to be honest. Other than medicine she hasn't offered much advice that I wouldn't have automatically assumed myself.

Originally Posted by cascavel

The reason mountain biking presents a problem is that it causes compression in the vertebrae which may cause swelling which puts pressure on nerves, much like sciatica.
I would ease back into exercise and expect it to take up to two years to effect a, more or less, complete recovery.

definitely makes me happy knowing that there still might be an end in sight, or atleast that this could get better =D

[330ci]

Originally Posted by ltmgeller

Short answer is yes. Sorry to hear what you’re going through. I spent 3 months in the hospital and 5 months in a wheel chair after I was cut off on my motorcycle. The best thing I can say is that a positive mental attitude and pushing yourself through the pain to do more than you thought are the nest pathways to recovery. I was told I may never walk again and I can now run a mile and a half. It’s in 27 minutes but it’s better than nothing.

I'm sorry to hear this but glad you're on the mend! I'm not able to do any of my favorite things as quickly as I once was. but considering I was in the ICU 6 months ago barely able to remember who I was, I'm pretty proud with how much i've recovered thus far and really hope that with time, and care my body might heal itself up fully.
The mental health aspect of all this has been the hardest on me. I don't know exactly what happened but I pretty much went absolutely insane. could hardly remember who I was, experienced what i'm assuming is psychosis(they just said it was a TBI). Took me months to trust being around anyone outside of my family again, I've had to go to therapy regularly. besides 2 close friends, and my immediate family I still have a hard time socializing so this forum has been really helpful for my recovery. Its a rollercoaster ride, I try to maintain positivity throughout it all, but sometimes I just can't skip past the thought of my life prior to this and it definitely is a bit depressing.

[330ci]

Originally Posted by jatco

My prayers are with you for a recovery. It won't be easy or quick, that's for sure.
I couldn't image road biking, especially challenging roads. I've had back surgery, fusing L4-5 four yrs ago. 3 months of recovery, able to go back to work but still have issues to date. Ain't no party. Now, with a recent heart attack, recovery is even longer.
Take your time and tread carefully...

The positive side of corona for me is it has afforded me the time to slow down a bit. but it ain't no party for sure. Ideally i'd like this pain to dissapear, but in the meantime I am going to have to find something to manage it.

probably going to have to look into sleep aids at this point too, as waking up at 2-3am every morning is getting old

[330ci]

Originally Posted by Kowaco

I’ll throw one more thing out there. I had neck pain from normal wear and tear. I got a tempurpedic pillow and try to sleep with my shoulders sort of on the edge and my head and neck fully supported by the pillow, so no bending from my shoulders flat on the bed and my neck bend up on the pillow. It has really helped. You might try some anti inflammatory and muscle relaxers in there too. Even a crick in your neck can take weeks, not to mention a fracture.


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I have a memory foam pillow(knock off not tempur pedic) but I love that thing. I can only sleep on my side though unless I prop my back up at a roughly 45 degree angle. I really want one of those sleep number beds haven't been able to pull the trigger though, it's around $5,500 for the one I want.

[cascavel]

Originally Posted by 330ci

The positive side of corona for me is it has afforded me the time to slow down a bit. but it ain't no party for sure. Ideally i'd like this pain to dissapear, but in the meantime I am going to have to find something to manage it.

probably going to have to look into sleep aids at this point too, as waking up at 2-3am every morning is getting old

Temazepam. No hangover, as with Ambien. Take it when you wake up at 2am and you'll get 2-3 more hours of sleep. That's assuming what wakes and keeps you up is anxiety. Of course, you'll need a doctor's prescription.

[Burlington]

Originally Posted by 330ci

I have a memory foam pillow(knock off not tempur pedic) but I love that thing. I can only sleep on my side though unless I prop my back up at a roughly 45 degree angle. I really want one of those sleep number beds haven't been able to pull the trigger though, it's around $5,500 for the one I want.

My brother has a special bed that is fully adjustable - he says it’s been a massive improvement, so worth considering.

Propping your legs up with an extra pillow may help too for back sleeping.

I won’t mention medication as I’m not a doctor, but worth trying to speak with a pain medicine specialist as there are lots of options there too.