Compression Fracture
What is Compression Fracture?
Typically, compression fractures occur in the lumbar and thoracic spine, but can happen anywhere in the spine. It is an incredibly painful condition impacting your everyday life like work and family activities. You may be unaware that you have a fracture in your spine causing the unbearable pain. Our specialists can utilize imaging to take a look at your spine and detect if it is a compression fracture. If we find a fracture, we can treat it and get you back to a pain free life.
What Are The Symptoms?
The symptoms of a these types of fractures generally start as acute back pain but can become chronic pain that is debilitating creating limited mobility where you struggle to get around. These fractures can also cause you to lose height as your spine is compressed or has a deformity. The pain usually isn’t constant, and many patients feel relief after resting or lying down.
What Causes A Compression Fracture?
A compression fracture happens when a bone in the spine collapses, causing stress on the spine and can create a deformity. Compression fractures can also come about as a result of an underlying condition, particularly osteoporosis. Osteoporosis causes bones to weaken and become brittle. This creates a situation where the vertebrae can collapse. You may also suffer a compression fracture because of an injury or trauma to the spine such as a jump, car accident, or forceful landing.
What Are The Treatments?
Many patients who suffer from a compression fracture can treat it at home on their own. These self-treatments include: resting, icing the back, taking medication, or wearing a back brace.
Those patients who suffer from more severe pain are recommended to have kyphoplasty done. Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure where a small needle with a balloon is inserted into the fractured vertebrae to inflate it back to the original position. The area is filled with cement inside the balloon raising the spine to the correct height. Kyphoplasty is a fairly short procedure that provides pain relief and stability to compression fracture patients.