I have a T11 Fracture!!

[kimbac3]

I have been having bad back pains so I went to my family dr who sent me for x rays. I thought because I have one leg longer than the other, I assumed this was the cause. The Dr called and said that my x rays show "positive arthritic changes in the lower back and that you have a T11 fracture." Then he says "See an orthopedic specialist." I was quite stunned! How the heck could I fracture my back and not know it? I have a really high tolerance for pain so it is possible. Here's a link to a diagram that shows where the T11 is http://www.savagechiropractic.com/Spine_Explore_T11.htm

Question: Anyone have any experience with this? How it's treated? I'm in alot of pain and it's so exhausting. It's also causing me to be confused and muddle-headed!
The orthopedic dr can't get me in till the 26th..UGH!!
Kimba

 

[faeflora]

I have no idea how it could happen but....I totally empathize with you.

I am in pain all the time but since september the pain has been escalating without any real event or trauma that started the rise. Well, one day the pain was in my back next day I had a fall and tore the muscle that runs from your foot to your hip, and subluxed the knee on my right leg. More pain. So...I went to the ortho doctor who sent me to a pain doctor who sent me to a spine specialist. Spine doctor says to me, I think it is a muscle thing and not a bone thing but hey lets do some x rays just to be sure....x rays come back and low and behold I have facet arthritis in the L 5,4,and 3....and now I am back in PT...PT does new eval and says...wow all your muscles are really weak and you have repetive tears...back to bracing for you and lots of PT to boot....
believe me...I feel your pain and confusion...

Oh did I mention college finals are coming up and sitting up is not a really happy thing....yes the life of the spine or as I like to say..the spine which wants to mess up my life....

Big hugs to you, I send you much pixie dust

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I had a T5-6 injury and am a para now so I'm probably not the best person to help you out. The main thing is don't panic. Go see your orthopedist and get it checked out

 

[ducklite]

On the flip side my youngest brother recently had a devastating accident. He SHATTERED his L-3 and is now the proud owner of half a dozen screws and a couple rods where they took bone from his hip to repair the L-3 and fused the L-2 and L-4 to the L-3. Fortunately there was no damage to his spinal cord, and the surgeon obviously did amazing work repairing the impacted nerve clusters, because he's now regained full function and movement.

His prognosis is that he will walk again. He also had surgeries to repair his shattered heels, and is back home for three months with nursing care because rehab can't really begin working with him until he can put weight on his feet, and heels take a long time to heel.

A fracture is possibly nothing to really worry about, often they will heal themselves over the pace fo a few weeks.

Did you ask the doctors office to call you if there's a cancellation, and that you'd be available on a moments notice? You could call back every morning to see if there's an opening for that day.

Anne

 

[SueM in MN]

My best guess would be that you might have osteoporosis (bones loose calcium with age and become easier to break) and that the fracture is probably a compression fracture - the bones of the spine become weakened by loosing calcium and eventually just kind of collapse from use. It could happen from sitting down hard, reaching to get something - after continued use and pressure at the same place, eventually it just breaks.
This website about the spine seems to have a lot of good explanations.

A compression fracture is not the same as a traumatic spine fracture (one caused by some trauma like a car accident, a known fall, etc.). By the time they are 80, 40% of women will have at least one compression fracture. Many of them won't know it until they get an xray for some other reason. Some may have no pain, some minor pain and some more of a chronic pain.
This doesn't mean you have to be older to get a compression fracture - that just happens to be a really interesting illustration of how common they can be.

 

[momsgoofy]

My best guess would be that you might have osteoporosis (bones loose calcium with age and become easier to break) and that the fracture is probably a compression fracture - the bones of the spine become weakened by loosing calcium and eventually just kind of collapse from use. It could happen from sitting down hard, reaching to get something - after continued use and pressure at the same place, eventually it just breaks.
This website about the spine seems to have a lot of good explanations.

A compression fracture is not the same as a traumatic spine fracture (one caused by some trauma like a car accident, a known fall, etc.). By the time they are 80, 40% of women will have at least one compression fracture. Many of them won't know it until they get an xray for some other reason. Some may have no pain, some minor pain and some more of a chronic pain.
This doesn't mean you have to be older to get a compression fracture - that just happens to be a really interesting illustration of how common they can be.

I totally agree with you Sue! My dad had 3 compression fractures around Christmas 2004. He decided to lift 2 70# bags of sand into his truck and complained of his stomach hurting (not his back) for about 10 days afterward. When he finally couldn't take the pain anymore, the ER doctor told him he had a T11 compression fracture and a vertabrae (#7 or #8) compression fracture, which were on opposite sides. They put him in a corset style brace, but he hated it and didn't listen to his doctor (his general practioner, not an ortho doc) so about 3 weeks later he did something again (no idea what though) to cause a third compression fracture on T10 and when he complained about the brace he had, the doc outfitted him with a turtle shell brace...looks like the old knights armor. After the 3rd compression fracture his doc said she felt certain he had osteoporosis and a bone density scan concluded this. The doc started him on Forteo injections right away since his case seemed to be severe and he was at a higher risk. (The injections are for 12 - 18 mos., once daily...much easier than his insulin injections.) Dad ended up wearing the braces for almost 6 mos. (partly because he didn't wear it as he should in the beginning, which hampered his recovery.) I'm very happy to say that he's recovered very well and is able to live on his own again...he ended up also having a small TIA after the fractures and ended up in the nursing home for 10 days then in assisted living for 4 mos. while I got his bathroom and kitchen remodeled to make some appropriate modifications for him so he could continue to live at home.

To the OP...I really sympathize...Dad really hurt with the injuries and it really cramped his life by not being able to do things...it got to the point the doc told him not to drive for fear of him injuring his back again. It was hard for me because I've always seen Dad as the toughest man on the planet...retired military and never really sick to speak of so it was hard to watch him become so well, helpless basically, but it also made me so mad when he didn't follow his doctor's orders, too. Ah, the life of a caregiver... I do hope you find some relief for your pain and get some answers soon!

 

[kimbac3]

I thought about ostoporosis but I'm only 33, that seems kind of young for it to be that bad. Right now I'm just baby-ing it. Church was hard today - those pews..OUCH!! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the dr says. I vaugely remember doing something about a month and a half ago...I remember thinking I pulled a muscle.
I'll let you all know what I find out!
Kimba

 

[pugdog]

As a stupid college student 20 years ago I broke my back. Compression fractures of T10, T11, T12 S1 and S2. It hurt like hell for months. The treatment was bed rest. I still have some pain once a while and some nerve problems down one leg. But I'm still able to walk.

 

[zumbergc]

I can't remember which vert are problems in my low back.
However, I will say to make things easier to sit, I got one of those
temporpedic pillows to sit on.
I think its made specifically for the car. They are way expensive, but for me it was worth the money. I got one at Relax the Back. I never use it in the car. Instead, I put it on the couch.

I had muscle issues in the gluteal region, as well as things twisting in my low
back region. Sitting on anything hard for a long time was excrutiatingly painful.

The pillow doesn't cure any problem, but not sitting on a hard surface was
less painful than a cushioned one.

I also had made some seat pillows myself. Just using the 2" thick square pillow forms you can get at a place like JoAnn Fabric.
They have ones that are foam (green) and others that are white. The foam seem to be more cushy for me, and more comfortable.
Just get some fabric that complements whatever area you put it in, and then it won't stick out so bad.

I'm not much help with answering your question, but thought to offer a tip instead.

Connie