Symptoms do not always occur with spinal fractures. Often asymptomatic are stable fractures. Unstable fractures, on the other hand, often cause complaints.
Stable fractures are straight or wedged fractures which have no influence on surrounding structures and therefore do not cause any complaints. In such cases the fractures remain undetected or are discovered by chance. The symptoms can vary greatly depending on the cause and localization.
If it is a trauma, such as a fall or an accident, which the affected person remembers, malpositions, bruises, bounce marks, redness, swelling, open wounds may be present. If no trauma can be remembered, it is possible that the vertebrae have already been damaged by other underlying diseases, such as cancer (metastases) or osteoporosis. Even minor injuries can cause a fracture of the vertebrae, which is hardly painful or can no longer be remembered as a sudden event.
In this case, small micro-little traumas can lead to a creeping course of pain. In addition, the underlying disease can lead to a mixture of symptoms and especially pain symptoms. A further problem is caused by strong, severe traumas, in which the exact symptoms of the vertebral fracture are no longer clearly recognizable due to other injuries.
Most often, however, after a vertebral fracture, suddenly occurring back pain occurs immediately after the fracture. The pain can become chronic. Usually it is a dull pain.
In addition, there may be radiating pain in regions that supply the spinal nerves. For example, a vertebral injury to the cervical spine can result in radiating pain in the head and shoulder. On the other hand, a fracture of the thoracic vertebrae may cause radiating belt-shaped pain and a fracture of the lumbar vertebrae may cause pain radiating into the legs.
At rest, the pain is usually moderate and then increases sharply with movement. Pressure, knocking and congestion pain can often be triggered above the affected vertebrae. Sometimes you can even palpate gaps in the vertebrae or the vertebrae are closer together than normal.
The fractures of the vertebrae can cause the spine to collapse at this point, resulting in a reduction in height. If there are several vertebral fractures, postural changes and even a hump may occur. The pain can lead to hardening and stiffening of the muscles.
Often the pain can also cause a relieving posture. Movement-related pain can also occur, for example in certain joint positions. This can also lead to application restrictions.
