I’ve had several spinal fractures and although they’ve ‘healed’ I still get ongoing pain. There’s nothing to be done surgically so why won’t physiotherapists go against the current guidelines to not recommend wearing some kind of support/.posture to help with the ongoing pain. I know that the current thinking is that it makes the muscles lazy but I’m sorry id rather have lazy muscles than my back feeling like it’s going to break in two by the end of the day. Oh and I do two seated exercises classes a week. I really do feel that NICE guidance needs a damn good shake up and ask the people who daily have to suffer in pain. So bl**dy fed up with those that are not in this position to make this decisions! Rant over!!!
So here’s a quandary…: I’ve had several... - Bone Health and O...
So here’s a quandary…
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mollysuki
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Hi Mollysuki
I too have several spinal fractures and am in constant pain with little relief via paracetamol/cocodamol. Ive tried other more potent forms of pain relief including oramorph etc to no avail.
The medical profession do not seem to understand how debilitating this is and i am so frustrated that they dont seem to have anything to offer to ease the pain.
I have a small neoprene back support belt which i wear for short periods in the house when preparing meals and drying my hair as i cant stand still for longer than about 5 minutes without feeling that my back is breaking and my stomach muscles are going go tear. This helps a little but is only for short periods and as you say is not recommended by physios etc.
Bedt wishes x
I have the same issues. I use a seat when in the shower. Surely there has to be something that helps. I can’t go shopping anymore as it’s too painful for my back. I’m a sensible lady in her sixties. I know my limitations but feel that a properly fitted support/brace would enable me to have a better quality of life!
I too would like some kind of back support,I think it would really help and get me out walking more and doing things knowing I’m supported and not going to cause fractures, but all medical advice against this
I have had several fractures in my spine as well that I think have healed. If I don't do anything I am fine although I have changed my car to an automatic and I now have a cleaner come in every 2 weeks. I can't stand and peel potatoes for instance or I feel sick with the pain I end up. I also think a brace or some sort of support would be great.
I’m three years down the line after having 3 painful spinal fractures.
I am glad I wasn’t given a support to manage the pain as my back is much stronger through exercise.
It wasn’t easy at first and I couldn’t do much, now I do a range of exercises every day.
I still get aches and flare ups but usually because I’ve done too much.
It’s 8 years since I had my spinal fractures. I have been very strict about attending all seated exercise classes, yoga for backs and more beside. It still doesn’t help by the end of the day it feels thatll like it’ll break in two! I’m not lazy and do all the back exercises given to me by the NHS and private physiotherapists!!!
Hi
I'm going to try and get this brace mediuk.co.uk/products/spino...
I have been in touch with the company and they said this,
Unfortunately, we are unable to sell the Spinomed back brace direct to private patients as it needs to be clinically advised and fitted by a clinician.
We would advise taking the information to your GP and asking them if it would be suitable for your condition. If they say yes then ask to be referred to your local hospital.
I am going to try via my GP and if that is unsuccessful they have given me two private clinicians in my area who they say would be willing to treat me. No doubt it will cost but my quality of life at the moment is poor and I think this would improve it massively.
I’ve got a back brace that was given me when my T12 went. It was made specially by the hospital. I’ve tried it on since but it presses on my broken bones up further making it impossible to wear now.
Another thing I will say is. My Mother always had a bad back and she always wore a tight corset. It got that years after she couldn’t stand without it. It does weaken your muscles if you wear it all the time.
At the moment I can only potter round the house and am unable to hold my body up. I’m like a baby learning to walk, coasting along the kitchen cupboard tops. I might be deluding myself but I feel if a brace can at least hold my ribs off my hips I might be able to walk even if that is with a walking stick. On the website, it says this brace strengthens the abdominal and back muscles. I want to be as fit as possible in my circumstance but I don’t know how I can get there without being able to walk.
Yes I too got in touch with them about their braces and received the same reply. The NHS physiotherapists refused to refer me. The company gave me the name of a local private clinician. Yes it’s going to cost a lot and sadly out of my price bracket 😔
How disappointing and how maddening that there is no consistency. I saw a spinal surgeon after I had the spinal fractures and during the consultation he mentioned a brace as a possible aid. So there must be some merit to them.
Hi Lopera. I too went down the route you’re highlighting, with the same result so I decided to speak directly to someone in my local hospital’s Physiotherapy department. They were extremely helpful. I explained exactly what my situation was (healed fractures, instrumented fusion L1-L5, severe retro listhesis (T12 slipping over top lumbar level, trapping nerve, osteoporosis), and she offered to come to my house and advise on the Spinomed products. This she did and advised against the one I had thought would suit me (a full body corset type). I ended up purchasing the Lumbar Facet size 1, which she ordered for me then returned to fit it for me. It was extremely hard going to start with but I persevered an hour twice a day. Unfortunately, I realised it wasn’t possible to continue, so I rang her and she said not to continue as it was obviously aggravating my particular condition (the retro listhesis). The lesson I learnt from this; IF you’re situation is so that you really cannot tolerate the pain then check out these braces (some can be purchased on line and they are very well made). Btw, if you live anywhere near GL54, pm me as I have a brace going begging 🥺.
It does sound like a bit of a minefield. I'm seeing a consultant next Monday following an xray pre-christmas. I think I may have suffered another fracture or a refracture. I will get his recommendation. I don't know how I can strengthen my back until I can hold myself up. I want to be able to go out for a walk rather than just potter around the house.
I don't know what my best outcome can be and how to get there.
I feel exactly as you do. I am 78 but have always kept as fit as possible, recovered well after spinal ops etc but this situation has enforced itself on me so I am almost housebound. I too propel myself with my forearms along countertops, I have to sit to dress, prepare food, etc. I can’t walk my beloved dog so pay for a dog walker. Very few of my clothes fit me because mr ribs sit on my hips so I have no waist now and it’s all so debilitating, frustrating, painful and distressing. I thank God every day that I have a cheerful disposition otherwise I might well have wanted to end things long ago. and that’s what I find most distressing… medics don’t seem to understand the ‘silent repurcussions’ of people like us actually live with day in day out!
All that including the dog except I'm not alone and my husband walks the dog. As I only discovered the osteoporosis in November, I am still grieving what I have lost. A full and active retirement. Walking in the peak district etc etc. We had our first grandchild in March last year and I an unable to pick her up and hold her. I am so sad.
I’m the same as you. I hate having to rely on others to do the basics like cleaning etc. I feel strongly that no surgery is the answer for me but do feel I’d be able to do more with the right kind of brace/support and live a more independent life. If the ROS want to help people with osteoporosis then they should listen to their members. Used to be a member but not anymore. There funding/grants are mostly to do with what meds can do and how they help (I’m on meds) however, I’d like to see research done for those that surgery is not an option anymore but good advice on quality braces/support that should be available for all. It’s my bones that is the problem not my brain! I’d love to get advice about spinomed but know it’s not affordable for me. The research on it should be about how helpful it would be for those that more surgery would be a disaster and the possible outcome would make us less able. Sorry this post is a bit all over the place-pain meds kicking in after a bad night. Will continue to seek advice from people that “the bones are done but the brain is definitely still seeking the right kind of help to be independent” Time for some sleep. Thanks for reading. ❤️
And you can no longer reach the top shelf or top of the fridge without standing on your toes and suffering pain. Yes?
…..or stand unaided or carry more than a flea! I hear you, I empathise with you. Take care.
Totally, my daughters rearranged my kitchen cupboards over Christmas so I can reach things. It's a bit easier now. They found things I didn't know I had and also threw out loads of out of date stuff as they don't rely on the sniff test like me!
I have to go through my cupboards just to see if I can re-arrange them better. Sticking things inside the doors can help, and now that my partner is in a care home, get rid of the siege mentality. The problem is that my freezer is full of meaty things and I'm a vegetarian! I realise that it's worth some extra mileage to visit the shops more frequently instead of hoarding stuff in the freezer. My ex-neighbour used to work at Tesco and her shelves were empty! I don't have any children so I have to do it all myself.
Lopera, I was wondering about that - whether you could re-fracture a fracture. I walk with two sticks when outside, and I can get on quite quickly. In the house , I usually use one stick or none, but there's always something to hang on to. The only thing about sticks is that one tends to lean foward when walking, and I'm trying to stand up straight.
Yes, I'm the same, I use a stick around the house. Supermarket trolleys help too.
I don't know if the posture can be improved at all. I've read on another forum about a therapy called Egoscue which addresses posture. I am trying to find out more about it.
Yes - supermarket trolleys are ok for a quick whip around the shop but they are terrible for posture. I haven't heard of Egoscue; I will search for it. Thank you, Lopera. I've just looked it up. I didn't click all the way, but I saw exercises that we do in class, that I have done in yoga or been given by a physio, so I think if you don't want to spend money on it or commit yourself to a programme, I would just listen to your body.
Yes you can refracture a fracture, I did T12 among others 5 years ago and refractured it again in May, it's really crunched now, lost 2 inches overall unfortunately in height not round my middle!!
Thanks for that reply, Rose. I went to A & E and asked the doctor there the same question but I didn't get a reply. He even said I hadn't got any new fractures. Then he later produced the x-ray results and read off all the fractures. I asked How many? and he read them all off. T12 was the new one. Are you walking bent forward as a result of your T12? I haven't been able to straighten up for nearly a year since then. I can be straight in the morning but I quite quickly become bent again.
No that's one thing I'm very thankful for!! I've got a dowagers hump but otherwise I'm upright.My latest was the T12, recrunched, really wedged, T9 and T8, I thought was 8 and 10 but looking back through my letters to find my T scores it's 9&8
Things like ironing, cleaning windows, anything that puts force into the upper back really isn't worth doing, I know they say use it or lose it but I reckon whoever coined that phrase hasn't got a clue about pain!!
When I have hydro therapy I do a lot of water walking, they told me it was a good way to help keep straight without putting pressure on the vertebrae
Thanks, Rose, My first fracture, T4 means I feel the strain when doing anything with my arms. I eventually had to give up violin playing because of this and also the strain in the lower back caused by having to sit up so straight for so long. Mind you, I am 80, but if I hadn't had these injuries, I would still be playing if the work was around, which enough of it isn't. Your message just makes me feel part of the normal world of "squashies". I've only got little windows but I've been putting off the ironing for a long time! Yes, use it or lose it is true before all this happens, and now we can use it for just a short time. Thanks.😊
Forgive me; I rarely vent my frustrations as I’m aware of so many others much worse off than myself. Somehow it helps to know that others are in this boat too!
Vent away my dear, that's why we're here!
Hi Lopera I can’t understand why they won’t give you a Spinomed active brace on the NHS I have 4 of them I got the first one and it took 3-4 weeks to get use to wearing it, once I was happy they ordered my 2 nd one after a year of wearing them. I got them to order my another 2 as I wear them every day all day. I can now go out shopping and walk the dog. I am so much happier and now feel like I have some life back. I hope you can get sorted, stand your ground and insist that you try one and see if it helps
Yes, it's what I am going to discuss with the consultant on Monday. Were your fractures completely healed before you got your brace?
I’m not sure, fractured about July got the brace the following April. He never told me just said the brace would help with the back spasms and pain and stop my kyphosis from getting worse. I feel so lucky as the back spasms have stopped I still have back pain but the painkillers help with that, but I can do a lot more now. I know the physio say it doesn’t help your muscles but I’m now 70 and just want have a life, it was so depressing now being able to do the simplest thing's I think it’s about the quality of life hope you get sorted soon
How did you get on Lopera?
Well the good news is that I don't have a new fracture. The consultant said the pain was a flare up of one of the existing but yet unhealed fractures. Thank fully it has subsided now and I am taking less pain relief. I told him about the brace and he said he could refer me to their physio for one but I said I was going to ask my GP to refer me, for budget reasons, as I knew some health authorities supplied them. On the way home in the car my husband said why did you not let him refer you as it'll be weeks via the NHS so I have been in touch with an orthotics practitioner locally and am seeing her on Monday for a fitting. (The private physio was not able to supply this particular brace).
The physiotherapist I saw at the NHS refused to recommend as the current guidelines say they’re not good for your muscles and make them lazy. I do two seated classes plus yoga for backs so i think my muscles are as strong as they’ll ever be. I still can’t walk far because of the ongoing pain after the fractures have healed because unlike if you break ,for example, a bone in your leg/arm that can be put back pretty much how it was before the break unlike spinal fractures that’s not possible and that’s where the ongoing pain comes from and yes it can refracture. So to my way of thinking a properly fitted brace/support has to help.
I’m like you. I’m ok sat in the chair doing nothing or lying in bed at night but the moment I use my arms to do anything I’m in pain. I start doing something and the pain starts so I sit down for a minute then start again. And that’s my life now. Stop and start. I can walk a little way but not far. I’ve been like it now for about four or five years. Actually it’s six years now. My physio said he would put me forward for an op and I said no thank you. I know it’s 50-50 chance of ever walking again with any spinal op. At my age I can’t risk not being able to walk. I wold have to go in a home. I live alone so I have to do things much to the disgust of my back.
I really feel for you because I know exactly how you are. I’ve had seven spinal fractures. A broken foot and a broken hand. They were al spontaneous apart from my hand which I fell on.
There really needs to be some joined up thinking here. There are going to be some people who with the best will in the world a brace is the answer to keep them upright and at least to be able to lead a reasonable life without pain. Then there are going to people that a brace is not the right thing for them to use. But someone please please treat as all being different!
Mollysuki, I absolutely get what you are saying, but at the end of last year I was lucky to be referred by the physiotherapist at the local leisure centre for two classes that are partly seated but quite gentle and we go at our own pace (I am usually slower than the other dozen or so members). I have seven compression fractures (and now a sprained ankle - don't ask) and my goal is to be able to maintain the upright posture I had before the last fracture that happened a year ago.
I am also on six-monthly Denosumab injections instead of Alendronic Acid, and while I'm a bit sore today, I do feel generally stronger.
I also feel I need to change my mattress; it's not due to be changed, but the way I feel in the morning makes me think I should never have gone for the hybrid mattress and it needs to be a memory foam with nothing else added.
I think wherever you live, it might be worth mentioning to your GP or consultant what Essex/Suffolk are presently offering to patients. I feel sure these classes will help me.
I'm wondering about the mattress too. We changed to a Simba hybrid mattress and I am not sure whether my back pain in the morning is the mattress or my fractures. I do get pain throughout the day and take painkillers but it is worst when I get out of bed.
I have been through the same thing in the past, when I didn't have fractures, just a "bad back", and when I got a memory foam mattress, not an expensive one, it made a huge difference. But this mattress from Otty has another 3 or 4 years left before it's due to be changed. I've been spending a lot of money recently on appliances to help round the house, so perhaps I should go ahead and change it. I am 80, so I don't want to leave it too long! Actually, the Otty mattress was horrible, so I bought a memory foam topper and that made it bearable to good, but like you, I'm thinking "it's not you; it's me" kind of thing.
Have you a Dreams beds near you. They do a body map on you when you're lying down then give you a list of recommended mattresses to suit your size/requirements, they also promise to replace it, I can't remember how long you can try it for, but they must be jolly certain that their customers are going to be pleased with their choice, it's all really high tech, the mapping is free.
We're really pleased with ours, it's so comfy I have an awful job forcing myself out of it everyday!!😅
I think ours was sprung with an in built topper.
I don't have any shops near me! But yes, I've seen the advert. How can you have compression fractures and be able to lie on springs? I am definitely going back to memory foam. I think you can try most matresses now for two or three months. I kept mine for just over three months and that was too long! So I'm stuck with it. However, the little topper made quite a difference. I'd love to have that feeling that you describe of not wanting to get out of bed.
I have only been able to sleep on my back with 1 pillow for 5 years now, I can't tolerate sleeping on my sides. I have 2 pillows under my thighs which takes the pressure off my back /coccyx somewhat. The mattress is sprung but has a built in topper, I'm a bit like the princess and the pea!!! Too soft it hurts, too hard it hurts it had to be just right, or maybe more like Goldilocks 😅
Oh yes. Princess and the Pea. I'm not so much a princess these days but I think that's down to the meds I take that allow me to sleep throughout the night. I couldn't sleep in one position for the whole night. Whatever mattress you can find that allows you to rest, and there's of course, a search for the best one!
Mollysuki, They aren't of an age where they are suffering the pain of compression fractures and they don't understand how those silly belts shift up the body so they don't support where you need it. At the same time, if you have one, I'd wear it when you are doing chores, over your clothes - or at least, I should! Probably at the end of the day is too late. It's a good idea to take a painkiller before you start your day.
I wear a body shaper/ corset it's not rigid like the medical ones but I'm definitely in less pain and can stand more when I'm wearing it. There's tons on the market, personally I find Charnos the best, M&S don't give enough support for me
My breaks are just where my bra strap would be and I can't tolerate wearing a bra, my breasts are too big to go without a bra although if I'm going for scans etc I wear the pull on bra.
My son had a specially made to his size NHS corset when he broke his back in a bad fall when he was only 19, he wore it for 8 weeks and reckoned it was far less painful when he had it on.
I’ll have a look at Charnos one
I have "untreatable" rib cage structure, a mixture of pectus carinatum, epileptic seizures, and side effects of misdiagnosed prostate cancer treatment. I also have a broken skull from a double seizure in Jan 2018, but the neck on my right side is weakened, causing considerable pain on the back of the skull, I need some sort of brace for my neck, especially trying to sleep rather than the ibuprofen gel [I have HPT which was caused by the likes of GP's giving me pain killers "always the effect not the cause"🙄] I've seen the x-rays🤔☹ I NEED SOME SORT OF PERMANENT NECK SUPPORT ASAP!😤😣😖😫🤯🥴😱
Oh that sounds awful, I hope you can find relief xxx
Hello.
Can I suggest using one or two nordic sticks to help with walking. They are height adjustable and extremely sturdy. I use only one now, and nearly become a tripod - the stick and my two legs, but it helps hugely. Otherwise I am like everybody else who has mentioned their ribs are on their hips. So are mine, but the stick relieves that. And, using just one helps to tone and exercise the abdominal muscles without them screaming in pain.
Another idea, is to request referral to a Pain Specialist and consider a Lidocaine infusion. It is the same as the injection a dentist gives, goes in through a vein for about 30 minutes and really helps to calm down nerve pain. Just a few thoughts, from experience of 4 vertebral fractures.
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