Crushed vertebrae (6)

A snowHead

I crushed 6 vertebrae from t10 to t4 two summers ago. As I had no numbness I was left to get on with it, as the NHS had other things to worry about, and never saw a specialist face to face. My physio didn't seem too worried when I asked if I could return to surfing, but I now find myself stooped, and my back gets sore after physical work or exercise.
I'm 57, an average skier, who enjoys harder pistes, but I've now got this nagging feeling that skiing will be the straw that broke my back....again. A further accident involving ribs meant more time laid up, and more muscle mass lost/ more fat gained.
So I'm just wondering if anyone has suffered similar injuries, and can give me any tips, or just some confidence. I'm busy doing daily Versaclimber sessions, and various stretches.
Thanks.

A snowHead

@cstreat, Yikes, did you land on your head and compress your spine? Near the end of the last full season before Covid, I injured my lower back in a fall whilst skiing off piste. Too early in the day, frozen patches in the shade. Seemed quite innocuous , got up and skied for the rest of the day. But the next day I developed horrendous sciatica in my left butt cheek and pain in my hip. Went to the medical centre, got some very strong painkillers and a referral for physio in the resort. I had physio twice a day for 8 days but no improvement. I tried to ski but found that I had no power and very little feeling in my left thigh. Not great as I couldn't load up my ski to turn right. Too dangerous to continue.

I then went to see a highly recommended physio in Val Claret. Second appointment she was assessing my leg strength. She tested my reflexes by tapping just below my kneecap. I had zero response in my left leg. She figured that I had compressed a vertebrae in my lower back.

My recovery involved zero lifting and only walking for exercise. She estimated 6 to 8 weeks for recovery. I returned to the UK. Stuck to the plan and she was spot on. No further issues and I spent that summer kayaking and paddle boarding. Skied the next season no problem.

ps, when I was sorting out my kit back home I emptied the contents of ABS backpack. Can't say absolutely 100%, but I reckon my shovel blade gave me a dig in the back during that fall.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Yes, full down on top of my head, struggled to the beach, and instinctively knew something bad had happened. I couldn't raise my arms or stand straight. However, my first thought after impact, underwater, was" I can feel my feet"
I'm glad you had a speedy recovery.
At the heart of my loss of confidence was a comment from the A&E doctor that I should perhaps have a bone density test; despite asking my GP several times, this hasn't happened, and it's left a seed of worry in my head

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@cstreat, That must have been a very scary episode.

I do some yoga type twists and stretches for my back. My lower back tends to stiffen up if I'm not active. This was the case before I crocked myself skiing though. Maybe a legacy of nearly 50 years of repairing HGV's. Can't comment on the bone density issue. Getting a test is perhaps the only way to remove that doubt.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@cstreat, in addition to yoga, if you have Pilates classes available locally, I'd suggest giving that a try. Good all round core strengthening, flexibility and posture improvement should all be possible. 'Listen to your body though and only do the exercises that you feel comfortable with, concentrating on getting 'good form' on each one. Online instruction is available too, if that suited you or nothing on offer locally. Personally I find the social benefits from meeting people in groups is one of the benefits. Good luck with your full recovery back to challenging skiing.

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I managed to break 9 lumbar vertebrae in a motorcycle accident 15 years ago, of which 3 were then surgically fused together. As a result, and of all of the ribs being pretty smashed up as well, I suffer permanent pain all round the upper body. The thing that makes the biggest difference to me is core body strength, which I try to address through weight training. I've never been one for yoga or pilates, but of course flexibility is also key, and maintaining a good posture likewise, so yes, twists and stretches with or without hand weights are also a part of my regime, and in fact you'll often find me doing these at any point during a day's skiing as I start to feel things stiffening up.

The good news is that a good skiing position is actually ideal for my back, much more comfortable than standing bolt upright, so rather oddly I'm usually fine, back-wise, after a hard day's skiing, but a couple of km walk, an afternoon round the shops, or standing all evening at the bar, are killers. This latter can be mitigated by alcohol - yes really - which acts as a muscle relaxant to a certain degree, but I'll always be looking for a bar stool or at least somewhere to lean against the bar to avoid the worst effects of this.

One other thing I'd advise - don't be afraid of drugs. If you have pain and stiffness, ibuprofen is your best friend, not only relieving primary pain but also helping the muscles and surrounding tissues to recover better. For more chronic and widespread pain, which sadly I suffer a lot of, paracetamol can also help a lot. I've seen a lot of negative comments about their long-term use, many of which are rubbish, especially those claiming loss of efficacy over time, but the main issue you should be careful with is gastric irritation from ibuprofen or other NSAIDs, which thankfully I don't get, but is easily alleviated by OTC-available PPI products such as Omaprazole. Paracetamol is much less problematic as long as you stick within the normal maximum dose. (I'm not a medic, but spent many years in pharma research and have a pharmacologist for a wife - you may like to seek proper medical advise on this, of course.)

More specific to skiing, the better you can ski, the less energy it uses and the less likely to cause back problems. I sometimes get students asking why they should bother to improve in some areas, when they're able to ski well in all conditions, to which my main answer is "you'll be able to ski harder, longer and much later in life if you can be more efficient". To this end I strive to continue to improve technically all the time and hope to be doing so for many years to come. snowHead

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Many thanks for the responses. We'll see how it goes next week. I'm fittish but not supple! But my wife is a sports massage therapist

After all it is free

@cstreat, good luck

@cstreat, '....but my wife is a sports massage therapist...' --- that's a very nice profession to have in a partner.

I have had some pretty terrible injuries. And I mean that. I frequently win the 'injury tally' when the Grom calls that when we have amateur and pro skiers round a table. In each case I can feel the impairment, but I have been amazed at how the body responds to carefully applied stress. Exercise in the right way (and it's not always easy to know which is the right way....) then its incredible how things, over time, can grow and adjust. My left knee is over 2cms greater in diameter to my right one...it's VERY visible, even on the outside of jeans, and that's because the ligament damage has been compensated for by very substantial bone and muscle growth, over a 30 year period. Even now, it keeps growing as I do more, and the stability has improved a lot in the last ten years. Likewise my complete shoulder separation, which has induced a lot of muscle growth (and asymmetry) in that side of my torso, to the extent that T shirts are lopsided on me. But I can ski, climb, mountain bike and hike pretty normally. If walking is a problem with the knee for a bit, then I focus on cycling. If cycling is a problem, I focus on something else. And so on.

Time.
The right kind of stress.
Close monitoring of the impact of specific exercise.
Adaptation if problems arise, but focus on being OK in a range of sports.

Your account is interesting re fear and anxiety.

A Swedish study found that those that 'warmed up' prior to tennis sustained far fewer injuries.
Only they disputed that it was 'warming the muscles' even in terms of blood flow.
Rather, it was dialling in balance and co-ordination - stimulating the areas of the brain responsible for balance. Better balance, less adverse stress on joints etc and less chance of injury.
Interesting.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@cstreat, If you are having trouble getting a bone density test from your GP, this gives a good idea of it, plus a lot of other health measurements - TANITA BC-545N It wont be as accurate as a doctor but you will know if you are in the right ballpark. Good luck!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

Thanks fellow Snowheads.
I actually then went on to break/ bruise some ribs the following January in the surf as well, so I must have recovered from the spinal injuries reasonable well. As I have had numerous rib injuries in my youth playing prop forward, plus a broken sternum in my late 30's at work, I didn't bother to visit hospital as I've found there's nothing you can do with chest injuries except get comfortable and do breathing exercises. To be honest, the chest injuries have been way more painful than the crushed vertebrae, but with less longer term issues.
A life in building and landscaping whilst maintaining various sports must have helped.....I had been doing a "100 press ups a day" challenge prior to the spine injury which helped keep things stable. But I've finally learnt not to beast myself at 57, and slow down a bit. Old habits die hard and no one is invincible!!!

[quote="Jonathan Bell"]

You know it makes sense.

@cstreat, that sounds grim. You could get a private DEXA scan - it's not too expensive. Sometimes I think you need to be prepared to pay when the NHS can't meet your needs. It's a matter of priorities for spending. I know people who have paid for an expensive new kitchen and waited far too long for an NHS orthopaedic procedure which would have immensely improved their quality of life. Bloody daft, I call it.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@cstreat many PCT’s ( or whatever they are called at the moment) allow you to refer yourself directly to physio. You may want to check that. Alternatively try to get into one of the physio triage/assessment clinics ( again they seems to change the name frequently) they are in essence dealing with first contact and triaging you to where you need to be.

Jonathan Bell

Help!!

Crushed vertebrae (6)

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