Fractures or breaks of the bones of the spine are the cause of much lower back pain and can occur due to a variety of sources, not the least of which is trauma inflicted by accidents and physical injury. Fortunately, the muscles of the back protect the spine well, so we’re much less likely to break a vertebra than, say, our arm with a simple fall.
Disease, on the other hand, renders us more susceptible: osteoporosis alone is responsible for more than 700,000 vertebral fractures every year.
Stress fractures. Also known as fatigue fractures, these hairline breaks in the bone can be caused by direct or indirect stress on the bone and tend to develop over long periods of time. Although they do not require setting, they can cause pressure on or injury to nearby nerves, joints, ligaments, and tendons, and staying active after symptoms start puts you at risk for more severe fracture and damage. Contact sports increase the risk, as does a history of bone or joint disease (especially osteoporosis), obesity, and a calcium-deficient diet. Based on these facts alone, some degree of lower back pain relief can be achieved through a healthy diet rich in calcium laden foods (but not dairy based products).
Signs and symptoms include pain in the injured area, swelling and bruising of soft tissue around it, tenderness, the feeling of warmth over the site, and sometimes numbness beyond the fracture site. Average healing time is six to eight weeks.
Spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. Both of these conditions involve a crack in the vertebra, and, surprisingly enough, both can exist without our knowing they are there.
Spondylolysis, a hairline fracture across the back of the vertebra, is almost undetectable, and it’s been estimated that as many as 20 percent of us have a mild case. We can be born with a tendency to develop spondylolysis, and prolonged stress on the bone can make it happen. But it usually doesn’t cause pain or trouble until it progresses to the much more infrequent spondylolisthesis, where the hairline crack widens. And if it widens enough, the front part of the vertebra detaches from the rear and can gradually begin to slip forward. Even severe cases can respond to non-surgical treatment, although surgery is an option in extremes.
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