Lumbar compression fracture

Hi All, I had a L2 compression fracture (29%) during bouldering two weeks ago. I am 29 years old and it’s a lot for me to take both mentally and physically. My neurosurgeon suggested the conservative method - a back brace. There is no restriction for walking, standing, or sitting every day according to his opinions as long as I put the brace on. However, my lower back and hip hurt a lot after 30 minutes walking plus standing. Does anyone had similar injuries? How long does it take for recovery? Can I go back to rock climbing again? 

I had two compression fractures from an auto accident many years ago.  I was able to return to sports after a couple of months but it took quite a bit longer for the pain to subside.  Once I was at a point that the fracture was healed and I knew I couldn't re-injure myself, I just learned to live with the pain. Obviously everyone is different but that's my story.  Good luck with your recovery.

Had a similar compression fracture (T12, only two up from L2) while indoor drytooling 2 years ago. I was back to leading ice within 4 months, and probably back to 100% in ~6 months. I still get some lower back pain if I have to jerk my body around quickly, or sit with poor posture for a long time. Of note - due to an unrelated medical issue I have weaker bones than average, so there are some things that I just don't do anymore (non-roped drytooling), and my personal risk-o-meter is dialed back a little bit, but that's me. Just listen to your body to tell you what you should and shouldn't do, and once you're back to 100% add some weightlifting to your exercise regimen to help strengthen your bones.

Climb On wrote:

I had two compression fractures from an auto accident many years ago.  I was able to return to sports after a couple of months but it took quite a bit longer for the pain to subside.  Once I was at a point that the fracture was healed and I knew I couldn't re-injure myself, I just learned to live with the pain. Obviously everyone is different but that's my story.  Good luck with your recovery.

Thank you for sharing your story and your encouraging words! Did you had a surgery if you don’t mind me asking? Do you still feel back pain occasionally? 

Compression fractures on New Year's Day, 1986, from a fall in the Valley. Fitted with a back brace in the hospital in Fresno. Climbed at the Mt. Woodson bouldering contest--I think it was in March or April--still wearing the brace, but that might have just been to garner sympathy points. No brace after that. Still climbing, hiking, biking, skiing.

Back was painful for a few months after the accident, but no significant issues long-term. It sometimes feels stiff. Climbing actually helps, especially hanging, but stretching gives relief as well.

Yolanda L wrote:

Thank you for sharing your story and your encouraging words! Did you had a surgery if you don’t mind me asking? Do you still feel back pain occasionally? 

I did not have surgery. I do still feel pain on occasion (mostly when I’ve done too much sitting) but stretching and exercise help. 

In 2007, I had compression fractures of T7, T8, T10, C7 from a 15-foot fall in a climbing gym (had failed to tie into an auto-belay). Orthopedist was opposed to surgery and said the exercise I was doing, viz., walking and light weightlifting, was sufficient and I did not need physical therapy. Things improved gradually, and I started climbing again 4 months later. I did lose 2.5 inches of height. I’m still hiking and weightlifting and, occasionally climbing so you could say the recovery was successful. From other people I’ve talked to who have had crush fractures, it appears that surgery is not appropiate most of the time and that recovery comes with the passage of time along with mild and common-sense exercise. Hope you have a good recovery.

2 weeks out is still pretty fresh, and I would expect discomfort.  Not all compression fractures are created equal, though at your age, 6-12 weeks out you should be doing markedly better. Assuming you have follow up with your neurosurgeon? 

I fractured T11, T12, L1, and L2 9 years ago, and my experience was pretty similar. I think I was in a brace for around 8 weeks with no surgery or other treatment. The initial pain was unreal and the worst I've ever felt. For me, it dulled pretty quickly over a few hours and then slowly faded away over about a year. I was really weak for the first 3 days and could hardly get out of bed. It felt like I was sick as much as anything. After about a week I was walking as much as I could, but it got really uncomfortable after a few minutes. By 2 weeks I was walking and hiking quite a bit, but it was never comfortable. Eventually I did some mellow skiing, but I didn't do any climbing until I was out of the brace. 

Nothing was really comfortable for a few weeks, but being outside and moving was better than sitting around. It took about a year to feel like the pain was completely gone, but even after that long days with a heavy pack would cause it to flair up for awhile. Now, a few times a year I'll move just right and cause some pain, but that's pretty rare.

All that said, every one and every injury is different, but that was my experience. Hang in there and do what you can. It will get better.

Will Shaw wrote:

I fractured T11, T12, L1, and L2 9 years ago, and my experience was pretty similar. I think I was in a brace for around 8 weeks with no surgery or other treatment. The initial pain was unreal and the worst I've ever felt. For me, it dulled pretty quickly over a few hours and then slowly faded away over about a year. I was really weak for the first 3 days and could hardly get out of bed. It felt like I was sick as much as anything. After about a week I was walking as much as I could, but it got really uncomfortable after a few minutes. By 2 weeks I was walking and hiking quite a bit, but it was never comfortable. Eventually I did some mellow skiing, but I didn't do any climbing until I was out of the brace. 

Nothing was really comfortable for a few weeks, but being outside and moving was better than sitting around. It took about a year to feel like the pain was completely gone, but even after that long days with a heavy pack would cause it to flair up for awhile. Now, a few times a year I'll move just right and cause some pain, but that's pretty rare.

All that said, every one and every injury is different, but that was my experience. Hang in there and do what you can. It will get better.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Will! Your story is super encouraging and brave. My job requires sitting or standing in front of a computer for 8 hours per day since I work with a tech company. Currently I can only hold on there for 30 minutes. Not sure how long I can hold in three months. I cannot accept how weak and slow I am right now, but your words inspired me a lot! Thank you!

rob.calm wrote:

In 2007, I had compression fractures of T7, T8, T10, C7 from a 15-foot fall in a climbing gym (had failed to tie into an auto-belay). Orthopedist was opposed to surgery and said the exercise I was doing, viz., walking and light weightlifting, was sufficient and I did not need physical therapy. Things improved gradually, and I started climbing again 4 months later. I did lose 2.5 inches of height. I’m still hiking and weightlifting and, occasionally climbing so you could say the recovery was successful. From other people I’ve talked to who have had crush fractures, it appears that surgery is not appropiate most of the time and that recovery comes with the passage of time along with mild and common-sense exercise. Hope you have a good recovery.

Thank you for sharing your story, Rob! Take care and stay safe! 

I fractured T11 thru L1 and some hairline fractures of a spinous process or two. I remember a lot of discomfort, felt like there was a nodule on my back and I had to take some narcotics to stay back laying during rest. Wore that TLSO brace for a couple months.

There’s some residual stiffness but it did really well with physical rehab, I would recommend a good PT over everything.

A good story from pro-climber Josh Wharton gave me stoke during my recovery: onlineclimbingcoach.blogspo…

d powledge wrote:

2 weeks out is still pretty fresh, and I would expect discomfort.  Not all compression fractures are created equal, though at your age, 6-12 weeks out you should be doing markedly better. Assuming you have follow up with your neurosurgeon? 

Thank you for your reply. Yeah, I will have follow up with my neurosurgeon each month. He mentioned kyphoplasty during my staying at hospital, but I haven’t found many records about young people who had kyphoplasty. 

I'm 24, at 21 I had a fall (failed to clip into autobelay and didn't realize) resulting in a burst fracture at L1, compression fractures in my T-spine and sacrum, and a fractured sternum. I had to have a laminectomy and fusion from T11-L3 for the burst fracture, but even so, I was out of the brace in about 3 months, top-roping carefully after that, and back to bouldering/leading in a year. No real issues with chronic pain. If you're only a couple weeks out, the discomfort is definitely normal, and walking is one of the best things you can do, so keep it up. I will say I found myself getting stiff in the low back on long hikes, and switching to shoes with a low heel/toe drop made a huge difference. Listen to your neuro and don't push it into something worse than it already is! I found the mental recovery to be harder than the physical in the end. 

I fell at the climbing gym 9ish years ago and had compression fractures in my T10-L1 vertebrae. Pain was definitely pretty bad for the first several weeks, especially while sleeping. I was in a brace for 3 months and eventually I was able to go for long walks which was my main form of exercise. Once I got out of the brace I went to physical therapy for a while but I was able to TR climb right away and lead several months after. I recommend getting a good PT and making sure they give you a plan to do on your own once you are through with the PT program. I get lower back pain from time to time - nothing that really impedes my activities - but staying on top of your mobility is going to be important. I've had to go back to PT several times to re-mobilize my joints when I don't take care of stretching etc.
I agree with Katie above and will say that the mental aspect of this injury has been the worst part. I have a hard time trusting my partner and the systems enough to take falls now - the gym and sport climbing are the worst but I am oddly more ok with falling on gear...? Surround yourself with a good support system when you get back out there and don't neglect the mental aspect.

Katie Gordon wrote:

I'm 24, at 21 I had a fall (failed to clip into autobelay and didn't realize) resulting in a burst fracture at L1, compression fractures in my T-spine and sacrum, and a fractured sternum. I had to have a laminectomy and fusion from T11-L3 for the burst fracture, but even so, I was out of the brace in about 3 months, top-roping carefully after that, and back to bouldering/leading in a year. No real issues with chronic pain. If you're only a couple weeks out, the discomfort is definitely normal, and walking is one of the best things you can do, so keep it up. I will say I found myself getting stiff in the low back on long hikes, and switching to shoes with a low heel/toe drop made a huge difference. Listen to your neuro and don't push it into something worse than it already is! I found the mental recovery to be harder than the physical in the end. 

Thank you for sharing your story, Katie! Your injury sounds very serious and you are very brave! I am glad that you are fully recovered from that accident! Please keep being very careful! Thank you so much for your suggestions and encouraging words. Mental recovery is indeed not easy. I have been keeping having nightmares about me falling from different high places recently. 

Kelsey Blodgett wrote:

I fell at the climbing gym 9ish years ago and had compression fractures in my T10-L1 vertebrae. Pain was definitely pretty bad for the first several weeks, especially while sleeping. I was in a brace for 3 months and eventually I was able to go for long walks which was my main form of exercise. Once I got out of the brace I went to physical therapy for a while but I was able to TR climb right away and lead several months after. I recommend getting a good PT and making sure they give you a plan to do on your own once you are through with the PT program. I get lower back pain from time to time - nothing that really impedes my activities - but staying on top of your mobility is going to be important. I've had to go back to PT several times to re-mobilize my joints when I don't take care of stretching etc.
I agree with Katie above and will say that the mental aspect of this injury has been the worst part. I have a hard time trusting my partner and the systems enough to take falls now - the gym and sport climbing are the worst but I am oddly more ok with falling on gear...? Surround yourself with a good support system when you get back out there and don't neglect the mental aspect.

Thanks for sharing! The recovery stories and encouraging words mean a lot to me! Currently I can only walk 2000 steps continuously then the pain will tell me to stop which is very frustrating. Not sure when can I go back to mountain and do 15 miles hikes again. And I agree with the mental aspect. It will be so hard for me to trust my climbing partner and the system once I come back. 

Yolanda L wrote:

Thank you for sharing your story, Katie! Your injury sounds very serious and you are very brave! I am glad that you are fully recovered from that accident! Please keep being very careful! Thank you so much for your suggestions and encouraging words. Mental recovery is indeed not easy. I have been keeping having nightmares about me falling from different high places recently. 

I'm coming up on 3 years post-accident/injury, and I will say physically I am definitely even stronger/in better shape now than I was before. I do all the same activities, primarily climbing, running, and hiking, and the only real difference I notice is that I can't do crazy backbends. I saw in some of your comments you want to get back out on long days on the trail, and you work a desk job in tech--I'll say I do 20+ mile days on the trail with no back pain, and also work in tech sitting at a desk most of the day, and don't suffer any back pain from it. The first few months were absolutely the worst pain-wise, pretty much everything was uncomfortable, but it really will get better provided you don't push yourself too much too soon. Working core strength in the future will also really help protect the spine/manage pain.  

The mental recovery is a different story... I know since my accident was such a basic self-failure, it's really hard to trust myself and the systems in place, and that some simple yet critical error hasn't been made. Even close to 3 years out I do still struggle with fear, and it honestly took about 2 years to really start to enjoy climbing again. I know for many of us, climbing is a mental escape, and to lose that escape to fear sucked. I imagine you're pretty active--it's also really hard to lose the physical activity outlet in the initial stages of recovery. There are lots of great stories of overcoming accidents and injuries out there--I know Craig DeMartino's really resonated with me, highly recommend checking him out. 

But all this is to say it does get better, and just try to go easy on yourself as you recover. In my experience, just about everything has come back with time. 

Katie Gordon wrote:

I'm coming up on 3 years post-accident/injury, and I will say physically I am definitely even stronger/in better shape now than I was before. I do all the same activities, primarily climbing, running, and hiking, and the only real difference I notice is that I can't do crazy backbends. I saw in some of your comments you want to get back out on long days on the trail, and you work a desk job in tech--I'll say I do 20+ mile days on the trail with no back pain, and also work in tech sitting at a desk most of the day, and don't suffer any back pain from it. The first few months were absolutely the worst pain-wise, pretty much everything was uncomfortable, but it really will get better provided you don't push yourself too much too soon. Working core strength in the future will also really help protect the spine/manage pain.  

The mental recovery is a different story... I know since my accident was such a basic self-failure, it's really hard to trust myself and the systems in place, and that some simple yet critical error hasn't been made. Even close to 3 years out I do still struggle with fear, and it honestly took about 2 years to really start to enjoy climbing again. I know for many of us, climbing is a mental escape, and to lose that escape to fear sucked. I imagine you're pretty active--it's also really hard to lose the physical activity outlet in the initial stages of recovery. There are lots of great stories of overcoming accidents and injuries out there--I know Craig DeMartino's really resonated with me, highly recommend checking him out. 

But all this is to say it does get better, and just try to go easy on yourself as you recover. In my experience, just about everything has come back with time. 

Thank you for sharing more details about your physically and mentally recovery, Katie! I indeed found hope and faith from them!

Just saw my neurosurgeon this morning. Two more months brace. Long term chronic pain is expected for my case which is frustrating. Six months no climbing, no bending, no heavy exercises. :( Might because I compressed L2 too much and went with the conservative treatment.

I consider myself lucky cause I didn’t touch the spinal cord nor cauda equina. Hugh Herr’s TED talk - ‘The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance’ is very inspiring although it’s far away from our cases. That kind of spirit is needed for getting through the first few months I believe. As you said, everything will come back with time. Thank you, Katie! 

Yolanda L wrote:

 Long term chronic pain is expected for my case which is frustrating.  

This was my case as well and I imagine that was very difficult to hear. My accident was 25 years ago.  I spent the first few years taking way too many advil until I realized it didn’t make a bit of difference. As I said upthread, exercise and stretching made it bearable.  As time passes, you’ll figure out what works, and what doesn’t. To this day the thing that causes me the most pain is washing dishes lol. That slight bend as you stand over the sink gets me every time. It’ll fade as you get older and then you’ll reach the age where you were going to get back pain anyway! I don’t mean to make light of it, just to point out that expected long term chronic pain doesn’t always mean life changing or unbearable. An injury like this could easily mean a life of pain pills for someone who isn’t active, I’m sure if you look at online forums just dedicated to this injury you’ll see many different experiences. Hang in there, you’ve got  some pain ahead of you as you heal but you’ll get there. I’m sure this thread will die off at some point, but if you ever have questions please feel free to message me. 

Climb On wrote:

This was my case as well and I imagine that was very difficult to hear. My accident was 25 years ago.  I spent the first few years taking way too many advil until I realized it didn’t make a bit of difference. As I said upthread, exercise and stretching made it bearable.  As time passes, you’ll figure out what works, and what doesn’t. To this day the thing that causes me the most pain is washing dishes lol. That slight bend as you stand over the sink gets me every time. It’ll fade as you get older and then you’ll reach the age where you were going to get back pain anyway! I don’t mean to make light of it, just to point out that expected long term chronic pain doesn’t always mean life changing or unbearable. An injury like this could easily mean a life of pain pills for someone who isn’t active, I’m sure if you look at online forums just dedicated to this injury you’ll see many different experiences. Hang in there, you’ve got  some pain ahead of you as you heal but you’ll get there. I’m sure this thread will die off at some point, but if you ever have questions please feel free to message me. 

Thank you!

Well I hate washing dishes even before the injury. Now I have one more reason to avoid that.

They gave me Morphine during the first and second day of my accident. But I rejected to take any pain relief after that. Somehow I wanted to use the pain as an guidance to tell what kind of movements that I should proceed or avoid during my recovery. And when should I stop. 

Hopefully beginning building core muscles in three months would make it better.