New Member, A new concern
 

Well, Recently my brother got into a snowboarding accident, broke his wrist and burst his L2 with a compression of 40%. Now he did not suffer any spinal cord injury which is very fortunate.

The reason why I subscribed to this forum is because I am concerned for my brothers future and that i myself am depressed because of my fathers pessimistic lifestyle.

So, right now my brother is wearing a turtle shell brace (TLSO) and is supposed to wear it for 3 months. We are still unsure if he requires surgery or not, so my question is if he does not get surgery, will he be experiencing pain after? I hear that surgery is crucial if needed, and generally causes more pain in the future.

What are your experiences? Please let me know, Thank you very much.

re your brother's accident
 

Yannick,
Sorry to hear of your brother's traumatic spine accident. It is difficult to say whether he will have continuing pain post his stint in the shell or whether should he have surgery he would have more pain and need for more surgery.

Has he been prescribed any pain meds if dealing with high level of pain?

I've had 2 spine surgeries albeit discectomies only and the first one relieved pain quite well, the 2nd one failed and created more pain. And then again my spine is rather a mess anyway of it's own degenerative nature and cumulative spinal insults of sorts.

Each person has a very individual response to injury so it's difficult to say what the outcome will be however it's good that you are trying to seek some information in terms of support for your brother.

You mentioned your father's pessimistic lifestyle which the only thing I can say with regard to your brother and his injury is that while it's very easy to be pessimistic when it comes to spine injuries, pain secondary to spine injuries, and limitations due to spinal pain/injuries, it's far better to try and stay as positive as one can just in terms of dealing with life at hand~ not always easy to do, often quite difficult to do tho for your brother's sake, I'm sure that re directing to thoughts to a more positive nature would be most beneficial, if even just in terms of emotional support. And that in itself can mean so much to someone injured~

I've had several clients with prior compression fractures of t12, L1.... from years before that were asymptomatic. They were in for typical L4-5-S1 problems and the prior fractures were not an issue.

I'm sure that like with all things spine, great stories and not so great stories from similar cases abound. I hope that he'll be smart... follow doctors orders... heal up as best as possible... With any luck, he'll have a good recovery. Imagining poor outcomes will not help.

Please keep us posted... I hope to hear good news.

Mark

yannick - for your reading pleasure...

http://www.ispine.org/forum/showthre...ht=compression

Yannick,

Though I am sorry for your brother's injury, how fortunate for him to have a brother that cares so much.

All back injuries have commonalities but each one is different, as are people. The first concern should be your choice of doctors. I'm not suggesting that the doctor treating your brother is incompetent in any way... he may be right on. Second and even third opinions are extremely valuable, especially if surgery is indicated. If you tell us where your brother lives, perhaps we (mmglobal) can suggest someone.

Also, where is your brother's pain located. Is it localized in his back or does it radiate down. Perhaps you can encourage to post himself and provide more details.

Whatever decisions he ultimately makes, I do hope his injury improves and needs no further intervention. My best to you both, Dale

Thank you very much for your comments. Right now he is taking percocets before sleep. He should be able to cut those down quite soon. We live in Calgary Alberta, and I believe he is out seeing a doctor right now. My brother tells me that his pain is mostly muscle. I had to rub PRO-FLEX on his back, which is for muscle pain relief and his muscles are swollen. He is following doctors orders.

I am certainly being very optimistic, I think that whatever circumstance or dilemma that pops up must be dealt with anyways. For sure, Ill keep up the positivity.

He is getting better, and I'll try and get him to post for himself!

Thanks!