Still in pain, what do I do?
Posted , 3 users are following.
I had a fall almost 8 weeks ago where I broke two thoracic vertebrae (T11 and T12). Yesterday was the day I was officially allowed to stop wearing my brace (slowly), however I’ve been in some pain.
Yesterday I took the brace off for around half an hour (which had been the norm anyway for the past few days before that) and I was fine for the first 20 minutes, until the pain began to nag at me again.
Today I took my brace off for around an hour (maybe longer), but the majority of this was when I was walking around, because when sitting up with it off it would hurt a lot.
I’m scared of injuring the bones further (my spine is at a 22 degree angle apparently), so I was wondering whether I should still keep the brace on or continue with taking it off?
It is a fair amount of pain, especially if I try to straighten my posture (I have poor posture) or cough, but I don’t want to be too dependent on the brace either.
What should I do?
0 likes, 4 replies
Carolineq8 Guest
Posted
I would ring your doc tomorrow and ask for his advice on wearing the brace, you have to remember your back muscles will be extremely weak off wearing the brace but I understand how frightening it must be when your not sure if the pain is because your doing to much or is it normal because of muscle weakness.
Even with your docs advice you know your body better than anyone so if it dosnt feel right don't worry about it to much you may just need more time to recover, I hope you heal well soon😊
Guest Carolineq8
Posted
I’ve continued taking the brace off slowly and reduced it down to around an hour or two a day, mainly when I’m walking for a distance of at least half a mile and don’t want to carry it.
Still in pain but there’s little I can do about it. I take paracetamol but it never fully reduces the pain (same as when I was in hospital). I still try and keep the brace off though as that was what I was told I was supposed to do.
There’s good days and bad days. On a good day, I can go the morning without the brace and then in the afternoon I will have a little tiny bit of pain and put the brace on to stop it.
On bad days, I’m in a fair amount of pain that starts in the morning and is fairly persistent and only disappears for around an hour at a time. Still, despite this, I try not to wear the brace.
On the up side of things, I no longer appear to have the numbness in my lower back (or at least not as bad). I also can carry stuff on my back (admittedly not too heavy). I’ve also returned to work, though this always brings pain/exhaustion and I have now got into the habit of taking two paracetamol beforehand (I’m a cleaner, and I’ve also just been given another room to do which-to be blunt- sucks).
I have my final X-ray on Friday. Slightly worried as always, but mostly worried that because it’s the final one, I’ll be giving the brace back and will be stuck without the relief of putting it on when needed.
I do suppose part of my pain is because before the fall, I always had poor posture and would get burning neck pain if I sat up for too long without any support. This has ceased and has probably replaced itself with the back pain when sitting up.
mary02640 Guest
Posted
The brace was ordered by your surgeon, when do you see him for follow-up? You need to follow the doctor's orders, and return to his office. When it comes to the back it is important to care for your back and use the brace to support your spine during the healing process. in time you will be glad you did.
Guest mary02640
Posted
I have returned to work (couldn’t afford not to, as I’ve had a month off and this has affected my family’s finances), and the last few shifts I have been having paracetamol beforehand as it is an active job (cleaning, for two hours).