I got one on from a fall off my horse on March 6th and then walked around and even got on a horse after that until I decided I should see a doc about 2 weeks later because of aching pain in upper back. They did a CT. It is stable and has 20% anterior compression. I have an artificial disc at C5/6 so I was more worried that I’d hurt that. It is fine.
Anyone have experience on how long to heal and get back on jumping and competing?
Evidently just 6 weeks healing time. I go back to my neurosurgeon on apr 27th so I’ll let him take a look at my Mobi C disc first and then get back to riding. Woot!
Wow, you’re lucky! I’m recovering from compression fractures at C7 and T2. I fell on the ice the last Thursday in January. It’s been almost 10 weeks and I’m still not ‘technically’ cleared to ride. I go back next week for more x-rays. I did get on my horse for a bit on Sunday because I’m basically losing my mind from not riding and I’m definitely sore doing anything but walking. Good luck! I hope you recover fully and quickly!!
I had a compression fracture of L2 last year. After I fell off, I got back on and finished schooling. I waited a week to see the doctor when it didn’t feel better. X-rays showed the fracture. It took 3 weeks of being off work and then 3 months of not riding. I feel great now. I swear the BOT back brace helped immensely.
All the best. Hope you heal quickly and easily.
Yes I know the thoracic and lumbar fractures can take longer. It sure does just ache though. Ugh. My brother is a spine ortho surgeon and he took a look at my CT yesterday. I just drove 23 hrs over the last 4 days so it’s a bit sore today. I see the neurosurgeon that put my artificial disc in place on Apr 27th so he will be the one to hopefully clear me to ride. Clair you should get a Mediflow pillow. I learned about it from the support group for my surgery but it has been a godsend for this compression fracture. I’ve been sleeping in my soft collar too because I am quite an active sleeper and it’s better if I hold my neck still at night.
Thanks for sharing your stories with me. I hope you get cleared soon Clair
I’ll research the pillow, thanks for the recommendation! Sleeping has been the worst because it’s so hard to remove the pressure from that spot (C7), no matter how I lay it’s sore. I can also totally relate to the soreness because if I do too much I’m very sore. I struggled with headaches too but those have mostly resolved unless I overdo it. Thanks again and good luck! I hope you feel better soon.
[QUOTE=Clair2014;8094496]
I’ll research the pillow, thanks for the recommendation! Sleeping has been the worst because it’s so hard to remove the pressure from that spot (C7), no matter how I lay it’s sore. I can also totally relate to the soreness because if I do too much I’m very sore. I struggled with headaches too but those have mostly resolved unless I overdo it. Thanks again and good luck! I hope you feel better soon.[/QUOTE]
The thing that is wonderful about the pillow is that you control the amount of water so can make it just right for your neck. I have two quarts in mine. I have the regular non down pillow you can get it on amazon.com with a money back guarantee and no I have no affiliation with the company. Just sharing what 1000 of us who had neck injuries and surgery have been sharing. Good luck to you too. I’ll post when I’m riding again.
I have a compression fracture of t11 now. I fell off (ok, got bucked off) on March 15th. Hit the ground really hard and knew I would be sore. Went for X-rays a few days later when the pain was located In a specific spot and getting worse. I have been in a brace since and starting physical therapy tomorrow! SOOO ready to be out of the brace!
My ortho is checking me every 2-3 weeks, and yesterday she said once I get to the 8 week mark we can talk about riding.
Glad to know I am not alone, but very sorry it happened to you guys as well! Anyone have long term issues from this?
I think it does potentially cause some kyphosis in your spine as it has to adapt to the missing vertebral space and it potentially hastens the disc degeneration in the related disc. For me it probably means a fusion surgery at c6/7 sometime in the future but not until I have symptoms that really bother me. Hopefully not for quite a few years if ever. Good luck in your recovery ladybugsbw.
equisusan - I ordered the pillow and should have it in a couple days. I’m crossing my fingers it helps because I would LOVE to be able to sleep better. Thanks again for the recommendation.
ladybugsbw - It’s too soon to know what the long-term ramifications of my injury will be. It’s been 10 weeks for me and I tried riding a bit last weekend but it created so much pain that I had to stop. I’m clearly not ready. I have some more x-rays in a week to evaluate where I’m at and what exactly could be causing the continued pain. I think arthritis and continued pain are the big concerns in my case. I also have a chip that broke off the C7 so they’re watching that to make sure it doesn’t cause irritation or other problems. Time will tell. It’s torture not being able to ride, especially right before show season! Best wishes and I hope you heal fast!!
I hope it works for you Clair. Play around with the water level. Start with two quarts and go down half a quart if it feels too hard and up half a quart if it feels too soft until it’s just right like goldilocks. 
How much compression did you have at each level Clair and was it all in the front (anterior)?
Did they give you a soft collar? I had mine from surgery and I just wear it when I sleep so it stops me from moving my head around too much in bed.
Thanks for the information! My doctor has been great, but of course, is not a horse person ;-).
My goal is to not be wearing a brace for college graduation in a few weeks! Well, and to be riding soon. Better to play it safe than rush into it.
Good luck to you both with recovery!!
equisusan - You know, I’m actually not sure how much compression there was. I don’t know that the doctor ever discussed that with me. As soon as he determined it wasn’t surgical he basically booted me out the door! I do know that both fractures are towards the front and that there was no damage to the spinal cord. The chip that broke off was on the anterior superior (front/top) part of C7. They think it was still partially attached. That’s really all I know. I see the neurosurgeon again at the end of next week so I’ll have to ask more questions!
I have not been wearing a cervical collar. They wanted me to but it seemed to press right on the vertebra and caused horrific migraine-like headaches. We tried several styles before the doctor gave up. He did mention that not having the collar for stability could slow down healing but didn’t think there was a safety risk involved with not wearing it.
What kind of imaging did you have Clair? If you had a CT or an MRI or X-rays there is likely a report you can get from whoever did the imaging? I don’t wear my collar tight and I only wear it at night to stop me from doing things like putting my chin on my chest during sleep aerobics.
If the fractures are stable which they should be if they aren’t surgical then I think the problem with them being more compressed is only during the first week after injury. The collar would just be to let your neck rest so you can get some sleep. I hope the pillow helps you. Ice also is the best pain killer on the face of the earth so if it’s aching then 20 mins every hour or two should help.
Hopefully he gave you a good muscle relaxer too.
equisusan - I hope you’re doing well and recovering. I thought I’d give you a bit of an update. I bought the pillow you suggested and it’s helping tremendously. I can’t believe how sleep-deprived I had gotten after all those weeks of pain from my fractures. Thanks so much for suggesting it!
I also had some more x-rays last Friday and a follow-up with my doctor. She explained that, while both my C7 and T2 are somewhat compressed, both fractures should have actually been referred to as chip fractures when they were discussed with me originally, as part of the bone has broken off of both vertebra and then there are cracks that extend through the vertebral body. SO, I do not have exactly the same kind of issue you have going on. My new x-rays show that the fractures are healing but are not healed and the doctor wouldn’t even venture a guess as to how long it would be until I’m 100% recovered. She said to give it six months and see where I am at that point!!!
Interestingly enough, she did say that I could ride ‘safe’ horses and said that she didn’t think riding would slow down the healing process as long as it doesn’t create more pain. Right now, the concussion from the sitting trot and canter cause a lot of pain so I have a feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of trail riding this summer, which is a huge bummer because my gelding just started the Prix St. Georges at the end of last summer and was going phenomenal in January before I had my fall on the ice. I also have a number of client’s horses I was supposed to be riding but they are all young and the doctor wouldn’t even entertain the thought of me riding them at all this summer. :no: Oh well, such is life… It’s times like these I’m glad I decided to keep a full time job in addition to my riding/training career!
I hope you recover faster than I am! Best wishes and thanks again!!!
[QUOTE=Clair2014;8114002]
equisusan - I hope you’re doing well and recovering. I thought I’d give you a bit of an update. I bought the pillow you suggested and it’s helping tremendously. I can’t believe how sleep-deprived I had gotten after all those weeks of pain from my fractures. Thanks so much for suggesting it!
I also had some more x-rays last Friday and a follow-up with my doctor. She explained that, while both my C7 and T2 are somewhat compressed, both fractures should have actually been referred to as chip fractures when they were discussed with me originally, as part of the bone has broken off of both vertebra and then there are cracks that extend through the vertebral body. SO, I do not have exactly the same kind of issue you have going on. My new x-rays show that the fractures are healing but are not healed and the doctor wouldn’t even venture a guess as to how long it would be until I’m 100% recovered. She said to give it six months and see where I am at that point!!!
Interestingly enough, she did say that I could ride ‘safe’ horses and said that she didn’t think riding would slow down the healing process as long as it doesn’t create more pain. Right now, the concussion from the sitting trot and canter cause a lot of pain so I have a feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of trail riding this summer, which is a huge bummer because my gelding just started the Prix St. Georges at the end of last summer and was going phenomenal in January before I had my fall on the ice. I also have a number of client’s horses I was supposed to be riding but they are all young and the doctor wouldn’t even entertain the thought of me riding them at all this summer. :no: Oh well, such is life… It’s times like these I’m glad I decided to keep a full time job in addition to my riding/training career!
I hope you recover faster than I am! Best wishes and thanks again!!![/QUOTE]
Hi Clair,
I’m so glad the pillow is helping. Yay yay. I bought myself the back on track neck wrap a week or so ago and I do think it was helping although I never know if it’s just voodoo magic with their products.
I felt optimistic that I would be riding again in May but then I got one of those nasty stomach bugs this week and spent a night of horrible vomiting and my neck hasn’t forgiven me yet. I’ve now officially missed the first show of the spring circuit and I’m a little down. Things were going so well until I had this fall. Quite frustrating.
Hopefully today will be better. I wonder if I have done something to a vertebrae lower as well since my pain feels lower than C7. The ortho guy in Ocala thought it was just referred pain from C7 but I’ll see what my neurosurgeon thinks when I see him on May 4th for a follow up on my disc surgery.
I’m pretty sure it’s stable and he’ll tell me I can ride if it’s comfortable but I won’t really know that until I’m up there. It is a little disheartening as it almost feels like I’m back to recovering from surgery. It’s hard to get comfortable in any position except sleeping.
Yes your chip fractures are certainly going to take a little longer I’d think. Be patient with yourself. I love when doctors say “safe” horses. LOL I was riding a very safe horse when I made a little mistake and took my tumble. And let’s face it “safe” is very relative when talking about a flight animal. Hoping you thorough and quick healing.
[QUOTE=equisusan;8114084]
I love when doctors say “safe” horses. LOL[/QUOTE]
Yes, I almost laughed out loud when the doctor said this. I’m pretty certain that her definition of ‘riding’ and MY definition of RIDING are two very different things. The recovery part definitely gets frustrating with the nicer weather and the start of show season. Hang in there and let me know if you come up with anything to help with the pain. That is my biggest problem right now as well. Best wishes!
**whiny complaining post
I am so ready to be out of pain and active again! Watching shows helps feed the addictions, but it still isn’t the same! While yes, it is better than nothing, I am ready to ride again.
So far just doing a squat still hurts… riding seems a ways off. Especially on those “safe” horses HAHA.
Happy Healing to all!
[QUOTE=ladybugsbw;8118526]
**whiny complaining post
I am so ready to be out of pain and active again! Watching shows helps feed the addictions, but it still isn’t the same! While yes, it is better than nothing, I am ready to ride again.
So far just doing a squat still hurts… riding seems a ways off. Especially on those “safe” horses HAHA.
Happy Healing to all![/QUOTE]
Whining understood. I’m having horse show withdrawal. I see my surgeon on May 4th and I hope he tells me to do anything I have pain tolerance for and then I can see where I am. Right now I’m being good and resting up. Some days I can only get comfortable if I lie down in bed. Well that’s productive… not too bad today though. Ready to be better nowwwwwww.
Happy healing to you too ladybugsbw
[QUOTE=ladybugsbw;8118526]
**whiny complaining post
I am so ready to be out of pain and active again! Watching shows helps feed the addictions, but it still isn’t the same! While yes, it is better than nothing, I am ready to ride again.
So far just doing a squat still hurts… riding seems a ways off. Especially on those “safe” horses HAHA.
Happy Healing to all![/QUOTE]
I have nothing to add but that I totally hear ya! This is getting SO FREAKING OLD. Even my horse is standing at the gate staring at me like “why aren’t you riding me any more?”. He only falls into the “safe” category because I’ve had him so long. He’s a feisty bugger who’s basically a good boy but his gaits are too big and he makes me sooo sore. Whiiiiine! :yes:
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