Law Office of Arkady Itkin 

A compression fracture is a fracture of the spine or a vertebrae, and it occurs when a number of vertebrae in the spine are broken. A compression fracture can occur throughout the spine, but most commonly affects two or more vertebrae within the lower thoraci and upper lumbar region, sometimes referred to as the thoacolumbar section of the back. 

A compression fracture is nearly always a serious injury, bacause the spinal cord is near each of the vertebrae and is at risk whenver they shift. A compression fracture is most likely to be caused by a serious trauma to the back and sine, particularly in a case of falling from a height. Because of the force necessary to cause compression fractures, they often occur with other injureis, including damage to the spinal cord and severe ligament damage.  One of my clients recently sustained a compression fracture while riding a bicycle in the mission district in San Francisco. He was broadsided by a car and thrown off his bicylce onto the ground. Considering the circumstances, he was lucky to have survived and not being run over by the oncoming traffic (as it was late at night and the traffic was very light). The injured bicylcist was place on temporarily disability almost immediately and was taken off work for two months.

The symptoms of a compression fracture may include severe limitation of range of motion where a person is unable to turn or bend forward/backwards as freely as he/she would otherwise be able to. In addition, pinching of the spinal cord itself may cause odd tingling or numbness througout the body. 

If you have been diagnosed with compression fracture, you should be immobilized to prevent damage to the spinal cord. A rigid, padded surface to support your spine and back is ideal, and of course emergency care might very likely be necessary. In most cases, a surgery is unnecessary to heal a compression fracutre. Wearing a brace or case and allowing the impact part of your body to rest and heal in addition to taking anti-inflammatory medication will allow the body to repair damage within 6 to 10 weeks in many cases of stable fractures. 

It is important to note that that pateints who have one compression fracture are more likely to have more such injuries in the future, and therefore prevention of future compression fractures must be address. A doctor should advise patients what activities he/she should avoid to minimize the risk of recurring injury.

A typical scenario: a person sustained an injury in an auto-accident. At first, that injury might not seem or feel to be very serious, but the injured still wishes to get medical care. He gets one of his friends to refer him to a local Chiropractor who treats him for a 3-5 months without referring the patient to other specialists. 

This kind of treatment history will necessarily reduce the recovery. I work with some great Chiropractors in San Francisco and Sacramento areas who do a great job for a very reasonable rates for their patients, many of whom are recovering from serious injury accidents. However, I am also aware of the general perception of Chiropractic professional in the community. And the insurance companies are aware of this skeptical perception as well. They know, that the opinion of a Chiropractor is not nearly as credible as that of an a medical doctor. Further, a successful argument can be made by the defense that if an injured person only sought treatment from a chiropractor, this means that he/she wasn't injured seriously; otherwise he would further treatment elsewhere. 

Even more importantly, not having a thorough medical examination with an M.D. or an orthopedic surgeon may aggravate a very serious injury (injury to discus, vertebrae, etc...) and make the recovery much slower and painful if not diagnosed and addressed properly. 

Thus, it is very important that you see your primary physician at least once and discuss referral to an orthopedic specialist or another doctor who can take your x-rays and examine your injuries more thoroughly for possible disc protrusions/bulges, lacerations, fractures, and other injuries that might not cause as much pain at first, but the ones that tend to also exacerbate with time, if not treated promptly.