4. Sudden Traumatic Spinal Injuries
Compression fractures can be caused by a wide variety of different injuries, including car accidents – but these aren’t the only possible causes of this type of fracture and any type of injury that damages the spine places you at an increased risk of developing a compression fracture.
If you experience any kind of traumatic injury to the spine, pain and swelling are usually the first symptoms: When these symptoms subside, it can be put down to inflammation – but without an x-ray and the proper scans, there’s no way to tell.
Sometimes traumatic spinal injuries are extremely obvious from the associated pain, but there are also many cases where people walk around with fractures for years without having it looked at, which only risks making the condition worse over time. See your doctor as soon as possible after any kind of traumatic spinal event to ensure an accurate and fast diagnosis, especially if you suspect a compression fracture – but even where you don’t.