Your spine is made up of a number of different vertebrae grouped into three sections, with the lumbar portion at the bottom, the thoracic portion in the middle, and the seven vertebrae in the neck region comprise the cervical portion. If any of these seven topmost vertebrae break or crack, this is known as a cervical fracture, and as you might imagine, they can be quite serious. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at cervical fractures and how Dr. Jackman and his team can help you make a full recovery in the event you suffer a cervical fracture.
Causes And Symptoms Of A Cervical Fracture
Your vertebrae are extremely strong, so it typically takes a significant force to cause a fracture in one of your cervical vertebrae. These vertebrae need to be strong and durable because they help to protect your spinal cord and other key nerves in your central nervous system. If the fracture also involves damage to the spinal cord or spinal nerves, treatment will be much more urgent, but for the sake of this blog we’re just going to focus on fractures that don’t involve damage to the spinal cord.
So as we mentioned above, it tends to take a fair amount of force for a cervical vertebrae to break. Because of this, cervical fractures typically occur after traumatic events that place excessive force on the neck. The most common causes of cervical fractures are from car accidents, trauma during athletic activities, or falls onto the head and neck region. Your head and neck doesn’t need to strike anything in order for a fracture to occur, either. Violent whiplash injuries during rear-end car accidents can also cause cervical vertebral fractures.
Symptoms of a cervical fracture include:
- Pain at the inject site
- Decreased range of motion in the neck region
- Reduced muscle strength in the neck region
- Decreased mobility and balance
- Swelling
- Tenderness
- Bruising
If there’s even a small chance that you suffered a neck fracture, it will be in your best interest to undergo a comprehensive evaluation to determine the extent of your injuries. We’ll touch on how these fractures are typically diagnosed and treated below.
Diagnosing And Treating Cervical Fractures
If you present to the clinic with a possible cervical fracture, your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and carefully perform a physical assessment. They will be delicate if any movement of the neck area takes place, but in order to prevent any potential damage to nerves, movement will be extremely limited and a more in-depth diagnosis will be conducted with the help of an imaging test.
X-rays are a very common imaging test to provide a quick evaluation of the potential fracture or dislocation, but if doctors want a more precise look, they will likely order a Computed Tomography (CT scan). This is the best way to identify whether or not a fracture is present, while an MRI can be helpful in identifying if nerve compression or spinal cord damage has occurred. Odds are you’ll undergo at least one type of imaging test if a cervical fracture needs to be identified or ruled out.
If a fracture is found, your doctor will quickly work to come up with the best treatment strategy. Some of the more minor cervical fractures can heal on their own with rest and area protection over the course of 6-10 weeks, so a spine specialist may put you in a cervical collar or brace until enough bone healing has occurred.
Severe or complex fractures may require more hands-on treatment, like a halo brace or a surgical procedure. The specifics of surgery will depend on your individual injury, but the goal will be to stabilize the fracture site so that adequate healing can take place. Oftentimes this is accomplished with the help of surgical hardware or a fusion procedure. Your spine specialist can walk you through the specifics of the procedure should an operation become necessary.
After surgery, you’ll likely wear a brace to help limit neck movement for a number of weeks until enough healing has taken place that you can begin some gentle physical therapy exercises. Over time, you’ll ramp up these PT exercises until you’ve eventually made a full recovery from your cervical vertebral fracture.
For more information about cervical fractures, or to talk to a spine specialist about your neck or back pain, reach out to Dr. Jackman and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.
