Anonymous #1 15w

Okay so I got a T5 superior endplate fracture (top of bone got crushed) in a tumbling accident. They labeled it chronic in my latest mri 7 weeks post accident. What does this mean?😭 my cousin said it means the pain will persist even when it’s healed.

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Anonymous OP 15w

what that likely means is that the compression fracture altered the shape of the vertebrae in a way that it will not heal to it’s original shape from. yes, that may mean more long-lasting symptoms. however, it most likely means that the vertebrae is permanently misshapen from being compressed, and you will likely have to be very careful with it in the future to avoid further damage.

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Anonymous OP 15w

depending on what you were doing - if you’re a dancer or gymnast - it’s possible that consistently doing tumbling tricks was weakening the structure of that vertebrae over time, and during that accident, it finally broke. so there’s likely some lasting damage to the bone from before the actual accident as well, if that is the case for you.

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Anonymous #1 15w

Very helpful information, thank you! I am not a dancer or gymnast, but my major was exercise science (I just graduated) and so I had a lot of physical education classes over the last 4yrs. But I don’t see any of my classmates breaking their spines ya know😅 I don’t have any degenerative bone diseases so I may never have a definite answer.

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Anonymous OP 15w

The tumbling was just part of a dancing/gymnastics class I was taking :( so I was only in it from January-May. We did our dance module until around March, and then started tumbling which didn’t last very long for me haha

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Anonymous OP 15w

it’s definitely still possible that consistent exercise with high-impact activities were enough to cause some weakening of that vertebrae over time. the shock of your foot hitting the ground - whether running, jumping, dancing, or tumbling - has to go somewhere, and it sounds like it may have been that area of the back for you. it’s possible it was just a minor postural (form) thing right up until it took more force than it could handle at that time.

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Anonymous #1 15w

sometimes even walking with incorrect form is enough to cause degenerative damage to your joints or ligaments, whether you have a true degenerative bone disease or not. these injuries from walking tend to present in the knees, feet, ankles, or shins, likely because it’s lower impact and there is less shock for the body to absorb. but when you start making it higher impact, that shock has to travel further to be absorbed, which is where a lot of slipped discs and compressions happen.

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Anonymous #1 15w

Thank you so much <3

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Anonymous #2 14w

Do you think I’ll be good for the trampoline by next summer?😭

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Anonymous OP 14w

Only your doctor can tell you that. And it really depends on what you do on the trampoline. A lot can improve in a year though so keep your head up!

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