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Spinal Fractures & Compression Fractures

Sudden back pain after a fall — or in fragile bone, after something as small as a cough — can mean a broken vertebra. Dr. Hobbs evaluates spinal fractures, confirms whether the spine is stable, and treats them with the least invasive option that protects it.

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Medically reviewed by Jonathan G. Hobbs, M.D. · Updated July 2026

What Is a Spinal Fracture?

A spinal fracture is a break in one of the vertebrae — the bones that stack to form the spine. By far the most common type is the vertebral compression fracture: the front of a vertebra collapses into a wedge shape, usually in bone weakened by osteoporosis. Higher-energy injuries — falls from height, car accidents — produce different patterns that can threaten the spinal canal.

Two questions drive everything in fracture care: Is the spine stable? And are the nerves safe? The answers separate fractures that heal in a brace from fractures that need urgent surgical stabilization — and getting them right is exactly what a neurosurgical evaluation is for.

Interactive: Types of Spinal Fractures

Tap each type to see how the vertebra changes shape. (Educational — not a diagnosis.)

Compression (wedge) fracture The front edge of the vertebra collapses while the back holds — producing a wedge. In osteoporotic bone the trigger can be minor: a small fall, a lift, a cough. Painful, but usually stable, and most heal with conservative care while the underlying bone fragility is treated.

Symptoms of a Spinal Fracture

  • Sudden, sharp back pain — often after a fall, lift, or (in fragile bone) a cough or sneeze
  • Pain localized to one spot, worse with standing or bending, better lying down
  • Gradual height loss or a new stooped posture (fractures aren’t always painful)
  • Pain after any significant trauma — car accident, fall from height
  • Leg weakness, numbness, or bladder/bowel changes — emergency signs

Quick Symptom Self-Check

Check any that apply. Educational only — not a diagnosis; a licensed clinician makes all care decisions.

Select any symptoms above to see general guidance.

Treatment Options

Fracture care always runs on two tracks at once: heal this fracture, and protect the rest of the spine.

Conservative Care — for stable fractures

  • Pain management and activity modification while the bone heals over 6–12 weeks
  • Bracing when support speeds comfort and protects alignment
  • Bone-health workup — density testing and osteoporosis treatment, because the first fracture predicts the next one

Procedures & Surgery

  • Vertebral augmentation — minimally invasive stabilization of a painful fractured vertebra when conservative care isn’t settling it
  • Surgical stabilization — instrumentation for unstable or neurologically threatening fractures, placed with image-guided navigation
  • Decompression — when fragments compress the spinal cord or nerves
Injured at work? Spinal fractures are a common work injury — see workers’ compensation spine care.

Why Choose Dr. Hobbs

Board-Certified Neurosurgeon
Stability and nerve safety judged by a specialist trained for exactly that call
Elite Training
University of Kentucky medical degree; University of Chicago neurosurgery residency, chief resident
Least-Invasive-First
From bracing to augmentation to navigation-guided stabilization — matched to the fracture, not a default
Whole-Spine Protection
Bone-health evaluation after every fragility fracture — treating the disease, not just the break

Frequently Asked Questions About Spinal Fractures

Typically sudden, sharp back pain localized to one spot — worse with standing or bending, eased by lying down. In osteoporotic bone the trigger can be minor: a small fall, a lift, even a hard cough. Some fractures cause only gradual height loss and stooping with little acute pain.
Many do — most stable fractures heal over 6–12 weeks with pain management, activity modification, and sometimes bracing. The essentials are confirming stability and treating the underlying bone fragility, because one osteoporotic fracture significantly raises the risk of the next.
When it’s unstable, when fragments threaten the spinal canal (a burst pattern), or when there are neurological symptoms — leg weakness, numbness, or bladder/bowel changes. High-energy injuries and any fracture with neurological symptoms are treated urgently.
Vertebral augmentation — minimally invasive stabilization of the broken vertebra — for painful fractures that don’t settle, and surgical stabilization with instrumentation for unstable or neurologically threatening fractures. Dr. Hobbs recommends the least invasive option that protects the spine.
A fractured vertebra changes alignment and shifts extra load onto neighbors that, in osteoporotic bone, are already fragile. That’s why care runs on two tracks: heal the break, and treat the bone disease — density testing and osteoporosis management after a first fracture help prevent the next.

A Broken Vertebra Deserves a Specialist’s Eye.

Stable or not? Nerves safe or not? Those answers come first — then the least invasive treatment that gets you healed and protected.

(219) 250-5010

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500 E. 109th Avenue
Crown Point, IN 46307

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601 Gateway Boulevard
Chesterton, IN 46304