Slip and fall injuries follow a different pattern from crashes. People land on a wrist, a hip or the tailbone. The force then travels up the spine from below.
What injuries does a slip and fall cause?
Landing on your seat drives force through the sacrum (the flat bone at the base of the spine) and the low back. That often causes a sacroiliac joint injury and a compression injury.
Landing on an outstretched hand sends force up to the wrist, elbow and shoulder.
In older adults, a fall that seems minor can cause a vertebral compression fracture (a crushed spine bone). This is most likely when bone density is already low.
Conditions this commonly causes
How are slip and fall injuries treated?
We find out what is hurt. We treat it directly with image-guided injections, nerve blocks or physical therapy as needed. We write down the injury properly from the first visit.
Call us or request an appointment.
Which fall injuries are most often missed?
The sacroiliac joint is the injury most often missed after a fall onto the buttocks. It is missed because of how it is built, not because of carelessness. It looks totally normal on MRI even when it causes all of the pain. No single exam test finds it reliably. Confirmation requires an image-guided injection.
In anyone past middle age, the second miss is a vertebral compression fracture. The fall is often small, and the first plain X-ray can look normal. So pain in one spot of the spine that lasts after a fall needs a second look, not reassurance.
The third miss is the wrist, elbow and shoulder chain after landing on an outstretched hand. Attention goes to whichever hurts most. The other two get checked months later, when they have not settled.
How long does it take to recover from a slip and fall?
Soft-tissue injuries from a fall usually settle over six to twelve weeks. Sacroiliac injury often does not. It responds well to targeted injection plus exercises that steady the pelvis.
A compression fracture usually settles over six to twelve weeks with conservative care (care without surgery). What comes next matters more. The strongest sign you will get a compression fracture is having had one. So a bone density check afterward is the part that changes your future.
What actually gets injured in a fall
The injury pattern depends on how you landed. A fall onto an outstretched hand sends force through the wrist, elbow and shoulder. Landing on the buttocks or tailbone loads the sacrum, coccyx (tailbone) and low back. In bone weakened by osteoporosis, that can cause a vertebral compression fracture from a fall that seems minor. A fall onto the hip is the classic way older adults injure the hip and pelvis. Any fall that involves the head raises the question of concussion, whether or not you passed out.
Soft-tissue and joint injuries often do not show up on the ER X-ray. That X-ray is built to find broken bones. Being told nothing is broken is useful. It is not the same as being unhurt.
Why does pain start days after a fall?
Adrenaline blocks pain in the hours after a fall. The inflammatory response in hurt tissue takes a day or more to peak. Stiffness and pain that start on the second or third day are normal. They are not a new injury or an exaggeration. Late pain says nothing about how bad the injury is.
Older adults and the fall itself
In anyone over about sixty-five, a fall needs attention beyond the injury it caused. Balance, side effects of medicines, blood pressure drops on standing, vision and feeling in the feet all play a part. A fall is often the first visible sign of one of them. Treating the bruised hip without asking why the fall happened leaves the next one waiting.
Common questions
How long do I have to be evaluated?
Medically, sooner is better. If a claim against a property owner is involved, an early medical record is also much stronger evidence than a later one.
I fell weeks ago and it is not improving. Is it too late?
No. Pain that lasts weeks after a fall is exactly what should be checked properly.
The X-ray was clear. Why am I still in pain?
An X-ray finds broken bones. It does not show the joints, discs, ligaments and soft tissue that cause most lasting pain after a fall.
How it happens is covered in Vertebral Compression Fracture.
Is it too late to be seen weeks afterwards?
No. Coming in late is common. It does not stop us from checking or treating you.
Should the fall itself be investigated?
In older adults, yes. Balance, medicines and blood pressure changes are common causes. Finding them lowers the risk of another fall.
Balance and fall-risk assessment covers how those contributors are measured.
What happens to your body when you slip and fall?
The force of the landing travels up the spine from below. Landing on your seat drives it through the sacrum and low back. Landing on an outstretched hand sends it through the wrist, elbow and shoulder. Adrenaline hides much of the pain for the first few hours. The inflammation in hurt tissue takes a day or more to peak, so stiffness often builds on the second or third day.
What is the most common injury from a slip and fall?
It depends on how you land. Landing on your seat often injures the sacroiliac joint. It can also cause a compression injury in the low back. A fall onto an outstretched hand injures the wrist, elbow and shoulder. In older adults, a fall that seems minor can cause a vertebral compression fracture. This is most likely when bone density is already low.
How long does it take for your body to heal after a fall?
Soft-tissue injuries from a fall usually settle over six to twelve weeks. A sacroiliac joint injury often does not. It responds well to a targeted injection plus exercises that steady the pelvis. A compression fracture usually settles over six to twelve weeks with conservative care. Then comes a bone density check, because having had one fracture is the strongest sign of the next.
Related: an ankle fracture or bad sprain from a fall can turn into ankle arthritis years later.
Sources
- Nolet PS et al. Exposure to a motor vehicle collision and the risk of future back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Accident; analysis and prevention, 2020. PubMed 32438092
- de Oliveira Lima RA et al. Efficacy of exercise on balance, fear of falling, and risk of falls in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of endocrinology and metabolism, 2021. PubMed 33905633
- Alsoof D et al. Diagnosis and Management of Vertebral Compression Fracture. The American journal of medicine, 2022. PubMed 35307360
- Hurri H et al. Functional Tests Predicting Return to Work of Workers with Non-Specific Low Back Pain: Are There Any Validated and Usable Functional Tests for Occupational Health Services in Everyday Practice? A Systematic Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 2023. PubMed 36982096
Hurt in an accident? Start here.
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