Possible causes include hormonal imbalances, pregnancy, metabolic diseases or cancer in otherwise healthy people over age 60 to 65. Twenty-eight million Americans are at risk for developing osteoporosis. Every year, there are 1.5 million new fractures in people who have soft bone secondary to osteoporosis. With 700,000 spine fractures a year, this translates to one compression fracture every 45 seconds. When soft osteoporotic bone breaks, patients describe onset of significant back pain.
Pain can be in the upper or lower back.
When the fracture occurs, severe pain can cause a patient to be bedridden for a few weeks. If the vertebra collapses, a deformity forms in the back and the patient begins to hunch forward. This posture can lead to difficulty with breathing and digestion, problems standing up straight, increasing back pain, decreased ability to walk even medium distances, and an overall decrease in the quality of life. When the fracture settles and the patient begins to slouch forward, additional vertebra are much more likely to fracture, increasing the problem and the hunching forward even further. The pain from a fractured vertebra causes a decrease in the level of activity.