What are the symptoms? Severe pain at the site of the fracture is the main symptom of a broken back injury. If back pain is made worse when you move, that's also a sign that a vertebra may have been broken. If, however, the broken bone compresses the spinal cord's other nerves, there may be numbness as well as pain.

Can you still walk with a broken back?

Depending on how severe your injury is, you may experience pain, difficulty walking, or be unable to move your arms or legs (paralysis). Many fractures heal with conservative treatment; however severe fractures may require surgery to realign the bones.

Can you fracture your back and not know it?

Spinal fractures don't always involve pain, so even after a traumatic event such as a car accident, you may not know that you have a fracture. That's why it's important to have a thorough examination by a doctor after a traumatic event. However, a spinal fracture may cause sudden, severe pain around the area of injury.