Can a cervical spinal stenosis be caused by a fall? How soon would signs/symptoms show up?
I had a direct fall to the head (facial area), was thrown backwards and knocked out. When I awoke my entire body was numb for several minutes. Eventually my sensations returned but when medical staff assisted me up, they never put a cervical collar on me or braced my neck. During the next year & a half my walking, gait/balance become very bad. I was diagnosed with a severe spinal stenosis and had surgery. Unfortunately my gait & balance are still very poor. I am completely disabled and need the use of a walker to get around. I am only 51 years old.
Answers:
The situation you describe is classic for someone with pre-existing cervical stenosis who suffers a fall.
Cervical spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal, which is the space through which the spinal cord runs, surrounded and protected by the spinal vertebrae. Different people have different amounts of space in the canal to start with, but as we age, degenerative changes to the bones, discs and ligaments gradually encroach upon the canal and there is less room for the spinal cord.
Symptoms of cervical cord compression (termed "myelopathy") often develop gradually over a period of years, though may become rapidly progressive over a few months. However, if a spinal canal is narrowed down so there is very little room for the cord to move, then a fall (or rear-end accident, or anything that jerks the neck about) can suddenly produce symptoms. The whole body numbness you describe is common. Sometimes people fall and suddenly develop weakness, usually more in hands/arms than legs' this is called "central cord syndrome". The symptoms result from banging the cord against bony prominences or discs.
"Cervical spinal stenosis" as such is not caused by a fall. The canal can become narrowed as the result of a neck fracture or traumatic disc herniation, but those are different pathologies to what you describe, as best I can tell.
My guess is that you had spinal stenosis before the fall, although it had not yet caused you obvious symptoms. The fall mildly injured your spinal cord, and left you at risk for more rapid worsening of your pre-existing condition. However, your neck was almost certainly not "unstable" from the fall. Without a fracture or ligamentous injury, there is no need for a collar or neck brace and I would not generally prescribe one in the situation you describe. (I'm a neurosurgeon with experience and publications in spinal surgery.)
I am very sorry to hear of your current condition. Once the spinal cord has taken injury, from a fall and/or from progressive spinal stenosis and compression, it is difficult to be certain how much function someone will recover. Myelopathy has a very uncertain course: usually after surgery, about 1/3 get better, 1/3 stay the same, and 1/3 continue to deteriorate despite MR scans showing a decent result in terms of decompression of the cord (making space for it.) We are not yet very good at predicting who will be in which group (though research is ongoing.)
If, however, you have not had repeat imaging of your neck after surgery, I would recommend this to confirm that there is no residual compression of the spinal cord, and to assess the degree of injury to the cord. (You did not say if you had surgery on the front or back of the neck, or at how many levels.)
I've listed a few links below that may be of interest (and have some diagrams.)
Standard disclaimer: Medical advice obtained via a website such as this is for general informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for seeing a physician. No proper diagnosis or prognosis can be given without personal history and examination taking.
Stenosis is a narrowing. could not be caused by fall.
Sorry
The negligence in them not using a collar...I would contact a lawyer as there is normally a 2 yr statue on things like this. But they should have used a collar!
Check to see if you have spondylosis (sp) as this is deterrioration if the spinal cord and I have it in my C-spine and I am only 34 (I got it from a bad car accident)
they should have used a collar .. sorry to hear that hun but nothing is impossible you can go to rehab and get assistance with ur balance it should get better within a few months after entering the rehabilitation program... we are here for you
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