flying with a hairline fracture
 

due to stupid accident yesterday iv ended up with a hairline fracture on L1 vertebrate. my Doctor has just proscribed muscle relaxants, painkillers and 4 days bed rest.
however im due to head to JFK on 23/10 in first my doctor wants to make a final assessment on Friday but thinks i may be able to go still.

Do any of you have experience of travelling with such maladies, is making the flight unrealistic i have a fairy high pain threshold and can stretch out in F

thoughts?

Call me a crybaby but if I had a fractured vertebra I'd rather stay home and not risking worsening it in a plane that can be tossed around by turbulance or land heavily, especially if the doc says not to fly. I'm sure your doctor can give you something the travel insurance can use for your claim. Health trumps tier points...

id normally agree buts it a pretty important meeting i need to attend. of course if the doc says no its a no and ill stay in London honestly tier points are the least of my concern right now

I have taken flights when I’ve had broken ribs (a couple of weeks after the break) and it was ok (just be careful) but I wouldn’t do it with vertebrae cracks. Spine damage falls into high risk / high impact category for me.

read the medical page on the BA website.

Do the meeting on zoom. Not worth the risk to your long term health.

that was my first port of call after getting home. im outside of the 48 hours window for longhaul/broken bones was simply seeking some real world wisdom from this forum and others experience. i should add that im mobile just in a bit of pain

I’d also suggest you speak to your insurers as I’m pretty sure if you travel with medical approval it will exclude any injury Or complication arising from this and if you are going to the USA that’s going to be telephone number medical bills.

if you don’t declare it to your insurer and you have your luggage lost or need to claim on an unrelated matter say you are hit by a car then pretty sure non disclosure would exclude cover for that as well.

Personally I’d postpone.

Thanks Keanejohn id 100% agree if i was relying on travel insurance but as im partially based in NY and have a residence there i have us health insurance. but i will defer to my own pain level and ultimately my docs verdict on Friday, but leaning towards postponing

It is not just pain, it is risk. If you are tossed around in turbulence and are severely injured, the consequences can be serious. In addition, medical diversions are not always possible and not always a good idea.

I’m glad you are talking about yourself... I thought this topic was going to be about the airplane frame!

DOI: Emergency Medicine doctor. However this does not constitute formal medical advice.

Obviously I don't know a huge amount about the injury. Having said that if they have let you go home without any physical support (corset and the like) or plan for surgery, it would suggest that your surgeon is happy that this is a stable, relatively minor injury which will heal itself. If there is a hint of instability or potential of the fracture position getting worse, they will keep you in hospital, on your back and look to intervene sooner rather than later.

Flying per se would not worsen anything in a minor injury in the spine such as this. (The pressure changes experienced in flight are a concern only in limb fractures with casts on, where the fracture site can swell.)

Given this, my overwhelming intuition would say the chances of any problems being encountered are exceptionally small. Your flight is also over a week away - you will have a good idea of which way your recovery is going by then. Particularly rough turbulence could 'jar' the back and worsen the pain, but then so could a sudden stop in a car on the way to your hospital appointment.

Obviously, take the advice of the surgeon looking after you and the BA medical site.

I'm thinking the flight itself is probably the least stressful part. What about getting to and from the airport, standing in lines for security, waiting at the gate and boarding and immigration at the other end?

I find standing is harder on my back than sitting, and there is always lots of standing and waiting at airports. Will you have any luggage? Even a small carry on is an additional load on your back. Finally, what if you make it through the airport and it aggravates your back and then it all becomes too much mid Atlantic. Then what? You'll have to tough it out, possibly in great pain or risk damaging your back.

If it was me, I'd postpone if possible, subject to your doctors advice.

Agree with TraumaDoc’s advice. I’d actually be much more worried about flying with the fractured ribs mentioned up thread as the pressure changes involved in flying could make a small air leak caused by the fracture (pneumothorax) significantly larger.

The fact its your back would make me think twice, any bad turbulence or further impact (some muppet with a back pack) could make the situation worse but probably not too any really serious degree or I guess you'd still be in hospital.

I'd want a fully assured assessment from the doc before I'd chance it but of course only you can balance the risk vs reward and there's some good medical (non) advice given above.

As already mentioned if your going triple check travel insurance, they'll take any chance to wriggle out of a claim if one arose.

Good luck.