[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/fractures-and-healing\/arthritis-fracture-figuring-back-pain-means\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/fractures-and-healing\/arthritis-fracture-figuring-back-pain-means\/","headline":"Arthritis or fracture? Figuring out what back pain means","name":"Arthritis or fracture? Figuring out what back pain means","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest It\u2019s an unusual person who gets to middle age without a few aches and pains \u2014 a little wear and tear is to be expected after a half century or so. But for those at risk of osteoporotic fractures, back pain is particularly worrisome because you can\u2019t […]","datePublished":"2017-08-29","dateModified":"2026-04-22","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/back-pain.jpg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/back-pain.jpg","height":512,"width":1024},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/fractures-and-healing\/arthritis-fracture-figuring-back-pain-means\/","about":["Fractures & Healing"],"wordCount":572,"keywords":["Fracture","arthritis","vertebral fracture","back pain"],"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s an unusual person who gets to middle age without a few aches and pains \u2014 a little wear and tear is to be expected after a half century or so. But for those at risk of osteoporotic fractures, back pain is particularly worrisome because you can\u2019t really know whether it\u2019s tired muscles, or arthritis, or a vertebral fracture.Or can you?Recent research shows that the pain caused by vertebral fractures is different from other causes, such as arthritis of the spine. As a 2016 study published in Osteoporosis International found, vertebral fractures in women produced a number of distinct pain signposts that weren\u2019t present in women who had arthritis of the spinal column.Table of ContentsToggle     3 Minutes ReadRecognizing the signsListening to your bodyRecognizing the signsThe study looked at 197 British women between the ages of 67 and 84, asking them to report on their experiences of pain (in the back but elsewhere as well) before initiating a spine x-ray to look for vertebral fractures. They found that about a third of the women had vertebral fractures \u2014 and the women with fractures had a number of things in common. They were older (average age of 76.9 years versus 71.7 in the women without fractures), were considerably more likely to have had a previous fracture, or a diagnosis of osteoporosis, or both, and had fairly specific attributes to the pain they experienced that differed from the women with arthritis.Most notably, women with fractures described their pain as recent and brief in duration but \u201ccrushing,\u201d whereas women with arthritis said they had intermittent or periodic pain that they were more likely to call \u201ctaut\u201d or \u201csharp.\u201d Radiation of pain to the legs and association with weather changes were common in the women with arthritis but not the women with vertebral fractures. (See table for full comparison.)Table: Women\u2019s experience of vertebral fracture painVertebral fractureArthritisRisk factorsOlder agePrevious fracture (nonvertebral)Diagnosis of osteoporosisDuration of painShort-term, recent (occurring within days or weeks of the study); episodes are brief or transient with no apparent patternLong-term (present months or years prior to study); episodes are \u201cperiodic\u201d or intermittentOnsetSuddenGradualType of pain\u201cCrushing\u201d but localizedPain description varies but it is ongoing or intermittent and may occur anywhere from neck to legsOtherRelieved by lying downDoes not radiate to legsNo obvious association to weather or temperatureNo clear effect on pain of keeping still or movingMay radiate to legsSome associations with cold, damp, or changing weather conditionsListening to your bodyAll of this makes sense. Fractures are an acute injury in the bone, which is very different from the kind of slow, gradual, and chronic inflammatory process that is present in arthritis.What I take away from this study is that our body will tell us what we need to know \u2014 if we listen carefully. To start learning more about your bone health and risk for fracture, I encourage you to take our quick and easy Bone Health Profile. Reference:\u00a0Clark EM, Gooberman-Hill R, Peter TJ. Using self-reports of pain and other variables to distinguish between older women with back pain due to vertebral fractures and those with back pain due to degenerative changes. Osteoporos Int 2016;27:1459\u20131467.To understand the underlying bone health picture, visit our natural osteoporosis support guide."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Fractures And Healing","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/fractures-and-healing\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Arthritis or fracture? Figuring out what back pain means","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/fractures-and-healing\/arthritis-fracture-figuring-back-pain-means\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]