I did not wear a back brace. In fact, I was unaware I had a compression fracture until after it healed because I attributed the pain to a back muscle injury. I have worked out for years and occasionally sprained my back and the pain was similar. However, after three months of pain that didn’t resolve I finally saw my PCP who ordered an x-ray.

I had some very low moments after that but because I am still working, I guess I had something to distract me. I also saw it as a challenge to overcome. Dr. Stuart McGill’s book, “Back Mechanic”, was also helpful as it gave me some hope that even simple exercise and learning what triggered my back pain would help. He has multiple stories of people who overcame their back injuries and were now pain free and that was inspiring to me.