C1 fracture healing and prognosis?

I suffered from occipital neuralgia and was later diagnosed with severe cervical stenosis. I was in so much pain with no relief. Pain mgt doc sent me to PT. The therapists helped me to strengthen my neck and back muscles. It took 4 months (June-Oct)to recover and I am down from 4 gabapentin a day to one every other day as I wean off. I feel like my old self again. I do those exercises religiously!!

@jenniferhunter thank you! It has been quite the experience thus far. I had a hard time swallowing for a long time, which has progressively improved. Thankfully, no other neurological deficits other than some radiculopathy from bulging discs that has since improved with gabapentin. Pain still varies from 1-4/10 at the base of my skull and some muscle strain now from the stress of holding my head up for periods of time. I haven’t started physical therapy yet. It sounds like I need to wait for after my next set of dynamic radiographs to ensure I’m still stable. I am cleared to walk as much as I feel comfortable. Thank you for sharing your experience!

Broke my C1 in the center of both posterior and anterior arches on November 10th surfing (been surfing for 46 years). Been in a hard collar since. I remove to shower, eat and shave, but the last CT taken at 9 weeks showed no bone growth. Very frustrating. I am walking a ton (25-30 miles/week) and doc said that's good, and also been lifting light dumbbells to maintain some fitness.

I thought I would be out of this neck brace by now, and to show no bone growth on the breaks is baffling me. I've been taking collagen peptides every day, increasing calcium, eating a balanced diet, and a lifelong athlete, etc.

Thinking of trying BPC-157. Anyone have any experience with this?

Sometimes people with non-healing fractures are given Forteo, which speeds healing by increasing bone growth. It is a daily injection in the thigh or stomach. I'd try that before BPC-157 because of the risk of infection with injected BPC-157. I've no experience with the latter, but am having a good experience with Forteo which I'm taking for osteoporosis. Orthopedists sometimes prescribe Forteo for several months after surgeries to help integrate bone into hardware. If you opt for surgery with screws Forteo would still be a good option.
Best wishes.

@jayreale I had an anterior and posterior C1 fracture Oct 6th that failed to form a stable fibrous union and after coming out of my Miami J cervical collar kept further displacing and I had surgery just over 2 weeks ago now. They were able to do a direct C1 fixation with a bone graft on the posterior fx line. I’m hopeful that I am on the mend now. Back in the Miami J cervical collar for 2-3 months. Continuing to use a bone growth stimulator daily. I had also thought about supplementing with BPC 157. Let me know if your doctor recommends.

What about the anterior fracture? Did that heal?

@jayreale no both lateral masses of C1 displaced outwards, neither the anterior or posterior fracture forming a stable fibrous union (scar tissue). They were able significantly reduce the fracture, but the anterior is still about 5mm apart. The hope is that with the bone graft on the posterior fracture a normal bony union will now form. They aren’t able to get to the anterior fracture line from the posterior incision they would have to go through the mouth which I would like to avoid due to the potential complications & they didn’t feel indicated. The anterior fracture should eventually form a stable fibrous union. Unfortunately, my initial fracture just didn’t stabilize & must have had transverse ligament insufficiency despite initial imaging looking ok. Feeling very hopeful about the future prognosis now that it’s stabilized

@jnj59 Got it. Hope it works out! My fractures are on the tuburcles (in the center) on both anterior and posterior. We'll see how my progress is on Friday at my next doc visit. Today is 13 weeks since my accident.

Here's my CT from January 12th.

Hope your recheck goes well!

@jayreale how is your recovery going? How are you feeling?