How long after a fall did you discover you had suffered some damage?

Mine was always instantaneous! If you are concerned you should go get X-rays. Do you have a bruise?

@wilweten I fractured my sacrum a few years ago. I recall falling on uneven pavement a few months before the fracture was discovered when I had a CT for my cancer surveillance appointments. I did not have any symptoms or pain in the sacral area or surrounding that area. The sacral fracture was a complete surprise t me as I didn't have any symptoms. I'd had pelvic radiation (external) two years before and my radiation oncologist warned me that I might have bone loss due to the radiation therapy.

Last year I fell on the concrete surface of our garage. This was after I had a year of Evenity injections and a Reclast infusion. This was recommended after the sacral fracture and bone loss due to radiation therapy. Last year's fall resulted in bad bruising to my knees but amazingly no fractures.

My experiences demonstrate, at least for me, that fractures can happen spontaneously and do not always happen after a fall. Still, it's a good idea to get these things evaluated.

Seems like from what you wrote it would be a good idea to be evaluated by a medical provider. Have you seen your primary care physician?

When the bone fractures in position it might not hurt until it the parts migrate apart. Sometimes it hurts a little and we think it's a muscle. With the spine a fracture may not register on x-ray for several weeks. You might ask for an MRI.
A close friend (my brother) had a fall from height. MRI at ER registered no fracture, what a relief. They hadn't imaged the sacrum, the lower portion of which had shattered.
I mention this because ribs touching the hip (sensation) can denote vertebral fracture, when you might understandably be focused on the hip. Migrating bone pieces can be restored, but compression fractures can continue to compress causing irreparable loss of height to the vertebra.
I hope yours can be just muscular.

@bswpb nothing visual. As far as I know, in cases like this, X-rays seldom show if there's something really wrong unless the parts of the bone are not perfectly fitting into one another any more.

@naturegirl5 I've got an appointment in two weeks time.

@wilweten That’s a good plan to see your doctor. I’m hopeful that this appointment will provide you information and answers. Would you come back here and let me know what you learn at your medical appointment?

When I fell while skiing ten years ago, apparently I developed a compression fracture of L1 vertebrae. By the time an x-ray revealed it, it had pretty much healed up. I am wondering if this fracture is rearing its ugly head by contributing to my peripheral neuropathy? Anyone have thoughts? Thank you.

@naturegirl5 Sure.

@heisenberg34 I asked Claude AI: Is there a causal relation between compression fractures and peripheral neuropathy?
I got a real long answer that they're not typically causally linked, but they share some risk factors. It then mentions there can be overlap or indirect relations. It mentions 4 of them of which I think this one might be extra interesting.

Spinal cord or nerve root involvement (not peripheral neuropathy per se) — If a compression fracture causes significant vertebral collapse or bone fragment retropulsion, it can compress the spinal cord or nerve roots. This causes radiculopathy or myelopathy — which produces neuropathic-like symptoms (numbness, tingling, weakness) in a dermatomal or myotomal pattern. This is technically different from peripheral neuropathy (which is usually symmetric, length-dependent, and involves distal nerves like in the feet/hands from a systemic cause), but the symptoms can feel similar to a patient and are sometimes conflated in casual conversation.

--- You may like to ask Claude AI this question yourself. I use the free version Sonnet 5 Medium. It neatly says: Claude is AI and can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.

@wilweten thank you for your response. Much appreciated.