I have had a lumber L 4 fracture which seems to bevtaking so very long to heal. My mobility is now badly affected and I have to use a frame. I haven’t been able to get out the house for ages. Even after this much time I am still in a lot of pain . Itake pregabalin for the nerve pain and sometimes oromorph. The improvement is so slow I feel I am stuck like this for ever! I am told it will heal but it takes a long time. I am 78 and it will be hard to get my mobility back. The pain goes down my legs and makes it hard to walk or stand for long. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Sometimes it feel better but others I feel very depressed.. Anyone else on this long hard journey?
Hi fleur,
Thank you for posting and sharing with the community 
Living with daily pain, as you mention, can be very difficult and exhausting, especially when it affects mobility. We wanted to drop in and share some information, in case it may feel helpful at this time:
Osteoporosis pain management: What can you do?
Osteoporosis: How do I recover from a spinal fracture?
We also wanted to warmly invite you to contact our helpline of specialist osteoporosis nurses who will be able to chat through your situation further, if that could feel supportive at this time.
We’ve popped your post into our ‘living with osteoporosis & broken bones’ category as we hope this helps other members in our wonderful growing community find your post and that they may be able to share their experiences here too 
Wishing you the very best,
Lulu
ROS Moderator
Hi. So sorry to hear what you are going through. On my first vertebrae fracture I also had pain, numbness in my left leg. MRI scan showed the disc was pressing on a root nerve. I had acupuncture which I must say at the time I didn’t believe in but thought I would try anything. Anyway after 2 courses at GP surgery of this I have not had any problems since and was able to resume work after 4 months (on slow return). 6 years later I fractured again but this time along with the vertebrae I also fractured the pubic remus. The pelvic one was not picked up on x ray or MRI but after 1 year of constant pain and prescribed medications which caused damage to my gut to the extent that I was finding it difficult to eat anything I was sent for an abdominal scan. The pelvic fracture was picked up on this scan, just by chance and cause of not being able to eat was put down to damage cause by long term use of Naproxen. All that time I had thought I was going mad being told there was nothing wrong with me so although I didn’t want to know I had fractured again it suddenly made sense. After this It was a long road to recovery. I was told approx 6 weeks for fractures to heal. Whilst this may be the case it wasn’t for me and now I know that with fractures of vertebrae come displaced discs and pain caused through this. In addition, the body also has to adjust to accommodate the new shape of spine and this takes time and can cause pain along the way and all sorts of other problems like loss of height, internal organs having to squish down into new body shape etc., etc., My road to recovery started off very slowly with making sure I didn’t sit or lie for long periods of time. I live alone so had to do things for myself, frustratingly very slowly and carefully. Then I started to walk outside. At first I took someone with me because I had lost confidence. It all felt like a bit of a waste of time because it usually took me longer to put my coat and shoes on than the length of time I was out very slowly walking. I gradually built this up. I still can’t walk far without sitting but I starting everything I did for myself in a day (no matter how small) as an achievement. I then started attending a chronic pain clinic. Similar to NHS retrain your brain. I had already decided that I was no longer going to take of the toxic and sometimes addictive pain relief or anti-imflamatory meds that was being pushed on me due to damage this had already done to my gut and research showing the need to increase meds because they are only effective for short period. I started to follow distraction methods i.e. not lying in bed when I was in pain and either listening to audio book or just getting up even if it is the middle of the night and doing something else. I started doing diamond art and crochet. Only small projects like cards which I could dip into during middle of night and would become engrossed in these which took my mind off the pain. My audio book still follows me around the house. If I am in the shower to distract from what I am doing. If I am preparing a meal etc., I then started attending an online gentle exercise class and have been amazed by the progress I have made in the year since I have been attending this in strengtening my core, muscles either side of spine, balance and stamina. I also do guided meditation (Yoga Nidra) to help with pain and keep calm, positive. Along the journey I have researched and researched and kept persevering with every day looking back on what I have achieved, no matter how small. It’s not easy and although it might not feel like it for you now there is light at the end of the tunnel in the new you. Wishing you all the very best and hope to find some relief and soon x