Symptoms

What symptoms do cervical spine fractures cause?

Many people with a broken neck have sustained multiple injuries. They may be unconscious or unable to cooperate and describe their symptoms. If there is any suspicion of a neck injury it is common practice to x-ray the neck to "clear" the cervical spine before moving or examining a patient. Emergency health care workers are very careful to protect the neck until the stability of the cervical spine is confirmed.

The most common symptom of a broken neck is pain. It may be localized to the neck or experienced in the shoulders or arms if the nerves are injured. The pain may be increased by moving the neck. Absence of pain does not rule out serious injury. The neck region is likely to be tender but the injured parts are so deep that feeling the broken parts is not possible and deep pressure not advisable.

Paralysis, loss of voluntary motor power, or numbness in the arms, trunk, or legs is an indication of spinal cord injury. One-sided neurological loss may be an indication of nerve root injury. The patterns and combinations of nerve and spinal cord injuries may be quite complicated. Some patients complain of a feeling of instability and even hold their head to "prevent it falling off" to alleviate this sensation. This is a very good indication of an unstable neck injury.