# What does it mean if you "break your back"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729 "2018-06-25T19:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Textual\_Assault](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Textual\_Assault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Assault)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/1 "2018-06-25T19:27:04Z")
Medically speaking, what exactly is broken/injured if you break your back and is that different than fracturing your spine as the hot Senate candidate apparently did recently? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/2 "2018-06-25T19:32:12Z")
“Break your back” has no medical meaning. It’s an idiom for working hard. [Spinal fractures](https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-SpineFract.HTM) can range from minor injuries to permanent disablement if the spinal cord is affected. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/3 "2018-06-25T22:16:12Z")
I think colloquially it tends to mean a _serious_ spinal fracture. In anecdotal support, this happened to be in the cycling news today: > **[Vakoc back on the bike five months after broken back | Cyclingnews.com](https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vakoc-back-on-the-bike-five-months-after-broken-back/)** > > Quick-Step Floors rider able to ride outside at last ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/4 "2018-06-26T00:05:42Z")
ETA: already answered. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/5 "2018-06-26T00:25:03Z")
And if it’s your mom’s back, it means you stepped on a crack in the concrete. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/6 "2018-06-26T08:09:21Z")
People also colloquially refer to spinal cord injuries that don’t involve fractures as “a broken back” ---
**Author:** ![LordHarry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@LordHarry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordHarry)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/7 "2018-06-27T01:53:41Z")
It doesn’t mean anything. It’s a pop culture term, not a diagnosis. Can you tell us where you are seeing this used in medical reports/parlance/etc? ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Assault](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Textual\_Assault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Assault)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/8 "2018-06-27T17:47:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > “Break your back” has no medical meaning. It’s an idiom for working hard. > > [Spinal fractures](https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-SpineFract.HTM) can range from minor injuries to permanent disablement if the spinal cord is affected. Um, no, it isn’t. The correct phrase is ‘back breaking work.’ But I have heard and read the phrase ‘broken back’ numerous times by reporters and medical personnel when referring to the injuries someone sustained and no further details were forthcoming. I would guess that it means the spine has been fractured in some manner, but if that’s the case then why haven’t I heard or seen that phrase “spinal fracture” used? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/9 "2018-06-27T21:20:31Z")
When my father was in a car accident he fractured several vertebrae. Bad enough to wear a back brace for a good amount of time, not severe enough to need surgery nor disable him. “Broke his back” seemed about right to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skinnybones_lampshade/32/2872_2.png) [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinnybones_Lampshade)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-mean-if-you-break-your-back/816729/10 "2018-06-28T02:31:52Z")
I’ve wondered the same thing. My mother’s brother (so, my uncle) was a farmer who was a sometime truck driver. One late night on the road, he hit a deer or a moose and he and his truck crashed upside down into a ditch. I remember my mother getting the phone call and seeing her go pale. “Uncle Rod broke his back,” she told me in a shaky voice. Though he did mange to recover to a large degree, he never could manage the hard work on his farm as well again and farming became a burden, where it had formerly been his joy. This was attributed to his “bad back from the accident”. When I got older, I began to wonder what exactly “broke his back” really meant. Unfortunately, none of the adults who were involved are here anymore to ask.