I fractured my L1 in my back a year ago after bailing off the horse I was riding after it spooked. At first, I didn't realized it was fractured until several weeks later when the soreness didn't go away like I knew it should.

Inflamation.......takes cold packs.....not hot. Hot actually makes the swelling worse & causes more pain where the cold reduces swelling & thus reduces the pain.

I learned that after I had my knee reconstructed also. They used moist heat packs right before I was doing the PT & exercises, then cold after to reduce the swelling.

I used the hot showers on my back, then had an ice pack to put on immediately after.

If you picked up anything heavy, that can cause compression fractures just as can by falling. I landed basically sitting down on the ground & the compression caused the vertebra to compress & fracture. With the fracture I couldn't pick up anything more than 5 pounds. For the first month, I didn't know that & actually caused the compression & fracture to get worse rather than better.

However, it you haven't done anything, more than likely, it's a pinched nerve. Sometimes that just takes the inflamation to go away, but sometimes it can take needing to be in the hospital & they devices that can stretch out the spine enough to relieve the pain until it heals enough.

I know that cold feel like it hurts, but it's the only thing that can take down inflammation. I was surprised how much better my back actually felt after sitting with the cold pack for 20 minutes.

I know how bad backs can feel. I broke mine the end of March last year & it didn't start to feel good until 2 months ago. I started riding a about 4 months after I fractured it.....but really couldn't do much of anything....like clean the house, run the vacuum, mow the yard.

Back pain is tough to deal with.....