Do people always surely DIE if they break their neck? How come...?!? Any doctor or physician to explain..?

Question

I once heard a news that a woman survived after she accidentally broke her neck by falling from her own roof... I didn't get it, how come?!?

Well, any doctor or physician to explain what's actually happening inside our very own body when we break our very own neck? Why do in most cases, people instantenously just die?!? And why do in (very) few cases, some people can survive and don't die?!?

Thanks for all of your feedback. I'm a fighter, so I must know stuffs like this. Never know when it will come in handy! ;)

Well, please explain to me as plain and as simple as possible...
I'm just an ordinary girl without medical background :( ... please...?

Answer 1

Hi Noa. I'll try to dance my way into your heart with the 'doctor's answer'.

Two 'conditions' must occur in a cervical (neck) fracture for it to cause death. First, the fracture must cause significant damage to the spinal cord. Many fractures do not cause this type of damage (e.g. mild anterior compression fractures, fractures of a transverse process or the spinous process, etc.) Secondly, if there is a fracture that damages the spinal cord, the injury must be high enough in the neck to affect the Phrenic Nerve. Doctors learn in neurology class that "C3, C4, C5 (the three spinal levels of the Phrenic Nerve) keeps the diaphragm alive!". So, if the cord is seriously damaged at or above C5 (the fifth of seven neck bones) the Phrenic nerve function will be 'lost'. Loss of this nerve's function causes paralysis of the diaphragm which is the primary muscle for breathing. The tragic consequence is rapid suffocation.

So, if a broken neck is severe enough and occurs at or above the 5th cervical vertebra, it can cause paralysis and suffocation.

Hope this helps you better understand this issue.

Answer 2

Not a doctor, but I can give you an answer to that.

When you are talking "breaking your neck" you are talking about breaking the spinal column, the bones running down your back that contain your spinal chord.

The spinal chord is a bunch of nerve cells that controls all the organs in your body. If they are broken at the neck, it means nothing works anymore, not your lungs, not arms, not your legs, and most importantly, not your heart.

That is why breaking your neck is commonly fatal. If the spinal chord gets broken further down, then any nerves that have already branched off are not affected. So if you break your back, it may only be your legs that don't work.

-Dio

Answer 3

Because the spinal cord and other vessels are located in a channel inside the spine, surrounded and protected by the vertebrae. If you "break your neck" and it results in the type of fracture in which one or more vertebrae (bone of spine and neck) sever the vessels leading to the brain, it can be fatal.

Answer 4

Hi,

I am not a doctor, but I know the answer to the question. Our necks and spines are made up of bones (duh), but bones can break in different ways. A broken neck is fatal if the spinal cord is ruptured beyond repair as a result. This is why Christopher Reeve survived. His spinal cord was damaged but was repairable.

Answer 5

no doctor here... but I'll try... most autonomic functions are carried/located on the base of the brain (maybe just below the skull), give a good whack at that part and the person can go unconscious.

break your neck you can get spinal cord injury, its not the brain itself, but you can get paralyzed.

Answer 6

Yes you can survive a minor neck fracture, you need a severe or just in the right place fracture to be fatal.

Answer 7

i have a friend who broke his neck and hes actually fine, he didnt sever the spinal cord, i think you have to sever the spinal cord higher up to die, if you dont have anything conecting your brain function to the rest of your body then your voluntary adn involuntary organs wont work on their own

Answer 8

Not everyone dies of a broken neck, depends if they can fix it/ If the spine is completly broke and the nerves to your brain arnt messed up then they can live.

Answer 9

Yes,because the all important nerves ll be cut of immidiately,most imporatnt is phrenic nerve which supply diaphragm,without which inspiration of air in the lung is not possible.

Answer 10

Because the spinal cord didn't break. But the surrounding bone itself did, or it just fractured.