Making Your Case For Damages After A Back Injury
After a car accident, you have the legal right to seek compensation for your injuries and losses by filing a car accident lawsuit in court. Most people, however, try to file a personal injury insurance claim first. As soon as possible, contact your insurance company to report that you’ve been injured in an accident. If the other driver was clearly at fault, you might also want to report the accident to the other driver’s insurance company. Be careful when you speak to the other driver’s insurance companythey represent the other party’s interests, not yours.
Contact A Car Accident Attorney Today For Delayed Pain Claims
If you were involved in a car accident and youve felt delayed pain after some weeks or months, be sure to receive proper treatment. Then, work swiftly to file a personal injury claim. If you work with an experienced personal injury lawyer, they can manage your claim for compensation on your behalf.
At LA Century Law, we can assist you in filing a personal injury claim and fighting for your rights from insurance companies. Our team of experienced lawyers understands what it takes to win a personal injury claim, and theyre ready to assist you in getting what you deserve.
Compensation For A Lower Back Injury Following A Car Accident
A severe lower back injury will likely require imaging tests, such as X-rays and MRIs. A doctor may need to order expensive blood tests, injections, or surgery. You may require physical therapy, chiropractic care, and time away from work. All of this is time-consuming and expensive.
You have a right to compensation if you are suffering from lower back pain after a car wreck that wasnât your fault. Gary Martin Hays & Associates can help you receive a just settlement for your lower back injury and pain. We can quickly get you the lower back injury treatment you need to recover from this traumatic experience.
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Common Types Of Back Injuries
Your spine is an essential part of the movement and many functions of your body.
Back and spinal injuries can affect your overall quality of life, and car accidents can lead to various back injuries.
Back fractures, disc injuries, and severe sprains can occur from car accidents. These injuries can be excruciating, causing stretching or tearing of muscles, ligaments, or back tendons.
They may leave you with a limited range of motion, swelling, bruising, extreme tenderness, and a lack of ability to perform even the simplest of daily tasks.
A herniated disc occurs when your spinal discs between the vertebrae of the spine are displaced.
A disc herniation will put pressure on the surrounding nerves that can cause back pain or numbness of your extremities.
All spinal cord injuries are concerning and need examining as soon as possible so you can start your road to recovery.
Disc Herniation After A Car Wreck
A common injury to the cushion-like discs that separate your vertebrae is known as disc herniation. This occurs when the soft inner filling of the disc protrudes through the tougher outer encasing. This rupture by itself is often not painful. However, the protruding material often comes in contact with surrounding nerves, which can cause intense back pain.
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Lumbar Or Thoracic Vertebrae Fractures
A thoracic or lumbar spine fracture produces moderate to severe back discomfort that becomes worse with movement. If a high-energy trauma produces the fracture, the patient may suffer brain damage and lose consciousness or blackout. Other injuries, known as distracting injuries, may also create discomfort that overwhelms the back pain. In these situations, its safe to infer that the patient has a spine fracture, especially after a high-energy incident like a car accident.
Common Causes Of Back Pain After Car Accidents
The term “back pain” describes a host of injuries that cause pain in your neck or back.
Some of these injuries are minor and may heal on their own, but other back injuries require extensive medical treatment or even surgery.
Here are a few common injuries that cause back pain:
Your neck is highly vulnerable to injury during a collision.
Whiplash is the most common neck injury that occurs in car wrecks.
Whiplash occurs when your neck is suddenly forced forward and backward, similar to the cracking of a whip.
This force stretches and tears the muscles and tendons in your neck, resulting in debilitating pain and a loss of range of motion in the neck.
Over half of people diagnosed with whiplash have chronic symptoms, and about 10% of people who suffer from whiplash are permanently disabled.
Whiplash and other neck and joint injuries are common in “minor accidents” like low-speed rear-end collisions.
Mild whiplash might go away with time, rest, over-the-counter pain relief medicine, and hot and cold therapy.
But moderate to severe cases of whiplash can lead to chronic pain and disability and extensive medical bills.
Victims of whiplash injuries should seek immediate medical care.
Common types of treatment that help with whiplash are chiropractic care, physical therapy, pain medication, and foam collars.
Your recovery time will depend on the severity of the injury and how soon you seek treatment.
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Have Your Doctor Examine You Immediately
A crash-related injury can only be accurately diagnosed within a short period of time. After a car accident, acute back pain can be caused by mechanical or soft tissue injuries, as well as nerve damage or paralysis from ejected spinal disc fragments.
So, the earlier an injured individual receives medical attention, the sooner they are able to begin receiving the necessary and appropriate counseling for their recovery.
What Can You Expect Both Physically And Mentally After An Accident
In the aftermath of an automobile accident, psychological problems are not uncommon. People suffering from shock tend to have dilated pupils, nausea, and headaches. In the event that this condition is discovered at the scene of an accident, you will likely be hospitalized for treatment.
It is common to feel overwhelmed after an accident due to the events that occurred at the scene, as well as the psychological, physical, and legal ramifications. A lot of people experience anxiety, and they might also develop depression. People who are involved in car accidents may experience post-traumatic stress disorder .
Taking these conditions lightly can lead to serious consequences. Consider seeking help if you experience anxiety, depression, or PTSD. There may be some immediate symptoms following a car crash, and others may take longer. It is nonetheless vital to address these delayed symptoms.
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Get Medical Help For Your Back Pain After An Accident
Back pain makes it hard to engage in daily tasks. Standing, walking, bending, sitting, and lying down are all painful.
Dont make the mistake of waiting for the pain out, hoping it will go away. Instead, seek treatment at a multi-specialty medical clinic that specializes in car accident injuries. Your medical bills will be covered either by no-fault, PIP, or a workers compensation insurancedepending on the circumstance of the accident.
Your doctor will help you manage the pain while treating you for your injuries. Then, you can begin to get your life back to normal.
Low Back Discogenic Pain After A Car Accident
Normal healthy lumbar discs are not painful. Degenerative disc disease can cause a disc in the lower back to bulge or herniate without any pain. This process can cause an increase in nerve fibers within the disc. Doctors that treat car accident patients believe trauma from a car accident can cause these nerve fibers within a bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine to become irritated, inflamed, and painful. This pain is called discogenic pain because it is pain coming from the disc itself.Doctors that are advocates for their patients will testify that a bulging disc caused by the wear and tear of life over time can be pain-free before a car accident and become painful from discogenic pain as a result of the trauma from a car accident. On the other hand, doctors hired by insurance companies routinely testify that trauma from a car accident cannot cause a bulging disc to become painful. In fact, these defense medical doctors are paid lots of money to make this claim. A good car accident lawyer can help overcome the testimony of the defenses medical doctors and demonstrate how the car accident caused your lower back injury.
If pain returns after an epidural injection, some doctors will consider operating. Common surgeries for lower back disc pain include:
- Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy
- Percutaneous Discectomy
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Delayed Back Pain After A Car Accident
Because back pain is not always acute, and because post-accident endorphins can mask pain, back injuries are a great example of car accident injuries that don’t show up right away. It’s crucial to watch out for any discomfort or unusual sensations after an accident, and get a thorough medical exam. If you wait too long to get treatment, you might not be able to prove that the car accident caused your back injury and an insurance adjuster might argue that your injury isn’t serious.
What Happens To Muscles That Have Been Strained From Whiplash
Whiplash typically occurs when a muscle, tendon or ligament is stretched past its normal capacity, or hyperextended.
Have you ever heard of a knee hyperextending? Its the same principle in your neck.
Your muscles, tendons and ligaments are only meant to stretch so far. For example, your arms and legs typically only stretch to a 180-degree angle.
This natural limit allows you to have incredible flexibility and movement in your extremities, while still allowing you to maintain balance and keep vital interior structures from being compressed and injured.
When, through the use of excessive force, these soft tissues are stretched beyond their capabilities the result is almost always strain of some sort.
Think about it like a rubber band. The band has a limit to how far it will naturally stretch and when it is extended beyond that point you start doing damage to the structure itself. The extent of the damage depends almost entirely on how far it is extended.
Your neck is the same way and the excessive and sudden motion of a car accident can cause the soft tissues holding it to tear on a micro level which typically produces pain, stiffness and inflammation at the site of the injury.
Other common symptoms of whiplash can include:
- Headaches, especially at the base of the skull
- Constant weariness
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Treatment Options For Back Pain After A Car Accident
Back pain after a car accident is one of the most common injuries that can occur. During a car accident, the back, especially the lower back, is put under tremendous strain with these dynamic forces. The trunk and back are at high risk for injury during deceleration. The seat belt, airbags, and other safety measures help save lives but can cause other injuries to the spine.
Back Pain After A Car Accident Chiropractic Care Can Help
Video games and Hollywood movies glorify car chases, car crashes, car jumping and other death-defying stunts. After these death-defying crashes, actors walk away without a scratch. These movies and video games create an illusion that people never get hurt in accidents. In reality, over 2.3 million people in the United States are injured in car crashes per year. Thats more people than the population of the state of New Mexico. Vehicle injuries are on the rise worldwide, and cost over $43 billion annually. It is not normal to be sore after a crash, but it is common to be sore. Just like it is not normal to have high blood pressure, but its common in the United States to have high blood pressure. Normally your back should not hurt, so if you do experience lower back pain after a car crash, then thats a red flag.
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The Lower Back Or Lumbar Spine
The lower back is an almost elastic part of the spine that consists of five lumbar vertebrae held together by tendons. These are cushioned by jelly-like intervertebral discs.
These vertebrae have different ranges of motion depending on the persons anatomy, but there is a considerable amount of movement possible.
Common Symptoms Of A Back Injury
Back injuries are common after car crashes. Sometimes, the symptoms don’t appear until the next day. If you have any of the following symptoms after a car accident, you should see a doctor right away, even if they are mild.
Don’t take any chances! Back injuries can cause permanent disabilities. You should become aware of the common symptoms of back injuries to know when you need to seek medical attention.
Symptoms That are Warning Signs of a Back Injury:
- Pain, which can be mild, moderate, or severe.
- Pain that radiates down the buttocks and legs.
- Numbness or tingling in the arms, hands, legs, or feet.
- Difficulty standing or walking.
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Back Pain After A Car Accident: What To Do
After a car accident, its important to get checked out by a doctor. Even if you dont head to the emergency room after an accident, you should make an appointment with an orthopedic specialist as soon as possible. Doing so helps you rule out potential problems and get the all-clear before attempting activities that could make it worse.
For example, carrying laundry up the stairs or holding a young child could all worsen the pain after a car accident. Exacerbating the problem can lead to a longer recovery time or result in further damage.
Your doctor may request an x-ray or MRI to see if theres disc damage or degeneration, followed by a discography to pinpoint specific problematic discs. They can look closer at your injuries, assess your mobility limitations, and suggest potential therapies.
What Spinal Conditions Can Whiplash Cause
Most of the time, the pain caused as a result of whiplash is as a result of soft tissue injury. However, if the accident is serious enough it can cause more serious spinal conditions like a herniated disc, advanced degenerative disc disease, fractures, stenosis and others.
Disc Herniation
A herniated disc occurs when the inner, gelatinous material of the spinal disc pushes out through the rigid outer layer. This can cause pain if the fluid starts to press up against the sensitive nerve roots that exit the spine.
Herniated discs typically occur in older patients who have experienced a lifetime of natural disc degeneration. However, they can also be caused when severe amounts of pressure have been exerted on the spinal discs often through a traumatic accident.
Symptoms of a herniated disc typically include:
- Severe pain in the neck
- Arm or leg pain
- Tingling, numbness or weakness in the extremities
Advanced Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative disc disease is a natural condition that affects just about every person with a spine. Its simply the process of your spinal discs wearing out over a lifetime of constant wear and tear.
Typically, degenerative disc disease never causes any pain and people will go their whole lives without ever knowing they have it.
However, in the case of a serious car accident, its possible that the spinal discs experienced a serious amount of damage and degeneration occurred at an increased rate.
Spinal Stenosis
Facet Joint Disease
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Fight For Compensation A Settlement You Deserve To Recoup Medical Expenses
From extreme back & neck pain to delayed back and neck pain affecting you for months to years after an accident you have a case to sue for damages. This is why you pay insurance premiums. No accident is small or minor enough to exempt insurance companies from being accountable.
The cost of injuries due to whiplash after a motor vehicle accident goes beyond the dollars and cents siphoned from your bank account into the pockets of those responsible. How many times have you said no and sat on the sidelines as friends and family enjoyed summer activities, or had to depend on others for help because your back or neck is acting up? Or missed rent, got behind on debts or canceled plans because medical bills are bankrupting you?
This is NOT normal. It hurts. Fighting for your compensation is not an inconvenience, its your right. Your duty is to stand up for yourself and get a fair whiplash settlement needed to compensate your pain and suffering.
Steve and staff, I cannot thank you enough for all the work you did on my difficult case. I had everything stacked against me, yet you were able to overcome all of it. I appreciate everything you have done for me and for getting my case settled! I will always recommend you to everyone I can. I feel blessed to have had you on my side every step of the way. Thank you!! Stephanie Hanson
The Spinal Mechanics Of A Car Accident
When a person is involved in a car accident, generally that means that the car they are in stops suddenly. It does not matter why the car stops. Dramatic breaking to avoid an animal or being T-boned: the physics are the same. Once the car stops, the cars occupants keep moving until they reach something that stops them. Increasingly, seatbelts are what stops a persons body from moving. Thats a good thing, but it can also lead to other types of injury.
Injury occurs at the place where the persons body stops moving. The outside of the body stops, but the organs and the spine keep moving inside the body until they, too, reach a stopping point.
All of this happens in a split second. It is this violent action that often results in injury.
The lower back and cervical spine are vulnerable to injury due to the whip-like nature of this violent snapping. While the thoracic spine and sacral area are more stable, the lower back and neck are motile and will continue to move.
In some cases, this can be beneficial in a car accident. Consider this: a plate on a shelf will shatter when it falls to the floor because it is stiff and inflexible. This is why broken ribs often occur in car accidents. The movement of the lumbar spine and cervical spine may actually be protective of worse injuries.
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