Paul Horton: Back Injury from a Car Accident

Because I’ve been a personal injury lawyer in West Jordan Utah for awhile now, I’ve seen some changes over the years. On thing that hasn’t changed is the back injuries you can get from being in a car accident.

Your spine is one of the more common areas to be injured during a car accident. Even with technological and safety features such as airbags and seatbelts, you can still get a back injury from the impact of another car or object.

Today we will be taking a look at those most common types of back injury in auto accidents that you can suffer from.

Whiplash

A whiplash is one of the more common types of an injury in a car accident. This type of an injury occurs when the neck is snapped backward. While whiplash will go away with rehab and rest, sometimes this can cause more severe issues down the line. Whiplash will cause everything from a back injury to headaches, stiffness, even dizziness.

Spinal Fracture

While seatbelts are meant to keep us in place and safe when a car accident happens, they aren’t fool proof by any means. A seatbelt, while it will keep you safer than not wearing one, still allows the top part of your chest and head to still move around. Add in the force of another car hitting you, you hitting another car or an object and this can result in a back injury such as spinal compression fracture.

Often these will heal on their own, but sometimes they will require surgery and rehab. A spinal fracture can cause muscle weakness, bladder issues, pain, and numbness.

Disc Herniation

The discs between your vertebrae can absorb a lot of pressure and force when you’re in a car accident. It’s no surprise that these discs can shift out of place an when that happens the discs can actually compress your nerves. Most all of the disc herniation cases can be fixed with natural home remedies and conservative care such as applying hot or cold packs to the area. However, in some special cases, surgery will be needed.

Onset Symptoms From A Previous Back Injury

You can also have worsening symptoms from previous injuries which can cause things like spinal stenosis. Special stenosis isn’t usually caused by a car accident, but if you already had issues with your back or had a back injury prior to the car accident, the accident can actually bring onset symptoms. Spinal stenosis can create symptoms such as pain, balance issues, loss of bladder control, stiffness or weakness.

If you’ve been hurt in a car accident and have a back injury, whether it’s minor or severe, you will need to consider treatment options. If the car accident was the fault of someone else, you can receive compensation to help pay for things like surgery, rehab, acupuncture or even Chiropractic care.

If you’ve been in an accident, don’t just ignore a back injury, go an see a doctor immediately so that they can have a record as to what issues you are having, how the back injury was caused and what treatment options you will need.

This will, in turn, be on record so if down the line you need to hire a lawyer, you will have valid proof that you were indeed hurt in the car accident. You can also receive temporary or permanent loss of income compensation as well. This works well for people that need a few weeks or months off for rest and rehab or are permanently hurt and cannot work for X amount of years – or the rest of their life.

Free Initial Consultation with a Personal Injury Lawyer

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Legal problems come to everyone. Whether it’s your son who gets in a car wreck, your uncle who loses his job and needs to file for bankruptcy, your sister’s brother who’s getting divorced, or a grandparent that passes away without a will -all of us have legal issues and questions that arise. So when you have a law question, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you!