Serious car accidents can cause severe back injuries and cause chronic pain, decreased mobility, and even paralysis. Car accident claims are often chosen as a way to compensate for pain and suffering alongside financial expenses should you suffer an accident that isn’t your fault.
You may find yourself unable to work while you recover or in need of expensive treatment. Back injuries often require surgery that can incur weeks or even months of recovery, and some back injuries are more common than others:
Whiplash
One of the most common road traffic accidents, whiplash causes tissue, ligament, and muscle damage in the neck. It’s a common injury after a rear-end collision between vehicles. Your head and neck tend to be propelled forward while your body stays still, which causes a sudden stop of the head and neck.
Whiplash can deeply affect your life, and it’s important to pay attention to any symptoms developing after a car accident. Injuries can range from mild to severe with a wide variety of symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, pain, and fatigue. Whiplash claims can help you with your financial expenses.
Herniated Discs
Also known as slipped, bulging, or ruptured disc, herniated discs occur when your spine is subjected to a lot of force in a road traffic accident. This force can cause the discs between vertebrae to shift or the disc to break and cause internal cartilage to leak.
Herniated discs compress nerves and cause both pain and numbness. Non-invasive treatment methods such as physical therapy tend to be utilised to treat these injuries. More serious herniations that impact other parts of the body may require surgery.
Spinal Fractures
When the seatbelt fails during road traffic accidents and doesn’t adequately hold your body in place, it can cause spinal fractures. This results from the lower half of the body remaining still while the torso and the head are jostled.
Compression fractures are small fissures along the vertebrae that may cause pain, numbness, muscle weakness, and bladder issues. Some spinal fractures can be healed with time by resting and remaining immobilised, but others will require surgery.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Even car accidents at low speeds can cause spinal cord injuries. The force of a car collision can impact the spine in such a way that causes damage to the actual spinal cord, which can be lacerated, injured, or completely severed.
Bruising to the spinal cord can cause significant pain that tends to be short-term in regard to other spinal cord injuries. Any damage is permanent, as the spinal cord can’t regenerate. A lacerated or severed spinal cord usually results in permanent paralysis.
Spondylolisthesis
This condition occurs when there are stress fractures that force vertebrae to move out of their place. It can cause nerve or spinal canal compression, pain, difficulty walking, numbness, and weakness. Depending on where the displaced vertebrae are located, and the extent of the dislocation, surgery and physical therapy may be required.
Back injuries can affect you and your family both financially and psychologically, and our team approaches every case with the compassion it deserves. Make sure to contact us today to enquire about how to make a claim through our No Win, No Fee policy.