Back and neck pain is commonplace after car accidents. These conditions can be more than a nuisance, limiting your ability to enjoy life or maintain your employment. If your accident resulted from another driver’s negligence, you could be entitled to monetary compensation.
If your back and neck pain resulted from an accident, a personal injury lawsuit could help you obtain justice. Let our firm guide you during the claims process and help you hold the other driver accountable for their negligence.
Common Back and Neck Injuries After a Car Crash
While neck and back pain is common among car accident victims, the severity of this condition can vary. According to the Mayo Clinic, many neck injuries heal on their own in a matter of days. Other injuries can have life-altering consequences that will follow you forever.
Some of the most common back and neck injuries that result from a car accident include:
Whiplash
This injury – which is most common in rear-end collisions—occurs when the impact of the crash causes the head to whip forward and then back again. This sudden movement can strain the tissue in the neck, shoulders, and upper back.
Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis is a cause of back pain that can take some time to develop. This condition involves the narrowing of the channel in the spine that houses the spinal cord. This pressure can pinch the nerves in the spinal cord, resulting in severe pain.
Herniated Discs
Disc herniation is an injury that impacts the discs that float between the vertebrae. These discs exist to absorb the shock between vertebrae and prevent them from rubbing together. When a disc is herniated, it is knocked out of alignment. This can cause the vertebrae to rub together, causing serious pain.
Facet Joint Injuries
A facet joint injury can result in immediate pain following a car crash. Injuries to the facet joint can be painful, but they can also lead to more serious conditions like degenerative spinal disorder. If left untreated, facet joint injuries can result in long-term chronic pain.
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Delayed Symptoms of Back and Neck Pain
One aspect of back and neck pain claims that is important to understand is the reality of delayed symptoms. Often, the pain in these parts of your body will not become noticeable for days or even weeks following your car accident.
There are a few reasons why back and neck pains might have delayed symptoms following a car crash.
Endorphins
The most common reason relates to the human body’s fight or flight response. When your body feels the stress of a traumatic event, it releases endorphins into your bloodstream.
These endorphins mask your pain response, making you unaware of your injury in the aftermath of a crash. Eventually, your pain tolerance will drop as the endorphins wear off. When they do, you will feel the pain that was masked by your endorphins.
Underlying Conditions
There are other reasons why your back pain might not manifest right away. In some cases, an underlying condition might take some time to result in back or neck pain. For example, a herniated disc might not immediately lead to severe pain. As the injury results in inflammation, your pain could grow substantially.
Seek Medical Attention Immediately
Due to delayed symptoms, you may believe you have a minor injury when something much more grave could be going on. You should always seek medical attention after a car accident to minimize the chance of an injury worsening.
If you choose to pursue compensation, medical documentation of your injuries can serve as evidence of your damages. If you choose not to see a doctor, an insurer could claim you worsened your condition, and they may undervalue or deny your claim.
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Resolving a Back and Neck Pain Claim
If your back or neck pain occurred as the result of a car accident, there are two ways our firm could help you hold the responsible driver accountable. The first is by settling a claim with the other driver’s insurance carrier. The second involves taking the case to trial and securing a verdict.
The vast majority of car accident injury cases settle before ever reaching court. With an insurance settlement, the other driver agrees to compensate you to avoid a lawsuit. The negotiation process varies from case to case. A settlement could be reached on the day after your attorney takes over the case or in the moments prior to a trial starting.
The second option is a trial verdict. Even though most cases do not go to trial, there are some situations where a trial is inevitable. If you win your case at trial, the judge will enter a judgment in your favor that you can use to collect against the other driver.
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Let an Attorney Handle Your Case
If you are living with back and neck pain after a car accident, you could be facing tremendous physical, emotional, and financial consequences. With a personal injury lawsuit, you could recover compensation for all of these losses.
Let the attorneys of Kaine Law guide you during your personal injury case. Our team understands how to calculate fair compensation with a back and neck injury case. Call for a free consultation with Kaine Law today.
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