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Back injuries range in severity from short-term inconveniences to life-altering events. An unexpected and severe back injury can bring anyone’s life to a crashing halt without so much as a moment’s notice. Outcomes often include paralysis, the need for lifelong attendant care, and the complete loss of earning ability.
With that in mind, if you or a loved one has recently suffered a serious back injury, it’s important to have a basic outlook regarding the road ahead. Understanding your treatment options, costs, and the other long-term impacts of the injury can help you identify when it’s time to contact a legal professional for help obtaining back injury compensation.
Back injuries can affect the various bones, nerves, muscles, and other soft tissues contained within. Minor back injuries typically involve strained muscles.
Pinched nerves, though they may sound similar, are a more serious injury. These often result in pain that starts off minor but grows in severity over time, leading to reduced mobility and the need for surgical intervention.
However, the most serious type of back injury is a spinal injury, which impacts the spinal column, the complex structure that runs from the base of the skull to the pelvis. It is composed of interlocking vertebrae cushioned by soft tissues, known as discs, as well as a bundle of nerves that assists with things like basic mobility, sensation, and organ function.
The worst types of back injuries can result in permanent damage to these bones and nerves. In such cases, everything below the point of injury is left unable to move.
As such, a serious injury to the lower back might result in paraplegia, leaving one unable to walk. An injury closer to the neck can result in quadriplegia, the paralysis of all four limbs.
The spinal column has little in the way of protection during an accident. Therefore, when the back sustains trauma, serious injuries are the most common outcome.
Some of the accident types that most commonly result in serious back injuries include the following:
Doctors and personal injury lawyers typically see the highest incidence of back injuries after motor vehicle accidents and Workplace accidents. However, any injury that causes excessive force or twists the spine beyond its normal range of motion can result in serious injury.
Not all back injuries look the same, especially in the period immediately following the accident. In some cases, a severe back injury can result in immediate paralysis or severe pain, obvious signs that the injured individual needs urgent medical care. But in other cases, a back injury may begin with delayed or minor symptoms that worsen with time.
Some of the most common signs that someone has suffered a back or spinal cord injury are as follows:
In some cases, a back injury can also result in organ damage. In these cases, the injured person might experience additional symptoms specific to the damaged organ. For example, when a back injury results in kidney damage, symptoms might also include painful or strained urination or blood in the urine.
Any time an accident causes trauma to the back, it’s important to be diagnosed and treated by a medical professional as soon as possible. Attempting to self-diagnose a back injury or ignoring its symptoms can cause it to worsen. Furthermore, not seeking prompt medical attention can also negatively impact the ability to recover back injury compensation.
Treatment for a back injury depends on how the back was injured. For less severe injuries, like pulled muscles, a doctor will likely recommend rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain medications.
However, treating a back injury becomes more complicated with catastrophic injuries. If the back injury has also caused organ damage, initial emergency treatment will involve stabilizing the affected organs.
Afterward, doctors will identify the best treatment approach based on how the back is injured. Serious damage to the nerves or bones may require emergency surgery. Bone damage will also often lead to the need for plates or rods to be inserted at the injury site to provide additional stability.
It’s often difficult to predict the long-term physical outcomes of a serious spinal injury. In some cases, a combination of surgery, rest, and physical therapy can result in the injured individual regaining mobility.
In others, the damage may be too severe for medical interventions to heal, resulting in lifelong paralysis at the point of injury and for all body parts that fall below it.
What isn’t hard to predict, however, is the financial impact of a serious back injury. Treatment costs alone can reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. And even when a return to work is possible, the injured person may be left struggling to afford basic necessities as they go without their accustomed income during months of recovery.
In the event that a back injury doesn’t (or cannot) lead to a full recovery, its financial impact is even more pronounced. One common outcome is a partial disability, in which the injured person may need to find an alternative, less physical form of employment. Often, this is accompanied by a significant pay cut.
The most expensive type of back injury is one that results in paralysis. In cases like these, the injured person or their family will be left to pay for long-term attendant care or assisted living and costly medical devices.
Thankfully, a back injury claim can help provide compensation for all these costs and more. A back injury lawyer will help identify and fight for injury costs that include the following:
Compensation for a severe back injury often reaches six or seven figures. With that in mind, obtaining fair compensation typically requires the representation of an experienced spinal injury attorney.
Don’t wait to get help after a back injury. The experienced back injury lawyers at Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers are available to review your case and advise you of your options. Call us today at 206 727 4000 to schedule a free consultation with a Seattle personal injury lawyer.
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