San Diego Back Injury Lawyer

In most cases, following an accident, you will know if something has happened to your back because of the back pain. That said, there are times that people have walked away from incidents and only years later felt the repercussions of the injury.

There are three classifications of back pain:

1. Acute – Rapid onset, lasts days to weeks.
2. Subacute – Can have a rapid or slow onset, and lasts 4-12 weeks.
3. Chronic – Gradual or rapid onset pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks.

The pain you might feel in the aftermath of trauma to your back may be any of the above three, or a combination, depending on the location. Pain from a back injury may feel like:

• Stabbing pain in a particular spot when you lift something or move.
• Aching pain in your lower back makes it hard to stand up straight.
• Pain runs up and down your spinal cord, from the upper back to the lower back, and returns.
• Pain is situated in the muscles around your neck and shoulders.
• Chronic aches in your back make it difficult to sleep, stand, sit, or move around.
• Shooting pain from your lower back through your hip and into your legs.
• Numbness or tingling felt in legs, arms, and fingers, rather than the back.

Following any motor vehicle accident, no matter the size, it is crucial that you see a medical professional and get checked out. If you slip and fall in public, see a doctor. If you have strained or sprained or pulled anything in your back while on the job, seek medical care immediately. It’s essential to have your injuries documented so you can prove when they began.

Beyond providing medical records for an injury claim, doctors can request the necessary tests to determine the extent of your injuries. You may need an x-ray, and some issues, like herniated discs, can only be accurately diagnosed after being seen on an MRI. Your accident attorney can get you access to the top medical professionals to handle your injuries. Let our law offices know in our initial consultation, and we will refer you.

Soft tissue damage, muscle, tendon, and ligament sprains and strains can be caused by improper use, falls, or collisions. You may not detect these injuries immediately, so it can be difficult to prove liability. They are costly, though, as they are very painful, may require physical therapy, and can reoccur later in life.

Ruptured, slipped, or herniated discs can cause extreme back pain and only worsen with time, with no complete “fix.” Discs are what keep the vertebrae from rubbing together, which is the cause of the pain. Once a disc deteriorates, no amount of surgery can fully repair the damage.

Lumbar injuries or lower back pain can arise from significant accidents or accumulated incidents over time. Poor posture and lack of ergonomic seating in offices can result in this pain, as well as the unsafe lifting of heavy objects or high or low-speed auto accidents.

Compression fractures are back injuries that frequently go unnoticed, appearing more often as a person ages. People assume a senior’s shrinking height and poor posture result from getting older and not tiny cracks in their spine. Slip and falls can cause more fractures or worsen existing ones, making standing, moving, and even breathing painful.

Spinal cord injuries are severe. Spinal cord injury victims can experience anything from partial loss of feeling in certain body parts to catastrophic injuries like paraplegia or quadriplegia. It all depends on the type of accident and what part of the spinal column was affected. The higher on the spinal cord the injury occurs, the more of the body could be immobilized. Paraplegia often results from vehicle accidents, falls, or attacks, where the lower back takes the brunt of an impact. Swimming pool accidents and some falls that are more likely to impact the neck and upper spinal column may cause quadriplegia.

Injuries to the upper back, lower back, or spinal cord can incur immense medical costs and cause temporary or permanent disability. If you or a loved one have been injured, you need legal representation from an experienced spinal cord injury attorney. Keeping your injuries in mind, at Mova Law Group, our personal injury lawyers will come to you for a free case evaluation to discuss your claim.