Every year in the United States, 3 million people are injured in car accidents. Around 2 million of those injuries are permanent, which is why many individuals seek a personal injury attorney after an accident.
More than 60% of continual back pain can be attributed to a previous injury in a car accident.
If you’re suffering or in pain from an auto accident, it’s important to immediately call an attorney and seek medical attention.
Keep reading to learn more about back pain after a car wreck and when and why you should call a personal injury attorney.
Delayed Pain After an Accident
Whether it’s a fender bender or a significant car wreck, accidents are stressful. Plus, they happen fast. It’s not uncommon for victims of a crash to feel no pain, even though they may have been hurt.
Adrenaline is a natural hormone that our bodies produce during traumatic experiences. Adrenaline protects us by masking pain and heightening awareness. Adrenaline can serve to be extremely useful when people need to act quickly to get out of danger or to fight off an attacker.
Car accidents are stressful and traumatic, which is why those hormones flood our bodies to protect us. What it does, though, is sometimes take away any potential pain sensation.
It can take hours or even days for a car accident victim to begin to feel pain as a result of a crash.
Endorphins work to suppress that pain too. When an individual experiences stress or pain, endorphins soothe us and calm us down. It’s not uncommon for people to begin experiencing pain 24 to 48 hours after a car accident.
If you’ve been in a car accident, the best thing you can do is to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Don’t worry about the bills at the moment as your lawyer will help you get the compensation you deserve to cover all your medical bills and additional costs of pain and suffering.
Common Car Accident Back Injuries
Back pain is often used to describe a wide variety of back injuries that can cause pain in the back and/or neck. Some conditions are minor and heal on their own or with minimal medical attention.
Other injuries, however, can be permanent or require extensive therapy or surgery for any chance of recovery. Let’s take a look at a few of the most common back injuries associated with auto accidents.
Muscle Sprains
The soft tissue in the body includes tendons, ligaments, and muscles that support your lower back. They’re weaved across one’s entire back, from the tailbone to the shoulders.
If put under significant stress, the tissues can quickly become injured. The result is pain and spasms that can be detrimental to one’s everyday life.
Something as simple as a pulled-back muscle can require 6 weeks of treatment. Some back strains take months or years to fully heal. The healing process can cause car accident victims to miss work, which results in a loss of wages.
No matter how minor you may think your strain is initially, don’t hesitate to see a doctor and check with your personal injury lawyer about potential compensation for your pain and medical bills.
Whiplash
The neck is very susceptible to a car accident injury. Because it sits at the uppermost section of the spine, it’s vulnerable to injury upon impact. It’s the most common neck injury, and the symptoms are often chronic.
You don’t have to experience a severe car crash to suffer from whiplash. Whiplash is extremely common in rear-end collisions when the neck jolts backward and then forward violently. What happens during this whip-like motion is that the muscles get stretched and torn.
Treatments can include anything from physical therapy and medication to surgery.
Degenerative Disc Disease
When one or more discs sitting between the vertebrae become damaged, pinched, or torn, it can result in excruciating back pain. Typically, degenerative disc disease is an age-related condition. However, some traumatic events, such as a car accident, can trigger it prematurely.
Degenerative disc disease can lead to several health conditions, such as:
- Bone spurs
- Degenerative scoliosis
- Herniated discs
- Spinal stenosis
- Pinched nerves
- Sciatica
- Osteoarthritis
The pain from a spinal disc injury is usually sharp, shooting, and often debilitating. The pain can also spread to other parts of the body, such as the legs and feet.
If you think you may have suffered a back injury during a car accident in Houston, don’t hesitate to call a lawyer to determine what to do next.
Benefits of a Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney
Whether it’s a back strain or a spinal cord injury, medical costs and missed work can add up quickly, resulting in pain and suffering that many people can’t come back from on their own.
If you’ve been injured in a car crash, you could be entitled to compensation for many results of your accident, including:
- Medical bills
- Missed work and lost wages
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Temporary disability
Don’t avoid going to the doctor because you’re worried about missing work or paying medical bills. Even if you feel you may be at fault, there are so many other details that can come into play after the event of a car crash.
It’s crucial to talk to a lawyer to find out if you might be entitled to compensation and to do the best you can at proving your innocence in an accident.
Don’t Hesitate to Talk to a Lawyer About Your Back Injury
If you’ve suffered a back injury in a car accident, the best thing you can do for your mind, body, and future is to seek medical attention as soon as you can.
Call a personal injury attorney, too, so that you don’t leave any boxes unchecked and can have peace of mind knowing someone is working to help with your car accident claim.
You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by calling us for a FREE case evaluation. At the very least, call us with any questions or concerns about your back pain and accident so that we can give you the help you need and help you determine whether or not you may be entitled to compensation.