A serious back injury can have a life-altering impact, forcing you to slow down.
Unfortunately, with that in mind, even temporary back injuries can take a serious financial toll, and permanent ones can be financially devastating.
Have you recently hurt your back? If so, it’s wise to understand how back injuries often happen, are typically treated, and how to recover the injury compensation you need.
Common Types of Back Injuries
Your back houses your spinal cord. It is a complex and delicate part of the body that runs from the base of your skull to the bottom of your back, protecting a bundle of nerves that branch out over the entire body. When the spine is injured, damage to spinal function or the nerves can have serious consequences for other body parts, such as the organs, genitals, hands, and feet.
Some of the most common types of back injuries include:
- Spinal fractures
- Herniated discs
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylolisthesis
- Muscle sprains
- Nerve damage
Back injuries are some of the most common types of severe injuries, primarily due to the fact that they generally inflict damage to the spinal cord.
How Back Injuries Happen
Most back injuries involve some type of injury to your spinal column. However, in some cases, a back injury might also involve damage to muscle, tissues, or nerves in your back instead of the spinal cord itself.
Nevertheless, the back can be damaged in a variety of ways; common causes of back injuries include the following:
- Motorcycle accidents
- Construction accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Car accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Dangerous or defective products
- Medical malpractice
Any time the back sustains trauma or is forced into an unnatural position, there’s a high risk of suffering a significant back injury.
Recognizing the Signs of a Back Injury
A back injury can manifest in many different ways, with some being more common than others. When a back injury is severe, it can be hard to miss the signs. But, some back injuries produce more minor symptoms that can be easier to ignore.
Pain and reduced mobility might be the most common initial signs that your back has been injured, but other typical symptoms of a back injury include:
- Tingling
- Difficulty walking or standing upright
- Cramping or muscle spasms
- Weakness
- Bladder issues
- Fever
If you were recently involved in an accident and you’ve noticed lingering symptoms, consider them signs that your injury might be something far more severe than you may initially believe. A serious back injury is most likely to impact your mobility significantly. In the most severe cases, a back injury can leave you fully and permanently paralyzed.
Other possible outcomes of a serious back injury include the following:
- Numbness or reduced sensation in limbs, hands, or feet
- Loss of the use of your limbs, hands, or feet
- Numbness in the genital areas
- Loss of sexual function
- Reduced mobility
- Chronic pain
- Organ damage
Furthermore, some major injuries are accompanied by gradual symptoms. For example, a spinal fracture might initially present itself as a feeling of soreness. But, over time, that feeling can slowly worsen into severe chronic pain that drastically impacts things like your quality of life, earning ability, and overall health.
With that being said, the best way to protect both your health and finances is to see a doctor after you injure your back, even if you think the injury is minor.
How Back Injuries Are Treated
The exact process by which a back injury is treated will depend on the type of injury. If you’ve sustained a sprained or strained muscle, applying ice and getting rest might be enough to lead you to a full recovery. Unfortunately, most back injuries are major medical events that frequently require surgical intervention and physical and occupational therapy.
To that end, back injury treatments typically begin with a thorough medical examination. A doctor will conduct imaging to see if there is any visible damage to the bones and tissues in your spine, and they may also check for nerve and organ damage.
The precise course of treatment that a doctor recommends will usually be unique to the individual. One may need immediate surgery, while another might try non-invasive treatment methods, such as physical therapy or chiropractic treatment.
In cases involving a severe back injury, limited treatment options might be available. When the bones and nerves in the back are badly injured, the result is often partial or full paralysis, which cannot be reversed.
Qualifying for Back Injury Compensation
As well as being some of the most common, back injuries are also some of the most expensive serious injuries you can experience.
Even in cases that eventually lead to a full recovery, treating a back injury can quickly add up to thousands of dollars in medical bills. In addition, there may be lost wages as you go through treatment and recovery or experience paralysis. When this happens, the financial impact can be incredibly destructive.
Fortunately, back injuries often leave you eligible to receive compensation. Dealing with the financial consequences of a back injury can be challenging. Your first step after seeing a doctor should be to attend a consultation with a personal injury lawyer.
Your lawyer will review the accident and identify whether another party can be liable. For example, they may be able to build a premises liability case after a slip and fall accident. After a car accident, they can help you seek compensation through the applicable insurance policy or file a lawsuit.
A lawyer might be able to help you recover compensation for costs that include medical bills, lost wages and benefits, and future injury expenses after a back injury.
Speak With an Orlando Back Injury Lawyer
If you’ve suffered a back injury in Orlando, the personal injury lawyers at Payer Personal Injury Lawyers can help you pursue back injury compensation. Our experienced personal injury attorneys have a long track record of recovering multimillion-dollar compensation for our injured clients in Orlando.
Don’t wait to fight for the back injury compensation you need. Call Payer Personal Injury Lawyers at (407) 648-1510 and schedule your free consultation with an Orlando personal injury lawyer today to learn more about how we can help.
