There you are, driving down Capitol Street to meet up with some friends or heading across Route 60 when out of nowhere another driver slams into your car. At first, you might be able to walk away from the accident, but in the following days, the back pain flares up.
A trip to your doctor’s office reveals a serious back injury.
Now, you’re looking at a potentially prolonged recovery period, which can mean missed work, ongoing therapy, and possibly surgery.
Those mounting medical expenses and missed pay will add to your stress levels, which can affect your recovery. The best approach for covering your financial losses is to hold the at-fault driver accountable.
That’s when having an experienced Charleston car accident attorney can be a big help, and they can advise you on the best course of action to secure a remedy.
Common Types of Back Injuries Sustained in Vehicle Collisions
The impact of a back injury sustained in a car accident can be immediate. You might immediately face mobility challenges. Before you can understand the full scope of your recovery, you need to know what type of back injury you’re dealing with.
Which of the following common types of back injuries are you dealing with?
Soft Tissue Injuries
The sudden jerking motion of a crash can target your upper and lower back, leading to soft-tissue injuries. These injuries, classified as sprains and strains, are among the most frequent types of back injuries sustained in a car accident. These can involve overstretched or torn muscles, tendons, or ligaments.
The forceful jerking motion of a crash (like whiplash) commonly affects the upper and lower back, resulting in stiffness and reduced mobility.
Herniated or Bulging Discs
Your spinal discs are spongy pads that cushion your vertebrae. In an accident, a disc can shift, bulge, or rupture under extreme impact. When that disc is pushed out by the force of impact, it can press against spinal nerves, triggering intense, radiating pain and numbness that can lead to sciatica.
Vertebral Fractures
Along with the discs, nerves, and tendons, your spine is also made of bone. A high-speed collision can cause the bones in your spine to fracture, break, or compress.
Severe compression fractures may cause permanent spine misalignment that can lead to breathing difficulties and often require surgery.
Spinal Cord Injuries
The most severe type of spinal injury occurs when bone fragments or displaced discs damage the spinal cord. A damaged spinal cord can disrupt communication between the brain and the rest of the body.
That can potentially lead to partial or complete paralysis.
Facet Joint Injuries
Your facet joints connect your vertebrae and allow for bending and twisting. If a sudden impact inflames or damages those joints, it can result in chronic stiffness and joint dysfunction.
The Typical Recovery Timeline
How long you’ll be out of commission because of a back injury depends on the severity of your injury. This is what your recovery could look like:
Acute Phase (0 to 6 weeks): Inflammation from a back injury peaks in the first 48–72 hours after the accident. Your treatment during this phase focuses on pain management with over-the-counter or prescription medications. You might also be prescribed alternating ice and heat therapy. Most minor strains resolve during this time.
Subacute Phase (6 to 12 weeks): In a more serious back injury, your healing continues.
At this point, your doctor might prescribe a course of physical therapy or chiropractic care.
The goal will be to rebuild your strength and regain your flexibility and range of motion.
Chronic Phase (12 weeks and beyond): If your back pain lasts longer than three months, it’s considered chronic. That will require long-term pain management or surgical interventions.
No matter which phase of the timeline you’re in, rest will be the most important aspect of your recovery. That rest can also mean missing work. These are the issues you need to discuss with your attorney.
You’ll need to calculate all your damages, including current expenses and future needs.
Documenting Your Recovery for a Personal Injury Claim
One of the best ways to fortify your personal injury claim is to thoroughly document your recovery journey. You should detail your daily pain levels, physical limitations, and how the injury affects your ability to perform your daily activities.
You also need to obtain copies of all your medical records. That includes all your imaging results from X-rays or MRIs. Your documentation will be included in your claim. That’s why it is important to wait to see how things play out.
For instance, you don’t want to submit a claim one week after being diagnosed with a herniated disc when you don’t know how long you’ll be impacted.
Challenges in Valuing Spinal Injury Settlements
Valuing spinal injury settlements is highly complex. That is because you need to calculate your lifelong medical needs. You also have to factor in your pain and suffering. Coming up with the right number might seem overwhelming. The legal team at DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress PLLC can help with those calculations.
More importantly, we can use that information to help support a personal injury claim.
In addition to calculating damages, we can also help with evidence collection that can clearly establish who was at fault in the accident. That is especially important considering West Virginia applies a modified comparative negligence system. That allows you to pursue compensation even if you were at fault in the accident.
It also means the insurance company will pay less based on the amount of blame you’re assigned. We will always push for our clients to get the maximum benefits allowed.
If you’ve suffered a back injury in a car accident caused by another driver, you need to understand all your options for pursuing a remedy.
You can schedule a free case review with the team at DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress PLLC, today so we can evaluate your claim and discuss next steps.
