What Are The Most Common Car Accident Back Injuries?

Houston car accident lawyers explain what back injury victims need to know

Car accident injuries happen at an alarming rate in Texas and across the country. Each year, more than 2.3 million people nationwide and roughly 165,000 in Texas sustain an injury in a car accident, according to accident data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TDOT).

What you might not realize is just how many of these motor vehicle accident injuries involve back injuries. So what types of back injuries are the most common due to car accidents? How does someone know if they have a car accident back injury? What are the warning signs? What medical treatments exist? The Houston car accident attorney at Smith & Hassler explain.

How common are car accident back injuries?

The short answer? Very common. One scientific study found that 31 percent of people experienced low back pain (LBP) after a car accident lasting more than one year. Another study found that roughly 50 percent of people involved in low-speed motor vehicle accidents reported experiencing lower back pain, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Based on the total number of car accident injuries each year on average, that works out to roughly 713,000 to 1,150,000 back injuries nationwide and 51,150 to 82,500 in Texas each year, making back injuries among the most common motor vehicle accident injuries overall.

What are the most common car accident back injuries?

Certain types of back injuries occur more often due to car accidents. Some of the most common – and sometimes most serious – back injuries due to car crashes include:

• Herniated discs – Between each vertebra in your spine, there’s a disc that cushions and protects your back. When a disc gets forced out of its normal spot due to a collision, it can press on nearby nerves or the spinal cord itself.
• Spinal cord injury – When the spinal cord is damaged, the effects can be life-altering. Depending on where the injury occurs, it could result in temporary or permanent paralysis below the spinal cord injury.
• Vertebrae fractures – The bones located in the back surrounding the spinal cord are called vertebrae. Many times, these bones can be broken due to a car crash, resulting in a fractured vertebra.
• Torn back muscle – The back has 40 muscles located on each side of the spine. Due to the force and power of a car crash, these muscles often get torn, especially in the lower back, which has five lumbar vertebrae bones.
• Torn ligament – A ligament is a rope-like band that holds bones in place and one bone to another. The back contains more than 200 ligaments near the spinal cord. If these ligaments tear, back pain is common and can be serious.
• Lumbar spine injury – Found in your lower back, the lumbar vertebrae bones support much of your body’s weight. Injuries like fractures or sprains here can lead to extreme pain, paralysis, and even loss of bladder or bowel control.
• Sciatica – The nerve that connects the muscles in the lower back to the muscles in the legs is called the sciatic nerve. If this nerve is stretched or pulled, pain can result in the nerve and is known as a medical condition called sciatica.
• Thoracic spine injury – Located in your mid-back, the thoracic spine connects to your ribs and chest. Thoracic sprains or fractures are common after car accidents and can cause significant back pain.
• Facet joint injury – Facet joints are located between vertebrae and help support your weight and allow for smooth movement. In a crash, these joints can become inflamed, dislocated, or fractured, causing pain, limited mobility, and joint instability.
• Spondylolisthesis – This medical condition occurs when a vertebra slips forward over the one below it. This misalignment can cause severe lower back pain, and in more serious cases, surgery may be needed to correct the issue.

How do car accidents cause back injuries?

Motor vehicle accidents often cause back injuries due to the sudden force and power of a collision. Even a low-speed crash can result in injuries to the back that can be painful and serious. And while a back injury can occur due to any type of collision, certain types of car accidents often result in back injuries, including:

• Rear-end accidents, especially for the driver or any passengers in the front car hit from behind.
• Head-on collisions, which often result in the most serious back injuries.
• Side impact car accidents, otherwise known as T-bone accidents.
• High-speed collisions, especially on highways or rural roads.
• Rollover car accidents in which the driver and passengers are thrown around inside the vehicle.

What are the symptoms of a car accident back injury?

If you have been in a car crash and think you injured your back, see a doctor right away if you experience any of the following back injury symptoms:

• Dull back pain that does not go away.
• Sharp back pain that comes and goes in waves.
• Numbness in your legs or arms.
• Tingling sensation in your hands or feet.
• Loss of feeling below the back injury.
• Difficulty walking.
• Poor balance.
• Little or no bladder control.

How do doctors diagnose a car accident back injury?

There are many different ways medical professionals can diagnose a back injury after a car crash. Such diagnostic methods often include:

• Imaging tests, such as X-rays, MRIs and CT scans. These tests are often used to diagnose a vertebra fracture or an injury to the bones, muscles or tissues in the back, as well as spinal cord damage.
• Nerve tests such as electromyography (EMG) tests, which measure electrical impulses in the nerves and whether muscles respond to them. EMG tests are often used to diagnose a herniated disc injury.
• Diagnostic injections into the spine, including epidural steroid injections to identify the exact location and source of the pain.
• Flexibility tests to see whether or not someone can perform routine physical activities, such as bending or twisting without pain.
• Physical examination to determine someone’s range of motion, strength and sensitivity to pain in certain places.

What medical treatments exist for car accident back injuries?

Medical treatments for back injuries can vary dramatically depending on the severity of the back injury. Such treatments may include:

• Back surgery.
• Spinal injections to help reduce severe back pain.
• Rest, ice, compression and elevation, a common treatment known as RICE for mild back pain or strained back muscles.
• Physical therapy, especially in cases involving chronic back pain that lasts weeks or months after a car accident.

Should I see a doctor if I have back pain after a car crash?

Yes. This is important for three big reasons. One, by having a doctor diagnose your back injury, you will hopefully receive the correct medical care you need right away. Two, the sooner you start receiving medical treatments for the back, the more likely you will fully recover in many cases. Three, you will have an official medical record of your back injury.

Having a formal medical history documenting your back injury can serve as a critical piece of evidence in support of your car accident injury claim. This is because such records will clearly show that your back injury occurred due to your car accident.

Who’s responsible for paying for back injuries sustained in a Texas car crash?

First, it’s important to understand how car accident compensation works in general in Texas. The state has what’s known as an at-fault car insurance system. This means the at-fault party must pay for all accident-related expenses for all car accident injury victims.

In the case of car accident back injuries, the at-fault party is often the driver who caused your collision. But in most cases, it’s the other driver’s insurance company that must pay for all financial losses due to your accident.

Why should I hire a Houston car accident lawyer?

If you sustained a painful back injury in a car crash in Texas caused by another driver, your injury claim should be pretty straightforward, right? Don’t be so sure. In many cases, many claims turn into fierce legal battles. That’s because the at-fault driver’s insurance company often doesn’t want to pay you the money you deserve.

That’s not right. That’s why our Houston car accident attorneys at Smith & Hassler want to help. Our lawyers have spent decades fighting for the rights of injury victims and we have the case results to prove it, including an $800,000 for a car accident injury victim who sustained a back injury.

Learn more about your legal options. Contact our law firm and schedule a free case evaluation. And because we work on a contingency fee basis, you won’t pay a dime unless we win your case. This means you can focus on your recovery while we focus on getting results.

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