Cumming Back and Neck Injury Lawyer

Accidents are unfortunate, and in the time following an accident, your primary concern is often getting on with your life as quickly as possible. This may encourage you to move quickly in terms of settling your case, accepting payment and full settlement for your immediate costs like car repairs and medical bills. Moving too quickly can cause you to overlook longer-lasting injuries that can take time to manifest, like the all-too-common neck and back injuries that happen in accidents, whether on the road or even while picking up groceries.

If you suffer these painful injuries in an accident and you believe that someone else was at fault, you need help from a Cumming back and neck lawyer as soon as possible. Whether your back injury stemmed from a car accident, motorcycle accident, or slip and fall, Spaulding Injury Law is here to help.

Cumming Back and Neck Injury Attorneys

If you are injured by someone else’s negligence, the path forward toward renewed health and recovery can be long and difficult. If, however, the injury you’ve sustained is a back or neck injury, the physical, financial, and emotional challenges you face can be that much more intense. All movement stems from the back and spine, and even a relatively minor injury that affects your back or neck can seriously curtail your range of motion and lead to painful physical consequences. 

If this is the difficult situation you find yourself in, it’s time to consult with an experienced Cumming back and neck injury lawyer.

Back and Neck Injuries and Car Accidents

Car accidents are the number one cause of back and neck injuries, and the National Library of Medicine shares the following sobering statistics to back this claim up:

• Every year in the United States, traffic accidents lead to a conservatively estimated 869,000 cervical spine injuries that are serious enough to require hospital care.
• Of these, 841,000 are sprains and strains, such as whiplash.
• Another 2,800 are spinal disk injuries.
• 23,500 are fractures.
• 2,800 are spinal cord injuries.
• 1,500 are dislocations.

To make things that much more challenging, even relatively minor neck and back injuries can lead to considerable pain that can become chronic and can require a long, drawn-out healing process.

Accidents that Commonly Lead to Back and Neck Injuries

Back and neck injuries can be caused by a wide range of accidents, but some of the most common include:

• Car accidents 
• Truck accidents 
• Motorcycle accidents 
• Pedestrian accidents
• MARTA accidents
• Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare accidents
• Boating accidents 
• Slip and fall accidents

Back and Neck Injuries and Falls

The most common cause of back and neck injuries is traffic accidents, but falls are a close second. Consider the following related statistics shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

• One out of every five falls in the United States leaves the victim seriously injured.
• More than 800,000 people are hospitalized every year in the U.S. as a result of fall injuries.
• The total medical cost for falls in the United States in 2015 was more than $50 billion.

The Duty of Care You Are Owed

When you get behind the wheel of your car, you take on the responsibility of following the rules of the road and looking out for the safety of others on it, and other motorists share the same responsibility for you. This is a prime element of all personal injury claims, including those related to back and neck injuries. The elements that are necessary to bring a successful back and neck injury claim include:

 

• The other party owed you a duty of care.
• The other party breached that duty of care, which means they failed to live up to the responsibility owed to you.
• The other party’s breached responsibility caused the accident in question.
• You suffered a back or neck injury as a result that left you with specific losses or legal damages. 

 

Your Legal Damages

The losses associated with back and neck injuries are often immense and tend to be long-lasting, but they breakdown into the same basic categories of loss that other injuries do, including:

 

• Medical expenses, which may need to address complications that arise and secondary health concerns related to the original injury
• Lost income, which may need to address a decrease in your ability to earn into the future or even an altered career course
• Physical and emotional pain and suffering, which can interfere with your physical recovery and can be especially difficult to overcome

 

Because obtaining the compensation to which you are entitled will play an essential role in the course of your recovery, your seasoned back and neck injury lawyer will strive to ensure that your complete damages – and their reverberations in your life – are well represented and clearly outlined in your personal injury claim.

 

Back Injuries

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) shares that cervical spine injuries, which refer to injuries of the vertebrae that protect the spine, can result in significant and long-term disability. In other words, the losses you experience as a result of this category of back injury can be life-altering. Further, the kind of trauma generated in traffic accidents of all kinds and slip and fall accidents is the most common cause of these serious injuries. 

The Mayo Clinic also weighs in with the following:

 

• Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help or miss work.
• Back pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide. 

 

Neck Injuries

The kinds of neck injuries that tend to arise in personal injury claims include all the following:

• Soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash
• Neck fractures of the cervical vertebrae
• Neck sprains 
• Pinched nerves in the neck

Again, traffic accidents and slip and fall accidents are common causes of neck injuries. Consider whiplash, which is frequently associated with the impact of rear-end accidents but can be caused by nearly any kind of traffic accident or fall. The Mayo Clinic reports that whiplash is the result of the head being whipped back and forth on the neck, and common results include all the following:

• Pain and stiffness in the neck
• Severe losses in terms of your range of motion in the neck
• Headaches that generally radiate out from the base of the skull
• Fatigue 
• Dizziness
• Increased pain with movement of the neck

Whiplash can be all the more bedeviling for the fact that it can present with immediate pain and obvious signs of a problem – but these symptoms can also be slow to present. Further, the pain and discomfort that accompany whiplash can come and go, making effective treatment more difficult to achieve.

The Insurance Company

If you have suffered a neck or back injury as a result of someone else’s negligence (or on the job), the path forward toward just compensation is likely to be long and complicated. While the involved insurance company is paid specifically to cover losses like yours, you can rely upon it to attempt to settle your claim for less than the amount to which you are entitled. Insurance companies – like other businesses – are profit-based, and they do what they can to keep those profits high. Your dedicated back and neck injury attorney in Cumming will help to ensure that your claim is settled fairly in all the falling ways:

• Gathering the evidence necessary to build your strongest claim, including accident reports and eyewitness testimony
• Communicating with the insurance company on your behalf and negotiating with the insurance company on behalf of your claim’s best possible resolution
• Hiring expert witnesses and having accident models created (as applicable) in defense of your claim
• Preparing for trial (in the event the insurance company does not engage in good-faith negotiations)

Neck and Back Injuries Can Impact Your Long-Term Health

Experiencing what might seem like minor injuries resulting in soreness can have longer-term implications than you might expect. Minor bruises and soreness might seem normal following an accident, but making sure that you don’t have nerve damage or other latent injuries is important for your health. According to media sources, following an accident, some injuries can take time to manifest, and you may not feel the pain immediately after the accident.

Accidents involve adrenaline and anxiety, and the time after can also be very stressful. What might seem like anger over the accident in the weeks following could be a shift in your behavior and an increase in irritability due to an injury. Knowing the difference can be hard when you are just trying to get back to your life, and touching base with medical professionals and a lawyer is your best way to protect your health and ensure your damages are fully covered.

Damages for Neck and Back Injuries include Medical Costs and Lost Wages

Going through an accident is damaging not only to your vehicle and your body, but also to your well-being. When you’ve been through an accident, the purpose of seeking damages is to be made whole, to be put in the position you would have been in were it not for the accident. This includes damages for the medical costs your accident requires, in addition to repairs for your vehicle or other property that might have been damaged during the accident. The damage to your body and to your property is only a portion of the overall damages that you might be entitled to.

A short-sighted settlement may cover your immediate expenses like the car repair and medical bills, but it can overlook longer-term costs of an accident like lost wages or your future earnings ability. Lost wages during your recovery can be damages you are entitled to, and if your ability to return to work and earn the same amount of money has been negatively impacted, future earnings.

Pain and suffering is also a recoverable damage that you might not immediately think of, but is very much a part of the accident that you can recover on. The pain and suffering associated with injury and accidents are not a part of your everyday life and are experiences you would not go through were it not for the accident.

Workplace Injuries can Entitle You to Compensation

Injuries in the workplace can be a part of the job, with some industries having a greater risk of injury than others. As noted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, healthcare workers like nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants have a risk of injury and illness that is three and a half times that of a normal private industry worker. Construction workers also have a rate of injury and illness on the job about the same as nursing aids or orderlies, three and a half times greater than the average worker.

If you’ve been injured on the job, your employer may be responsible for covering your damages. If a third party’s negligence was involved, you might have an insurance claim or lawsuit for your injuries, as well.

Speaking with a lawyer can help you to best understand what your options for complete compensation are in your case. Knowing what a fair or even normal settlement offer is can be difficult to determine as such data is not always available, but experienced attorneys in your area know what you are entitled to.

A Lawyer Can Help You

If you’ve been through an accident, an attorney can be of substantial value to the outcome of your case. Collecting damages or coming to a settlement on an accident can be a complex process that involves collecting evidence and interacting with insurance companies and their representatives. Insurance companies do not make a profit by paying out the most possible on settlements and generally are motivated to settle as low and quickly as possible.

What is, in fact, a low settlement given the norms of your area might look very attractive to you, and an experienced Cumming back and neck injury lawyer knows the difference.

Neck and Back Injury FAQs

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON NECK AND BACK INJURIES IN A CAR ACCIDENT?

The most common injuries in a car accident include whiplash, bruising, and soft tissue damage to the neck and back.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY NECK OR BACK HAS BEEN INJURED IF I DON’T FEEL ANY PAIN?

While you may not have required immediate emergency medical attention at the scene of the accident, there still could be other undetected damage, underlining the value of a medical assessment following the accident.

IS MUSCLE SORENESS AFTER AN ACCIDENT NORMAL AND NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?

The answer is it really depends, as minor soreness could be just that, or it might indicate greater injury, so it is important to speak with an attorney to determine your options.

IS MY EMPLOYER REQUIRED TO KEEP THE JOB SAFE?

If you work for an employer covered by certain labor rules, then they are obligated to proactively reduce the risk of injury or illness in the workplace.

Protecting Your Claim

If you’ve suffered a back or neck injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, your case will be unique to you and the circumstances involved. Fortunately, however, there are important steps that all accident victims can take to help protect their claims and their recoveries, including:

• Seek medical attention as soon after the accident as you can (even if you consider your injuries minor)
• Follow your doctor’s instructions carefully
• Reach out to a skilled back and neck injury attorney at your earliest opportunity

Never wait to protect your legal rights to compensation. With a Cumming injury lawyer on your side, you can trust someone is fighting for your rights while you focus on your physical recovery.

Here to Help After Your Neck or Back Injury

If you’ve suffered a neck or back injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, bringing your strongest personal injury claim is paramount, and a dedicated neck and back injury lawyer can help in all the following critical ways:

• By gathering all the available evidence – including eyewitness testimony, photos and videos from the scene of the accident, and any accident reports – and compiling this information into a cohesive claim
• By carefully assessing the full extent of your losses, including any expected in the future
• By hiring expert witnesses and having the accident recreation models constructed that support your claim
• By skillfully negotiating with the involved insurance company in pursuit of just compensation that will allow you to reach your most complete recovery
• By ensuring that you understand the legal process you’re facing and by helping you make the right decisions for you throughout this process.

Our team is ready to assist you with every step of the injury process – from determining whether you have a claim to obtaining the compensation you need to cover your losses. 

Speak with a Cumming Neck and Back Injury Lawyer Today

Contacting an attorney after your accident as soon as possible can help to determine who is at fault and liable for damages, and also to identify your sources of compensation and the best settlement possible. Do not wait to speak with our team at Spaulding Injury law about a possible case.

If someone else’s negligence leaves you with a back or neck injury, the practiced back and neck injury lawyers at Spaulding Injury Law – proudly serving Cumming, Georgia – are well prepared to skillfully protect your legal rights in pursuit of your fair compensation. Your case is important, so please don’t wait to contact or call us at 770-744-0890 for more information today.

Spaulding Injury Law Cumming Personal Injury Lawyers is located at 5860 Bond St, Cumming, GA 30040, United States