Lawrenceville Back and Neck Injury Lawyer

Whether they happen while driving, while working, or in any other accident, back and neck injuries can happen to anyone, and when they do, you might be entitled to damages to make you whole from the accident. When you have gone through an accident, or experienced injury, and another party is liable, then you might be entitled to damages to cover your costs.

Learn what you need to know if you’ve had a back or neck injury and how to go about making sure you get the most possible compensation to recover your damages. The best way to do this is to speak with a Lawrenceville back and neck injury lawyer at Spaulding Injury Law as soon as possible.

Back and neck injuries are some of the most challenging injuries to live with and recover from, and they are very common in traffic accidents of all kinds, as well as slip and fall accidents. If you or someone you love has suffered a back or neck injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, don’t wait to reach out for the skilled legal guidance of an experienced Lawrenceville back and neck injury lawyer. 

The Injury-Causing Accident

Back and neck injuries are often caused by the kind of serious impact generated in accidents like the following:

• Car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and other kinds of traffic accidents
• Rideshare accidents, including both Lyft and Uber
• Slip and fall accidents
• Boating accidents 

Back and Neck Injuries 

While back and neck injuries can come in a range of forms and degrees of seriousness, something they all tend to share is that they are intensely painful and slow to heal. For example, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) reports that injuries to the vertebrae that make up and help protect the spine are often caused by traffic and slip-and-fall accidents and that they often lead to serious injuries that can be permanently debilitating. 

The Mayo Clinic reinforces this characterization of back injuries with the following:

• Back pain is one of the most frequently cited reasons for missing work or seeking medical attention.
• Back pain is one of the primary causes of disability not only in the United States but also around the world. 

Neck injuries are similarly painful and debilitating, and both back and neck injuries are closely associated with severe losses of range of motion. If you’ve suffered a back or neck injury as a result of being injured in an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, the potential consequences are too significant not to take the matter very seriously.

Injuries Range in Severity and Cause

If you have been injured, it is important to understand that your employer is obligated to proactively maintain a workplace that is free of injury and illness. As noted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, workplace tasks and activities can cause back injuries, particularly when the workplace does not have features and equipment to support safe work and reduce injuries. If you have had a back injury on the job and your employer wants you to make a report on the incident, do not admit fault until you have spoken with an attorney.

When you have been injured, you will often be compensated by the at-fault party’s insurance company. Insurance companies make an element of their profit by minimizing insurance claim payouts and are often motivated to make quick settlements. While a quick settlement may seem appealing to you as it helps you get over the accident sooner, it may also fail to recognize long-term damage or injuries that may have resulted due to the accident.

Car Accidents are a Common Cause of Back and Neck Injuries

In the U.S., car accidents cause many thousands of deaths and injuries each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Despite safety precautions established in your area, the roads can become dangerous, whether due to weather conditions or other drivers, and accidents happen. In car accidents, the collision is often the cause of a wide variety of soft tissue damage that results in neck and back injuries.

Whiplash is soft tissue damage to the neck that can occur in a collision when you are struck from the sides or front or if the headrest is not at a safe height. Soft tissue damage can evolve into nerve damage, underlining the importance of seeking out medical attention following your accident.

Common neck and back injuries include:

1. Soft tissue damage
2. Slipped or herniated discs
3. Spinal cord injury
4. Whiplash
5. Muscle sprains and strains

There are many reasons why people cause these crashes, and if another driver was negligent, they should be responsible for the harm that they caused and the losses they incurred.

Using technology while driving is an increasing cause of accidents due to distracted driving. If you have been hit by a party who was on their cell phone or otherwise distracted, then generally, they should be at fault. Other drivers might be fatigued, impaired, or violating traffic laws, which should all lead to liability for the accident.

It is important for a Lawrenceville back and neck injury lawyer to review your case and determine all the possible parties that could be held liable for your many losses.

Back and Neck Injuries: The Car Accident Statistics

A wide range of national statistics reports that car accidents are a primary cause of back and neck injuries. Consider the following shared by the National Library of Medicine:

• The conservative estimate when it comes to cervical spine injuries that are caused by car accidents and that are serious enough to require hospitalization in the United States each year is 869,000.
• Of these serious injuries, the vast majority are sprains and strains like whiplash, and from here come spinal disk injuries, fractures, spinal cord injuries, and dislocations (in order of prevalence).

Soft tissue injuries like whiplash can be especially bedeviling for all the following reasons:

• They are unpredictable and can be difficult to effectively treat.
• They can lead to chronic pain.
• They can seriously diminish one’s overall range of motion.

Back and Neck Injuries: The Fall Statistics

Second, only to car accidents, falls are another major cause of back and neck injuries, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares the following highlights:

• In a recent year, the total cost associated with falls in the United States was over $50 billion.
• About 20 percent of all falls lead to serious injuries, including back and neck injuries.
• Falls leave more than 800,000 people hospitalized each year – often for back and neck injuries.

Back and neck injuries are closely associated with dangerous complications, are slow to heal, and can lead to chronic pain and debilitating losses in terms of the range of motion. All of this makes obtaining just compensation for your full range of physical, financial, and emotional losses critical.

Your Physical, Financial, and Emotional Losses 

The physical, financial, and emotional losses you suffer as a result of a back or neck injury can be immense, and these injuries often lead to long-lasting implications in every category of legal damage you seek. 

Medical Bills

The medical bills that you face as a result of an injury of this magnitude are likely to start out high, and they may show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, both back and neck injuries can lead to long-term complications and health concerns. Some of the most common related medical expenses include:

• Emergency care
• Surgery
• Hospital care
• Follow up care 
• Extensive physical and occupational therapy
• Rehabilitation
• Pain management

Having a clear handle on your overall medical costs is important to your ability to obtain the compensation you need to recover as fully as possible. 

Lost Income

While you will very likely be off the job during your initial recovery after the accident that leaves you injured, it’s also important to consider any losses you experience in terms of lost earning potential, an altered career trajectory, or both. Further, career losses can lead to emotional challenges in addition to the financial deficits you experience.

Physical and Emotional Pain and Suffering

Back and neck injuries are physically painful injuries, but the negative impact they have on your life and lifestyle can also lead to significant emotional upheaval that can prove exceptionally challenging. Many victims suffer PTSD-like symptoms such as the following:

• Mood swings
• Sleep disturbances
• Increased anxiety
• A loss of enjoyment in activities that once brought pleasure
• Depressive episodes
• Self-isolation
• self-medicating

One of the saddest overall consequences is that these symptoms can hold the victim’s most staunch supporters at bay – just when their support is needed most.  

Protecting Your Claim

Your back or neck injury claim will be specific to your injury and the circumstances involved, but there are some steps that every victim of an accident is encouraged to take to protect both their health and their personal injury claim. 

Seek Medical Attention 

Don’t wait to seek medical attention. Even if you don’t believe that you were seriously injured in the accident in question, it’s important to recognize that back and neck injuries can both be slow to present with identifiable symptoms, and in the meantime, your condition can worsen. Because early diagnosis and treatment are closely associated with improved outcomes, seeking immediate medical attention after a traffic accident or slip and fall accident is always in your best interest.  

Follow Your Doctor’s Instructions

It’s not enough to seek the medical attention that you need – it’s also critical that you follow your doctor’s advice and instructions carefully. Not only does this provide you with the best chance of reaching a complete recovery, but it also lets the insurance company handling your case know that you take your injuries seriously and you expect them to do the same.

Do Not Speak with Insurance Companies

It can be tempting to want to explain your side of the story to insurance adjusters when they reach out to you following your injury. You might assume that your word is enough, and the insurance company will listen to how the accident happened and the extent of your injuries, and then cut you a check for your losses. 

This is rarely how it happens, however. Insurance companies will take anything you say and twist it around to minimize your claim. You should always have an injury lawyer handling all communications with insurers for you – including your own insurance company. 

Your first step once your health is stable – and before you speak with insurance companies – should be to hire a skilled attorney. 

Protecting Your Health: Protecting Your Claim

Back and neck injuries can lead to long-lasting consequences that reverberate into your future, which makes protecting both your health and your injury claim key. Some of the primary steps you can take toward this end include:

• Obtaining the medical attention that you need and closely following your doctor’s advice
• Working closely with a dedicated back and neck accident lawyer from the outset
• Following up on your healthcare needs to avoid complications and secondary health concerns, which may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, and rehabilitation
• Leaving the insurance company to your savvy back and neck injury lawyer

Soreness Can Indicate Additional Damage in Need of Medical Attention

After an accident, you might think that it is normal for you to be sore for a while due to minor bruises. Muscle soreness with your neck and back injury, though, can indicate something more serious, like nerve damage. Nerve damage can evolve into lasting injuries that can impact your ability to move around comfortably or even to work. When you have ongoing soreness following an accident, even if there was no need for emergency medical care, it is suggested that you go to your primary care physician or a chiropractor for an assessment. Identifying a minor injury today can make the difference between a solvable problem and a permanent injury.

Your Claim and the Insurance Company

While the insurance company handling your claim is paid specifically to compensate you for your covered losses, every move it makes is tempered by its overall goal of increasing profits. As such, it’s important to be aware of common tactics that it may turn to. Consider the following:

• An early settlement offer is likely an attempt to finalize your claim for far less than it’s worth.
• The insurance company may attempt to overwhelm you with an overly laborious and lengthy claims process.
• The insurance company may deny the extent of your losses or may attempt to shift fault in the matter toward you.
• The insurance company may say you don’t have a claim to begin with. 

While many of these can be frustrating and could make you consider giving up, your trusted back and neck injury lawyer is well-prepared to handle the insurance company and whatever it casts your way.

The Negligent Party’s Insurance Company is Not Working for You, But Your Attorney Is

When you’ve been through an accident, remember that the other drivers and their insurance companies are looking to assign fault elsewhere. Speaking with an attorney before you admit fault in an accident can help to protect you from being targeted, and also to support your ability to collect from the other driver or drivers. When in a motor vehicle accident, your perspective is limited to your car alone, and you might not know what the other drivers were doing.

Speaking with an attorney to explore your options for your neck or back injury will make your likelihood of recovering full compensation stronger and the size of your settlement higher in many cases.

Speak with a Lawrenceville Back and Neck Injury Attorneys

If you have been in any type of accident, you might not know your legal rights and options. You should be focusing on your physical recovery and medical treatment – not on your financial recovery. Though the financial stress is real, our Lawrenceville back and neck injury lawyers are here to handle that part for you.

The first thing we can do is evaluate whether you have a case. This might be because someone was negligent, such as:

1. Another driver
2. A business owner
3. A manufacturer of a defective product
4. A third-party contractor at your work

We know that insurance claims against these parties and their insurers are nothing but difficult and frustrating. Often, you receive offers that are much lower than you deserve.

That is why our legal team is here to help you. We handle these claims every day. We know that every case is unique, and we will determine the damages in your unique claim.

Reach Out to an Experienced Lawrenceville Back and Neck Injury Lawyer Today

The accomplished back and neck injury lawyers at Spaulding Injury Law – proudly serving Lawrenceville, Georgia – dedicate their imposing practice to skillfully guiding challenging claims like yours toward advantageous outcomes that support our clients’ rights and fullest recoveries. We’re here for you, too, so please don’t delay reaching out and contacting or calling us at 770-744-0890 for more information about what we can do to help you today.

Spaulding Injury Law: Lawrenceville Personal Injury Lawyers is located at  223 Scenic Hwy S #202, Lawrenceville, GA 30046, United States.