Car Accidents Can Cause Neck And Back Pain

Car accidents can and do cause devastating injuries that can leave victims suffering from disability and chronic pain for years to come. In fact, as many as half of the approximately 400,000 car accidents that occur on Florida roads every year result in some sort of injury to the parties involved. These injuries can affect every part of the body, but certain parts of the body do tend to be particularly susceptible to injury, including the neck and back.

How Car Accidents Cause Neck and Back Injuries

While the human body can withstand a lot, it is not built to weather the impact of a car crash. Injuries sustained in collisions can manifest anywhere on the body, but it is the neck and the back that usually take the brunt of the force of impact. This is because when an accident occurs, everything in the vehicle is usually propelled forward or backwards, at least initially, as a result of the force of the impact. With so little room to move in the car, the body can find its forward motion interrupted by a variety of obstacles, including everything from the dashboard to the steering wheel. As a result of this sudden propulsion (and impact with the inside of the vehicle), the head, neck, and back can end up sustaining serious injury. Some injuries can even occur because a victim was ejected from the vehicle, causing him or her to come into contact with the asphalt, the vehicle, or another object at a high rate of speed.

Signs of Neck and Back Injury

Back and neck injuries often manifest immediately. These symptoms include:

• Intense pain in the injured area;
• A lack of mobility in the fingers and toes;
• Burning or tingling sensation in the limbs;
• Numbness in the limbs;
• Headache; and
• Breathing difficulties.

All of these symptoms could indicate a severe neck or back injury and their onset is typically immediate. Some symptoms, however, take a bit longer to show up. These include:

• Persistent headaches;
• Pain in the back, neck, or shoulders;
• Prolonged tingling in the fingers, arms, or hands; and
• Unexplained weakness.

Which of these symptoms an accident victim experiences will largely be dictated by the area of the neck or back that was injured and the specific type of injury in question.

Types of Neck and Back Injuries

No two neck and back injuries are the same. For instance, a side-impact, or t-bone collision can cause a victim’s head to jerk forward and backward in a way that stretches or even tears the muscles and ligaments in the neck, resulting in whiplash. Rear-end collisions, on the other hand, are more likely to cause lumbar damage, which is accompanied by severe pain in the lower back. More severe impacts to the neck and back can result in disc herniation, which in turn often manifests as low-back pain, although these injuries can occur anywhere along the spinal column. Regardless of the type of the injury, accident victims could be entitled to compensation for their losses.

Schedule a Free Consultation

If you were involved in a car accident and suffered a neck or back injury, you may be facing hefty medical bills and may also be unable to work. For help determining whether you could qualify for compensation for these losses, please call the dedicated Tampa car accident attorneys at Anderson & Anderson today.

Sources:

flhsmv.gov/traffic-crash-reports/crash-dashboard/

mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/whiplash/symptoms-causes/syc-20378921