Back and neck injuries are incredibly common ailments that are not always immediately apparent, and it is possible for you to suffer major injuries in minor accidents. While motor vehicle accidents are perhaps the most common causes of back and neck injuries, there is a wide assortment of other possible causes, and you could have the right to seek financial compensation for your injuries. You want to be sure you are working with an experienced Johns Creek injury attorney in such cases.
Common Kinds of Back and Neck Injuries
Most people who are dealing with back or neck injuries not only have incredible pain to deal with, but there can also be a certain level of disability in some cases. Certain injury cases could involve damage to the spinal cord, and spinal cord issues can affect both your neck and back.
Some of the most common types of neck injuries include:
- Fractured vertebrae
- Herniated discs
- Neck fractures
- Neck sprains
- Overuse neck injuries
- Pinched nerves
- Spondylosis (arthritis in the neck)
- Sprains or strains
- Whiplash
Back injuries may include all of the following:
- Fractured vertebrae
- Intervertebral disc degeneration
- Herniated, bulging, or ruptured discs
- Radiculopathy
- Sciatica
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spinal stenosis
- Sprains and strains
A spinal cord injury involves damage to the bundle of cells and nerves that send and receive signals from the brain to and from the rest of the body. Spinal cord injuries can be the result of direct injuries to the spinal cord itself or damage to tissue and bones (vertebrae) surrounding the spinal cord.
Damage may result in temporary or permanent changes in sensation, movement, strength, and body functions below the site of an injury. An incomplete spinal cord injury will involve a spinal cord still being able to transmit messages to and from the brain to the rest of the body, but complete spinal cord injuries will involve no nerve communication or motor function (voluntary movement) below the site where the trauma occurred.
Spinal cord injuries can cause symptoms like tingling, numbness, or a loss of or changes in sensation in the hands and feet, paralysis, weakness or inability to move any part of the body, pain or pressure in the head, neck, or back, loss of movement, loss of bladder and bowel control, unnatural positions of the spine or head, difficulty breathing, problems walking, and changes in sexual function.
Causes of Back and Neck Injuries
You can suffer back and neck injuries in a variety of circumstances. Some of the most common causes of these injuries include, but are not limited to:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Trucking accidents
- Construction accidents
- Defective products
- Fall injuries
- Industrial factory accidents
- Lifting injuries
- Repetitive stress injuries
- Returning to work too soon after an accident
- Unsafe property conditions
What You Should Do After a Back or Neck Injury
Anybody who believes they have suffered a back or neck injury will want to be sure they obtain medical attention as soon as possible. This provides a diagnosis and treatment plan to prevent complications whenever possible.
You should be aware that specialists are typically more concerned about pleasing insurance companies than treating injured parties, so phrases like “pre-existing condition” and “degenerative disk disease” are often used in reports even when you have no prior history of back or neck injuries. Back and neck injuries can be more challenging injury claims because there is typically a lack of some physical deformity, meaning these injuries are not as plainly visible as broken arms or legs.
Compensation for Back and Neck Injuries
While workers’ compensation is available for any person whose neck or back injury was the result of a workplace accident, many others will be looking to file accident or negligence claims against other parties for their injuries. Georgia is known as a modified comparative fault state, which means that a negligent party must have been 51 percent responsible or more for there to be a case against that person.
Back or neck injuries could entitle you to different kinds of compensatory damages. Special damages or economic damages are commonly associated with actual financial losses or expenses and are much easier to calculate.
Examples of special damages include:
- Current and future medical bills
- Lost wages
- Property damage
- Funeral costs
General damages or noneconomic damages are losses for things that do not have a financial value, meaning a jury usually decides what the costs are for such damages. Examples of general damages include:
- Pain and suffering
- Disability
- Disfigurement
- Emotional trauma
- Loss of consortium
The comparative fault rules in Georgia will mean that a person’s award is reduced by their share of negligence in connection with an accident. This means that a person who receives $100,000 for a back injury case in which they were 10 percent at fault would have their award reduced by $10,000 and ultimately receive $90,000.
Georgia Code § 51-12-5.1 establishes that punitive damages, vindictive damages, or exemplary damages can only be awarded in tort actions in which it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant’s actions showed willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or that entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences. They are not awarded as a form of compensation but more to punish the defendant.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Johns Creek Back and Neck Injury Lawyer
If you or your loved one have suffered a back or neck injury anywhere in Georgia, you will not want to wait in seeking legal representation for your claim. Many back and neck injury cases are resolved through settlements with insurance companies, and Spaulding Injury Law will be able to fight to make sure that you are able to recover as much compensation as possible in your case.
Our firm has extensive experience helping people who suffer injuries in a wide variety of accidents, so we know how to investigate these cases and preserve the evidence necessary to prove an injury claim. You can call us or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.
Practice Areas We Serve
Brain Injury Lawyer Johns Creek GA
Johns Creek Back And Neck Injury
Johns Creek Car Accident Lawyer
Johns Creek Drunk Driving Accident
Johns Creek MARTA Accident
Johns Creek Motorcycle Accident
Johns Creek Pedestrian Injury Lawyer
Johns Creek Personal Injury
Johns Creek Truck Accidents
Johns Creek Uber & Lyft Accident
Johns Creek Wrongful Death Lawyer