Can I Be Compensated for Neck and Back Pain After Car Accident Injuries?

Common Types of Neck, Shoulder, and Back Pain After a Car Accident

The most common cause of neck, back, and shoulder pain after an auto accident is whiplash. While you might hear whiplash used to describe a neck injury, it’s technically the cause of spinal injuries in a car crash, describing a back-and-forth whipping motion in the spine. This is especially common in rear-end collisions.

“Whiplash” isn’t a medical term. Technically, the event we think of as whiplash is called cervical acceleration-deceleration (CAD). Whiplash associated disorders (WAD) refers to the symptoms and conditions that result from CAD.

All too often, these whiplash injuries turn into chronic pain issues, so it’s vital that you be examined by a doctor as soon as possible after the car accident for an accurate diagnosis. This is important not only for your health and to relieve pain, but for securing the fair compensation you deserve.

Spinal pain and injury are typically designated by the section of the spine they affect. The human spine is divided into five major sections:

• Cervical spine: Seven vertebrae between your skull and shoulders
• Thoracic spine: 12 vertebrae running from your shoulders to the bottom of your ribs
• Lumbar spine: Five vertebrae running down your lower back
• Sacrum: Five fused vertebrae at the back of your pelvis
• Coccyx: Four fused vertebrae beneath your pelvis, often called the tailbone.

When any of these sections (including the bones, ligaments, tissues, facet joints, and nerves within and around them) experience a whipping motion from the impact of an accident, the following common injuries can happen:

• Bone fractures
• Sprains and other soft tissue injuries
• Spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal housing the spinal cord)
• Slipped/herniated disk

Understand that some injuries cause immediate, obvious symptoms while others worsen with time due to swelling, bruising, and inflammation. It is very important that you report all symptoms, even if they don’t show up for days or even weeks.

Your whiplash injury symptoms might include:

• Pain or pinching sensation
• Headache
• Tingling, burning, or numbness in arms/legs and fingers/toes
• Stiffness or limited range of motion
• Weakness
• Sore shoulders and hips
• Trouble breathing
• Belly pain, swelling, bruising
• Twisted, awkward positions
• Paralysis
• Decreased vision or hearing
• Loss of bladder/bowel control
• Anxiety, stress, and panic

Depending on the severity and location of your injury, its primary effect could be discomfort and upper back or lower back pain. Left untreated, certain injuries can become as serious as progressive and degenerative disease.

How Do I Deal with Delayed Back and Neck Pain?

As mentioned, certain injuries take time to cause problems. This is because things like swelling, bruising, and inflammation aren’t immediate, and can be aggravated by activity in the meantime.

Keep a daily journal of your pain, and if you notice any new symptoms, from muscle spasms to intense back pain, seek medical treatment right away.

If you’re working with a good attorney, they’ll want to know about delayed pain as well. Just because it didn’t occur immediately after the accident doesn’t mean it won’t help your insurance claim.

Again, it’s in your best interest to get medical attention as soon as possible after a car wreck, even if you think your neck and back injuries might be minor. When those injuries impact your quality of life, it’s equally important to speak with an experienced attorney.

RELATED: How Do I Know if I Suffered Whiplash in an Auto Accident?