Back pain is one of the most common health complaints in the United States. While there are many different ways to injure your back or experience these symptoms, a car wreck is definitely something that can lead to back pain.
The force of the impact can cause herniated or ruptured discs, strained ligaments, broken back bones, and other issues. Without immediate medical attention and proper treatment, these back and disc injuries can become lifelong problems.
Proving Negligence of the Other Driver
To be compensated for personal injuries from a car accident, the first thing that needs to be done is proving the negligence of the other driver.
Each driver on the road has a duty to other drivers. This can be through written traffic laws or unwritten rules of the road to drive or act reasonable given the conditions (i.e., weather, low lighting). If the other driver breaches this duty (by texting, speeding, running a red light, other distraction, etc.), and then causes the accident resulting in injury to you, they can be found guilty of negligence.
Damages from a Car Accident
You’ll hear personal injury attorneys ask, “what are your damages?” Beyond just your property being damaged, for a negligence claim this basically means how have you been physically injured from this car accident? This is why you’ll hear your claim be treated as a “bodily injury claim” that is separate from your car being fixed.
Because of the way our court system is designed, the only real remedy that exists for car crash injuries or other types of injuries is typically monetary compensation. But to get any financial compensation for your injury, you must show your back injury is tied to the car accident.
How to Connect Your Back Pain to Your Auto Collision
Proving negligence of the driver and that you’re damaged will sometimes only get you so far. Insurance companies have tricks they use to deny or defend claims all of the time. Here are some things that are used to show that your back pain came from your car wreck:
Medical opinion from doctors. The doctor who treats you is an important part of your personal injury claim process. Their diagnosis is integral from your case. Depending on the extent of your injury, this could be more than one kind of doctor or specialist.
Your story. Hearing your side of the story, the history of your injury, pain and suffering, and how its affected your life will help to build and defend your case.
Medical records. These are critical to tie your back pain to the accident. If you’re someone who has been healthy and there is no history of back pain in your records, it will be easy to show the connection. If you’ve been experiencing back pain before the accident, any exacerbation of that injury or pain will need to be identified and shown it’s connected to the collision.
MRIs and x-rays. Possibly either or both of these will be necessary to show back pain. An MRI will help to diagnose any disc or tissue problems, while an x-ray will show broken bones or arthritis. Tying your injuries to these will help to strengthen your claim.
Matching the car accident with the back injury
. Insurance companies will fight back against cases where there is little damage to a vehicle but someone is claiming a significant injury. However, low impact cases can stillcause serious disc and back injuries. It’s important to be able to show that the accident you were in can cause the type of injury you’re experiencing.
How Can I Help My Back Pain Personal Injury Claim?
The best way to maximize your car accident claim is to follow your doctor’s orders. If your doctor says to stay off of your feet or miss time from work, you should follow this even if you think you’re fine. Another way is to be honest and up front with your doctors, yourself, and your personal injury attorney.
If you’re claiming a debilitating back injury but are caught putting a new roof on your house, you can rest assured the insurance company will fight very hard to defeat your claim.
Free Case Evaluations
My name is Dan Hanecak and I am a Sacramento personal injury attorney. I do everything in my power to speak to each and every prospective client when they call. My aim is to help provide friendly and honest advice about any potential claim and to see if our firm is able to help out.
If we can, we schedule a no cost appointment for you to come into our office and review your case in depth. We will go over the facts of your case, medical bills, medical records, lost wages, and help formulate a plan forward.
Please give me a call today at (916) 619-5452 or fill out our form online and I will contact you directly to discuss your case.
