Back pain is a common injury in traffic collisions, but if you were involved in a car accident years ago and are now experiencing back pain again, you may have what’s called a latent injury.
This type of injury does not immediately affect you too severely following an accident but will appear weeks, months, or years later. It’s wise to speak with a West Palm Beach car accident lawyer in a situation like this. Upon doing so, you can see your next steps if you are experiencing back pain after a car accident.
Common delayed-onset injuries resulting in back pain
Depending on the severity of your car accident, some injuries could first show up as subtle injuries and progress into more severe pain. It’s not uncommon for many to walk away from accidents, thinking they were affected at all by the injuries they sustained.
Then, before many know it, this latent injury could turn into something worse. Here are the following types of delayed back pain injuries.
Sciatica
This is a condition that occurs when the sciatica nerve becomes compressed. This nerve runs from the lower back to the legs and will affect the spine if it becomes severe. Likely this could be the case if you faced spine injuries in a previous car accident.
If this nerve becomes compressed for too long, pain, numbness, and tingling in the lower back, feet, and legs can occur, causing difficulty walking, standing, or even sitting.
Whiplash
Whiplash is common In a car accident and will appear within three weeks. This injury occurs when the head and neck suddenly move forward and backward, causing muscle strain, often resulting in back injuries.
Spine injury
This injury is more severe and can cause life-changing effects if not treated properly. Spine injuries usually range from mild to severe, causing pain, numbness, weakness, and, sometimes, paralysis.
Herniated disks
When a herniated disk occurs, the outer layer of your disk will rupture, causing jelly-like substances to leak out into your body. This will cause pain, numbness, and tingling. Often, it will affect your ability to move your arms or legs.
You don’t need to suffer after your car accident
Delayed back pain after a car accident is something that many don’t know how to manage. After the initial shock of an accident and dealing with any apparent injuries, the legal process is the next most important thing. Many don’t know what to do when all settles down, and they experience back pain after an accident.
This is where the experienced team at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath come in. As your experienced trial lawyers, we will help you through this confusing process of ongoing back pain after your accident. Call us at (561) 655-1990 with any questions. You can also schedule a free consultation to allow us to get to know you and your injuries a bit more.
