Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers

Spinal cord injuries are one of the most common injuries that we see in car accident victims. Whether it be whiplash type injuries, disc injuries, or even more severe spinal cord injuries causing paralysis, we have helped personal injury victims navigate their treatment and insurance claims process. What may start out as soreness and stiffness can often times develop into numbness and tingling in hands and feet. Spinal cord injuries are often not apparent right away. We have had more clients than we can count who have left the scene of a car accident thinking they were fine only to be able to not get out of bed the next morning or even start to develop symptoms several days later. Since back injuries can lead to a lifetime of pain or reduced motion, we take them seriously at Snellings Law.

Some of the most common types of spinal injuries we see are as follows:

Whiplash Injuries – Whiplash occurs when your neck is forcibly bent forward then backward or backward then forward.¹ In the car accident scenario, this usually occurs when a driver or passenger experiences sudden acceleration (rear-impact) or sudden deceleration (frontal-impact).

Herniated, Bulged, Slipped, and Ruptured Discs – The bones in our spine are called vertebrae, and between each vertebrae is a disc. These discs support and cushion the vertebrae to prevent bone grinding on bone. A herniated disc (also called bulged, slipped, or ruptured) means the interior of the disc has come through the outer layer of the disc and into the spinal canal. Since the spinal canal is a very narrow area, this fragment can push on the spinal cord causing pain, numbness, tingling, and other symptoms.

Spinal Fractures – Fractures to the vertebrae can occur anywhere along the spine. These fractures can pinch, compress, or tear the spinal cord. The most common type of fracture we see in car accident and truck accident cases are compression fractures. A sudden downward force shatters and collapses the body of the vertebrae.² This type of fracture can throw bone fragments into the spinal canal and damage the spinal cord, which would then be called a burst fracture.

Spinal Cord Injuries – Car accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries in younger Americans. A complete spinal cord injury causes a total loss in all motor and sensory function below the level of the injury. An incomplete spinal cord injury leaves some function below the level of injury.³ The American Spinal Injury Association created a scale to classify the severity of the injury⁴ :

• ASIA A – injury is complete spinal cord injury with no sensory or motor function preserved;
• ASIA B – A sensory incomplete injury with complete motor function loss;
• ASIA C – a motor incomplete injury, where there is some movement, but less than half the muscle groups are anti-gravity (can lift up against the force of gravity with a full range of motion);
• ASIA D – a motor incomplete injury with more than half of the muscle groups being anti-gravity;
• ASIA E – normal

The more severe the injury, the less likely a recovery will occur.

We work with our clients to document their injuries as well as take our time to make sure our clients have plenty of time to navigate their treatment plan with their physicians before we even begin to think about negotiating their claims. We want to know our clients have been thoroughly diagnosed and treated with the very best care before beginning the demand process. That is the only way to ensure that we fully evaluate their claim and obtain the best possible claim result for them.

1 https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/whiplash-injury

2 https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-spinefract.htm

3 https://www.aans.org/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Spinal-Cord-Injury

4 https://asia-spinalinjury.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/International_Stds_Diagram_Worksheet.pdf