The most minor fender-bender or the most severe collision can lead to injuries that will follow you through life. Unfortunately, some of these painful and catastrophic injuries can affect your neck and back in many ways. Even though your spinal column is heralded as being one of the strongest parts of your body, it can become severely damaged in the event of an unexpected accident. If you have been experiencing pain in your neck and back, you should always receive medical attention after a collision.

Types of Neck and Back Injuries in Car Accidents

Muscle Injuries: The aftermath of a car accident can lead to many aches and pains. The muscles are some of the most commonly affected parts of our bodies in accidents every year, especially in low-speed accidents. You might be feeling achy after an accident and think that it is nothing, but it could be a strain that was put on your muscles when the collision took place. You will naturally tense in an accident, which means that soft tissue damage can take place in the blink of an eye. 

Whiplash: Whiplash is another type of muscle injury and actually one of the most common to occur in an accident, especially rear-end accidents. The head whips one way and then the other when an accident takes place. In doing so, the spine and tissues around the spine can easily sustain damage. If you have whiplash, you will more than likely feel shoulder and neck pain. Though some of this could feel as minor aches, other whiplash injuries lead to numbness and tingling that can easily become excruciating as time goes on. You might also experience headaches, blurred vision, and even balance issues. This is why you should always seek medical attention no matter how severe the accident. 

Disc Herniation: There are discs that cushion the bones that form your spine. These discs are round with a tough layer that protects us from many things, but sometimes the force of a car accident is too great. When there is enough force in an accident, the nucleus of the disc could be pushed right out into the spinal canal. The disc then presses into the nerves of the spine, which can produce some of the most severe pain. A disc herniation can happen at any place in the spine and cause a lot of issues for somebody who has been involved in a car accident.

Dislocated/Fractured Vertebrae: The force of an accident is also great enough to pull apart the vertebrae. This means that the vertebrae can become fractured, or broken. The symptoms that you will feel can be incredibly painful or very minor and unnoticeable. In some cases, a person can even become paralyzed due to an accident that leads to a fracture.

Speaking with a Skilled Florida Car Accident Attorney

In the moments and days following your accident, you will likely feel many types of aches and pains and should always pay close attention to them. Any pain that is prolonged could manifest as an injury that will impact you for the rest of your life. Our attorneys at Sheftall & Associates are dedicated to helping you receive the care and compensation that you deserve after a serious Florida car accident. We are committed to your claim and do not want you to stand alone. Please contact our law firm in Florida at 904-647-2296 for more information on your legal options.