With the ability to cause chronic, systemic issues later in life, untreated or misdiagnosed neck injuries resulting from car accidents can be serious and debilitating. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of scholarly articles discussing the concern for untruthful or exaggerated whiplash injury claims. When should I involve a Prolotherapist in my care? We'll start with some examples of real-life verdicts and personal injury settlements involving neck injuries, then cover some key factors in figuring out what a neck injury claim might be worth. However, if you received delayed injuries and were not aware of their extent for several months, you should confirm your case still falls under the statute of limitations in your state. Injury Advocates Group Attorneys, L.L.P, all rights reserved. Serving all of California, with a focus on Kern County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County. Such displayed above, they had a military or straight spine shape before the accident, and many of those people had no previous neck-related symptoms. If youve recently injured your neck in an accident, doctors have likely referred to your injuries as damage to the cervical spine, the medical term for the bones and tissue that make up your neck. When you can file against multiple insurance policies, you have more of a chance of receiving full compensation for your damages. Lets take a moment to look at the various curvatures of the neck. Rear end car accident settlement with cervical disc injury, $268,000 The insurance companies will have their attorneys and you should not be alone in this fight. Car accident neck injury settlement amounts related to whiplash can often double and triple, but only after we push the case towards the finish line i.e., into litigation towards trial. Lumbar spinal injuries from car accidents can be serious, and the lifetime costs of any spinal cord injury can be extensive for victims. Whiplash is undoubtedly one of the most common auto accident injuries. Every state has astatute of limitationson filing personal injury claims. Cervical spondylosis is the natural wearing down of cartilage, disks, ligaments and bones in your neck. Personal Attention & Quality Legal Service Since 1961. They refer to the emotional and mental damages suffered from a car accident. Lordosis describes the normal front-to-back curvature of multiple areas of the spine, including the neck. A chiropractor may also recommend a series of safe and gentle relaxation techniques to help the healing process. We keep mentioning the intervertebral discs in this article, and for good reason. Take the Quiz! When this happens, you can feel pain, weakness, tingling and numbness in the neck, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. A violent car accident can traumatize the sensitive components of your spine, which can lead to spinal injuries or debilitating back pain. Serving nationwide in all 50 states on a case-by-case basis with a national network of relationships and on a Pro Hac Vice basis. The party that pays your neck injury settlement depends on which avenue you and your attorney chose to take: an insurance claim or a lawsuit. Multi-Million Dollar Settlement from the manufacturer of a defective automobile. Our auto accident practice includes service in the follow areas: Serving all of Los Angeles, including Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Claremont, Canoga Park, Chino, Chino Hills, Covina, Diamond Bar, Downey, East Pasadena, El Monte, Encino, Highland Park, Inglewood, La Verne, Long Beach, Malibu, Montebello, Monterey Park, North Hollywood, Northridge, Pasadena, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Reseda, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Dimas, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, South Bay, South LA, South Pasadena, Sunland, Tarzana, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Van Nuys, Venice, West Covina, West Hollywood, and Westlake Village. Improper posture and muscular spasm are two important causes for loss of cervical curvature. He required spinal fusion surgery in two places and had to begin weekly treatments of chiropractic therapy, physical therapy, and acupuncture. In this article, you, and other auto accident injury victims, will learn why that is. Each of these is a recoverable element of the damages in your neck injury settlement amount. Claims involving both the cervical spine and the thoracolumbar spine are rated under the same general rating formula. $220K Settlement for Cervical Disc (C4-C5) Herniation from Car Accident. They usually have taken a long medical journey bouncing from one clinician to another looking for answers to problems that seemingly evade all treatments. Its important to understand each car accident has varying factors (such as total damages or liability) that impact its overall settlement value. In turn, this factor increases its overall settlement amount. The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. Deng, B., Begeman, P. C., Yang, K. H., Tashman, S., & King, A. I. Neck rotation. Healing from a neck injury following a car accident may occur at different speeds for different individuals, but chiropractic medicine can help expedite an accident injury victims recovery, and prevent or greatly reduce, chronic symptoms. Much like the lower regions of the spine, the neck can also receive spinal cord damage in an auto accident. Available medical literature shows there is approximately a 40% chance of your whiplash injuries being permanent if they persist beyond two years. absence of cervical lordosis . Tearing, sprains, or strains to the ligaments, muscles and tendons in the neck following a car accident are described as soft tissue damage. It will vary depending on the type of injury, but the average payout for a neck injury is between $5,000 and $50,000. $300,000 verdict for a woman in a car accident who sustained disc herniations, required surgery and experienced a 60% loss of range of motion in her neck. Johnson G. (1996). loss of cervical lordosis may be found in 14% of normal children. (However) Craniocervicalinstability has a straightening effect on the cervical alignment.. Yet 98% of the injured patients had a loss of normal neck curve, 12-14 weeks after the injury. Can a car accident cause straightening of your cervical spine? A 34-year-old man was rear-ended by a police officer. The trauma from an auto accident can damage both the atlas and the axis, resulting in severe injuries. In fact, your atlas bears the weight of your entire head, which is about 11 pounds on average. Our lawyers have handled ACDF accident cases that settled for $75,000, and ACDF accident cases that settled for over $750,000. This is the "Military Neck" you see in the x-ray on the left. Unfortunately, many of our "normal" daily tasks may also decrease the cervical lordosis, like viewing low lying computer screens (below eye level), sleeping with two . Five years after the accident, whiplash casualties still have poorer quality of life in the physical domain than other mildly injured casualties: analysis of the ESPARR cohort. He suffered C4-5 and C5-6 protrusions and spondylosis. For this reason, theyre referred to as non-economic damages, since theyre not tied to a number. Plus, pain medications can cause drowsiness or dizziness, making returning to certain positions dangerous. A loss of cervical lordosis can absolutely cause neck and shoulder . what the plaintiff would be willing to accept to settle the case before trial. From rear-end collisions to side-impact wrecks, car accidents are the primary cause of neck injuries in America. Your lifelong symptoms from a neck injury may include: Mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, Less relaxing sleep or restless nights, Depressed or anxious from chronic pain. A muscle is a band of tissue responsible for movement. We discuss them below. For example, medications can help with reducing pain and inflammation.. loss of cervical lordosis car accident settlementthe renaissance apartments chicago. a congenital disorder. Violent collisions may damage one or more spinal discs, causing a bulge or disc herniation. For example, if the plaintiff is an avid violin player, but can no longer hold the instrument properly because of the neck injury, his damages based on "loss of quality of life" will likely be higher in the eyes of a jury. Whereas broken bone injuries are an event, whiplash injuries are a process, and take several weeks to complete that process. Spinal cord injuries range from cord pressure and bruising to partial or total paralysis. Some neck injuries and the pains associated with them will be permanent. As many as 50% of injury victims go on to develop persistent symptoms that can have a detrimental effect upon their mental and physical well being. Cervical spine injuries can range widely, from strains and sprains to paralysis. Whiplash. As a result, issues with memory, sleeping, and balance can occur. These are hard fought damages insurance companies are notorious for refusing to pay full lost wage claims. In the illustration below we see the various measurements and landmarks that help doctors and patients understand their cervical spine instability. The Insurance Information Institute reports the average claim for bodily injury after a collision was $20,235 in 2020, while the average property damage claim was $4,711. Block O'Toole & Murphy won a settlement of $1,200,000 for the plaintiff, a woman whose car was rear-ended in New York and suffered a neck injury as a result. Similarly, injuries requiring treatment by physiciansas opposed to chiropractors, or even physical therapistsare given more weight by many insurance adjusters. There are those people who report numerous whiplash injuries and cannot even remember if they had neck issues before the first of the whiplash injuries or not. These cushion-like discs rest between each bone to prevent your vertebrae from painfully rubbing together, plus they give your spine flexibility to bend, twist, and move. Louisiana, 2021: $4,316,378 Bench Verdict. During a collision in which a high level of impact occurs, the intervertebral discs in the cervical spine may slip out of place from between vertebrae and cause the injured disc to compress nerves in the spinal cord. If youre pleased with the settlement offer, thetimeline is expedited, and a check can be released to your attorney. This needs to be kept in mind when claiming whiplash after a car accident, because the neck injury lawsuit settlement should match your injuries. Kinematics of human cadaver cervical spine during low speed rear-end impacts. Individuals with permanent injury may have to undergo cervical fusion surgery or an alternative type of spinal surgery to repair the damage. interesting facts about australia for kids . At our center, we see many patients with chronic whiplash symptoms. Before diving into a lawsuit, your car accident attorney will first attempt to work with the at-fault drivers insurance company to recoup damages. The muscles in the neck and shoulders have to work harder to support the weight of the head as the curvature that usually facilitates the even distribution of this weight is lost. In other words, some people may be walking around with loss of their cervical curve and it is completely asymptotic. Auto accident settlement with cervical disc injury, $375,000 Can the straightening of the cervical spine lead to a worsening or delayed development of whiplash-related symptoms. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site. The settlement was the result of a personal injury lawsuit that was filed after the client was in a low-impact, rear-end, car accident. To counter aggressive insurance companies and defense attorneys, you need a strong case and a skilled personal injury attorney. A lawsuit for a motor vehicle accident begins with a complainta legal document typically prepared by your lawyer that details your version of events and what you expect for your suffering. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The truck operator rear-ended the victims car in stop-and-go traffic, causing devastating neck injuries. Continued. Physical therapy and chiropractic treatment are the most common first stage treatments for whiplash injuries. Additionally, "hard" injuries like a fractured bone (cervical fracture in the case of a neck injury) tend to result in larger settlements than soft tissue injuries like whiplash or pinched nerve (cervical radiculopathy). If this occurs, your lawyer will advise you about moving forward with a civil lawsuit against the other motorist and their insurance company. A strong attorney-client relationship can help you properly price lost wages and determine your accidents impact on future income, so you can receive the compensation you deserve. Would you rather have $30,000 today or $55,000 in 2 years? The answer is also yes. In stories, we hear from people, those diagnosed with craniocervical instability following a car accident that caused the whiplash-associated reversal of cervical lordosis, are the stories that suggest something was already going on in their neck and the car accident was the final straw. The person will tell us about a head-on car accident that initially did not cause them any problems at all. Several radiological cervical angular variables (the change of the angle of the cervical spine as in lesser angle degree manifest as straightening or loss of lordosis) are suggested to have constitutional (impacting the neck and the whole body) characteristics, that is, them being minimally influenced by body positioning (the neck curvature has become its own world, the movements of the body no longer impact a neck with significant curve problems). Journal of Spine Surgery. If a spinal injury or trauma has damaged the spine and caused the loss of cervical lordosis, the injury must be addressed proactively to improve the spine's health . Call (727) 733-0433 for a cervical lordosis evaluation! It houses your spinal cord, which carries information from your brain down to the rest of your body. Reduced curvatures in the neck are called hypolordotic conditions. The researchers are suggesting that people who suffer from whiplash injuries may have more of a worsening or onset of symptoms than others because their neck was already in a compromised shape. 2) Accidents on the cervical spine: when we talk about accidents to the cervical spine, our initial thought goes towards the classic car crash accident called "whiplash". No fee unless we win. If you experience any of the following, be sure to seek medical assistance as quickly as possible: Radiating pain that penetrates the shoulders, arms and hands, Any tingling, numbness or weakness in the arms, hands and fingers. Bear in mind, the average settlement amount for minor neck and back injuries are generally much smaller, such as $10,000 to $100,000. Remember, you can only file one claim for your injuriesyou cant follow up in ten years seeking more compensation because of an inability to work. Kinematics of human cadaver cervical spine during low speed rear-end impacts. If the plaintiff has little or no evidence proving the defendant was at fault for the accident that led to the neck injuries, the value of the case goes down considerably. Learn more about how the nature and extent of injuries affects claim value. 3% (74/2176) 2. During a car accident, the rapid forward-backward or side-to-side motion can cause these delicate tissues to stretch or tear. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use, Supplemental Terms, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. His law license number is 277263. When traveling in a car, your body may be held firmly in place by a seat belt, but your head and neck are unrestrained and remain so up until the point of impact. A neck injury can be both physically and mentally painful, and cause you to lose all enjoyment in life, and be consumed with grief and mental anguish. $900K Rear-End Car Accident Settlement for a New York photographer hit by a truck at a stop sign. $9,500 trial verdict for neck injuries resulting from a minor rear-end accident. However, thats not to say general damages dont increase the value of your case. Later in the article, I will explain how the Rectifier works. This is not always the case but it is a reality that many will have to deal with. Depending on the literature you rely on, some doctors will call it a permanent injury after 6 months or 12 months. The insurance company will scrutinize your past medical records to try and bring forth the argument that you had a pre-existing condition. -ABNORMAL CERVICAL CURVE; CAR WRECKS AND LOSS OF THE One of the most common ways to really foul up a cervical curve is to be involved in a MVA (MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT).). The x-ray will not rule out a herniated disc or other discogenic injuries. VA disability ratings for back pain go from 10% to 100% depending on how severe your symptoms are, including your range of motion and pain frequency and level. Generally, whiplash creates localized neck and shoulder pain, as well as a limited range of motion in the cervical spine. Your spine is one of the most delicate components of your body. The problem is usually detected on X-ray of cervical spine and it should be . For this reason, the typical neck injury in an accident is a combination flexion-extension injury. A fracture can heal in a few months. Severe spinal cord damage in the neck can cause partial or total paralysis, or it can cause a victim to lose sensation and reflex functions from the neck down. Even if the potential damages are high, a defendant will be less willing to settle and more inclined to take their chances at trial. Cervical lordosis meaning is that it refers to the normal curve of the spinal cord. Yes, whiplash can be a serious injury that can cause you to have lifelong chronic pain that will require medical treatment and possibly physical therapy. The result is a negative impact on your case and neck injury settlement amount. Whether or not lordosis should be the expected finding in the cervical spine is still under question. He has been practicing law for 10 years. Just like the thoracic and lumbar spine, the cervical spine is incredibly vulnerable to injury during a car crash. This is to rule out that you do not have an acute injury (a serious injury), such as a neck fracture. Abnormal curves of the cervical spine (neck) come in two forms.
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