Ongoing medical care for cervical spine injuries includes: Surgeries are a massive investmentnot just financially, but emotionally and physically. It is important to note, the loss of the normal neck curve was AFTER the muscles spasms in the neck were gone! Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Accidents, The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. In fact, there are eight factors that influence the average settlement for cervical spine injuries. Damage to the spinal cord or discs due to shearing and bending between the cervical vertebrae, physical stretching of the spinal cord or direct impingement by fractured vertebrae. In most cases that injury was brought on by car accident or sports injury. 2020 Mar;6(1):124. Jaw pain. This soft tissue damage can include mild to severe back pain. absence of cervical lordosis . Call our Washington auto accident lawyer at 425-399-7000 today for . If youre pleased with the settlement offer, thetimeline is expedited, and a check can be released to your attorney. Neck injuries are one of the most common vehicle accident injuries, second only to bruises and contusions. This neck instability can also lead to or worsen injury to the facet joint of the cervical vertebrae. So, the settlement amount for any one motor vehicle accident must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Richard Staehler, MD, Cervical Herniated Disc Symptoms and Treatment Options, Spine-Health, July 2019, Sandoz, A review of neck injury and protection in vehicle accidents,Transportation Safety and Environment, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1 November 2019, Pages 89105, National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, Facts & Figures, Updated 2019, Paige Bierma, Whiplash, HealthyDay, December 31, 2019. The following three major injury types can occur to the neck and cervical spine following a car accident: Fracturing of the cervical vertebrae and damage/rupturing of the ligaments and soft tissue that link the vertebrae together. Causing significant pain and having the potential to injure your spinal cord leading to paralysis, a neck fracture is an extremely serious injury that requires immediate medical attention. An insurance adjuster will consider how much damage was done to the vehicles involved in the car accident before making a settlement offer, check whether the claimants injury shows up on an x-ray or an MRI, look at how long the recovery period was, and whether the neck injury is permanent. We hope you found this article informative and it helped answer many of the questions you may have surrounding Whiplash associated disorders, Craniocervical Instability, upper cervical spine instability, cervical spine instability, or simply problems related to neck pain. Did you know more than800,000 car accidentsinvolving neck injuries are reported annually in the U.S. alone? Since 2012, no other law firm attained more results exceeding $1 million in New York State than Block O'Toole & Murphy. bodily trauma. In this article, you, and other auto accident injury victims, will learn why that is. A bulging disc occurs when the outer cartilage of the spinal disc cracks, revealing its soft center. If youve experienced a neck injury from a car, truck, ormotorcycle accident, err on the side of caution and contact a reputable car accident lawyer in your area. Most of the people have neck pain at one point or the other, especially people who spend long hours sitting in front of the computer at work and have a job which requires them to lift things overhead. Unlike a compression fracture where you can typically feel the symptoms immediately, spondylolisthesis tends to be one of themany delayed painsafter an accident. $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. Generally speaking, spinal fusion surgery can increase the overall price of a settlement. Rear end bus accident settlement with cervical disc injury, $2,760,000 Take the Quiz! a congenital disorder. They are hoping you take the money before you realize the true value of your case. Otherwise, find a lawyer who really understands these injuries and how to squeeze out maximum value for you. Copyright 2023 attorney advertisement by Injury Advocates Group and licensed, practicing attorney Ray Benyamin, Esquire. If you have pain in your neck, you should go to the emergency room or an urgent care as soon as you can. You need to find the best law firm that is not too big or small for your case type and likely outcome. If, on the other hand, your neck injury is a whiplash, soft tissue, or muscle sprain or strain injury, you have a problem. Once you give them this and they discover hurtful information, there is no undoing that. Thus, how much settlement you can get for your neck injury depends on who is fighting in your corner. Car accident neck injury amounts will be greatly affected by the steps you take in the period following your accident. However, a Martindale . This might happen to a passenger in a rear facing seat with no head restraint, or an inadequately designed one. Below we're sharing the VA range of motion chart used to rate back . In turn, this factor increases its overall settlement amount. In fact, your atlas bears the weight of your entire head, which is about 11 pounds on average. They are inundated with average injury attorneys who will settle your case fast while leaving money on the table. Physical therapy; ice, heat, massage; soft collar and drugs are first-to-be-tried approaches. Car accidents are traumatic in and of themselves, but suffering cervical spine injuries can create severe emotional duress. $250,000 settlement for aggravation of a pre-existing neck injury in a car accident. Spondylosis is a severe degenerative back and spinal condition. Many cervical spine injury victims question whether they need an attorney from a reputable law firm to guide them through the settlement process. 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. Paralysis is forever. That is until something happens to them. This can lead to shoulder pain, numbness, and pins and needles, and can even affect the movement of . 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". Tell your doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors everything you are suffering through so they can document it for your case. For instance, a no-fault state like Florida may handle a case differently than a fault state, like Arizona or Texas. That is until something happens to them. (800) 400-5050 Free Consultation 247. Here are a few real-world examples of personal injury cases involving neck injuries. Not to mention, a spinal cord injury can make lifting, reaching, bending, or twisting impossible. Learn more about how the "right" medical treatment increases injury settlement value. 3 Rydman E, Elkan P, Eneqvist T, Ekman P, Jrnbert-Pettersson H. The significance of cervical sagittal alignment for nonrecovery after whiplash injury. The victim sustained serious injuries to his neck and lower back, including herniated discs. As we see at our center and as noted in many research papers including this paper published in March 2020 in the Journal of Spine Surgery, (2) from which we will quote: The cervical spine takes one of five distinct sagittal (the line that separates the body in left and right parts or considered the side view) profileslordosis, neutral, kyphosis, S-shaped, and inverted S-shaped. To continue on with this discussion, please see my article Treatment of Whiplash associated disorders. The long-term effects of whiplash can include: Chronic pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders. Secondly, you have a complete reversal of the lordotic curve (x-ray on the right). Head on vehicle accident verdict with cervical soft tissue injury, $200,000 Just like you, we want to make sure you are a good fit for our clinic prior to accepting your case. The average settlement for car accident neck injuries is somewhere in the $10,000-$30,000 range, but baked into that number there are some neck injury settlements that are 7 figures, and others that are 3. From heightened emotions to feeling generally overwhelmed, car accident victims can experience high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and even PTSD. Every state has astatute of limitationson filing personal injury claims. The man was a passenger traveling in a company-owned truck when the at-fault motorist ran a stop sign and collided with the trucks passenger side. The text notes that in one study, x-rays taken an average of 7 years after whiplash injury showed neck disc arthritis was present in 39% of the patients. 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. A loss of cervical lordosis is when the neck has straightened and has lost the normal natural curvature. For instance, a bulging disk can make standing or sitting pure agony. 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. Severe, chronic headaches. Moral of the story the Best Law Firm may not be the Best Law Firm for YOU.. There are too many unique factors in any given personal injury case to predict the value of a neck injury claim, but there are commonalities to consider, and lessons to learn from past cases. Likewise, auto insurance companies like to blame injured parties byciting comparative fault laws, which can slash your settlement amount. When there is a loss of lumbar lordosis, the lower spine's natural inward curvature has become straighter, making that section of the spine flatter than it should be. Arizona has a two-year statute of limitations for a car accident personal injury claim. . A..R. Payne, M.D., S. Patel, O.P.E.R.A.S. Mr. Benyamin is a registered member of the following legal organizations: Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles(CAALA), theLos Angeles County Bar Association(LACBA), theState Bar of California, theAmerican Bar Association (ABA), and the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Image Based Life > Uncategorized > loss of cervical lordosis car accident settlement $537,000 settlement for a man who required cervical fusion surgery following a car accident. . Whiplash. You should speak with your pain management doctor about this. Can a car accident cause straightening of your cervical spine? Medical bills and future medical expenses, including home care, Surgeries, such as discectomies, fusions, and laminectomies, Steroid and/or pain injections to reduce pain and swelling. The surrounding ligaments may also be damaged, affecting the individuals range of motion and movement of their joints. Management and Treatment How is cervical kyphosis treated? 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. 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. You need to find that perfectly balanced bowl of porridge when hiring a law firm, one that aligns with your interests and potential case value. Immediately after an accident, the symptoms of whiplash may not be apparent. 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. When the curve of the spine points toward the front, it's called a lordosis and toward the back, it's called a kyphosis. 1 Linsenmaier U, Deak Z, Krtakovska A, Ruschi F, Kammer N, Wirth S, Reiser M, Geyer L. Emergency radiology: straightening of the cervical spine in MDCT after traumaa sign of injury or normal variant?. This occurs when the head receives an impact when bent forwards, and produces vertebrae wedge and burst fractures, along with spine dislocations. (2000). 2020 Aug 1;20(8):1229-38. 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 . Your spine is composed of several different types of soft tissue, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves. Whiplash can heal and pain symptoms go away as short as a few weeks, but in some cases, it has been shown that whiplash can last up to a decade. It can be as much as 100% or as low as 1%. But achieving a neck injury car accident settlement is not as cut-and-dry as you may think. Injury Advocates Group Attorneys, L.L.P, all rights reserved. An attorney is versed in negotiations with the insurance company and trial law, and they can effectively represent you in court. Craning the neck at a 60-degree angle to look down a phone you just pulled out of your pocket increases the pressure on the neck by 5-6 times, and it can also lead to a straightening of the vertebrae. 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. When extreme force is put on an unhealthy cervical curve during an auto . The bones that make up your spine are called vertebrae, and these bones are separated by jelly-like cushions called intervertebral discs. Can the straightening of the cervical spine lead to a worsening or delayed development of whiplash-related symptoms. The Cervical Spine Research Society. How healthy discs herniate: a biomechanical and microstructural study investigating the combined effects of compression rate and flexion. addresses the question of whiplash trauma and acceleration of degenerative disc disease. If your job requires you to stand for hours on end or sit for long periods of time, you may not be able to return to work at all. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, how the nature and extent of injuries affects claim value, how the "right" medical treatment increases injury settlement value, determining fault in a personal injury case, finding the right personal injury lawyer for you and your case, Tips for Getting the Best Personal Injury Settlement. No matter where you are, the Injury Advocates Group lawyers can help you maximize your neck injury settlement and recovery. You can recover from your initial symptoms of a whiplash injury within a few weeks of the accident occurring. Medically, the spine is classified into three sections: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. How quickly does a neck injury manifest itself? If the at-fault driver was working when the accident occurred, such as in the UPS example above, you might be able to file a claim against their employer as well. In the illustration below we see the various measurements and landmarks that help doctors and patients understand their cervical spine instability. The cervical lordosis condition can occur to anyone of any age. In my experience, the average workers compensation settlement amount for a neck injury that contributes to (worsens, flares up, aggravates, exacerbates, etc.) Damage to soft tissue goes by two names: sprains and strains. When symptoms of a whiplash injury following a car accident persist for two years or more, the symptoms have a strong likelihood of being permanent. If after that, you are symptom free, then you know the full picture of your injuries and what you are negotiating for. Just like the thoracic and lumbar spine, the cervical spine is incredibly vulnerable to injury during a car crash. If it is related to posture and/or obesity, lifestyle issues might also need to be addressed. A sprain is a soft tissue injury caused by a tear in the ligaments. Cervical vertebrae are small, measuring just under an inch wide. Do you want to be average? When the impact from such events causes fractures and/or dislocation of the vertebrae (disks of the spine), a . This isn't my case. Pedestrian crosswalk accident settlement with cervical disc injury, $660,000 Traffic accident data has revealed that more than 90% of whiplash injuries result from rear impacts. These are hard fought damages insurance companies are notorious for refusing to pay full lost wage claims. Let us help you win. Paralysis involves permanent damage . Tearing, sprains, or strains to the ligaments, muscles and tendons in the neck following a car accident are described as soft tissue damage. In a typical front end or rear end accident, the neck will bounce in both directions forward and then returning to the headrest, or vice-versa.