Houston Neck & Back Injury Attorneys
Houston Attorneys Standing Up for the Rights of the Seriously Injured
Neck and back injuries are the leading cause of chronic pain for the American public. According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. Back and neck injuries account for 42% of the shocking 100 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain. In addition to this, back injuries account for 25% of all workers’ compensation payments in the country. Activities that involve bending and twisting of the body like lifting, carrying, and lowering are the most likely to result in back and neck injuries.
- Neck injuries can occur as a result of repetitive movements that place enormous strain on the neck and shoulder area. Physical activities such as lifting weights, contact sports, and others can cause chronic damage to the neck and shoulders.
- Chronic back pain accounts for 27 million cases of chronic pain in America. As chronic back pain is more prevalent than diabetes, this may be because chronic back pain has many causes. This can include car crashes, traumatic accidents, and more.
Bulging & Herniated Discs
Discs are important pieces of cartilage between vertebrae in the spine that help allow for its movement. Injuries to the discs in your back can make even the subtlest movements agonizing, putting you out of work or requiring expensive surgery. Arnold & Itkin LLP is here to help you fight for financial compensation for medical expenses and lost wages if your disc injury was the result of an accident caused by the negligence or recklessness of another party. In between each of the spinal vertebrae sits a disc: a flat cushion-like object made of an outer shell of hard cartilage and an inner core of softer cartilage. Injuries to discs can be excruciatingly painful and can come in many different forms. Disc injuries can result from many different situations but are especially common with lifting injuries or traumatic accidents.
Two particularly common disc injuries are bulging and herniated discs:
- Bulging Disc: Begins to extend beyond the intervertebral space it usually occupies. The bulge typically affects a large part of the disc.
- Herniated Disc: Occurs when a crack in the tough external cartilage allows some of the soft, inner cartilage to poke out of the disc.
Disc injuries can be hard to diagnose, as symptoms usually begin as undefined pain in the arms, legs, feet, and hands. Other times, individuals with disc injuries will experience severe and unrelenting neck and or low back pain. Patients with disc injuries may also suffer from numbness, tingling, weakened muscles, slowed reflexes, or even paralysis. Treatments for these orthopedic injuries usually begin with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain medications (NSAIDs). Other times, an epidural steroid injection (cortisone shot) will be applied to the spine adjacent to the affected disc. If non-surgical treatments have been exhausted, and the patient is still experiencing pain, surgical correction may be necessary.
Ways to Prevent Neck Injuries & Strains
There are precautionary measures that anyone with neck pain must take to ensure that the pain does not get worse.
Here’s what you should be looking for to prevent neck injury:
- Identify the kinds of repetitive tasks that put you at risk of a neck injury.
- Train yourself to have correct posture.
- Take regular breaks from repetitive tasks to alleviate neck pressure.
- Work in sufficient lighting.
- Recognize the early signs of neck injury development and take the proper steps to minimize those effects.
Some Neck & Back Injuries Are Unavoidable
While preparation, identification, and training can minimize risk, there are situations outside your control that can cause neck and back injuries.
Some of the primary causes of neck and back injuries include:
What Can You Do If You Have Been Injured?
For the injured, these situations may be completely unavoidable. Maybe the injured was the victim of a drunk driving accident. Perhaps the wounded was a worker unfortunate enough to be sitting under the pipe when it broke off the ceiling. Regardless of the reason, the fact of the matter is that in no way is chronic back and neck pain completely preventable. If you or a loved one has experienced neck or back pain from a situation where you were the victim of another person’s negligence, it is time you seek relief. There is no reason why you should have to pay for the medical treatments that you are enduring. There is no reason that the guilty party should be free of the consequences of causing your chronic back or neck pain. Contact Arnold & Itkin to hold the responsible party accountable for their hand in giving you chronic pain.