Many people suffer from upper back pain after a car accident, and oftentimes the pain can be unbearable. If your upper back pain is preventing you from enjoying life, know that our Eason & Tambornini personal injury attorneys are always ready to help you. Our lawyers will not only help you through the legal process, but we’ll also help you understand how you can have upper back pain from a car accident, why it can still be present even months after the car accident, the causes of back pain in the middle of your back, and what you can do should you have a whiplash injury. Do give us a call to set up a free consultation with one of our lawyers for upper back problems sustained from a vehicular accident.
Car accident victims usually develop upper back pain. This injury can occur when the upper back forcefully slams into the car seat and damages the soft tissues located in this region. If the external force is strong enough, it could even result in small spinal fractures that impinge or irritate the nerves exiting between the vertebral bodies.
Whiplash, an injury caused by sudden and forceful hyperextension and flexion of the neck, can also result in upper back pain. This is because the abrupt hyperextension movement compresses the vertebral bones together, resulting in the compression of the intervertebral discs. These are the discs found between each of the vertebral bodies and functions as the spine’s shock absorber.
Disc compression can also cause nerve impingement and result in the affectation of their sensory and motor functions. Symptoms include pain, muscle weakness, muscle spasms, and tingling sensations.
When the inflammation has gone down, and tissues have healed, the symptoms of neck and upper back pain typically go away after a few weeks. However, it’s not unusual for the pain symptoms to persist months after the car accident.
Some of the causes for chronic upper back pain may be facet joint fractures, intervertebral disc injuries, muscle strain, tendon, and ligament tears, as well as nerve root impingement and compression. To diagnose upper back pain, you may need tests like X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans.
Other tests that may be done for intractable upper back and neck pain are discography and electromyography. They check the integrity of the discs and nerves and look for damages and injuries.
These tests can be pretty expensive. You might have to pay for them out of your own pockets since some insurance companies do not cover these additional expenses.
There are many reasons you may be experiencing pain in the upper part of your back after a motor vehicle accident. It can be from injury and bruising of the back muscles, which happens when your back slams against the car seat. It can also be from an impinged nerve, sending shooting pain that radiates to the middle of your back.
The blunt force from the trauma could have caused small fractures in the spine, resulting in broken pieces of bone grating against each other and causing extreme pain.
Another cause of upper-back pain after a car accident is damaged intervertebral discs. There may be an undiagnosed bulged disc, herniated disc, or ruptured disc that will necessitate surgery to repair.
Car accidents can also aggravate an existing degenerative disc disease and intensify pain symptoms.
If the injuries to the neck and upper back are not severe, conservative treatments may be prescribed. Treatments include pain medication, anti-inflammatory drugs, cold compress for 20-minute durations for the first 24 hours, and hot compress after that, gentle neck and back massage, as well as gentle neck and back stretching exercises to prevent stiffness and the development of a restricted joint range of motion. Additional medications may also be prescribed for other whiplash symptoms such as nausea and headache.
If this approach does not improve the condition, repeat laboratory and radiologic exams will be ordered to look for other possible causes of your chronic neck and upper back pain. Your physician may also prescribe physical therapy to strengthen your neck and back muscles.
What can you do?
It’s important that you get treatment for your neck and upper back problems, especially if you were involved in a car accident. Leaving them untreated causes you pain and suffering and makes you miss work, which means lost income.
You’re not alone, and you have someone who will help you file a personal injury and lost wage claim. If you have any questions regarding acute upper back pain or chronic and persistent back pain resulting from a car accident, mid back pain causes, whiplash treatments, and the process of filing a lawsuit, do not hesitate to give one of our lawyers a call. Our Eason & Tambornini car accident attorneys are always ready to assist anyone who is suffering from upper back pain caused by a car accident.
