Back pain is among the most common symptoms suffered by Indiana car accident victims. But the insurance companies frequently challenge claims seeking compensation for the debilitating and disruptive pain.
Fortunately, you don’t have to deal with insurance representatives independently. Instead, you can secure help from an Indiana car accident lawyer from our team at Vaughan & Vaughan.
Start working on your legal claim by calling or completing our online contact form.
What Happens If Your Back Hurts After a Car Accident in Indiana?
If you experience back pain after a car accident in Indiana, you may have a chance to file a claim to seek funds to cover your medical expenses, pain, and suffering. Back injuries like sprains, strains, and fractured vertebrae can require extensive medical care.
After your accident, you can report the collision and seek care for your injuries. You also have the option to contact an Indiana back pain car accident attorney for professional legal help.
Our legal team can review your case’s facts and assess your eligibility to file a personal injury claim for compensation. We’re ready to discuss your situation today.
How Much Compensation Can You Get for Back Pain from a Car Accident?
Average settlements and compensation for back pain after a car accident are difficult to estimate because each crash and injury is unique. However, many cases settle for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Generally, the more severe your injuries, the more you collect damages. Factors that increase back pain compensation include:
- Pain and suffering
- Medical expenses, past, and future
- Replacement services
- Lost wages and lost future income
And if it applies, you can also seek compensation for the following:
- Reduced earning potential
- Loss of quality and enjoyment of life
- Medical and mobility equipment
- Modifications to your home or vehicle
An Indiana back pain car accident lawyer can review your specific losses to provide information about possible compensation in your case.
Can You Get Compensation for Delayed Back Pain?
Yes. It is well-documented that back injuries can cause delayed pain after a car accident. Some injuries, like whiplash, take days or even weeks to start hurting. Insurance companies often challenge delayed pain compensation and accuse seriously injured victims of lying.
You may need a medical expert to explain your delayed pain back injury to the insurance company – or a jury. Working with a back pain car accident lawyer in Indiana gives you access to legal aid from a firm that has connections with medical experts to support your claim.
Why Is It Important to Prove Back Pain After an Accident?
Insurance adjusters like to take advantage of the fact that injuries causing back pain do not always appear in X-rays and CT scans. They don’t mind playing games about your health if it will save them a few dollars.
An adjuster may claim that your injuries “don’t exist,” “aren’t that bad,” or you’re “faking” the pain. We don’t accept this type of disrespect toward our clients.
We take your pain seriously. Back pain can develop into chronic pain that limits your range of motion and reduces your ability to work, complete routine tasks, travel, and enjoy activities when left untreated. In addition, severe pain can disrupt sleep and alter your mood.
How do We Prove a Back Pain Insurance Claim in Indiana?
Doctors sometimes call back pain an “invisible injury” because soft tissue damage is often hard to see. However, we know your pain is real and that you deserve maximum compensation for the harm done to you by a careless driver.
An Indiana back pain car accident lawyer can hold negligent drivers liable. In addition, we know how to find and collect evidence that demands significant compensation for your back pain.
The following are just some of the types of evidence we may use to prove your back injury claim:
Medical Records
Always see a doctor for a thorough examination as soon as possible after a car accident. You may have a severe injury, like a spinal cord injury, and not know it yet.
Your visit to the doctor creates an official medical record of your car accident injuries, which will be significant evidence to support your claim.
Indiana Crash Report
In Indiana, the local police or the Indiana State Police investigate car accidents that result in injuries or death. After their inquiry, the police write a crash report that tells the accident narrative. It is a significant factor in determining accident fault.
The report also makes a note of injuries at the crash site. Your back pain car accident lawyer in Indiana can help you get a copy of this report.
Security Camera or Dashcam Video
Sometimes, a security camera at a nearby business, a traffic light camera, a dashcam, or even a passerby with a cell phone catches video of the accident. Your lawyer can investigate the crash site and seek out potential sources of crash footage.
Your back pain car accident attorney in Indiana must start investigating before any of this video is erased, which may be within 48 hours.
X-Rays
While back injuries do not always appear in an X-ray, CT scan, MRI, or other body imaging results, some injuries, such as spinal fractures, will appear on those tests.
An orthopedic doctor or an emergency trauma specialist may be able to point out signs of soft tissue damage that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Medical Bills and Receipts
Follow your doctor’s instructions. Take medications as prescribed, attend all recommended appointments with medical specialists and therapists, and restrict tasks or do the suggested exercises.
Hang onto all accident-related bills, receipts, and other documents demonstrating the extent of your medical complications and the financial cost of your pain.
That includes bills and invoices from hospitals, medical specialists, physical therapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors, as well as receipts for replacement services, medical equipment, and medication.
Pain Journal
Keep a personal record of how your back pain develops over time. Document the impact it has on your daily life and future goals. Keep track of when pain spikes, what helps alleviate it, medical treatments and therapies, and how the pain limits you.
A detailed record can be compelling evidence for your Indiana back pain car accident lawyer.
Witness Testimony
A lawyer may call upon friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family to describe how they have seen you suffer from back pain and its impact on your life.
Why Choose Us for Your Back Pain Car Accident Claim?
Our Indiana car accident lawyers know the steps necessary to establish back pain in a way the insurance companies cannot deny. We would instead put more time and effort into your case than accept a settlement that is less than you deserve.
Our law firm serves all of Indiana from our offices in Indianapolis, Lafayette, Kokomo, Anderson, Carmel, and Muncie. Contact us for a free case consultation if you sustained injuries in a car accident.
We can answer your crash-related questions and help weigh your options. If you can’t come to us, we can go to you.
How Long does It Take to Recover from Back Pain?
People often wonder, “how long can back pain last after a car accident?” Unfortunately, injuries that cause back pain are among the slowest to heal. Relief from back pain from minor car accidents and significant crashes often requires a lot of rest and proper medical care.
If you have back pain after an accident, it may take months or even years to heal fully. You may even have chronic pain for the rest of your life.
How Long After a Car Accident Can You Sue in Indiana?
You don’t have to wait until you fully recover from seeking compensation for your back injury in Indiana. In fact, the professionals generally recommend that you seek professional legal advice immediately after your collision.
Generally, drivers have a few years to begin their legal claim before the statute of limitations expires in Indiana. Our team can start working on your case immediately.
What do Back Pain Car Accident Lawyers Charge?
Contact us for a free Indiana car accident case consultation if you end up with back pain after an Indiana car accident. At no cost to you, we can answer your crash-related legal questions and help weigh your options.
Our lawyers work for a contingency fee, which means there is no out-of-pocket or upfront cost for our services. Our fee is an agreed-upon percentage of the settlement or verdict. So if we don’t win, you don’t pay us.
You have nothing to lose and much to gain by consulting us about your back pain after a crash. Start working with an Indiana back pain car accident lawyer now.
Why does Your Back Hurt After a Car Accident?
Whether your accident was a T-bone at an intersection or a head-on collision on a busy route, it can happen. Perhaps a drunk driver ran into you on a back road, a driver hit you from behind on a highway, or you were in another type of accident. Back injuries very often accompany car accidents.
The pain comes from general and specific types of injuries. For example, the violent, jerking motion car accident victims suffer during the crash twists and yanks back muscles, tendons, and ligaments in various directions.
Accidents can wear out, tear, strain, or sprain soft tissues in the back and cause severe and long-lasting pain. Or your back may have been injured when the force of the crash slammed your body into something in your vehicle like the:
- Steering wheel
- Roof
- Window
- Windshield
- Airbag
- Loose debris flying around the cab
Your Indiana back pain car accident attorney can help you regardless of the causes of your injury.
What Kind of Back Pain Is Most Common After a Car Accident?
Upper back pain after a car accident is more likely than lower back pain after a car accident, but many injured people have both. Specific injuries that are known to cause back pain after a car accident include:
Spine Fractures
Spine fractures in the lower back, lumbar or thoracic vertebrae put your entire nervous system at risk. In addition, dislocation or compression of the spine bones can worsen your injury.
Herniated Discs
A herniated disc, also known as a bulging disc or slipped disc, may occur when a vertebra gets pushed out of line with the rest of the spinal column.
Joint Injuries
Facet joint injuries damage your backbones where they connect or “facet” together. When these delicate interlocking features chip, crack, fracture, or break, the spinal column can become destabilized, and severe damage may occur.
Pinched Nerves
Pinched nerve or sciatica can cause debilitating shooting pains and limit control of your body’s motion and functions. In addition, pinched nerves often involve injury to the L5-S1 disc.
The answer is yes for anyone wondering if you should see a doctor for back pain after a car accident. Back injuries are often hidden, and a medical exam can get to the source. So protect your health and right to compensation by seeing a doctor immediately after a crash.
Expect Results by Contacting Us for Legal Help Today
After you file a car accident claim, insurance companies conduct investigations of the incident, property damage, and injuries. They are looking for any excuse – no matter how far-fetched – to pay you as little as possible.
A Vaughan & Vaughan Indiana back pain car accident lawyer won’t let the insurance companies get away with denying coverage and lowball valuations. We know you deserve maximum compensation, and we will fight for you to get it.
Don’t delay. A team member can hear from you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contact us to schedule your free case consultation today.
