Back Injuries After a Slip and Fall

Serious Back Injuries After a Slip and Fall Should be Evaluated By Our Slip and Fall Lawyers in Indiana

Most of us will experience pack pain at one time or another in our lives. Some back pain is normal, even expected. However, when that back pain is caused by a traumatic event such as a fall, victims may face entirely different challenges. Back injuries after a slip and fall can be catastrophic and debilitating, often resulting in long-term suffering and lifestyle changes. Some back injuries may require surgical intervention. Victims who have been injured in a fall on another person, business, or government entity’s property may be entitled to compensation with the help of our slip and fall lawyers in Indiana.

Here at Shaw Law, our experienced slip and fall lawyers in Indiana can help you and your family recover compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, surgical costs, loss of consortium, and other damages.

Back Injuries After a Slip And Fall in Indiana

Back injuries happen to men, women, and children and to all age groups. Depending upon how severe the slip and fall was, a victim could have a wide-range of injuries ranging from a sore and bruised back, to a broken spine and paralysis. It is not uncommon for someone who slipped and fell to have herniated, fractured, or dislocated discs or vertebrae. The tailbone, or coccyx, is also capable of being bruised, broken, or dislocated. A doctor can see the extent of this type of damage in an X-ray.

The body’s muscles, ligaments, and tendons are considered soft tissues, and these soft tissues can also be strained, stretched, or torn. Soft tissue damage is painful, and can keep a person from doing their normal daily activities around the home, at work, or at play. A doctor can see the extent of soft tissue damage with an MRI or a CT scan. Soft tissue damage is usually temporary and people recover.

Specific Types of Back Injuries After a Slip and Fall

Outside the general injuries, there are many very specific types of back injuries that could result in prolonged disability or permanent damage.

Some of the most common types of back injuries after a slip and fall include the following:

• Herniated discs
• Whiplash injuries
• Nerve damage
• Annular tears
• Slipped discs
• Compression fractures
• Bulging discs
• Fractures or broken bones
• Soft tissue injuries
• Spinal stenosis (especially aggravated)
• Arthritis triggered by trauma
• Radiculopathy
• Spondylolisthesis
• Paralysis
• Paraplegia
• Quadriplegia
• Spinal fusion
• Many other serious personal injuries

If you or a loved one suffered any type of back injuries after a slip and fall, have Shaw Law evaluate your case today to learn what you may be entitled to under the law. We offer a no win, no fee guarantee. Call (260) 777-7777 today.

Back Injuries Resulting in a Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injuries are some of the most devastating, because the spinal cord contains the clump of nerves that communicate messages from the brain to other parts of the body, telling the body how and when to move. When this communication is interrupted, a person can become paralyzed either permanently or temporarily.

Whether or not someone is fully paralyzed or partially paralyzed depends upon the location of the spinal damage.

Paraplegia

A paraplegic can have movement some movement, usually the upper body, but have diminished or no function, sensation, or strength in the lower body. This is usually due to a middle or lower spinal cord injury which affects the lower torso and legs. Thus, must paraplegics do not have leg function or minimized leg function.

Quadriplegia

A quadriplegic would not have body movement from the neck down. Recovering from this type of injury is long and painful, and many people never make a full recovery—some will make no recovery at all. It is likely that the victim will need a lifetime of care ranging from needing help bathing and eating to having round the clock medical care. A victim’s home and vehicle may need special adaptations to enable them to live more comfortably at home, or they may need to live in an institution.

Compression Fractures

A compression fracture is a common injury after a slip and fall occurrence. The vertebra in the spinal column can get crushed due to the forces involved when a person falls hard to the ground (particularly a fall on the buttocks which sends enormous physical forces up the spinal column which can crush these bones).

Elderly persons are particularly susceptible to compression fractures due to bones that are arthritic and more susceptible to the forces involved in a fall.

Treatment for compression fractures vary. If severe enough, surgery to correct the remnants and fragments of the bones can be required. Otherwise, the treatments are primarily concerned with alleviating pain and avoiding movements.

Compression fractures can be a particularly painful and debilitating injury following a slip, trip and fall in Indiana.