Severe Back and Neck Injuries

Back and neck injuries can range from mild aches to severe disabling pain. They may affect your cervical vertebrae or run down to the lumbar or sacral region of your spine. When you have back pain or neck pain, your mobility and daily functioning may be compromised. Pain may last for weeks or even the remainder of your lifetime. You may no longer be able to perform the same job. When your severe back and neck pain was caused by an accident for which somebody else was at fault, you should consult seasoned Syracuse personal injury lawyers of DeFrancisco and Falgiatano personal injury attorneys.

Symptoms of back and neck injuries include dull or sharp pains, numbness or tingling in the legs, sharp shooting pains from your lower back downward, consistent aches after standing or sitting for long, arm tingling or numbness, headaches, and achiness from the neck to the tailbone. It can be challenging to determine the precise cause of back and neck pain. However, common reasons include trauma, forceful impact, fractures, strenuous activity, repetitive heavy lifting, infection, muscle spasm, ligament or muscle tears, herniated discs, pinched nerves, and abdominal issues.

A healthcare provider will typically perform a medical and physical exam, as well as order imaging such as MRIs or x-rays, to get a complete picture of the injury. MRIs result in pictures of the entire region including ligaments and tendons. If your severe back and neck injuries were caused by someone else, you may be able to recover damages arising out of them

Severe back and neck injuries can be the result of car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and falls, dangerous property conditions, construction accidents, and medical malpractice. The circumstances under which you were injured in Syracuse will determine how our lawyers should establish liability.

When severe back and neck injuries are sustained in a motorcycle accident, for example, and the motorcycle accident was caused by another driver, it may be appropriate to seek damages under a theory of negligence. This means our personal injury attorneys will need to show it's more likely than not the other driver owed you a duty to use reasonable care, but did not do so, and thus caused your injuries.

If, for another example, a surgeon’s error during a laminectomy caused your back and neck pain, we may need to establish the surgeon’s medical malpractice. Our lawyers would need to show it's more likely than not you were owed a professional standard of care, which your healthcare provider breached, and the breach resulted in severe neck and back injuries. Typically, it is necessary to retain an expert to provide opinions about what the professional standard of care was under the circumstances and how it was breached.

Your damages can be reduced by an amount proportionate to which you are at fault for your own severe injuries under the doctrine of comparative negligence. In a premises liability case this means, for instance, if your damages are $100,000, but you are 50% responsible for your back injuries, you would only be able to recover $50,000 from the defendant.

The severity and nature of your back and neck injuries will determine the amount of a compensatory damages award. Compensatory damages can include both economic and noneconomic losses. These may include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, replacement services, lost earning capacity, medical bills, emergency room bills, and lost income.

If you suffered severe back and neck injuries due to the fault of another, you should retain seasoned counsel that seeks the best results. You should consult the Syracuse personal injury lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys. We represent accident victims and their families in Lowville, Rochester, Auburn, Watertown, Herkimer, Oswego, Wampsville, Canandaigua, Lyons, Ithaca, Cooperstown, Oneida, Utica, Binghamton, Elmira, Buffalo, Albany, and all of Upstate New York. Complete our online form or call us at 833-200-2000 for a free consultation.