Recognize any of these symptoms in your back or neck after an accident at work? It’s time to seek help.
There are countless types of health problems that can arise from a workplace accident, including a catastrophic injury to the neck or back. These injuries are especially difficult to overcome.
Signs and symptoms of a neck injury
A neck injury is often caused by a whiplash incident. This occurs during a sudden stop of motion from a collision that causes the head to fly forward quickly, injuring the parts of the upper spinal column. However, there are many other reasons why a neck injury might occur in the workplace, including compression to the bones or an impact against the neck.
The signs and symptoms of neck injury may include:
- Pain while trying to move your neck
- Stiffness in the muscles and tendons
- Incontinence from loss of bowel or bladder control
- Tingling or numbness in the limbs or the fingers and toes
- Lacerations that are bleeding
- Paralysis, numbness or weakness in the body
- Dizziness or vertigo while standing or walking
- Severe headache
- Swelling of the tissues in the neck
- Visual disturbances
- Inability to talk, swallow or breathe normally
- Bruising from bleeding blood vessels in the underlying tissues
If you suspect you have a neck injury, then you need emergency medical treatment to stabilize your neck. The neck is composed of many small but important bones that can be damaged. You might have overextended a tendon in the neck during an accident.
It’s also possible to receive an injury to the front of the neck that affects your breathing, swallowing or talking. At a hospital, you will need medical imaging tests to see the bones and other components of the neck to determine if you have a fractured bone or another problem. Keeping your neck stabilized is of utmost importance to avoid any additional damage to your body’s bones, nerves and other components. It’s important to remember that while you may notice a neck injury immediately after a fall or other accident, it is possible to have no symptoms for several days or weeks.
Signs and symptoms of a back injury
Your back is especially prone to being injured in a workplace accident, and unfortunately, it’s an especially common injury while working due to lifting heavy objects. If you fall or get into an auto accident, then a back injury can occur suddenly, but you might not notice the symptoms right away. For overuse injuries, it’s possible to tear a muscle or a tendon immediately, but you may not feel pain for several hours or days.
A back injury can cause a wide range of signs and symptoms, including:
- Muscle tightness or stiffness
- Loss of bowel and bladder functions
- Total or partial paralysis
- Pain along the spine to the buttocks
- Tendon and muscle weakness
- Vision abnormalities
- Tingling sensations in the fingers or toes
- Inability to stand upright
- Muscle spasms
- Swelling in the back tissues
- Bruising on the skin from damaged blood vessels
- Pain in some or part of the back’s regions
The anatomy of your back is complex, leading to frequent injuries to its components. In some cases, you can have a permanent disability from a workplace or vehicle injury to your back.
Overcoming a back injury is particularly difficult, often requiring supportive braces, assistive devices, physical therapy or surgical procedures.
Get help from a knowledgeable Atlanta workers’ compensation attorney
When you suffer a personal injury from a vehicular accident or another type of incident at work, you must take immediate action by calling for assistance from paramedics. To protect your finances, you should begin documenting your medical problems and treatments. Avoid signing any documents that are given to you without reading the information thoroughly and talking to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
If you are receiving treatment or taking medication, then inform the medical staff that your attorney must read the documents first. Maintain a file of documents concerning your injuries with copies of physician’s statements, medical images and billing statements.
It’s essential you contact an attorney as quickly as possible after a work injury occurs so that you can begin the legal process of receiving compensation for your medical bills, living expenses and other problems.
Contact Gerber and Holder Attorneys at Law today for a free consultation.
