Injuries to the back and neck are some of the most commonly caused traumatic injuries. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers routinely represents people who have suffered injuries to their cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back) or lumbar (low-back) spine, due to:
- Car accidents
- Falls
- Construction accidents
- Trucking accidents
Depending on the circumstances surrounding the accident, an injury to a person’s back may become apparent immediately following a collision — or it may perhaps go undiagnosed until diagnostic testing such as a MRI or CT confirms the injury.
Herniated discs are some of the most frequently encountered back and neck injuries. Many people sustain a disc herniation in traumatic events when extreme force is put upon the body and the disc (the spongy area between vertebrae) gets pushed out of alignment or bursts.
In some cases, a herniated disc gets pushed into contact with the spinal cord, which results in pain and numbness to the arms or legs. Herniated or damaged discs may require the following types of medical treatments or surgery to improve functioning and reduce pain:
- Spine Fusion: A surgery usually performed to stabilize discs that are the source of a patient’s pain. The fusion may be done to treat a problem such as pain or to provide stability for the back to prevent future injury. A fusion may be performed at any level in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spine. Generally, the recovery from a fusion is extensive and may require months of physical therapy.
- Discectomy: A procedure to remove a portion of the disc that rests between each vertebrae. In this type of spine surgery, the herniated disc is removed to relieve the pressure on the nerves.
- Foramenotomy: A surgical procedure used to relieve pressure on a nerve, which may be due to a herniated disc or other disc injury. Surgeons performing a foramenotomy remove a portion of bone and other tissue that may be compressing the nerve as it exits the spinal column.
- Disc Replacement: Still relatively uncommon. In spine disc replacement, a surgeon may use bone from a cadaver or harvested bone from the patient himself or herself to treat specific types of back pain.
- Laminectomy: Aprocedure performed to relieve pressure on the spinal cord itself. A laminectomy is most commonly used to treat conditions such as spinal stenosis and other types of primarily degenerative back conditions, though sometimes a laminectomy may be used in trauma patients. Sometimes laminectomies are performed in conjunction with a spine fusion to help stabilize the back when large amounts of bone are removed.
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers remains committed to securing the most favorable results for people who have sustained a back or neck injury in an accident.
Related materials from Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers:
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