Spinal Fracture

Orange County Spinal Fracture Injury Attorney

Victims of spinal damage often report that the pain of a spinal fracture is above and beyond any other type of injury. Everything your muscles are capable of doing is due to the support of the spinal cord and spine. A broken spinal bone can cause severe pain, limit your mobility, and negatively impact your ability to work or perform daily tasks.

If you have sustained a spinal fracture in an Orange County accident, the team at Russell & Lazarus is ready to help you. Find out if you have a case by calling us at (949) 851-0222 or filling out our online contact form.

Symptoms of Spinal Fracture

After a major accident, many victims have so much pain radiating from different parts of their body that they are unable to determine where each sensation is coming from. As the initial adrenaline rush wears off and the pain hits, the symptoms of a spinal fracture may become apparent. Common symptoms include:

• This can appear in a number of ways. Some people report immediate sharp back pain after an accident, while others develop lingering upper back pain after an auto accident. Pain often radiates down through the hips and legs. For most people, the pain is significantly worse when upright and more bearable when lying down.
• Nerve damage can cause general weakness and limit your muscle use and control. Look for weakness around the lower back and down through the legs.
• Difficulty controlling the bowel or bladder. One symptom that many people don’t expect is a limited ability to control their bowel or bladder. A spinal fracture can put enormous pressure on the spinal cord, which can make it difficult for an individual to know when they need to use the restroom. This indicates nerve damage around the site of the injury, which can often occur when one suffers a broken vertebra. This can impact your ability to use your legs long-term.  In some cases, it can make the actual acts of defecation and urination difficult or those suffering from nerve damages are unable to control when they urinate or defecate resulting in unexpected accidents.  Such difficulty with bowel or bladder after an accident warrants an immediate visit to a doctor and a call to an Orange County car accident lawyer.
• One of the most dreaded signs of a spinal fracture is paralysis. Since a spinal fracture can damage the spinal cord, it is possible to sustain enough damage to prevent communication to the extremities. Some victims experience quadriplegia, while others retain the use of their upper body while losing the ability to control their legs.

Types of Spinal Fractures

Your orthopedic specialist will provide more information on your spinal fracture, how it occurred, and what it means for your long-term recovery. However, there are several types of fractures that make up most cases. They include:

• Burst fracture. In a burst fracture, a vertebra shatters on every side. This leaves many bone fragments and particles in the spinal canal, putting your spinal cord in serious danger.
• Compression fracture. A compression fracture occurs when the bone crumbles under pressure. It is similar to a burst fracture in terms of cause, but a compression fracture typically only happens on the front side of the vertebra.
• Fracture-dislocation. When a substantial amount of force causes a fracture, the vertebra can actually exit the vertebral column. This creates a fracture and a dislocation at the same time. A fracture-dislocation can worsen at any time, and because of that, it is one of the worst fractures for a victim to experience.
• Extension pattern fracture. This type of fracture happens when the spine flexes forward and the bones bulge until they no longer can. This is when the fracture occurs. Victims often sustain this type of break when they move forward during a crash and hit the seatbelt, which throws them back.
• Transverse process fracture. Small bone nubs are found on the back of each vertebra and are attached to various ligaments and muscles. When muscles contract during a crash, they can cause the spine to twist. When this happens, the small pieces of bone disconnect from the spine. This is one of the most painful types of fractures.

What Causes Spinal Fractures?

The spine is designed to withstand enormous pressure, but that doesn’t mean that it always takes a huge amount of force to cause a fracture. The majority of fractures do occur because of trauma. This includes car accidents, falls, assault, and athletic activities.

However, spinal fractures can occur independently of outside trauma, and other conditions that can weaken the bones include cancer and tumors on the spine.

Do You Have Grounds for Compensation?

Having a spinal fracture is not immediately grounds for a Riverside personal injury case. Top injury lawyers have specific processes to determine whether or not an individual has a viable personal injury case.

For you to recover compensation, you must be able to demonstrate that your injuries were caused by another person’s negligence. Imagine suffering a spinal fracture in a fall. If you were descending the stairs at a retail store, only to lose your footing on a crumbled stair and fall, your Newport injury lawyer would likely be able to prove the other party’s fault. Property owners have an obligation to keep their property to a certain standard of safety, and a stair in such serious disrepair probably doesn’t meet that standard.

Another example: a car accident. Someone rear-ends your vehicle, pushing you into the vehicle ahead of you with a great level of force. You sustain an extension pattern fracture.

Every case has its own unique circumstances, and we’ll discuss your injuries and the strength of your case at your free consultation.

How Russell & Lazarus Can Help You

Our team of top injury lawyers fights aggressively on behalf of every single client we represent. We built our firm on a solid foundation of extensive research and preparation, careful selection of cases, and consistent communication with clients. If you work with Russell & Lazarus for your personal injury case, you benefit from the experience we’ve gained while handling thousands of cases. We leave no stone unturned when it comes to developing a case and proving liability, putting us in a position to demand higher settlement offers and take cases to court. We know that your case will likely determine your financial future since serious accidents can rack up tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. We approach every case knowing our responsibility to our clients means fighting for every last dollar.

Call Us Now. We’re Ready to Help.

Healing from a spinal fracture is extraordinarily painful and time-consuming. You should not have to handle your own legal issues at the same time. Let our team of Southern California personal injury lawyers help. We offer a free case evaluation. To claim yours, contact us online or call (949) 851-0222 to get started.