A car accident can change your health and life in seconds. One moment you’re commuting to work or heading home from the store—and the next, you’re dealing with serious pain, medical appointments, and uncertainty about your future. One of the most common and concerning outcomes of a vehicle collision is a spinal injury.
Spinal injuries aren’t normally visible injuries. The outside of your body will look fine, but the damage is present on the inside of your body and you can sure feel it. The impact of a spinal injury on your health can linger for months, years, or even a lifetime. It can affect your mobility, your ability to work, and your day-to-day life.
This article will break down the four most common spinal injuries after a car accident, what symptoms to watch for, and what steps to take if you’re hurt. If you’re dealing with a spinal injury after a car crash, we’ll also explain how the experienced injury attorneys at Dan Chapman & Associates can help you get the medical help and compensation you deserve.
We have worked with many of the top spinal injury doctors in the area to help our clients get the medical health they need. We have also helped our clients recover damages for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering from numerous insurance companies. Let’s now look at these common spinal injuries in more detail:
1. Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries we see after a car accident. It’s a soft tissue injury that happens when your neck jerks forward and backward suddenly—like the cracking of a whip. Most medical professionals have now stopped using the term “whiplash” and may call it a “cervical sprain-strain injury” in your medical records.
Why it happens
Rear-end collisions are the biggest culprit for whiplash. The sudden jolt from behind throws your body and head forward until the seatbelt catches you and then your body and head whip back. This violent movement can overstretch the soft tissues (muscles and ligaments) in your neck and cause damage and injury.
Symptoms
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Headaches (especially at the base of the skull)
- Muscle spasm in the neck
- Reduced range of motion in the neck
- Shoulder or upper back pain
- Dizziness or fatigue
Whiplash may sound like a minor injury, but it isn’t always. Some people experience long-term discomfort that interferes with sleep, work, and basic activities. If you feel whiplash symptoms even a day or two after a crash, you need to get it checked out by a doctor.
Medical care
Treatment usually includes rest, ice and heat, physical therapy, and possibly medication. The biggest problem we see with people who wait to get treatment for whiplash is that the insurance company for the at-fault driver will question the validity of your injury claim because of a delay in getting care.
2. Herniated Disc
Another common spinal injury after a car accident is a herniated disc. Your spine has donut shaped discs, that are filled with a gel like substance, that sit between the bony vertebrae that make up your spine. These discs are like small pillows that act as shock absorbers and that keep the vertebrae from banging on each other as you move around throughout the day. When the force of a crash compresses or twists your spine, one or more of these discs can bulge out or even rupture.
Why it happens
The high impact of a crash creates unnatural force or pressure on your spine, especially during side or rear collisions. The forces from the crash throw your body around unnaturally and these violent movements tear soft issues that then allow the disc to bulge out of its resting place between the vertebrae resulting in injury.
Symptoms
- Sharp pain in the lower back, neck, or between shoulder blades
- Numbness or tingling in arms or legs
- Muscle weakness
- Pain that worsens with movement or sitting
Sometimes herniated discs press on nearby nerves, leading to sciatica—a painful condition where nerve pain from the spine shoots down an arm or leg.
Medical care
Herniated discs cannot normally be seen on an x-ray. They are usually diagnosed on an MRI. Depending on the severity of the disc herniation, you might need rest and physical therapy to recover, you could need pain management epidural steroid injections for pain reduction, and in more severe cases even a surgery to trim or remove the herniated disc.
3. Spinal Fracture
A spinal fracture is a break or crack in one or more of the vertebrae—the bones that make up your spine. These injuries are more common in high-speed crashes or rollovers. The bony vertebrae can just show a small crack or it can be shattered into many pieces.
Why it happens
The spine can’t always handle the sudden and violent forces involved in a crash. When your body is thrown forward but restrained by a seatbelt, it creates uneven pressure along the spine, which can lead to fractures.
Symptoms
- Sudden, sharp back pain
- Pain that worsens with movement
- Loss of height or posture
- Numbness, tingling, or weakness (if nerves are involved)
In some cases, spinal fractures can damage the spinal cord or nerves, leading to more serious issues like partial paralysis or bladder control problems.
Medical care
Treatment depends on the type of fracture. Stable fractures might heal with rest and bracing. Unstable ones may need surgery to realign or fuse the bones.
4. Spinal Cord Injury
This is one of the most serious outcomes of a spinal injury from a car accident. Damage to the spinal cord itself, or nerves branching out from the spinal cord—whether from bruising, bleeding, cutting or tearing, can disrupt the body’s ability to send signals from the brain to the limbs.
Why it happens
Spinal cord injuries often occur during high-impact crashes, especially if the vehicle rolls over or the passenger is ejected. Think of the spinal cord like a wire. The signals from the spinal cord go out to the body by the nerves that leave the spinal cord. If the cord is cut or damaged, the body will not be able to send impulses down the nerves to the body. The same is true if you cut the power cord to a TV. No electricity can get from the power outlet to the TV because of the cut cord, and the TV cannot work without power.
Symptoms
- Loss of sensation or movement below the level of the injury
- Muscle weakness
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Difficulty breathing (in high-level injuries)
These injuries are life-altering and sometimes life-threatening. Some people experience partial or complete paralysis, depending on the location and extent of the spinal cord damage. Cervical spinal cord injuries are typically the most severe because of all of the body parts below that level that depend on the spinal cord and nerves to function.
Medical care
Immediate treatment may involve surgery, steroid injections, or spinal decompression. Long-term care often includes physical therapy, mobility aids, and specialized care for daily tasks. Recovery is often uncertain and requires long-term support.
Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Spinal Injury Symptoms
Many people walk away from a crash thinking they’re fine—only to wake up hours or days later in serious pain. Spinal injuries aren’t always immediate. Some symptoms develop slowly, especially as inflammation builds or soft tissue starts to tighten. Don’t wait to get evaluated.
A delay in diagnosis can hurt your health and your legal case. Insurance companies often use any delay in treatment to downplay or deny claims. That’s why seeing a doctor right away is one of the most important steps after a crash—even if you think it’s “just a sore neck.”
Georgia Statistics on Spinal Injuries from Car Accidents
Georgia sees a high volume of vehicle accidents each year. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, motor vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of spinal cord injuries in the state. In metro areas, like Atlanta and DeKalb County, the high volume of traffic on the roadways increases the risk for a car accident and spinal injury.
The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) also reports that car accidents are responsible for 38% of all spinal cord injuries in the U.S., making them the number one cause nationally.
What to Do if You Suffer a Spinal Injury After a Car Accident
- Get medical attention immediately. Your top priority is your health. Even if you don’t feel much pain to start with, get the injury evaluated. Even whiplash injuries take 24 to 48 hours to fully develop.
- Follow all treatment instructions. Physical therapy, medications, and follow-ups are key to recovery. Gaps in care can hurt your personal injury claim.
- Document everything. Keep track of symptoms, doctor visits, prescriptions, and how the injury affects your work and life.
- Talk to a personal injury attorney. Medical bills can pile up fast. Insurance companies often offer low settlements, hoping you’ll accept before understanding the full cost of your injury.
Call Dan Chapman & Associates
If you’ve suffered a spinal injury from a car accident, fall or other situation where someone else’s carelessness or negligence hurt you, you don’t have to go through this alone. At Dan Chapman & Associates, we’ve helped injured Georgians for over 30 years recover money for spinal injuries.
We know how to fight for the compensation you deserve—whether it’s for medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering. Your consultation is free. You pay us nothing unless we win. You focus on recovery. We’ll handle the rest.
