Back Injuries Attorney
Injuries to the back can be particularly complex, both in terms of treatment and litigation. While back injuries can leave the victim with significant pain and diminishment of ability to perform routine tasks, they may not be evident from traditional medical tests.
Consequently, insurance companies often put up a fight before agreeing to a settlement. For this reason, it is important to be represented by a New Jersey back injury attorney if you are the victim of an other’s negligence.
The Complexities of the Back
The back is an area of great complexity. It is comprised of muscles, ligaments, tendons, and many other soft tissues which help support the weight of the upper part of the body. The spine extends the full length of the back, carrying within it the central nervous system, with all the information being transferred from the body to the brain. One can imagine, then, that even a so-called minor injury to the back can lead to difficulties as well as pain.
Soft Tissues
While damage to the spine is identifiable in X-rays and Imaging tests, injury to the soft tissues is not. This poses a challenge for a New Jersey back injury attorney, for not only will he need to valuate the extent of the injuries, but he faces the task of having to prove that they exist at all.
Common Injuries and Causes
Among the more common injuries to the back are:
- Fracture of the vertebrae
- Herniated discs
- Bulging Discs
- Spinal Cord damage
- Soft tissue damage
Accidents which cause such injuries range from falls to diving/swimming. A large percentage of back injuries occur in motor vehicle accidents .
A New Jersey back injury attorney will assess the extent of the injury as well as the treating doctor’s prognosis for recovery of the victim. He will also need to establish the defendant’s liability. The insurance company may attack the validity of the claim if the injury is to the soft tissues, but also may argue that the plaintiff shares responsibility. If the insurer proves to be intractable a lawsuit may be the option for gaining compensation.
If You Have Been Injured
If you suffer a back injury due to the negligence of another, New Jersey back injury attorney Dan T. Matrafajlo may be able to help. Mr. Matrafajlo is an experienced attorney who will fight to help you gain compensation. Call 908-248-4404 today to arrange a free consultation.
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Because many back injuries — especially soft tissue damage to muscles, ligaments, and tendons — don't show up on X-rays, unlike a broken bone. Insurers frequently argue the injury is exaggerated or pre-existing precisely because it can't be seen on a standard scan, which is why proper documentation and consistent treatment records matter so much in these claims.
Yes. While plain X-rays don't show soft tissue damage, MRI imaging, physical examination findings, and a treating doctor's documented diagnosis can establish the injury even without a visible fracture. An attorney's role is often specifically to prove the injury exists and connect it to the accident, since insurers use the lack of imaging as their main argument to deny or lowball a claim.
A bulging disc extends outward but its outer layer stays intact, while a herniated disc occurs when the inner disc material pushes through a tear in the outer layer — herniated discs are generally considered more severe and are more likely to cause nerve compression, radiating pain, numbness, or weakness.
Car accidents account for a large share of back injury claims, along with slip-and-fall accidents, falls from height, and diving or swimming accidents. The sudden force or impact involved in these incidents is often enough to fracture vertebrae, herniate discs, or damage surrounding soft tissue even at relatively low speeds.
Yes. Back and soft tissue injuries can occur even in accidents that cause only minor visible vehicle damage, because the sudden jolt to the spine doesn't require high-speed impact to cause disc or muscle injury — this is a common point insurers dispute, arguing that minimal vehicle damage means minimal injury, which isn't medically accurate.
You can still recover compensation if the accident aggravated, worsened, or accelerated a pre-existing back condition — New Jersey law doesn't require you to have been in perfect health beforehand. However, insurers frequently seize on prior back issues to argue the current pain isn't accident-related, making clear medical documentation distinguishing your baseline from the new injury especially important.
Back injuries, particularly herniated or bulging discs, often carry higher settlement values than many other soft tissue injuries because they can involve ongoing pain, physical therapy, injections, and sometimes surgery — and because they frequently affect a person's ability to work or perform routine daily tasks long-term.
MRI results, a treating physician's diagnosis and prognosis, physical therapy records, and any specialist evaluations (such as from an orthopedist or neurologist) are typically the strongest evidence — consistency between your reported symptoms, treatment history, and objective findings is what carries the most weight with an insurer or jury.
