Back injuries can be the bane of your daily existence. There’s something particularly painful and irritating about back pain. It causes daily discomfort and can make you angry at the world. These injuries can also be quite difficult to prove in certain cases. You may be able to feel the full extent of your back injury and know it’s there, but translating that pain to a doctor can be difficult. You might be asking yourself, “Why are back injuries hard to prove?” A Cathedral City back injury lawyer may be able to help you.
Why Are Back Injuries Hard to Prove?
Back injuries can be difficult to prove for a number of reasons, all of which involve the actual diagnosis of what is causing your back pain. Back pain is not a condition but a symptom of a larger condition that you may not even be aware that you have. It could be arthritis, scoliosis, a slipped disc, the result of a slip and fall, or even a damaged spinal cord.
It can be tough to translate the exact nature of your pain to the medical professional attempting to diagnose you. Here are some of the most common reasons why it can be tough to diagnose a back injury:
- Finding the Source: It is not always immediately simple to locate the source of your back pain. It could be somewhere along the spine, inside a disc or vertebrae, one of your abdominal organs, or something entirely psychological, like anxiety or depression. Stress is one of the most common causes of back pain, particularly in the lower back. Overall, your total pain could be emanating from one spot or several, and it could even be completely absent physically.
- The Subjectivity of Pain: No two people experience pain in the same way. Pain is an entirely subjective experience for the one dealing with it. Thus, it can be wildly difficult to explain your pain to someone who isn’t feeling it. More so, two people suffering from the same condition may not feel the same pain level. A herniated disc might cause untold pain in one patient and very little pain in the next. This can lead to a misdiagnosis.
- Sedentary Lifestyle: The way you live your life can be a big factor in your back pain. Leading a sedentary lifestyle with very little physical activity, a poor diet, and rough sleeping habits can all lead to severe back pain that could be difficult to properly diagnose. Add stress and anxiety to that, and you could have a bad back that’s almost impossible to prove through medical testing.
Diagnosing a Back Injury
When you do see a doctor, and they attempt to test you for a physical condition that could be causing your back pain, they will likely ask you a series of questions that you should answer as truthfully as you can. These may include:
- Do you have a history of back pain in your family?
- Can you describe the exact nature of the pain you are feeling?
- How long have you been feeling this pain?
- Do you remember if you were recently injured?
- Where on your body is the pain coming from?
A physical exam will likely follow. During this exam, your doctor will take a look at your back, particularly your spine. They will also examine your posture to see if anything in your spine has changed.
FAQs
Q: Can Back Pain Be Proven?
A: Yes, back pain can be proven. Most of the time, doctors can diagnose a back injury after carrying out a physical exam and asking pertinent questions about the patient’s medical history and recent changes. However, this is not always the case. Some back pain can be harder to diagnose as a physical ailment and may exist solely due to recent changes in stress and anxiety. Your doctor will likely do all they can to identify the cause of your back pain.
Q: What Injuries Are Hard to Diagnose?
A: Certain injuries can be considerably harder to diagnose than others. Largely, injuries that deal with soft tissue damage and chronic pain are harder to diagnose. Back injuries are among the more difficult to diagnose, mostly because of how difficult it can be to locate the actual physical source of the pain. X-rays can only find the source if it is located in the bones. It may take a few scans to find out exactly what is wrong.
Q: Why Is Back Pain So Hard to Diagnose?
A: Back pain can be so hard to diagnose because it can be caused by many different factors, and not all of them are physical or obvious. It could take multiple scans with multiple machines to locate the source of physical pain. However, the back pain in question could be caused by psychological factors like stress, anxiety, or depression. These can be much harder to diagnose and even harder to cure.
Q: Are Soft Tissue Injuries Hard to Prove?
A: Yes, soft tissue injuries can be hard to prove. Soft tissues include muscles, tendons, ligaments, and any other area of the body considered medically soft. Injuries to these areas are not immediately obvious, so they can be much harder to prove than hard tissue injuries like broken bones. While soft tissue injuries may not manifest themselves immediately, they can still result in long-term pain that could become chronic. A good back injury lawyer can help you prove the injury.
Reach Out to a Back Injury Lawyer Today
It can be exceedingly frustrating to have to continuously prove the existence of your injury, especially one that you are constantly feeling the negative effects of. Convincing someone of your pain can be infuriating, especially if they do not believe you. Proving the existence of your injury and, thus, your pain is one of the first steps toward holding someone accountable for it.
At English Lloyd & Armenta, we are determined to help you prove your injury and build a case to seek compensatory damages from any negligent parties. We can provide you with solid legal counsel, options on how to pursue your claim, and assistance with insurance companies or opposing counsel in court if it comes to that. Contact us to schedule a consultation as soon as you can.