Back injuries can be severely detrimental to both your physical and mental health. Some can be so severe that they lead to additional afflictions that you may not have been able to prepare for. It is important to tackle back pain as soon as possible, as the longer you wait to deal with it, the worse your condition can become. If you are dealing with a back injury, you may be wondering, “Do some back injuries never heal?” Your next step may be consulting with a Palm Springs back injury lawyer.
Are There Back Injuries That Never Heal?
Most injuries tend to eventually lead to recovery, though some can be so severe that you don’t quite recover fully. They can cause chronic pain for the rest of your life. Still, they do heal in their own way. Some other injuries simply do not heal. It all depends on the severity of your injury. For example, a pulled back muscle will likely heal in its own time. However, severing the spinal cord will cause permanent paralysis and will never heal. According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no way to reverse damage to the spinal cord. It is permanent.
If your back injury was caused by the negligent behavior of someone else or as the result of a workplace accident, you may want to consult with an experienced back injury lawyer to see if you are able to seek compensatory damages for your injury. It won’t help you heal physically, but it can help you find some semblance of closure for what happened to you.
Why Is My Back Pain Persisting?
If you have suffered a back injury, you are no doubt waiting for the healing process to start. After all, nobody wants their back pain to become a permanent affliction. There could be multiple reasons why your back pain has yet to start going away. Here are just a few possibilities of what is going on with your injury:
- Previous Injuries: If this injury is not your first, your current injury may only have worsened a past one. Injuries, particularly back injuries, need time to heal properly. If they don’t get that time, the injury won’t heal entirely and could be opened back up thanks to a new injury in the same place. It might not even take a whole new injury to cause this. You could stretch too hard, you could trip and fall, or you could sleep on it wrong. All of this could awaken a past injury and cause you renewed pain.
- Repetitive Stress Injuries: Doing the same motion day in and day out, over and over again, can cause a serious injury that you may not even be aware of until it starts to hurt. Repetitive stress injuries happen every day for seemingly innocuous reasons, such as typing at your computer all day or swinging a tennis racket every day at around the same time. It’s all about repetition. Repeated actions on the same part of the body cause physical stress and give way to back pain.
- Muscle Atrophy: A lack of physical activity can be just as unhealthy as a surplus of physical activity. Our muscles need the right amount of conditioning to stay in proper shape. If you don’t remain at least somewhat physical, your muscles could weaken, and it can be harder for them to hold up your body. This, in turn, can cause chronic pain and additional injury, particularly in the back.
FAQs
Q: What Back Injuries Are Permanent?
A: Many back injuries can result in permanent damage if they are improperly treated and not allowed to heal properly. However, the one kind of injury that is always permanent, regardless of treatment, is a severed spinal cord. The spinal cord can be damaged and healed in time. If it is severed, though, the connection between the spinal cord and the brain is destroyed, and there is no way to get it back. It will result in permanent paralysis everywhere below the area of severance.
Q: Can Back Muscles Be Permanently Damaged?
A: Yes, there can be injuries that cause back muscles to become permanently damaged. It all depends on the severity of your injuries and how quickly and effectively you seek the necessary treatment for those injuries. A muscle sprain or a strain may seem like a minor injury that does not require medical attention, but you should see a doctor anyway, just to be sure. It could be the beginning of something more permanent. Muscles are prone to additional injury until they are properly healed.
Q: What Is Back Pain That Never Goes Away?
A: Back pain that never goes away is also known as “chronic back pain.” Chronic back pain can occur for a number of different reasons, the main one being simple old age. Old age brings with it a whole new multitude of health problems, including arthritis of the spine. Aside from old age, chronic back pain can be the result of a serious injury to the back that was never properly treated and did not heal correctly.
Q: How Do You Know If Back Pain Is Permanent?
A: The most effective way to discover if your back pain is permanent is to consult with a medical professional, specifically one who specializes in back pain or spinal injuries. There can be specific signs of serious back pain that you should not ignore, such as an overwhelming feeling of numbness in your limbs, appendages, and/or genital area, or you may have repeated muscle spasms that increase the pain. A doctor can help you start the healing process or, if it is permanent, help alleviate your pain.
Reach Out to a Back Injury Lawyer Today
Back injuries can cause severe, lifelong health problems if they are not properly treated. They can also be caused by someone else’s negligence. If that’s the case, you may want to seek legal action. At English Lloyd & Armenta, we can help you prepare your case and inform you of your options going forward. Contact us to schedule a consultation about your back injury.