Northwood Car Accident Injury Attorneys

Car accidents happen throughout Northwood every year, and many victims require surgery to recover from the injuries they sustain. Along with facing decisions about medical treatment, injured Northwood drivers and passengers must also be careful about how they interact with their doctors and how they choose the attorney who will represent them. Understanding these three areas, treatment options like laminectomy surgery, common mistakes made with medical providers, and what a qualified car accident lawyer actually does, can make a real difference in how a claim turns out.

Laminectomy Surgery After a Northwood Car Accident

Laminectomy surgery is common after certain types of trauma to the spine caused by car accidents. Before a Northwood accident victim makes the decision to have this type of surgery, there are several facts worth considering.

What Laminectomy Surgery Treats

Laminectomy surgery is primarily used to relieve pain from lumbar spinal stenosis, a condition in which spinal nerve roots in the lower back are compressed or choked. This can produce symptoms of sciatica, including tingling, weakness, or numbness that radiates from the low back into the buttocks and legs, especially with activity. Laminectomy surgery is commonly referred to as a lumbar decompression back surgery, since decompression of the affected areas of the spine helps alleviate pain.

Surgery May Not End the Suffering

It is important for a Northwood accident victim to understand that a laminectomy may not resolve every symptom. Some patients continue to experience problems even weeks after the operation. In certain cases, further imaging reveals fluid buildup and nerve inflammation, which may require an additional procedure to block the nerve. That type of follow-up procedure does not reduce the fluid or inflammation itself, it simply works to stop the pain.

Recovery Can Take Time

While the laminectomy procedure itself typically takes only a few hours to perform, recovery is rarely as quick. A patient may be sent home within a few days of surgery, but it can take weeks or even months to recover fully. Driving may not be allowed until a doctor confirms it is safe, and some laminectomies can result in unforeseen complications along the way.

The Financial Impact of Surgery

A laminectomy can also be costly, with estimates ranging well beyond what the average person could pay out of pocket. This is especially concerning for a Northwood resident who needs this type of surgery because of car accident injuries, since it is possible that an insurance claim could initially be denied. Trusted legal counsel can change the outcome of a denied claim and help ensure that a Northwood accident victim is not left covering these expenses alone.

Avoiding Mistakes When Dealing With Doctors After an Injury

Many people do not realize how important their interactions with the doctor are when treating a car accident injury. Common mistakes can affect a Northwood resident's case, and failing to report pain or explain how an injury is affecting daily life will limit what is documented in the medical records, which in turn can affect a doctor's opinion of the injury.

Pain itself cannot be seen or measured directly by a doctor, but it must be documented in your records. Insurance companies and juries want to see how quickly pain was reported, where it was located, how severe it was, and how long it lasted. When asked to rate pain on a scale of one to ten, remember that very few people experience pain worse than an eight during their lifetime, so keep this in mind when answering.

Following Through on Treatment

It is also important to take prescribed medications as directed. If a medication seems to cause unwanted side effects, contact your doctor rather than stopping on your own, since some medications need to be tapered off gradually. Stopping treatment too soon, or allowing large gaps of a month or more between appointments, can be used against a Northwood accident victim to suggest that they had healed from the original injury or sustained a different one that was never disclosed. If a doctor releases you but you continue to experience problems, it is important to return for further evaluation rather than assuming nothing more can be done.

Keeping thorough records is another key step. Save business cards, bills, and other documentation from every medical provider you see, along with copies of work excuses, restrictions, and referrals. Finally, pain, limited activity, and disability following a car accident can lead to anxiety or depression. These conditions are just as real as a physical injury and can be part of a compensation claim, but only if they are properly diagnosed and treated by a medical professional.

Should You Get a Car Accident Lawyer?

If you are considering hiring a car accident lawyer for a Northwood claim, it helps to know what qualified attorneys typically offer their clients.

Red Flags to Watch For

If a lawyer you are considering varies significantly from the standards above, it may be worth speaking with another attorney. Some law firms take every case that comes in the door, hoping that a few will turn out to be strong cases, which can mean less time and attention for any individual client. Other firms may ask clients to gather their own medical records and bills in order to save the firm time and expense. If a lawyer is not willing to invest the resources needed to gather this documentation, it raises questions about how invested they will be in the rest of the case.