Houston Neck and Back Injury Lawyers

Types of neck injuries

The neck, which consists of seven bones that form the upper portion of your spinal cord along with muscles, ligaments, discs, and other soft tissues, is very fragile. Often, the neck pain symptoms don’t appear for hours or days after impact.

According to Transportation Safety and Environment, some of the common types of neck injuries include:

• Whiplash injuries (soft-tissue injuries). Most rear-end collision accidents cause whiplash. Whiplash injuries cause the neck muscles to suddenly hyperextend and hyperflex.
• Sprains and strains. The neck muscles can sprain or strain causing headaches, forgetfulness, dizziness, and other trauma. Moving and rotating the neck can be quite painful.
• Cervical fractures. In cases of severe impact, one or more of the cervical bones can fracture, causing significant pain, neck instability, and the possibility for additional serious injuries if the fracture is not quickly and properly treated.
• Disc and nerve damage. The neck, like the other portions of the spinal cord, consists of alternating segments of bone and disc. The discs are soft and malleable, and their function is to provide cushioning and allow flexibility. If our neck were made of only continuous bone segments without the discs in between, our neck would be completely rigid, and we would not be able to bend it. The discs in our neck and the other parts of our spinal column are relatively fragile, and can often be damaged by ordinary wear and tear, or a traumatic event such as an accident or something else causing a significant impact to the disc. When damaged, our discs will begin to jut out. Sometimes, if the disc is severely damaged, part of the outer disc cover may come off, and the disc may start leaking fluid. The discs in our neck and throughout our spine are located extremely close to the main nerves from our central nervous system, which run from our brain down our entire body by the spinal cord and act as the primary means of transporting messages between our body and our brain. If a disc in our neck or another part of our spine is damaged, it can exert pressure on the nerves from the central nervous system nearby. This pressure on the nerves is often experienced as pain, tingling, numbness, or in some severe cases even partial or complete paralysis.
• Cervical spinal cord damage. In severe cases, broken cervical bones or severely damaged discs can cause significant structural damage to the nerves of the central nervous system, interfering with the body’s ability to send signals to and from the brain. These severe cases often manifest as extreme pain, partial or complete paralysis, loss of control of bodily movements and functions, and other significant symptoms caused by injuries which significantly interfere with normal functioning of the spine and the central nervous system.