Back Injury Lawyer in Portsmouth, VA

Back injuries range from a strain that heals in a few weeks to a fractured vertebra that changes how you move for the rest of your life. Levin & Levin, P.C. represents people throughout Portsmouth and the Hampton Roads area whose back injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence, whether in a car accident, a fall, or another type of incident.

Back injuries fall into several categories, and the type you have affects both your treatment and the value of your claim:

• Sprains and strains — overstretched or torn ligaments and muscles that don’t always show up on imaging but can cause persistent pain, muscle spasms, and stiffness for weeks or months.
• Herniated discs — sometimes called a slipped, bulging, or ruptured disc, occurring when the soft inner material of a spinal disc pushes through a tear in its outer layer, often causing radiating pain, numbness, or weakness known as sciatica.
• Vertebral fractures — ranging from a single crack in one bone to a burst fracture, where a vertebra is crushed into multiple fragments, or a fracture-dislocation, where a break is combined with a shift in the bone’s position.
• Facet joint injuries — damage to the small joints connecting each vertebra, which can cause localized pain and stiffness that worsens with movement.

Back injuries typically result from one of a handful of common accident types, and identifying which one caused yours matters both medically and legally:

• Auto Accidents — the leading cause of serious back injuries, with the type of crash often shaping the type of injury. Head-on collisions compress the spine as your body continues moving forward after the vehicle stops, side-impact collisions twist the spine laterally, and rollover accidents can cause injuries at multiple points along the spine.
• Truck Accidents — the greater forces involved in a collision with a commercial truck or tractor-trailer often cause more severe vertebral and disc injuries than a typical car accident.
• Premises Liability & Slip and Fall — falls cause a significant number of back injuries, even falls from a standing height on a wet floor or uneven surface, since the sudden impact compresses the spine.
• Motorcycle Accidents and Bicycle Accidents — the lack of protective structure around the rider or cyclist means the force of a crash transfers more directly to the back.
• Sports Injuries — contact sports and falls during recreational activities can cause anything from a strain to a serious vertebral injury.

Older adults in particular face a higher risk of compression fractures from falls that might only bruise a younger person.

Insurance companies frequently try to minimize back injury claims, especially soft tissue injuries like sprains and strains, because these injuries don’t always appear on X-rays or MRIs the way a fracture does. That doesn’t mean the pain and impact on your life aren’t real. Proper documentation from your treating physician, consistent follow-up care, and in some cases diagnostic testing specifically suited to soft tissue injuries all help establish the true extent of your injury.

A back injury claim can pursue compensation for medical treatment, including physical therapy, injections, and surgery when needed, lost wages during your recovery, and pain and suffering. For more severe fractures or disc injuries that result in permanent limitations, compensation can also account for reduced earning capacity and the ongoing cost of care.

In the most severe cases, a back injury involves more than the vertebrae or surrounding soft tissue, extending to the spinal cord itself. When that happens, the injury moves into different legal and medical territory, potentially involving permanent paralysis and the kind of lifetime care needs addressed on our Spinal Injury and Catastrophic Injury pages. Understanding early on which category your injury falls into helps shape how your claim should be valued and pursued.

Diagnosis typically starts with a physical examination and a review of your symptoms, followed by imaging when warranted, X-rays to check for fractures, and MRI or CT scans when a disc or soft tissue injury is suspected. Because some back injuries don’t show up clearly on a single scan, doctors sometimes rely on a combination of imaging, physical testing of strength and reflexes, and your own reported symptoms to reach a full diagnosis. Getting a thorough evaluation early, rather than assuming pain will simply resolve on its own, gives both your recovery and your legal claim a stronger foundation.

Even back injuries that don’t involve the spinal cord can have a lasting impact on your life. Chronic pain, reduced flexibility, and an increased risk of re-injury are common after a significant back injury, and some people find they’re no longer able to perform the same physical tasks at work or at home that they could before the accident. When a back injury results in this kind of lasting limitation, your claim should reflect not just your medical bills, but the real, ongoing effect on how you live.

See a doctor promptly, even if the pain seems manageable at first, since some back injuries worsen without early treatment and delayed care gives insurance companies room to question the connection between the accident and your injury. Follow your treatment plan closely, including physical therapy, and keep a record of how your symptoms affect your daily activities, work, and sleep.

Our attorneys bring more than 60 years of combined courtroom experience to back injury claims, and we work closely with your medical providers to fully document both the injury itself and its impact on your daily life. We know how insurance companies try to discount soft tissue and disc injuries, and we build cases that push back on those tactics with solid medical evidence.

Levin & Levin, P.C. has served the Portsmouth and Hampton Roads community since 1968. We take the time to understand how your back injury has actually changed your day-to-day life, not just what a single medical record says.

Levin & Levin, P.C. represents clients with back injuries throughout Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, and the wider Hampton Roads region. If your back injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, contact our office today for a free case evaluation.