Though you can injure your spine in many ways, these four accidents are the most common.
When you are injured on the job, there are two areas that lead to the most severe injuries. They are the head and the spine. The reason is that the entire body relies on these two parts, so damage to them can be life-changing. While you and a work injury lawyer can obtain benefits if you injure yourself at work, the best case scenario is avoiding these damages altogether. We help you do so with some education and recommendations in the sections below.
Spine Injury Classifications
There are many ways to split up the spine injuries that you could sustain. The first is by severity. While a condition like a bulging disc is painful, it will not threaten your life and shouldn’t have long-term effects. On the other hand, a severed spinal cord will have severe consequences. When talking about the latter, medical professionals classify them as incomplete and complete, which tells you whether or not the cord has been cut partially or entirely.
Common Causes
Though you can injure your spine in many ways, the following four accidents are the most common.
- Falling – Slips and falls generally lead to less severe injuries, but some might damage their spines.
- Falling Objects – Objects can also drop and hit someone at a dangerous angle.
- Vehicle Collisions – Anyone who drives for a living is at risk of car accidents, which often cause spine injuries.
- Improper Lifting – Lastly, lifting with incorrect form can put excessive strain on the back and affect spine health.
Avoidance Tips
The best ways to avoid these injuries is to negate your chances of suffering from the common causes we outlined above. You can bypass the first three by merely paying attention. These accidents frequently happen because someone is distracted. Keeping your eyes and ears open will help keep you safe. For minor injury avoidance, you can brush up on proper lifting techniques. A few of the most important of them include team lifting, utilizing assistive machinery, and using your legs rather than your back.
Why They are so Important
The way the body works is that when you need to make any sort of movement, your brain sends a signal, which moves down your spine and to the rest of your body. What happens when workers severely injure their spine is that the message never makes it to where it needs to go. Depending on the location of the damage, that can mean paralysis from the waist or neck down, which is a life-changing condition.
If you aren’t currently injured, your next move should be incorporating our avoidance tips into your day to day life. If you are, then you’re going to need some professional help if you want to come out of this situation favorably. The two professionals that matter most are your doctor and an experienced workers compensation lawyer. The former will help you regain as much health as possible, while the latter will help you pay for all of that treatment and any other losses you suffer from your damages.