If you have suffered a neck or back injury in Louisiana, proving your damages requires complex evidence, such as MRI scans and expert medical testimony. Insurance companies will fight as hard as they can to deny you your compensation. You need experienced legal guidance to get the recovery you need.
The Smiley Injury Law Team has many years of experience helping injured people throughout Louisiana get the full legal compensation they are entitled to. We work directly with our clients to understand how the injury has affected their lives. Our Louisiana car accident attorneys then fight to hold the appropriate parties responsible so that victims can focus on the recovery they deserve.
When you hire our team, we guarantee you will make more than we will.
Protect your future and recovery today. Call our team today at 504-822-2222 or click here to schedule your free neck and back injury consultation.
What Are Common Neck and Back Injuries in Louisiana Accidents?
Your spinal column supports your back and neck. The spinal column is an incredibly delicate structure made of vertebrae, spinal discs, nerves, and soft tissues. A sudden impact can cause devastating damage that will affect you for the rest of your life. Some of the most common injuries include:
- Herniated Discs (Slipped or Ruptured Discs). The discs in your spine act as shock absorbers between your vertebrae. In a crash, the tough outer layer of the disc can tear, allowing the soft inner jelly to push out. This puts intense, agonizing pressure on surrounding nerves, often sending shooting pain down your arms or legs.
- Bulging Discs. Similar to a herniation, a bulging disc occurs when the disc flattens and protrudes outward without the outer layer tearing completely. This is usually less severe than herniation. However, bulging discs can create debilitating pain and paralysis by compressing your spinal cord and nerves.
- Whiplash. Whiplash occurs when your body is snapped back and forth after a collision. If you suspect severe soft tissue damage, our whiplash and soft tissue injury attorneys can help build your case.
- Spinal Cord Injuries. These occur when the spine itself is injured. This often results in partial or total paralysis that can take years of physical therapy to recover from, if recovery is even possible. These catastrophic injuries require immense financial resources for lifetime care, which our spinal cord injury attorneys aggressively pursue.
How are Herniated Discs Diagnosed and Documented?
A major problem with proving back and neck injuries is that emergency rooms tend to rely on X-rays and CT scans, rather than MRIs. An X-ray shows broken bones; they do not show torn ligaments or compressed nerves. CT scans have trouble showing damage underneath tightly packed vertebrae. Even when they do get a clear scan, CT scans are not precise enough to diagnose microscopic tears that often accompany neck and back injuries.
As a result, a successful back injury claim usually requires evidence collected well after the injury occurred, such as:
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). MRIs can produce incredibly detailed images of your bones and soft tissues. Additionally, MRIs can create a three-dimensional model of your spine. These features allow physicians to identify and diagnose your injuries much more accurately.
- Specialist Evaluations. Because the spine is so complex, successful claims usually require you to be evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon or a neurologist so they can elaborate on the full extent of your damages.
- A Clear Medical Narrative. Your medical records need to demonstrate that your injuries were caused by this specific accident. This is because insurance adjusters will argue that your injuries may have been pre-existing.
A key differentiator at Smiley Injury Law is our local network. We know the top diagnostic specialists and orthopedic doctors across New Orleans and Louisiana. We help connect our clients with the right medical professionals who can provide the medical and scientific evidence needed to strengthen their care.
Why Do Insurers Dispute Back and Neck Injuries So Intensely?
To put it simply, treating neck and back injuries is very expensive. Victims often require several surgeries and long-term physical therapy to function as they did before. Oftentimes, however, the victim will not be able to fully recover. They may need lifetime medical care or have their home renovated to accommodate their disabilities. As a result, insurance companies will try their absolute hardest to deny your claim. If they cannot deny it, they then try to devalue it by using tactics such as:
- The “Slow Impact” Defense. Even seemingly minor accidents can cause debilitating neck and back injuries even at slow speeds. Insurers often argue by analogy, where they claim that because the damage to the vehicles was so minor, the damage to your body was minor too. The Smiley Injury Law Team uses MRI scans and specialist evaluations to dismantle this argument.
- The “Delay in Treatment” Defense. Spinal injuries frequently cause little or even no pain at first. Many victims seek treatment only after the pain lingers for weeks or months, or after it flares up and never drops down. We use specialist evaluations and documented medical narratives to inform judges and juries that this delay in seeking treatment is incredibly common and does not signify minor injuries.
- The “Pre-Existing Condition” Defense. As people age, their spines naturally get weaker. Insurers often claim that the damage was already there before the car crash. Our attorneys collaborate with orthopedic specialists who can help differentiate between natural wear-and-tear and traumatic injuries.
What is the “Eggshell Plaintiff” Doctrine in Louisiana?
What if the insurance company is right, and you did have a pre-existing back issue? What if you had minor arthritis or a previously healed back injury before you were involved in a car crash? What if someone who was completely healthy could have shrugged off their injuries and gone about their day?
Under Louisiana law, it does not matter.
Louisiana recognizes the “Eggshell Plaintiff” rule (also known as the “Eggshell Skull” rule). Essentially, this rule states that a negligent driver is liable for the damages they caused, even if their victim was “as fragile as an eggshell.” For example, if you have a frail back that makes you more susceptible to injury than an average person, the defendant is still 100% responsible for all the damage they caused.
If a crash aggravates, accelerates, or worsens a pre-existing, asymptomatic condition and turns it into a painful, debilitating herniated disc, you are legally entitled to compensation for that change in your health. Our team knows exactly how to present this argument to insurance adjusters and local juries to prevent them from using your medical history against you.
What Compensation is Available for Disc Injuries in Louisiana?
| Type of Compensation | What It Covers |
| Past & Future Medical Expenses | ER visits, MRI costs, physical therapy, epidural steroid injections, and spinal fusion surgeries. |
| Lost Wages | The income you missed while recovering at home or attending doctor appointments. |
| Loss of Earning Capacity | If a severe back injury prevents you from returning to your physically demanding job, you can recover the money you would have earned in the future. |
| Pain and Suffering | Compensation for the daily physical agony, lack of sleep, and chronic discomfort caused by a damaged spine. |
| Loss of Enjoyment of Life | If you can no longer pick up your children, play sports in City Park, or enjoy your hobbies due to back pain. |
How Smiley Injury Law Builds Spine Injury Cases
Winning a neck and back injury case requires more than just submitting medical bills; it requires a compelling legal narrative. The Smiley Injury Team works with you and your doctor to start building your case from day one. We do this by:
- Securing Evidence. Our team immediately gathers police reports, dashcam footage, photographs of the scene, and witness statements to help prove fault.
- Demonstrating the Injury. We ensure you get the MRI testing you need and work closely with your medical team to translate complex medical jargon into clear, undeniable proof of your pain.
- Handling the Adjusters. Insurance adjusters often try to make victims feel responsible for the accident. Or they may try to pressure you into a low-ball settlement offer. We handle communications with the insurance companies to make sure any settlement offer reflects the full extent of your injuries.
- Protecting Your Bottom Line. At Smiley Injury Law, we promise all of our clients that we will make more than we do. We can make this guarantee because we take into full account that these injuries can last a lifetime; your compensation must reflect that.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Louisiana Neck and Back Injuries
How do I prove a herniated disc from a car accident?
Proving a herniated disc requires objective medical evidence, primarily an MRI. X-rays will not show disc material pushing against nerves. In addition to the MRI, you need the clinical diagnosis of a medical specialist (like an orthopedist) who can testify that the herniation was caused by the blunt force trauma of the accident, rather than natural aging.
What if I had a pre-existing back condition before the crash?
You can absolutely still recover compensation. Thanks to Louisiana’s Eggshell Plaintiff doctrine, a defendant is responsible for aggravating or worsening a pre-existing condition. If your back was manageable before the crash but requires surgery after the crash, the at-fault driver’s insurance is responsible for that difference.
What compensation is available for a herniated disc injury in Louisiana?
Victims are entitled to economic and non-economic damages. This includes all accident-related medical bills (past and future), lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and compensation for physical pain, mental anguish, and diminished quality of life.
How long does a herniated disc case take to settle?
Every case is unique. If liability is clear and the insurer plays fair, a case might settle in a few months after you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). However, because insurers heavily dispute disc injuries, it is common for these cases to require a lawsuit, which can take a year or more to be tried to conclusion. We never rush a settlement if it means leaving your money on the table.
Can I still recover if my back injury didn’t show up on X-rays?
Yes. It is entirely normal for severe soft tissue injuries and disc herniations to be invisible on an X-ray. Even CT scans often fail to capture your injuries. You should never let an insurance adjuster convince you that a “clean X-ray” means you are uninjured.
Request a Private Case Evaluation from Smiley Injury Law Today
Living with a neck or back injury changes your entire life. Simple tasks become agonizing, and the financial stress of medical bills can be overwhelming. You do not have to fight the massive insurance corporations alone.
Let the team at Smiley Injury Law level the playing field. Attorney Seth Smiley was injured in a car accident as a child, so we take personal injuries personally. We feel so strongly about providing the people of Louisiana with the highly experienced legal representation they deserve that we guarantee that you will make more than we will.
Secure your legal right to compensation today. Call us at 504-822-2222 or send our team an online message.