ACCIDENT BACK PAIN INJURY
Our lawyers have represented hundreds of people after a back injury accident in Minnesota. Most often, our clients injured their back in a car accident. But our cases include a back injury from all kinds of situations including motorcycle accidents, slip fall, trip fall accidents. There have also been cases where something falls and hits someone in the back or neck. For example, a product on a shelf, and many other scenarios.
Back pain from an accident can last for many months, or even the rest of a person’s life. This is why our accident injury attorneys are always interested when we hear about a new treatment for chronic back pain. We recently came across an article on the Medical News Today website about a new back injury treatment. Here is an excerpt of the article:
Although it often accompanies many persistent medical conditions, scientists increasingly believe that chronic pain is a ‘health concern on its own.’ Chronic pain is pain that continues for at least 3 months. It arises when the pain signals that travel to the brain along nerve fibers persist, even though the source of the pain has disappeared. The total annual cost to the U.S. of chronic pain is estimated to be around $560 billion. This includes the cost of medical treatments, disability programs, and productivity loss.
NEW TREATMENT FOR BACK PAIN – NERVE STIMULATOR
A new type of nerve stimulation therapy could provide long-term relief for chronic back pain that has not responded to other treatments. The new therapy is called dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation. It works by targeting only the nerve fibers carrying signals from the source of pain. Unlike spinal cord stimulation, it avoids nerve fibers that convey messages from non-painful regions. Spinal cord stimulation treatment involves implanting a small device that sends low-voltage electrical impulses through a wire placed along the spinal cord. The effect is to block pain signals from reaching the brain.
Dorsal root ganglia are clusters of nerve cells located on each side of the spinal vertebra. They relay pain and sensory signals coming from various parts of the body to the spinal cord and brain. DRG stimulation disrupts the signals by delivering small electrical pulses through a wire. The wire is placed alongside the specific DRG associated with the source of the pain. This replaces extreme pain with a more bearable sensation, such as numbness or tingling. Scientists implant the device, which looks like a small pacemaker, in the lower back under the skin. A pain specialist sets the amount of current according to the amount of pain a person experiences.
“Those who received the DRG stimulation had very good results,” says lead author Robert J. McCarthy, who is a professor of anesthesiology at Rush Medical College. “They had tried numerous therapies, from drugs to spinal cord stimulation to surgery, but got little to no lasting pain relief. However, they reported significant improvement in pain from DRG stimulation even after a year.” He added that, “For most, DRG stimulation really improved their quality of life.” A summary of the research is available in the ASA abstracts archive.
PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS FOR BACK INJURY COMPENSATION
If you have a back pain injury from an accident in MN, call us. You can speak with a lawyer for a free consultation. We will answer your questions and make sure you are fairly compensated for your back injury. Treatment for back pain is necessary. However, it can be expensive and time consuming. Therefore, compensation is required for the medical bills and life disruption. Our personal injury lawyers have more than 25 years’ experience successfully representing people throughout Minnesota.