A car accident can certainly cause damage to either one or, more rarely, both sciatic nerves in the legs. The nerves, if pinched, or placed under pressure by the sacrum, any of the lumbar vertebrae or a bone in the leg, may be sufficiently damaged to be felt as sciatica.
Sciatica that develops from a car accident may be treatable or may develop into a chronic, hard to treat condition.
Whatever the severity of the sciatica after a car accident, it is important to consider the negative financial effects. These include the costs of medical treatment and the loss of earnings.
These and other financial payments can be recovered by filing a personal injury claim with the insurer of the driver at fault or other part that can be proven to have caused the accident.
Effects of Sciatica Cannot be Taken Lightly
Sciatica is an injury to either of the two sciatic nerves. These are the very important off shoots from the spinal cord that branch off down the two legs. The nerves may become compressed by a bone or other hard part during an accident involving another vehicle.
The compression is usually experienced as a radiating pain down one of the legs, reaching down into the foot and up into the lower back. The pain may be intermittent or continuous.
The pain may be only mild and may not be long lasting, but can also be totally debilitating and mean that the injured person must give up work while being treated.
There are other causes of sciatica and insurers may try and claim that the sciatica you experience existed before the accident. Detailed medical examination and testing will expose such clams and validate your own.
What to Claim For Damages
The amount of damages must be clearly related to the real pain and financial cost of the sciatica. It is important to show that the sciatica did not appear before the accident. If you try and allow the sciatica to heal all by itself, you could actually make the condition worse in the long run and at the same time disallow you from claiming for medical treatment.
Sciatica will normally respond to treatment, so you might as well get the treatment and claim compensation for the cost of it. A personal injury claim should also cover the full cost of lost earnings and an amount for the pain and suffering experienced.
Find out more about what damages you may be entitled to if you file a personal injury claim.
How an Attorney Can Help You Get the Compensation You Deserve
It can be hard convincing an insurance provider that the pain you are experiencing in your lower back and / or legs was due to a specific accident. Insurers will do their best to keep the claim amount as low as possible. They may try and allege that you already suffered from sciatica before the accident.
It is best to get professional legal help from an experienced PI attorney. The attorney should not only advise you on preparing for any hearings, but actually negotiate forcefully and knowledgeably on your behalf in any negotiations with the insurer’s legal representative.
Find out more on how a personal injury attorney can help you with your case.
