Chronic pain is a debilitating medical condition that some crash victims may experience for a long time, or permanently, after a car crash. While treatments address the underlying causes and help with pain management, this condition can completely alter a person’s life.
If you suffer from chronic pain due to a car crash, you may be eligible to seek additional compensation for your damages. However, because this injury is hard to prove, you may greatly benefit from seeking legal help.
Anderson Cummings is dedicated to helping the injured, and we have a proven history of getting results. That is because we care about what we do, and we are working hard for our clients every day. Call our law offices to request a FREE case review to discuss your situation. Our vehicle collision lawyers in Fort Worth are experienced and ready to help.
What is Chronic Pain?
Pain after a car crash is expected. However, if it lasts three consecutive months or longer following the initial injury, you may have a chronic pain disorder. Victims with this condition may feel pain radiating anywhere in the body, and it may be constant or intermittent. While chronic pain may sometimes result from medical conditions, like arthritis or cancer, it is often due to severe physical trauma. This is why many car crash victims who sustain severe injuries may experience chronic pain.
How is Chronic Pain Different From Other Pain When You Get Hurt?
Unlike acute pain, which is the result of an initial injury, such as a broken leg or deep gash, chronic pain is ongoing.
For instance, say your acute injury is one of the following:
- Severe back injury
- Spinal cord damage
- Compound fracture or broken bones
- Loss of limb or amputation
- Neck injuries, such as whiplash
- Dislocated shoulder
- Knee injuries
- And more
Once you recover from the initial wound, chronic pain is what remains. Victims often complain of radiating, shooting or burning pain that does not go away. However, not everyone will experience chronic pain after a severe car crash injury. Each person’s body responds differently to trauma.
Unfortunately, many victims with this disorder are unable to function or enjoy their life as before the crash. This often leads victims with chronic pain to also suffer from secondary conditions, such as anxiety or depression.
How Does Chronic Pain Feel as Opposed to Acute Pain?
Chronic pain is described as widespread or radiating. Sometimes the pain is neurogenic – having to do with damaged nerves. The most common types of chronic pain syndromes are:
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
CRPS often appears after some type of nerve injury, and this type of chronic pain can be especially debilitating for those who live with it. Symptoms described often include muscle weakness and spasms, burning, radiating or shooting pain, and skin discoloration.
Fibromyalgia
Many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia mimic other medical conditions, including Lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and ankylosing spondylitis. To be diagnosed with this condition, your doctor will need to conduct tests to rule out these other diseases. Victims who experience chronic pain in the form of fibromyalgia may complain of widespread pain, sensitivity, trouble focusing, stiffness, depression and chronic fatigue.
Chronic Fatigue
Along with symptoms of chronic pain, muscle stiffness and other widespread pain, crash victims may also experience extreme fatigue. This type of fatigue is so severe that victims suffering from this disorder are often unable to do their normal day-to-day activities. Many crash victims with this condition are confined to their bed.
How Can You Prove Chronic Pain is Due to a Car Crash?
Proving chronic pain is due to a car crash is extremely challenging. Having an experienced legal team to guide you throughout the legal process is critical. There are steps you can take to document your pain and suffering, as well as the treatments you are getting to help you cope.
While speaking to a knowledgeable lawyer about your unique situation is a good idea, here are some essential steps to help support your claim:
- Seek medical help right after a crash – We give this advice to potential clients all the time, because it is critical to your health and to any claim you may later file.
- Keep your medical appointments – Missing your treatments is like saying, “I’m not really injured” to the insurance company, and it does not help your claim.
- Describe your ongoing pain to the doctor – How you talk to your doctor about your injuries is critical, and it also helps them to better help you.
- Be mindful of your medical records – Your medical records document your ongoing treatments and doctor notes. They can be used as evidence in an injury claim. If you do not seek medical care or continue treatments, it can be difficult to link your chronic pain and other injuries to the crash.
- Daily recovery journal – This is another strong piece of evidence if you document it properly. Your attorney can give more guidance about this, but entries about your pain and how it affects your quality of life should be added daily.
- Medical experts – If your claim is complicated, your attorney may recommend a medical expert to testify about your diagnosis and long-term prognosis. Since this individual is considered an objective third party, their statements can add considerable strength and credibility to a claim.
Can Chronic Pain Be Treated and Is It Curable?
Chronic pain is a complex condition that is still not fully understood. It is not currently curable, although, for some crash victims, their chronic pain eventually goes away or becomes less severe. For others, the pain is long-term or even permanent.
Living with chronic pain can seem overwhelming to those who experience it, but there are treatments that can help. These and other treatments help crash victims with pain management so they can move on with their lives:
- Physical therapy
- Biofeedback
- Prescription medication
- Meditation
- Relaxation and breathing techniques
- Occupational therapy
- Nerve blocks
- Hypnosis
Do You Have Chronic Pain Due to a Car Crash? Call Our Firm Today
Chronic pain may range from manageable discomfort to being completely unable to do your normal activities. Regardless of how severe it is, if it is affecting your quality of life you may be eligible to recover compensation for these damages.
Contact our law offices anytime, night or day, to request your free case review. There is zero obligation to file a claim. If you choose to hire our firm, there are no upfront costs. We only get paid if you do.
Experienced Lawyers. Proven Results. (817) 920-9000.