There are many people who will disparage someone who has complained about the pain and suffering from a whiplash injury. This is because the insurance industry has done a great job of creating the false impression that a person claiming to suffer from whiplash is somehow faking an injury to collect money. The truth is that whiplash is a painful and debilitating injury and the people who suffer from this are often in excruciating pain for months or even years.
Whiplash injuries may occur in a variety of situations where there is a sudden acceleration of the upper spinal cord and head followed by a rapid backward motion. This is caused by the impacting force being transferred to the driver and any passengers in a car accident, but even the jerking motion of a poorly calibrated amusement park ride can lead to serious harm. This violent action leads to damage to the soft tissue, which is one of the main reasons why there is so much debate about the veracity of the person suffering from this type of injury – soft tissue damage does not appear on most traditional medical diagnostic tools. Due to this fact, victims may suffer through the pain because of the negative stereotypes, such as the following:
- Whiplash will go away on its own after a few days – many people have the impression that soft tissue injuries are not serious enough to cause long-term pain. Often, a victim is dismissed with the advice to take a couple of aspirin. However, pain block studies have shown that the damage is very real and the pain severe.
- If an accident victim did not complain about experiencing pain at the time of the accident, any later claims are an attempt to cash-in on the accident. This is as far from reality as one can get. The fact is that the adrenaline rush that affects most people at an accident site masks many injuries. In addition, some damage takes time to manifest, including injury to the nerve root.
- Whiplash is unlikely because of the construction of newer vehicles. Although safety features have improved in most motor vehicles manufactured today, the head rest in modern vehicles actually may promote the incidence of whiplash if not positioned properly.
- People claiming whiplash injuries are looking for a large cash settlement from insurance companies. Those very insurance companies have been very effective in promoting this idea. However, medical research reveals that whiplash injuries may lead to a lifetime of pain. Studies involving the autopsy of suffers of whiplash injuries reveal that there is extensive damage of the soft tissue in many accident victims, which had not appeared on x-ray scans.
A person who has been the victim of a car accident and developed pain in the neck and back, as well as jaw pain, may be suffering from whiplash. Although it is possible that this injury will heal on its own with little more than aspirin, other cases may be much more serious, leading to years of pain and suffering – on both a physical and emotional level.
The experienced auto accident attorneys at Lundy Law know that the pain that you are suffering from in the aftermath of a motor vehicle collision is very real. We know that you need medical treatment to be able to live a full life and we are fully committed to fighting for your rights to recover for the harm that was done to you. We want you to have the best available legal representation, so we offer a No Fee Assurance where you do not pay any fees or costs unless we win your case. We want to discuss what happened to you in a free and confidential consultation, so please call us at 1-800-LundyLaw to schedule a meeting, or complete our free online consultation form.
