( 300+)Whiplash is one of the most significant neck injuries. Although some people wrongly assume that whiplash is “minor,” many people struggle with long-term symptoms. They can go months or even years, unable to turn their heads or struggling with headaches and neck stiffness. Contact an experienced Greenville car accident lawyer to discuss your case. Our firm has negotiated favorable settlements for clients injured in different types of car accidents, and we are accepting new clients.
What Are Long Term Effects of Whiplash?
Many injured motorists suffer whiplash in rear end collisions, T-bones, and sideswipe accidents. These wrecks are so violent that a motorists’ head whips back and forth, stretching and tearing nerves, muscles, and other soft tissues.
Interestingly, the first symptoms of whiplash might take a day to emerge. Many people feel “fine” after the crash, only to wake up the next day with intense neck pain. Over the coming months, their long-term whiplash symptoms do not improve. Instead, they continue to struggle with the following:
Neck Pain
Pain is the natural consequence of injury to muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The pain might be most acute in the first few weeks, but long-term whiplash can result in a dull ache or throbbing pain for months on end. Pain medication provides only temporary relief and comes with its own complications, such as opioid addiction.
Limited Range of Movement
Due to pain, many people cannot fully turn their heads, even months after an accident. Consequently, they might be unable to drive because they cannot look over their shoulder or check blind spots. Tipping the chin up or down is also a problem, which makes going to work a challenge.
Ideally, injured motorists will receive a gentle massage to loosen muscles, but recovery might be slow. Over time, muscles become weak from disuse, which also limits movement.
Headaches
Motorists with moderate or severe whiplash can suffer from repeated headaches. Some of the headaches result from tension in the neck muscles, while others can result from pinched nerves. Some accident victims report experiencing migraine headaches, which can be totally disabling.
Depending on their severity, headaches can keep people from working, leading to dramatic income loss. Migraines might pop up out of nowhere, making it hard for someone to leave their house.
Impaired Balance
Can whiplash cause neurological problems? The answer is “yes.” The neck supports both the brain and the spinal cord, so many whiplash victims experience long-running neurological symptoms, such as loss of balance. You might struggle to stand or walk as a result. In extreme cases, a person can experience vertigo, which manifests as a spinning sensation and nausea.
Difficulty Concentrating/Memory Problems
Another neurological problem includes problems with concentration. You might experience brain fog or trouble following lines of argument, which can impair your ability to do your job.
Problems with concentration are closely related to memory problems. You might not be able to “store” new information in your brain, so you forget doctor’s appointments.
Mood Swings
Mood swings are another neurological problem that many people deal with following an accident. You might experience wilder swings in emotion, with higher “highs” and crushing “lows.” Other motorists deal with irritability, which adds stress to their relationships. Some mood disorders can be stabilized with medication, while entire families might benefit from group therapy.
Did You Suffer Whiplash or a Concussion?
The long-term symptoms are similar for both whiplash and brain injuries like concussions. Both can lead to headaches, impaired movement or balance, depression, and memory loss.
Your doctor can properly diagnose your medical problem. Ultimately, you can seek financial compensation regardless of whether you suffered whiplash, concussion, or both. Any negligent motorist who caused an accident should pay compensation. South Carolina requires that drivers carry liability car insurance for precisely this purpose. (South Carolina Code § 38-77-140.)
The Economic Cost of Whiplash
Whiplash has many direct and indirect costs, including:
- Medical treatment. Severe whiplash can require multiple doctor’s appointments, imaging tests, pain medication, injections, surgery, and physical therapy. Severe neurological symptoms might also require physical or behavioral therapy to promote healing and facilitate a return to work.
- Future medical care. Long-term symptoms can require ongoing treatment. Regular massage can keep muscles loose, while physical therapy can strengthen neck muscles.
- Income loss. A major component of whiplash treatment is rest. Long-term whiplash symptoms, like those listed above, can make work impossible. Even people who sit at a computer typing all day might be unable to deal with the pain, or they cannot perform their job adequately due to problems concentrating.
A settlement should also include compensation for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. Whiplash negatively impacts a person’s relationships and mental health. They can lose all enjoyment of life and grow apart from their friends and family. Money might seem like an inadequate substitute for your suffering, but it’s the best we can do to hold a driver accountable.
Work with an experienced lawyer. Some claims adjusters continue to minimize whiplash as an injury. They might especially doubt that you can feel pain and other symptoms for six months or more after the accident. But you deserve fair compensation for the long-term effects of whiplash.
Providing Quality Legal Representation for Car Accident Victims
Elliott Frazier — Family, Personal Injury & Car Accident Attorneys, LLC has experience bringing claims against individual drivers, workers, transportation companies, rideshare drivers, and more. These legal cases depend on proving fault for the crash. Once we show that another driver is mostly to blame for your injury, we can move on to prove your medical expenses and other losses.
You can trust our experience helping those with long-term whiplash symptoms as well as other injuries. We have represented those in Greenville (29605 zip code), Mount Pleasant (29464), and surrounding areas.
Contact a Greenville, SC Car Accident Lawyer
Elliott Frazier — Family, Personal Injury & Car Accident Attorneys, LLC is grateful for the trust injured motorists have shown us over the years. They know that our legal team negotiates aggressively for the most compensation possible in a case. Contact our office at 864-635-6323 to schedule a no-risk consultation. You won’t pay a fee unless we win your case.
