Pain After The Car Accident: 3 Chronic Conditions Associated with Automobile Accidents

Are you experiencing pain after a car accident? In this post you will learn about the most common causes of this and the next steps you can take.

Unfortunately, this is not always what happens. The extreme forces involved in auto accidents can cause severe traumatic injuries, and for some people these injuries can have permanent consequences.

In fact, recent medical evidence shows that auto accidents can lead to a number of chronic and debilitating conditions.

Three Chronic Conditions Linked to Traumatic Collisions in Florida

1. Chronic Brain Injuries

As doctors continue to gain a better understanding of the effects of traumatic brain injuries, there is a growing body of evidence to support a link between brain injuries and various chronic impairments.

From concussions to severe penetrating brain injuries, virtually all types of traumatic brain injuries have the potential to lead to long-term effects.

In many cases, the link between an accident and a driver’s or passenger’s condition will not immediately be clear.

The effects of traumatic brain injuries can manifest gradually, and forgetfulness, impulsive behavior, and other symptoms may not necessarily trigger concerns about an accident-related injury.

This is one reason why all auto accident victims should seek prompt medical attention. In certain circumstances, a delay in seeking treatment can exacerbate the chronic effects of a traumatic brain injury, which may include:

• Anxiety, depression, and mood swings
• Cognitive impairments
• Difficulty concentrating
• Forgetfulness
• Memory loss
• Headaches and migraines
• Impaired judgment
• Impulsive behavior

These and other effects of traumatic brain injuries can impact every aspect of an accident victim’s life.

Once again, prompt treatment is critical, and individuals diagnosed with chronic conditions resulting from accident-related brain injuries must carefully follow the treatment plans their doctors prescribe.

2. Chronic Back Pain

Chronic back pain is among the most common long-term injuries resulting from vehicle collisions and our attorneys have handled plenty of lower back pain car accident settlements. Like the symptoms of certain types of traumatic brain injuries, back pain can come on slowly over time, masking the accident as its root cause.

Individuals who experience back pain in the days, weeks, or months following a collision should seek medical attention, and should carefully describe their symptoms so that their treating physicians can provide an accurate diagnosis.

Due to its chronic nature, treatment for trauma-induced back pain generally focuses on symptom management.

Along with pain medications (such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)), other treatment options can include acupuncture, physical therapy, steroid injections, and self-management.

If you are experiencing back pain following a car accident, you will need to have your doctor prescribe a treatment regimen that is tailored to your own unique injury and personal circumstances.

3. Chronic Thyroid Disorders – Can Trauma Cause Thyroid Problems?

Trauma, such as C5-C6 or neck trauma, can cause thyroid problems. In addition to chronic brain injuries and back pain, there is now strong medical support for chronic thyroid disorders resulting from traumatic car accidents.

The thyroid is a gland at the base of the neck that secretes hormones your body uses for metabolism, temperature regulation, and general growth and development.

Here’s how neck trauma could cause thyroid problems:

When a traumatic accident impacts the neck, the physical effects can cause damage to the thyroid, which can in turn lead to a number of chronic symptoms. For example, thyroid conditions resulting from musculoskeletal trauma during car accidents can cause:

• Compromised brain function
• Compromised immune system
• Exacerbation of pain from other trauma-induced injuries
• Mood swings
• Reduced energy levels
• Reduced metabolic rate

Since thyroid disorders are both a result and a cause of pain in the muscular and skeletal systems, individuals who suffer traumatic neck injuries in auto accidents can find themselves in a vicious cycle of chronic symptoms.

Fortunately, in many cases patients will have a number of treatment options available. Potential treatment options for chronic thyroid disorders include:

• Dietary supplements
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Physical therapy
• Radioactive iodide treatment
• Surgery
• Thyroid medications

While anyone injured in an auto accident should be aware of the risk of a chronic thyroid condition, drivers and passengers injured in rear-end accidents are among those who are most likely to face thyroid problems.

Whiplash injuries are closely associated with trauma-induced thyroid disorders, and these injuries most frequently occur in rear-end collisions.

Seeking Financial Compensation for Chronic Conditions Resulting from Auto Accidents

Seeking financial compensation for chronic conditions can present additional challenges as compared to seeking compensation for acute physical injuries.

This is due in large part to the difficulty in diagnosing chronic conditions as the effects of physical trauma.

Individuals who experience symptoms of a chronic injury or disorder following a car accident should take appropriate steps to preserve their legal rights, including:

• Help Your Doctor Provide an Accurate Diagnosis. If your doctor is unaware of your symptoms, he or she will not be able to provide an accurate diagnosis. If your doctor is unaware that you were injured in an accident, he or she will not be able to link your condition to the collision. When seeking medical attention after an accident, it is critical to make sure your doctor has all of the relevant information. It can be helpful to write down notes and bring them to your appointment.
• Follow Your Doctor’s Treatment Plan. Treatment for chronic conditions often involves a multi-faceted approach – surgery, rest, physical therapy, lifestyle modifications, and a variety of medications could all be essential to minimizing the long-term effects. If you have been diagnosed with a chronic condition, you need to be prepared to make some changes in your life, and sticking to your doctor’s treatment plan should be among your top priorities.

Settlement Example of Pain After a Car Accident

$5,000,000 Settlement for a Car Accident in 2024

Our client, who is a medical doctor, was stopped at a green traffic signal due to an ambulance responding to an emergency call. The Defendant driver was unable to stop and collided with the rear of our client’s vehicle at a high rate of speed pushing it forward into the intersection. Both vehicles sustained significant property damage with our client’s vehicle being totaled.

The client was transported from the scene by ambulance to a local emergency room where he complained of neck pain radiating into his arms. He had no prior significant history of neck pain. He was treated at the hospital and then underwent a course of physical therapy. An MRI of his neck revealed multiple large, herniated discs. After conservative treatment failed to alleviate his pain, he elected to undergo a lengthy and complex two-part surgery where his surgeon went in both the front and back of his neck and fused four levels of his cervical spine. Unfortunately, during the surgery he suffered a spinal cord leak and he had to return for emergency surgery days later. Following the second surgery, he suffered from severe debilitating pain due to nerve damage and his left arm was severely compromised. He was diagnosed by physicians with a condition known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (“CRPS”) and underwent numerous stellate ganglion nerve blocks injections and ketamine infusions. Unfortunately, nothing the doctors tried helped alleviate his debilitating pain.

Our firm proactively filed a lawsuit early on and undertook extensive discovery. Depositions were taken of the defendant driver and other witnesses. In addition, our firm retained numerous expert witnesses including a life care planner/physiatrist, who evaluated our client’s future medical care needs, an economist, who determined the cost of our client’s future care and an accident reconstructionist, who assisted in establishing the defendant’s fault for causing the accident. We also obtained pain management / CRPS specialists, a radiologist, and a spine surgeon to educate the jury regarding the nature and extent of the injuries our client had suffered. The defendants also hired several experts, including their own spine surgeon, as well as other witnesses to dispute the cost of our client’s medical treatment and the need for future medical care. The defense even hired their own accident reconstructionist to claim that the client could have safely proceeded through the intersection without stopping for the ambulance.

After the case was set for trial, the defense made their first offer of $1,500,000.00. We immediately rejected this offer as it was insufficient to fairly compensate our client for his tremendous losses. The defense made several more offers before proposing to settle the case for $3,100,000.00. We rejected all of these offers and insisted that the defense pay our client just compensation. During this time, the parties undertook depositions of the expert witnesses. Most notably, at the deposition of the defendant’s expert spine surgeon, we were able to establish that the crash caused the need for surgery and the subsequent surgical complications resulting in lifelong damages. With the trial date approaching, the defense recognized that their liability was substantial. They filed two written proposals for settlement for $4.0 million and $4.25 million which we also rejected. Finally, following some late negotiations, we accepted the defense’s offer of $5,000,000.00 and the case was settled. In all we rejected eight offers before settling for an amount that was $3,500,000.00 more than the defense initially wanted to pay our client.

Schedule a Free Consultation at Abrahamson & Uiterwyk

If you would like more information about pursuing financial compensation for experiencing pain after a car accident, the nearby injury lawyers at Abrahamson & Uiterwyk can help.

To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation, call our office at (800) 538-4878, text us, or request an appointment online today.

See What Our Clients Say

“I am a college student who was in my first major car accident far from home, and after experiencing some major back pain, my dad looked online and found Abrahamson and Uiterwyk. Mr Pavlik and Mr Pimenta were extremely nice and diligent with my case. I was always kept in the loop with all updates and reached a settlement I am more than happy with. I would have never known the condition of my body after this accident if it wasn’t for my attorneys sending me to specialists to get checked out. I definitely recommend this law firm for any injuries in any accident.”

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