The day when a car slammed into your vehicle from behind may have started out like any other ordinary day, until that moment. When an accident occurs in West Virginia or elsewhere, there is no way to know how long-lasting or far-reaching the consequences might be. If you suffer an injury in a collision, such as whiplash, you could be dealing with chronic pain for the rest of your life.
While receiving medical attention in the immediate aftermath of a collision is always a top priority, you might need to make repeated visits to a primary care physician, physical therapist or other medical care facility to help you achieve as full of a recovery as possible. Whiplash is a broad term that refers to any number of injuries occurring in the upper body after being hit or suddenly jarred. The chronic pain it often produces can greatly impede your quality of life.
Whiplash can affect bones, muscles, ligaments and nerves
When you think of whiplash, you might simply imagine an injury to the neck that causes temporary stiffness or pain. In fact, you might also experience chronic headaches, immobility, tingling or numbness in a limb, jaw pain or any number of other symptoms as a direct result of this condition.
If something hit you from behind or jarred you in a collision, damage may have occurred in your bones, muscles, ligaments or nerve endings that is not necessarily visible from the outside of your body. You might appear to be a picture of good health to the average onlooker, while on the inside you suffer bouts of discomfort or are in constant pain.
Your body was thrust in an opposite direction of the vehicle
Whiplash that results in a motor vehicle collision typically occurs through a process known as ”the law of inertia.” If you hit the brakes, your body may have kept moving forward for an instant. If something hit you from behind and it caused your vehicle to propel forward in a sudden manner, your body might have thrust backward into the seat. In many whiplash cases, both movements have occurred — jarring forward, then suddenly backward.
Your head, neck, shoulders and other upper body regions are all moving at different speeds for an instant. The result can cause various types of damage to numerous parts of your body. You might not even feel pain as a result of whiplash until hours or days after a collision.
Chronic pain affects daily life
It wouldn’t be uncommon for your doctor to prescribe medication to help alleviate pain after a whiplash injury. Sadly, many recovering accident victims become dependent on such drugs, for they are often highly addictive. This is one of several adverse effects that a whiplash injury can have on a person’s life.
You might also have to take time off work during recovery. In a severe case of chronic pain, you might not be able to return to work at all. Not having wages coming in can place immediate and long-term financial strain on a household. When another driver’s negligence has caused you injury, there are options available that enable you to seek financial recovery for your losses, which can, in turn, help you offset expenses associated with your injuries.
