How To Obtain Compensation For Chronic Pain After A Car Accident

A car accident can cause injuries of many different types and severities. Images of accident victims lying on a stretcher as they are loaded into ambulances fill news reports after serious accidents in Wisconsin. You can’t help but feel the accident victim’s pain. Ideally, victims will recover from their injuries and move on with their lives free of pain, but that doesn’t always happen.

Many accident victims suffer from chronic pain that can be debilitating and last for years or even the rest of their lives. Chronic pain is insidious because it can be incredibly life-altering, and yet, it’s invisible to the naked eye. Car accidents victims should know that if they have developed chronic pain after the accident, they could be connected. If the accident was caused by someone else’s actions or negligence, you might even be eligible for compensation for your pain and injuries in the State of Wisconsin.

In this post, we’ll share some examples of chronic pain conditions that can arise after a car accident and explain how to prove the connection between the accident and your pain in a Wisconsin court.

Defining Chronic Pain

Feeling pain after an automobile accident is normal and expected, especially if you have been injured. When that pain does not improve or go away after the injury heals or lasts longer than 6 months, it is considered chronic and victims may be diagnosed with Chronic Pain Syndrome (CPS). Chronic Pain Syndrome is a complex condition that can affect many different systems of the body. It is an evolving area of study that is not yet fully understood.

Common Chronic Pain Conditions

CPS is just one example of a chronic pain condition that can result from a car accident. Other conditions that may occur include:

• This condition has a range of symptoms that include muscle pain and stiffness, cognitive problems, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue.
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Often stemming from a nerve injury, CRPS can be debilitating. Victims may feel like their body is burning or have shooting pain, muscle weakness, spastic muscles, or skin discoloration.
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). CFS often occurs in conjunction with chronic pain. Being in constant pain can be exhausting, but CFS is more than that. It is a degree of fatigue that is debilitating and exacerbated by joint and muscle pain.

Proving Chronic Pain in Court

If you are pursuing compensation for chronic pain in a car accident lawsuit in Wisconsin, you will need to provide evidence that supports your claim. An experienced car accident attorney can help you recover compensation for your pain and will almost always be able to recover more compensation than you will be able to recover on your own.

Your attorney may provide any of the following types of evidence to support your claim:

• Medical records. An official diagnosis and/or proof of injury will be the starting point of your evidence trail. This is why so many accident attorneys advise their clients to see a doctor after they have been in an accident, regardless of how they feel at the time. The medical records from this check-up can be used to prove you were injured and on what date the injury was first noted.
• Expert testimony. Your attorney may call in medical experts to discuss your injury and/or pain. They can provide unbiased reporting and information about your injury, which lends credibility to your claim.
• An injury journal. If you do have been injured or do notice you are feeling pain frequently, see your doctor and start an injury journal. Use this journal to record how you feel each day and how the pain or injury is affecting your daily activity.

Wisconsin Car Accident Attorneys Who Advocate For You

We have all heard of compensation being awarded for “pain and suffering.” Chronic pain would fall into this category. Simply telling an attorney or judge that you are in pain and believe it is from a car accident is not enough to receive compensation in the State of Wisconsin. You must prove cause and effect as well as negligence.

The car accident attorneys at Eisenberg Law Offices in Madison, Wisconsin, help you with this. We can help you build your case by collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses and medical professionals, and ensuring all appropriate legal avenues are explored to improve your chances of obtaining compensation.

Contact our office by calling 608-256-8356 or emailing us at info@eisenberglaw.org to arrange a free consultation to discuss your situation.