You can empathize, but can you really feel someone else’s pain? Medical professionals often ask patients to rate their pain on a scale from one to ten, and some medical journals have even gone so far as to describe pain as the fifth vital sign, but measuring pain is ultimately subjective. Two people might respond differently to the same painful stimulus, and you might know someone who is sensitive to pain or someone else who seems unfazed by it. When you live with chronic pain after a traumatic injury, such as a bone fracture or whiplash injury, pain can affect almost every aspect of your life, but other people cannot tell from looking at you how much the pain is bothering you.
It is not always possible to predict, based on the diagnosis of the acute injury, how long the pain will last or how severe it will be. Some people develop complex regional pain syndrome due to injury to nerves as a result of an injury to bone or muscle, but it is not possible to tell, based on the diagnostic images immediately after the accident, whether this condition will develop. Proving that you are in chronic pain and that it is related to a car accident can be a sticking point in car accident lawsuits. A Houma car accident lawyer can help you if you are suffering from chronic pain as a result of a car accident.
Chronic Pain and Your Car Accident Case
If you get injured in a car accident, you have the right to sue the at-fault driver or any other party responsible for the accident. You can request economic damages to compensate you for your accident-related medical bills and for lost income arising from your inability to work due to your injuries. If your injuries are so severe that they have fundamentally altered your daily life, you can also request noneconomic damages for pain and suffering. If chronic pain prevents you from working, walking, or participating in leisure activities, you may qualify for noneconomic damages.
To win your case, you must prove that the car accident is the direct cause of your symptoms. Chronic pain may have many causes, so expect the defendant to try to argue that your pain is due to a pre-existing medical condition. Do not put it past the defendant to claim that you are faking or exaggerating your symptoms. The best way to present an airtight case is to have your injuries examined immediately after the accident, even if you do not know how severe they are. You can also summon doctors who have treated you, as well as expert witnesses who have not treated you but who are knowledgeable about injuries like yours.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey About Car Accidents
A car accident lawyer can help you recover your accident-related financial losses after a car accident that resulted in chronic pain. Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana, to set up a consultation about your case.
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