What is Whiplash: Everything You Need To Know and What To Do

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What is Whiplash Everything You Need To Know and
What To Do
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Soft tissue injuries like whiplash can go well
beyond pain.Being in a car accident is hard
enough, but being injured in a car accident is
worse. When you add pain and PTSD into the mix,
what seemed like a simple soft tissue injury can
quickly become a lifelong problem.
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What Is A Soft Tissue Injury?Soft tissue
injuries are just that injuries, such as bumps,
bruises and mild tearing of muscles, ligaments or
tendons, that heal within 8-12 weeks. These are
typically not injuries that you sue for because
they dont meet the threshold in Ontario.
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An essential element to suing after an accident
with resulting soft tissues injuries is whether
the pain you experience along with the injury is
chronic or not.Pain is not just about physical
pain, however. Psychological pain is a relevant
factor in determining whether a person can
continue with their lives as they did before the
accident.
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What Is A Psychological Injury?In many ways,
PTSDpost-traumatic stress disordercan be even
more debilitating than a physical injury but the
fact that it isnt visible has historically made
it difficult to obtain restitution in terms of
loss of income and the inability to return to a
previous style of living.
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On the plus side, we understand more about
psychological trauma than we ever have before,
and diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner
is no longer dismissed as a non-issue. The DSM-5
(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, fifth edition) has brought credibility
to a difficult problem the diagnosis of mental
illness, including the costs and losses
associated with it.
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While every victim will endure some level of
stress and anxiety as a result of the trauma of
an accident, not every case will go beyond that.
Most people, perhaps out of sheer necessity (I am
always amazed at the courage and fortitude of
average people when something like this
happens), are able to move on with their lives
when the physical injuries resolve. Others are so
traumatized by the accident that their lives are
forever altered. Its in these instances that a
person should seek the advice of a lawyer.
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The test for determining if compensation is
available is twofold 1. Is the injury claimed
by the plaintiff a reasonable consequence of the
negligent conduct of the defendant?2. Is the
injury so severe as to result in a recognized
psychological / psychiatric illness?
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If these tests are met, a lawsuit is possible. As
with soft tissue injuries, the damage inflicted
by psychological scars are hard to measure and
even more difficulty to quantify but there is a
growing tendency in the courts to factor in what
could be a lifelong psychological disability when
evaluating pain and suffering.
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What Will A Personal Injury Lawyer Do?First and
foremost, if you are injured in a car accident,
its essential that you follow the directions of
your health care providers to the letter. Not
doing so can be seen, in the eyes of an insurance
company, as not doing everything in your power to
mitigate the circumstances of the accident, and
that wont play well if your chronic pain or PTSD
leads to a lawsuit. Dont be a hero Make your
appointments.
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Your medical file is what will drive the claim,
so if you need psychological / psychiatric
assistance to deal with the psychological impact
of the accident, your doctor can and should refer
you. Dont be afraid to ask. The records from
these will be essential to proving your need for
compensation to deal with your loss of income /
lifestyle.
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A personal injury lawyer can be a great help in
these situations, but only if you bring one in
early, so that they can shadow your case and
evaluate it as time goes by. They wont take on
an unwinnable case, so youre not wasting your
time or theirs, but you are ensuring that your
future pain and suffering arent ignored.
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