Claim Compensation for Whiplash Injury Pains
To prevent chronic whiplash injury pain, you must first understand what whiplash is. A whiplash injury is what happens when your head is thrown forwards and backwards very quickly, resulting in a "whip-like" motion, damaging the tissue in your neck. These injuries are also known as "neck strain". More than 1 million people today have neck pain, and the majority of these peoples' pain derives from a small neck injury. If the whiplash was caused by an accident or attack which was not your fault, you may be entitled to claim compensation, so it is important to know what the symptoms of whiplash are, so you can decide whether you have the right to make a compensation claim.
Clinical symptoms of Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD) include:
- Neck pain.
- Arm pain.
- Pain resonating from the shoulders.
- Lower back problems.
- Head problems; a few worth mentioning are dizziness, problems with sight, headaches or migraines.
- Tinnitus, which most patients percieve as ringing in one or both ears, or in the head.
- Temporomandibular pain, which is pain in the jaw's joints, and
- Paraesthesia, the tickling or stinging sensation in one's skin, often described as the feeling related to limbs "falling asleep"
These symptoms usually begin showing or affecting the person several hours after the injury is sustained, and becomes gradually worse over the 24 hours to 48 hours following. You should consult your doctor immediately after an injury which may cause whiplash and again if symptoms occur later, in order to validate your claim for whiplash injury compensation.
Neck pain is the most common problem with whiplash injuries; about 14% to 42% of patients with these injuries incur chronic pain in the neck. Studies so far have hinted that the whiplash injury pain will be temporary and go away over the course of a few months, or at the possibility of the pain being indefinite. One thing that can make the difference between whether the pain goes away or becomes chronic is the emotional response from the victim immediately after the automobile accident.
It has been suggested that the emotional reaction to a whiplash injury may be what makes the pain chronic instead of temporary. Emotional reaction coupled with neck stiffness and pain can create activity avoidance caused by fear, and a fear of re-injuring the neck. You may also be able to file a whiplash injury claim for the emotional distress suffered in any accident or attack from which you sustained the whiplash injury.
Research that investigates the alleviation of chronic pain from injuries occurring to the bone and/or muscle suggests that the immediate emotional response, such as the two factors listed above, can significantly increase the chances of chronic pain and possible disability. Further research has shown that early attempts at neutralizing these fears have been effective at preventing some, if not all, chronic pain within the neck.
One study, completed by the "National of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and skin Diseases" on Preventing Whiplash, was fruitful in its course, but results have yet to be posted. This study took place over the course of 6 years, and the people that were used in the study met the criteria of having been in a car accident, resulting in whiplash, in the 4 to 10 weeks prior to the study. With a whiplash injury claim, you can possibly claim back the costs of psychological and psychiatric care as well as physical treatment which was necessitated by your whiplash injury.
Another study, carried out by The Back Research Center in Denmark and the Danish Pain Research Center shows the effects of cervical collars, "act-as-usual" and active mobilizing directly after a whiplash injury. This trial was started to see the effects of three strategies for prevention of chronic neck pain, and to compare the results. The results are not fully compiled yet, but it seems if you get help to return to normal movement as soon as possible following a whiplash injury, you recover more quickly. A successful claim for whiplash injury compensation could finance the type of help that you need.