Chronic Pain Injury Attorney’s in Topeka, Kansas

Have you been left with a chronic pain injury after a car accident in Shawnee County or nearby?

If your injuries are due to negligence, we can help you claim financial recompense for the losses you have suffered as a result.

Chronic injury pain after a car accident

Car accidents can be devastating – both in terms of the immediate after-effects and the longer-term consequences for your health and wellbeing.

Besides the immediate impact of physical injuries, stress, and emotional turmoil, some victims can be left with pain that lasts for months or years after the accident.

Examples of chronic pain injuries are:

• Back, neck, and spinal cord injuries
• Chronic headaches
• Joint pain or leg pain
• Muscle, ligament, or tendon pain
• Nerve pain

Any type of chronic pain can be debilitating and seriously hamper your ability to live a “normal” life.

What is considered a chronic pain injury?

Most pain that people experience from accidents is acute. It can be severe after the accident but gradually gets better – such as with whiplash or a broken bone.

This type of pain is best seen as a type of “warning system” for the body that something is wrong.

Where pain continues for three-to-six months or more, it is generally referred to as chronic pain. 

This type of pain is more complex. It can be very difficult to live with and can affect the way we think as well as the way we feel.

Chronic pain can lead to mental health or emotional problems, as well as other physical health issues.

This can start to impact the long-term quality of life, affecting work, home, and social life, and often prevent you from doing the things you love.

Chronic musculoskeletal pain

Musculoskeletal pain is pain affecting the muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and nerves. It can be felt anywhere in the body after a car accident.

Problems range from a stiff neck to more serious musculoskeletal problems like spinal cord injuries or herniated discs.

The most serious musculoskeletal conditions may have many other symptoms as well as the pain itself, including:

• Complete or partial paralysis
• Reduced motor skills 
• Respiratory problems 
• Bowel problems
• Reduced immunity

When pain persists beyond a few weeks and becomes chronic, its impact can be much greater. 

Even a relatively minor problem like a stiff neck from whiplash may make it difficult to sleep or move around, to sit at your desk at work, to have an active social life, to take care of your family, or to complete a gym workout.

The long-term effects of musculoskeletal pain can, therefore, be devastating mentally and emotionally, as well as physically.

Chronic headaches

Chronic headaches are another debilitating form of chronic pain injury that result from car accidents.

During car accidents, the head and neck area may suffer considerable trauma. Whiplash and neck sprains are common, as are blows to the head.

Some people may start getting headaches immediately after an accident. For others, the pain develops over time and becomes chronic.

If you can show that your headaches are a direct result of the car accident, you may have a valid claim against a negligent driver.

Chronic pain injury victims accused of faking pain following an accident

For victims of the type of chronic pain injury described, the pain is very real. 

To be accused of “faking it” or “exaggerating it”, as some people going through the after-effects of a car accident are, only rubs salt into their wounds.

Unfortunately, chronic pain is quite poorly understood by people outside the medical community – and even by some professionals within it. 

Chronic pain is often viewed as a “psychological” problem or “all in the head”. 

This is because the origin of the pain can be difficult to pinpoint and to prove. 

Medical experts are often required to prove to insurance companies that the chronic pain and its consequences are real for the victim.

What does a chronic pain injury need to make a claim?

If you’re the victim of a chronic pain injury in Topeka, you need three basic things in order to sue a negligent driver and make a claim:

1. A strong team of medical professionals to support your claim as expert witnesses
2. Close friends, relatives, and work colleagues who can act as character witnesses and attest to your state of mental and physical health and wellbeing before the accident
3. A qualified and experienced chronic pain injury lawyer prepared to fight your case with the insurance companies and familiar with the Kansas legal system

As highlighted, victims suffering from chronic pain injuries often have their credibility and integrity questioned during the legal process.

Powerful insurance companies have ruthless lawyers who resist large settlements at all costs and may attempt to demonstrate that your chronic pain is not real.

This can be a challenging experience for many victims already traumatized by their accident, so it helps to be prepared for this.

Our lawyers can help you prepare for the case, assemble the team of people you need to challenge the assertions of the insurance company, and fight for your rights at trial if necessary.

When should I contact a lawyer about a chronic pain injury?

If you suspect negligence of the other driver in a motor vehicle accident, contact one of our personal injury lawyers as soon as possible to discuss your case.

If you experience pain long after your accident, you may still have a valid claim for compensation, even if no claim was made earlier.

However, to get what you deserve for your injuries, you need to prove that another party’s negligence caused or contributed to your injury and that the chronic pain has caused you losses in your life.

It takes time to prepare a case and to assemble the team of people required to prove the validity of the claim.

The earlier you can contact our chronic pain injury lawyers and explain your case, the sooner we can talk you through your options.

Remember – we only get paid if we win your case!

With all personal injury cases, we work on a contingency basis: we only get paid if we win your case.

With chronic pain injury cases, we may be able to help you claim for:

• Lost wages 
• Lost earnings capacity in the future
• Past and future medical bills
• Past and future pain and suffering

We will deduct a pre-agreed percentage from the compensation that you are awarded. This is always made clear and agreed upfront before taking on a case.