A car accident in Louisiana can quickly disrupt your life, leaving you with both financial and physical scars. One of the most common types of physical injuries that result from motor vehicle accidents is whiplash.
Whiplash refers to the injury of the soft tissue in your neck area. If you have suffered whiplash in a car wreck as a result of another motorist’s negligence behind the wheel, you may have the right to seek compensation for these injuries.
What exactly is whiplash?
Whiplash happens most commonly in rear-end car crashes where the impact of a crash causes a driver’s or passenger’s head to move back and forth in a violent manner. Other names for whiplash include hyperextension injury, cervical sprain and cervical strain.
Whiplash can happen even in a car accident that does not involve fast speeds. All that is necessary for you to develop this type of injury is for your ligaments, vertebrae and muscles to experience an unexpected impact.
Whiplash’s consequences
The challenge with whiplash is that recognizing its symptoms right away can be difficult. You may not notice symptoms until days later. These symptoms include the following:
- Difficulty concentrating
- Memory issues
- Back problems
- Equilibrium and balance issues
- Headaches
- Stiffness in your neck
- Dizziness
- Aching, dull feeling in your neck
If you experience any of these symptoms following your accident, a general physician might refer you to a neurologist, back and neck doctor, or chiropractor. Your treatments may include muscle relaxants, physical therapy, massage therapy or magnetic resonance imaging, for example, depending on your particular situation. You might also need to immobilize your neck for a time using a cervical collar or brace.
You rights as an injury accident victim
When a driver causes you to suffer whiplash and other injuries in a car accident due to his or her carelessness behind the wheel, it may well be within your rights to file a personal injury claim against this person, seeking damages. A successfully fought claim might lead to a monetary award that can help you to address your medical bills and the loss of wages stemming from your car wreck. It may also help you to address pain and suffering associated with your motor vehicle collision.
In order to better understand your legal options in relation to this type of injury and event, you may wish to seek out more information.