A favorite trick of insurance claims adjusters is to tell claimants that they are not as badly injured as the claimants say they are or that the cause of the ongoing pain is something other than the car accident. It is insulting when insurance companies blame you for your pain and say that it is only because you are old and obese, for example, as if your age and weight absolve other people of the responsibility to drive safely.
What is even worse, though, is having to power through your pain so that you can keep earning a paycheck to pay down the medical bills resulting from the accident. Some car accident-related injuries are much more painful than is obvious to anyone except the patient; it is possible to suffer from chronic pain due to damaged soft tissues or nerves, even if you do not have visible external injuries and your diagnostic images look normal. If the insurance companies refuse to believe you about the pain you continue to suffer after a car accident, contact a New York car accident lawyer.
How Does Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Happen?
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) happens when the nerves in an arm, leg, hand, or foot get damaged because of a traumatic injury such as a sprain or fracture. Motor vehicle accidents are a common cause of CRPS; other causes include accidental falls and sports injuries. A diagnosis of CRPS applies if symptoms of nerve dysfunction continue after the underlying acute injury has healed.
Symptoms of CRPS include pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness in the affected limb or extremity. The skin of the affected body part may also differ in appearance and temperature from the rest of the body; its color and texture may differ. Sweat production and hair and nail growth on the affected body part may also be abnormal.
How Severe is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?
In some cases of CRPS, the residual pain is worse than the original injury. No one expects a sprained wrist to cause debilitating pain for six months, but if a nerve gets injured and CRPS develops, that is sometimes what happens.
The good news is that CRPS eventually heals on its own; the younger and healthier you are at the time of the acute injury, the faster you will heal. Most patients do not require hospitalization or surgery. Treatment aims at managing symptoms and maintaining the function of the affected body part. Therefore, you may need physical therapy, and your doctor may instruct you to take over-the-counter pain medications such as Tylenol or Advil. Your doctor may also prescribe steroids to minimize swelling so that the nerve can heal more quickly.
Contact Leitner Varughese Warywoda PLLC About Car Accident Cases
A car accident lawyer can help you if you are suffering from a painful injury, such as CRPS, after a car accident, even if the insurance companies deny that you are seriously injured. Contact Leitner Varughese Warywoda PLLC in Brooklyn, New York, or call (212)671-1110 to discuss your case.
