South Jersey Whiplash Injury Lawyer

Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries, with around 30 million new cases each year in the U.S. It’s also one of the most frequently misunderstood medical diagnoses and is often underestimated and disputed by insurance companies during car accident claims to recover damages. Whiplash can occur even in low-speed car accidents with very little damage to the vehicle—an aspect of whiplash injuries that insurance companies use to deny claims. According to a long-term study, over 50% of whiplash sufferers still experience chronic pain and require ongoing medical care 20 years after the accident.

What Is Whiplash?

During a collision, the vehicle occupant’s body continues moving forward at the rate the car was traveling until the crash force of the accident snaps them back against the seatbelt. At only 35 miles per hour, a 130-pound person becomes a 4,550-pound force in an accident. A collision propels the motorist’s head forward and then snaps it back at full force, causing the neck to over-extend and damaging the sensitive structures in the cervical spine.

Whiplash injuries worsen during the hours and days after an accident as inflammation sets in. This delay in symptom onset sometimes causes whiplash injury victims to post-pone medical care which may further impact their ability to recover damages for the economic and non-economic consequences of the injury.

What Are the Symptoms of Whiplash After a Car Accident?

In the rush of adrenaline after a car accident, many injury victims disregard the extra sensitivity or soreness they feel in their neck or shrug it off as a minor inconvenience in their relief that they survived the crash. Then, within hours or days of the accident, more noticeable symptoms emerge including the following:

• Neck pain and stiffness
• Headache
• Tingling or numbness in the upper extremities 
• Difficulty concentrating
• Memory problems
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears
• Vision problems
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability or changes in mood

Whiplash symptoms are painful and debilitating. Even worse, a significant percentage of whiplash sufferers experience PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Studies reveal the psychological impacts of whiplash may be extensive. The cervical spine includes the bundles of nerves in the spinal cord responsible for transmitting messages back and forth from the brain. Injury in this area may have serious physical and emotional effects on the victim. Speak to an injury lawyer in South Jersey to help with your case. 

How Is Whiplash Treated?

Whiplash injury victims require medical care that includes cervical collars, physical therapy, pain medications, anti-inflammatory medications, and osteopathy. Whiplash victims may also need treatment for PTSD and additional emotional impacts. About half of whiplash injury victims fully recover within three months of the car accident,  while the remaining 50% have some degree of long-term impacts from whiplash, including neck-related physical disability and psychological dysfunction.

How Can a Car Accident Lawyer in South Jersey Help a Whiplash Injury Claim?

Car accident injury victims with whiplash often find their compensation claims disputed by the insurance company due to minimal damage to their vehicle and other factors, but whiplash injury is very real, painful, and debilitating, sometimes causing long-term negative effects on quality of life. If you or a family member suffered whiplash in a car accident in South Jersey, the attorneys at Grungo Law understand the impacts of the injury on all aspects of your life. Contact Grungo Law for an experienced South Jersey car accident attorney to get results for whiplash victims so they can move forward from the injury and reach their maximum medical improvement.