Some Not-So-Well-Known Reasons Why Your Pain May Not Be Going Away

Many whiplash victims report some or all of the following symptoms which may not clear up even after many months of treatment:

It is fairly common for these whiplash-related disorders to be caused by the following injuries which can occur even in crashes where there is no visible damage to the bumper of your vehicle:

Unfortunately, these injuries are frequently overlooked because the research into their cause is fairly new.

Occult cervical facet joint injury

There have been studies that indicate that 50% or more of whiplash victims sustain hidden cervical facet joint injury. These injuries cannot be seen in an MRI or x-ray. The symptoms are primarily neck and shoulder pain.

The injured facet joint can be identified by using nerve blocks made possible by injections of a local anesthetic. The treatment involves inserting electrical probes into the region of the nerve called the medial branch of the cervical dorsal ramus. A high frequency electrical current is applied to the electrical probes which causes them to get hot. The heat coagulates the nerves and desensitizes the injured facet joint. The therapy is called percutaneous radio frequency neurotomy. Many patients report near miraculous relief from their pain.

Pain relief can last up to a year or more. After that, the pain may return because the coagulated nerves regenerate. Percutaneous radio frequency neurotomy is a surgical procedure performed by a neurosurgeon. Typical costs can be $3,000 or more each time the procedure must be done. The procedure may require repetition for several years, in which case medical bills can become difficult to manage.

Chiropractic treatment can be helpful in controlling the pain associated with facet joint injury. The advantage is that there is no risk of infection, etc., which can occur in any surgical procedure. Even with chiropractic treatment, costs can be substantial because managing the pain can require frequent long term (several years) chiropractic treatment.

Nerve cell damage due to blood hammering

Blood hammering in the neck is similar to what occurs when you hear knocking noises in your home's plumbing when you rapidly close a water faucet. Pressure fluctuations and lack of an air cushion in the plumbing can sometimes cause the pipes to "water hammer."

Even in car crashes where there is no obvious damage to a car's bumper, cervical blood hammering can occur. Blood hammering is possible in rear end collisions and front end collisions too. This has been proven in animal studies conducted in Sweden. Blood hammering can cause long term nerve cell damage in the neck and chronic pain. There are no tests presently available to identify the exact location of the nerve cell damage. It has only been found in autopsy procedures (obviously not possible on a live patient).

Medications can help control the pain, but they can also cause drowsiness and disorientation. Chiropractic treatment helps manage the pain but the treatment can be required for years because nerve cell damage due to blood hammering can take many years to resolve, or may never resolve.

Brain injury

Headache, dizziness, depression and loss of sex drive are fairly common symptoms of whiplash associated disorder. What is not so well known is that brain injury can cause these symptoms and such injury is possible in a crash where there is no obvious evidence of bumper damage.

Brain injury can occur in a whiplash event without the head contacting anything. The injury is called an acceleration induced injury because it results from rapid acceleration of the skull in a whiplash event.

Autopsy procedures have confirmed the existence of these kinds of injuries, but diagnosis through routine testing is difficult. Neurologists and neurosurgeons have techniques for evaluating such injuries, one of which is positron emission tomography (PET scan of the brain). PET scan is a very expensive procedure and is not ordinarily done in whiplash cases because of the high cost and difficulties associated with getting an insurance company to pay for the procedure.

Summary

From the foregoing it should be apparent that whiplash injury can create health problems that may require long term (several years) chiropractic care or even surgical procedures. In addition to the injuries mentioned above, there is the possibility of disc rupture, ligament damage and other sources of pain.

Too many whiplash victims make the mistake of settling their insurance claims prematurely, that is, before the final verdict is in on just what kind of long term care may be needed. Often, whiplash victims are not fully informed about the possibility of occult facet joint injury, nerve cell damage due to blood hammering, or acceleration induced brain injury. One of the reasons for this is that it is so difficult for doctors to get some insurance companies to pay for the necessary treatment. Long term chiropractic care or radio frequency neurotomies can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Whiplash victims often mistakenly assume that just because their doctor has diagnosed the injury and decided on what kind of long term care is needed, the doctor will be able to convince a jury that a big monetary award is appropriate to pay for pain and suffering and long term treatment.

Most whiplash victims lose their cases in court and wind up deep in debt with doctor bills. They lose their cases or fail to get a big enough out-of-court settlement because insurance companies often hire professional expert witnesses who overwhelm plaintiffs' lawyers who lack the information they need to discredit their courtroom testimony. These professional expert witnesses falsely argue that the doctor is wrong and the patient could not have gotten injured in a crash where the vehicle does not appear to be seriously damaged. Usually these professional witnesses are accident reconstructionists, mechanical engineers, biomechanical engineers, or biomedical engineers.

Previously, many lawyers and doctors believed that it was hopeless to fight insurance companies in whiplash cases. This has changed. Eastern Forensic Science Group has made a manual available to whiplash victims and chiropractors which teaches them how to fight back against insurance companies and their professional expert witnesses. The manual makes it possible for the whiplash victim to get enough money for long term care, and compensation for pain and suffering. Lawyers who have read the manual are amazed at how effective it is in getting insurance companies to pay big out-of-court settlements (up to $500,000 or more) or win in court. Chiropractors all over America are obtaining the manual to learn how to overcome the phony arguments made by insurance company professional expert witnesses so that they can provide the long term care their patients really need.

We urge you to go back to this web site's HOME PAGE and read it, and then read the page called FAIR SETTLEMENT. The FAIR SETTLEMENT  page contains detailed information about the manual called Whiplash Injury. Every chapter of the manual is summarized at FAIR SETTLEMENT. Detailed instructions as to how to obtain the manual are included at PUBLICATIONS. FAIR SETTLEMENT contains testimonials from many lawyers who confirm that the manual is unlike anything ever previously written and really works (we are so confident about its contents that the manual carries a $500 award guarantee of satisfaction).

Whiplash Injury can help you find a cure for your pain. It can make all the difference in the world in helping you and your doctor get you the kind of long term care and treatment you may really need as well as fair compensation for pain and suffering.