Whiplash is one of the most common injuries caused by car accidents in El Paso and elsewhere. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most misunderstood injuries, often associated with insurance scams and treated accordingly by insurance companies. Whiplash is a painful and potentially serious injury, with substantial studies revealing long-term impacts as well as short-term debilitating pain.
If you’ve suffered a whiplash injury in El Paso, your case deserves experienced representation by an attorney who knows how to get results in this challenging type of injury claim. Call our El Paso personal injury attorneys at Cal Mundell Injury Law to learn about your legal rights.
Why Choose Cal Mundell Injury Law as Your El Paso Whiplash Injury Attorney?
Cal Mundel Injury Law is a former legal defender of powerful insurance companies, giving him the advantage of unique insight into what makes a compelling claim to present to an insurer. With Cal Mundell Injury Law, you can expect the following:
- A free case consultation and contingency-based payment, so you pay nothing unless and until your attorney recovers compensation for you
- Access to years of experience, knowledge, and resources, including renowned medical experts, to support your case
- A lead attorney who is an El Paso native, offering clients the compassion and personalization of a small-town lawyer’s office with the experience and cutting-edge technology of a big-city law firm
Cal Mundell Injury Law understands the unique pain and frustration caused by whiplash. When someone else was responsible for your car accident, you don’t have to suffer the financial consequences as well as the physical and emotional ones.
What Is Whiplash?
Whiplash is a neck injury that most often occurs in car accidents, but can happen during falls or other accidents that cause the head to whip rapidly back and forth. The weight of the head as it’s thrown violently forward and backward or side-to-side causes the tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the neck to overextend, resulting in injury to the structures supporting the cervical spine. As inflammation builds during the hours after the initial injury, the pain, stiffness, and other symptoms develop and worsen.
Unfortunately, whiplash isn’t typically visible on X-rays, and MRIs may only rule out other causes, making whiplash difficult to prove with medical imaging. Often worsening matters, many whiplash victims do not seek medical attention until days after the accident, as inflammation worsens the symptoms. However, a medical exam can sometimes prompt a muscle spasm in whiplash cases, which is often used as evidence proving that an accident victim’s whiplash is real, painful, and causing temporary partial or total disability.
What are the Symptoms of Whiplash After a Car Accident In El Paso?
The crash force of an accident is far more powerful than most motorists realize, transforming a 140-pound person into a 6,300-pound force in a collision at only 45 miles per hour. For this reason, whiplash can occur even in low-speed accidents with only minor damage to the injured victim’s vehicle. In addition, whiplash victims may not know they were injured until hours after the accident or the next day, as inflammation builds and begins pressing on nerves in the cervical spine, causing symptoms such as the following:
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Pain in the upper back
- Headaches
- Limited range of motion in the arms and shoulders
- Dizziness
- Difficulty swallowing
- Problems with memory and concentration
- Anxiety, irritability, and mood changes
- Problems with vision
- Ringing in the ears
Whiplash injuries range in severity depending on the crash force of the accident and the extent of the inflammation against the nerves of the cervical spine.
What Types of Texas Car Accidents Cause Whiplash?
Whiplash can occur as the sole injury in a low-speed car accident or one of multiple injuries in a serious crash. Car accidents commonly associated with whiplash injuries include the following:
- Rear-end collisions are the most common cause of whiplash, due to the violent back-and-forth jarring that occurs
- T-bone accidents also cause whiplash when a side impact forces the head to shake rapidly from side to side
- Head-on collisions cause whiplash when the force of the collision throws the motorist’s head backward and then forward
Strong side swipes, collisions with obstacles, and roadway departures into ditches or onto uneven ground can also cause whiplash. Pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, and bicycle accidents also cause whiplash injuries in El Paso.
Understanding the Effects of Whiplash Injuries
Whiplash victims typically experience extreme pain and stiffness, making mobility and normal activities difficult. Although whiplash has serious temporary effects, often delaying a return to the workplace after an accident, most whiplash victims recover completely with time and treatment, such as a cervical collar and physical therapy exercises. However, a 20-year research study of whiplash patients found that some whiplash injury victims suffered from shoulder pain (72%), headache (24%), and arm pain (13.3%) for up to twenty years after the date their injury occurred.
Most whiplash injury victims need a significant recovery period with medical treatment such as steroid injections, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory medications, and a cervical collar to support the head and neck. Physical therapy can help speed recovery and restore a whiplash injury victim’s range of motion.
Recovering the Compensation You Deserve After a Whiplash Injury In El Paso
Insurance companies often deny whiplash claims based on the fact that there was only minor damage to the involved vehicles or due to a lack of medical imaging tests pinpointing the injury. Under the Texas modified comparative negligence system, a car accident victim seeking compensation has the burden of proving the at-fault driver’s liability and providing compelling evidence of their injuries and damages. An experienced El Paso car accident attorney investigates all aspects of the accident and documents compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s fault, negligence, and liability. A successful claim also requires clear evidence of the whiplash injury and the associated economic losses.
Common damages recovered in whiplash injury claims in El Paso include the following:
- Reimbursement for medical expenses
- Future medical expenses for physical therapy and medications
- Out-of-pocket costs, such as for temporary home assistance
- Lost earnings
- Compensation for pain and suffering
Whiplash can also cause emotional symptoms. If your symptoms require treatment for anxiety or depression, additional compensation may be available to you.
Contact an El Paso Whiplash Injury Lawyer Today
Instead of adding a challenging legal process to your days after experiencing a traumatic accident and the pain and suffering of whiplash, call Cal Mundell Injury Law for experienced legal representation. Then, let your car accident attorney in El Paso work on securing your financial recovery so you can focus on the physical and emotional healing process.