The Cost Of Whiplash After An Auto Accident In St Petersburg
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Whiplash is one of the most common soft tissue injuries sustained in auto accidents in St. Petersburg, and it can also be one of the most complex. The cost of whiplash after an auto accident can vary, and it can take days or even weeks to feel the severity of a whiplash injury after an accident has occurred.The Physical Symptoms Of Whiplash
For many who have never experienced whiplash, or who have only had a minor case, whiplash might be viewed similarly to a simple stiff neck. However, whiplash can come with a variety of symptoms an injured person may not realize are related. Some of the most common symptoms of whiplash after an auto accident in St. Petersburg include:
• Stiff neck – The most common symptom of whiplash is a stiff neck. This could be a painful neck and shoulder area, and a person may find that they have trouble moving their neck side to side, up and down, or both.
• Headaches – The pain from whiplash can migrate up the spine and into the head, causing headaches. For those prone to migraines, the whiplash can act as a migraine trigger. These headaches may or may not be responsive to medication, and they may come and go for as long as the injury persists.
• Dizziness – Dizziness is a whiplash symptom that many don’t realize can be caused by whiplash. The violent movement that causes whiplash can throw a person’s equilibrium off balance, causing spells of dizziness and vertigo as the injury heals. These spells can be brief lasting just a few seconds, they can be periods of dizziness lasting minutes to hours, or they can be brought on any time the neck experiences movement.
• Insomnia – The inability to move one’s neck without pain can make it exceptionally difficult to get in a comfortable position for sleep. Because the pain of whiplash can last for weeks, so can the sleep difficulty. Insomnia stemming from whiplash can really add to the challenges that the injury presents to a person’s life.
• Depression and anxiety – For those who have particularly severe cases of whiplash, depression and anxiety may follow the injury for days, weeks, months, or even years. For instance, if a person with a severe case of whiplash experiences vertigo or constant dizziness due to their injury, the experience may be so traumatic that anxiety about these symptoms continues even after the injury has healed.
Medical Expenses To Expect After A Whiplash Injury
Whiplash can be challenging to treat as it occurs to a sensitive and critical part of the body. Because this injury can be complex, it may come with a variety of medical expenses including:
• Ambulance and emergency room costs – With neck injuries, it’s important to not move the neck at all until the injury can be evaluated. This may mean taking an ambulance ride to an emergency room and receiving emergency medical care. Emergency services may include X-rays, a CT scan, or an MRI.
• Specialist costs – After an injury has been evaluated, a person may then be referred to specialists to treat the whiplash. Many injured with whiplash will be referred to a physical therapist in order to safely regain a full range of motion.
• Prescription costs – Because whiplash is a painful and debilitating injury, medical professionals will often prescribe painkillers or muscle relaxers in order to keep an injured person comfortable as they recover.
Lost Work Wages
It’s not just medical damages that will be factored into the overall cost of your whiplash injury. Because whiplash leaves a person unable to move their neck, shoulders, or head without pain, many have lost work wages as well. It’s important for injured people to calculate their total missed time, as well as the value of that time, to include in their accident claim.