Understanding Pain after a Car Accident

By Bruce MillarNovember 4, 2024

Key Points:

Pain is a common symptom that is felt after a car accident.
There are numerous reasons why a person might be experiencing pain from a car accident.
Doctors have numerous methods they will apply to treat and reduce pain from car accidents.
If injuries resulted from the car accident, there is the potential for compensation to address the pain associated with those injuries.
Like all other injuries, the damages pain causes must be proven before it is compensated.
It may be necessary to retain a car accident attorney to help you receive full and fair compensation for the pain you’ve suffered from an accident

How Pain is Defined and Understood

Pain is a complex sensation caused by the activation of specific nerve fibers in the body. It’s a subjective experience, meaning it varies in intensity and perception from person to person.

Pain can be classified into two main types:

Nociceptive pain: This is the most common type and arises from the activation of pain receptors in response to actual or potential tissue damage as in a cut or a broken bone.
Neuropathic pain: This is caused by damage to the nervous system itself, resulting in persistent pain even when there’s no ongoing tissue damage.

Pain is a Very Common Symptom Following a Car Accident

The forces involved in the crash can cause various injuries to the body, leading to pain in different areas. Some of the most common types of pain following an accident include:

Muscle strains and sprains: These occur when muscles or ligaments are stretched or torn beyond their normal limits.
Whiplash: This is a neck injury caused by a sudden back-and-forth movement of the head.
Headaches: These can be caused by head injuries, muscle tension, or emotional stress.
Back pain: This can be due to spinal injuries, herniated discs, or muscle strains.
Chest pain: This can be caused by broken ribs, internal organ injuries, or seat belt injuries.

The severity and duration of your pain following a car accident will vary depending on the specifics of the accident. You can generally expect that minor aches and pains will last up to 6 weeks.

Pain has been known to develop days or even weeks after a car accident, which can indicate a more serious injury. Seek medical attention if you experience new or worsening symptoms.

In general, you should always seek medical attention after you have been in a car accident, especially when you are experiencing pain. A medical professional will be able to assess your injuries, determine the cause of your pain, and recommend a treatment plan for you.

The Five Most Common Injuries from Car Accidents

1. Whiplash

Type of pain: Sharp and stabbing pain around the injury site, muscle stiffness, tenderness, and limited movement.
Location of pain: Commonly experienced near the neck, shoulders, upper back, and arms.
Description: During a collision, you are often jolted forwards and backwards, and pain develops either immediately or slowly over time.

2. Soft Tissue Injuries

Type of pain: Aching and throbbing pain around the injury site, muscle spasms, tenderness, and limited movement.
Location of pain: Commonly felt in muscles, ligaments, tendons, and soft tissue.
Description: A car accident often causes overstretching and tearing within soft tissues, which can result in pain around the back, neck, shoulders, arms, legs, and knees.

3. Fractures and Broken Bones

Type of pain: Sharp and throbbing pain near the break or fracture, tenderness, swelling, bruising, and difficulty moving.
Location of pain: This varies depending on the location of your fracture or break, but car accidents commonly cause this type of injury near the arms, legs, ribs, pelvis, and spine.
Description: This injury is commonly caused by the direct impact or by your body being thrown against the interior of your car.

4. Internal Organ Injuries

Type of pain: Sharp and stabbing pain near the damaged organ, dull aches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and fainting.
Location of pain: This will depend on which organ is damaged, but car accidents commonly cause these injuries around the abdomen, chest, and head.
Description: Your internal organs can be damaged by the impact of the car collision or by blunt force trauma from your body hitting parts of your own car. This injury can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention.

5. Head Injuries

Type of pain: Brain related symptoms like headaches, dizziness, confusion, and loss of consciousness are often paired with nausea and vomiting.
Location of pain: You will typically experience the brunt of the pain in your head, neck, and face.
Description: Can range from minor concussions to more serious brain injuries. The severity of the pain and other symptoms will depend on the nature of the head injury.

Note: This list should not be considered to be exhaustive. Other types of injuries can occur in car accidents and cause pain. It’s important to seek medical attention immediately if you experience any pain after a car accident.

The Different Types of Pain after a Car Accident

Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts for more than three months and often persists for years or even decades. Unlike acute pain, which serves as a warning signal for tissue damage, the cause of chronic pain can be more complex and multifaceted.

Acute pain is a sudden, intense, and usually short-lived pain typically lasting less than 3 months. It serves a crucial purpose in our body, acting as a warning signal of potential tissue damage and motivating us to take actions that promote healing.

Sharp pain is a specific type of pain characterized by its sudden onset, intensity, and often localized nature. It can feel like:

A sudden stabbing or piercing sensation.
A quick, intense jolt of pain.
A cutting or tearing feeling.
A pinprick or needle-like sensation.

Acute pain typically lasts less than 3 months, often only a few days or weeks and is usually caused by a specific event, such as an injury, surgery, or illness. Acute pain serves a protective function, alerting us to potential tissue damage and prompting us to take steps to heal.

Acute pain often responds well to self-care measures like rest, ice, heat, and over-the-counter pain medication.

Radiating pain is a common symptom that refers to pain that travels from its original source to another location along a nerve pathway. It can feel like a shooting, tingling, burning, or aching sensation that extends beyond the initial area of injury or discomfort. Radiating pain is very often associated with:

Muscle strains and sprains: Stretching or tearing of muscles and ligaments can irritate nearby nerves, causing radiating pain.
Nerve impingement: Nerves can be compressed or trapped by bones, cartilage, and muscles, leading to a radiating pain that can travel along the entirety of a nerve.
Herniated discs: The discs between bones in your spinal cord can slip out slightly, putting pressure on nearby nerves and causing pain that radiates throughout the body (particularly the arms, legs, or buttocks).

Radiating pain can be treated with medications like pain relievers or anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy, injections of corticosteroids and nerve blockers, and, sometimes, surgery.

Dull ache is a low-level, steady pain that isn’t as sharp or intense as acute pain. People often describe the pain as throbbing, aching, or gnawing and report the symptoms persisting for hours, days, or even weeks.

These are often the root cause of dull aches:

Muscle tension: When you overuse or strain a muscle, you can cause tension that leads to a throbbing or aching pain.
Inflammation: Arthritis and bursitis are both common forms of inflammation that will cause a dull ache in the affected areas.
Nerve damage: Nerves can also be damaged by a number of factors, which causes a more chronic dull ache that is described as burning or tingling.
Psychological factors: If you have depression, anxiety, stress, or any number of related diagnoses, you run the risk of experiencing a dull ache in non-specific parts of your body.

Car Accidents Cause Complex Pain Symptoms

Following a car accident, the onset and intensity of your pain will vary based on a myriad of factors. Here’s some common ways pain will present:

Immediate Pain:

Acute injuries like broken bones, organ damage, and fractures tend to cause pain immediately.
Sprains and strains to your soft tissue can also cause immediate pain, but the intensity might worsen over time.

Delayed Pain:

When you are in a car accident, the adrenaline and shock of the event often prevents you from experiencing pain right away, often delaying the onset for hours, days, or even weeks.
If you experienced whiplash in your car accident, the initial muscle spasms and inflammation might not be noticeable immediately or until the adrenaline has worn off.
Minor internal injuries often take time to notice as the body slowly responds to internal bleeding or swelling.

Pain onset and intensity can also be determined by the following factors:

Severity of the accident: The more severe your car accident, the more likely you will experience immediate and severe pain.
Location of the injury: Injuries to your neck, head, and back are more likely to cause significant pain due to their close proximity to your central nervous system.
Individual pain tolerance: Pain is experienced differently from person-to-person, which plays an important role in onset and severity of pain following an accident.
Pre-existing conditions: If you have chronic pain or arthritis prior to an accident, you may experience more severe and persistent pain.

Regardless of when you start experiencing pain, always seek out medical attention following a car accident. If your doctor can diagnose you and provide a treatment plan early, you will have better outcomes and avoid unnecessary and often expensive complications.

It’s also never too late to seek out medical treatment following an accident. If you experience any pain, even if it is mild, please consult your doctor to rule out underlying injuries and receive proper care.

What You Can Do to Address Your Pain

Take immediate steps following an accident to address your pain so you can avoid future complications. Here are 4 key steps to take following an accident:

1. Seek Medical Attention

Get an evaluation by a medical professional. A doctor will be able to assess your injuries, determine underlying causes of pain, and provide a robust treatment plan.
Don’t delay – even if your pain seems minor – because you want to make sure your doctor can rule out underlying causes.
Provide detailed information to your doctor of all of your injuries and symptoms, the circumstances of your accident (e.g., whether it was a rear end collision), and any pre-existing medical conditions they don’t know about.

2. Manage Your Pain

Use over-the-counter pain medications like ibuprofen or acetaminophen to reduce pain and inflammation.
Rest to allow your body to heal, which includes avoiding activities that might make your pain worse.
Apply ice or heat to your injury to reduce pain and swelling.
Attend physical therapy (PT) to improve strength, flexibility, and range of motion. PT is a very good way to manage chronic pain.

3. Address Your Emotional Well-Being

Seek professional help to address the emotional toll your car accident had on you, especially if you are struggling with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or anxiety.
Talk to a friend or family member about the emotional toll an accident or the attendant pain has taken on you.
Join a support group to connect with others who have gone through similar experiences.

4. Document Everything

Keep a detailed record of your pain symptoms to share with your doctor so they can track your progress and adjust your treatment plan as needed.
Gather evidence by documenting the accident scene through photographs on your phone and retaining any medical bills or records.
Contact a lawyer if the pain you are experiencing is a result of someone else’s negligence because you may be entitled to compensation.

Get Help Managing Your Pain

Because pain is so specific to each individual, what works for one person may not work for another. Experiment with different strategies until you find the one that works for you.

Make sure you reach out to your doctor or a pain management specialist for guidance and support as you grapple with your pain after your car accident.

Although the medical professional you end up seeing may vary depending on the location and severity of your pain, here is a general outline of who will help you for acute and chronic pain management.

For acute pain:

Primary care physicians (PCP) can assess your pain and provide initial treatments like pain medication and physical therapy and can also provide you with referrals to specialists.
Urgent care centers are your next stop if you cannot see a PCP right away. They will be able to evaluate you and provide a treatment plan.
Emergency departments are the right fit if your pain is life-threatening or you are experiencing other serious symptoms.

For chronic pain:

Pain management specialists are doctors that are capable of diagnosing and treating chronic pain. Treatments vary from medication and injections to physical therapy and psychological counseling.
Neurologists can help your chronic pain if it is related to the nervous system.
Physical therapists work with you after an accident to develop strength and flexibility and improve range of motion.
Psychologists can provide support when pain leads to emotional distress.

Ultimately, the best way to find the right medical professional for your pain is to talk to your primary care physician. They can help you determine the cause of your pain and recommend the best course of treatment.

How Pain is Compensated in Insurance Settlements

Whether pain can be included in an insurance claim and how it’s compensated depends on the type of insurance and the specific circumstances. Here’s a breakdown of the different types of insurance and how pain is handled:

Health Insurance

Immediately following your accident, your personal health insurance may initially pay for your medical care including pain management. Most health insurance plans cover the medical costs associated with treating pain, including doctor visits, diagnostic tests, medications, and physical therapy.

Pain and suffering: Some health insurance plans may offer additional coverage for pain and suffering, which can compensate for the non-economic damages caused by an injury or illness.
Documentation required: To claim compensation for pain and suffering, you’ll need to provide detailed medical documentation that demonstrates the severity and duration of your pain, along with its impact on your daily life.

Auto Insurance

Personal injury protection (PIP): Most states require drivers to carry PIP insurance, which covers medical expenses and lost wages resulting from car accidents, regardless of fault. Pain and suffering may be covered under PIP, depending on state laws and your specific policy.
Bodily injury liability: This coverage pays for medical expenses and other damages sustained by others in an accident you caused. Pain and suffering is typically included in bodily injury liability claims.

Documentation required: Similar to health insurance, you’ll need documented evidence of your pain and its impact to claim compensation for pain and suffering from auto insurance.

Workers’ Compensation

What’s covered: If your injury and the attendant pain are due to a workplace injury, you can rely on your workers’ compensation insurance to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering.
Pain and suffering: Note that this is only covered in certain states where the amount of compensation will be determined based on the severity of the injury and the employee’s wages.
Documentation required: In order to claim compensation for pain and suffering, you need medical records and documentation of the injury.

Additional Considerations

The specific terms of your insurance policy typically dictate whether pain is covered and how it can be compensated.
You should always carefully review your policy before submitting a claim.
Make sure you regularly document your pain symptoms as well as the impact they have on your life.
If you have any questions or need assistance filing a claim, make sure you consult with a lawyer specializing in insurance claims.

All insurance policies differ from each other, meaning the details of pain-related compensation will vary. Contact your insurance provider to discuss your situation and better understand your coverage.

Common Misconceptions about Personal Injury Claims

Because pain and suffering are both highly subjective experiences, they can be difficult to quantify in an insurance claim. Here are three steps you can take to increase your chances of a payout for your pain and suffering:

1. Document All of Your Medical Care and Self-Report Your Pain

Gather detailed medical records like doctor’s notes, diagnostic test results, treatment plans, and medication scripts to provide objective evidence of your injury or illness.
Record your daily pain levels with a pain journal to establish the severity of your ongoing pain, which should include pain intensity, location, and duration. Make sure you also record any factors that aggravate or relieve the injury.
Seek consultation from a specialist if your pain is complex or difficult to diagnose. Pain specialists can also help you gather further evidence and generate reports about your experience. Both of these will help you build your case by showcasing the need for specialized treatment.

2. Demonstrate The Impact of Pain in Your Daily Life

Document limitations and difficulties by providing specific examples of how your pain impacts your daily activities, hobbies, work performance, relationships, and overall quality of life. If you pair this with your record of daily pain levels, you can demonstrate how the pain has impacted your life beyond mere discomfort.
Gather witness statements from your family, friends, colleagues, or healthcare professionals who have observed your pain and its impact on your life. Witness statements can help you corroborate your own documentation of your experiences with pain.
Keep track of how pain impacts your day-to-day life. If there are any instances where you couldn’t participate in daily activities or had to cancel appointments or miss work, these examples will provide tangible evidence of the pain impacting your life.

3. Consult with a Personal Injury Attorney

Personal injury attorneys have the connections to bring in pain management specialists, psychologists, and vocational rehabilitation experts, among others, that can speak to your experience and support your evidence even further.

Mythbusting Common Personal Injury Claim

Explore nine different myths about personal injury- and pain-related claims:

Myth 1: You can only file a claim for severe pain.

Although people commonly believe that pain must be severe or debilitating to make a personal injury claim, even mild pain that regularly affects your daily life or requires medical attention can be grounds for compensation.

Myth 2: Insurance companies will offer you a fair settlement for your pain and suffering.

Insurance companies have a tendency to underestimate the value of your pain and suffering and will offer a low estimate in the hopes you just take the settlement without challenging it.

Myth 3: If you haven’t experienced pain from an injury, you cannot make a claim for compensation.

This is not true. You can claim compensation for future pain and suffering if you have medical evidence to support the claim, and this evidence could include a doctor’s prognosis or a pain specialist’s report.

Myth 4: You don’t need a lawyer for a small pain and suffering claim.

It’s always advisable to consult a lawyer, regardless of the claim amount, because they can help ensure that you are properly compensated for your pain and suffering and safeguard your rights throughout the claims process.

Myth 5: You have to go to court to get compensated for pain and suffering.

Most personal injury claims are settled out of court; however, if your claim cannot be settled through negotiation, you may need to file a lawsuit to get the compensation you deserve.

Myth 6: Pain and suffering claims are frivolous and clog up the legal system.

The emotional and physical impact of certain injuries are great, and the pain and suffering claims associated with them help ensure that injured individuals are fairly compensated for the harm they have suffered.

Myth 7: Pain is subjective, so it’s impossible to prove.

Evidence such as medical records, a pain journal, and expert witness testimony all demonstrate the intensity and extent of pain and suffering from an injury or illness.

Myth 8: You can receive compensation for pain and suffering without proof.

Insurance companies require documentation that demonstrates your pain and suffering is real before they will give you a payout.

Myth 9: You should file a claim only once your pain is gone.

You should always file your claim as soon as possible. If you wait too long, it could affect your legal rights to compensation, and the information pertaining to your injury may not be as easy to document.

It’s important to understand the truth countering these myths in order to get the highest payout possible for your personal injury.