Can I Be Compensated for Chronic Pain After an Accident?

Many of us think of accident-related injuries as singular incidents that resolve within a fairly standardized window of time. However, some injuries result in long-term pain and discomfort and can seriously impact an accident survivor’s quality of life.

Research indicates that motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and work-related injuries are some of the leading causes of chronic pain, but many victims are unaware of the options they have available to help them address their symptoms. Here’s a brief explanation of how chronic pain plays a role in personal injury claims and an overview of how an experienced personal injury lawyer can help accident survivors explore all possible sources of compensation for their suffering.

How common is chronic pain after an accident?

In 2023 alone, Alabamians reported nearly 38,000 injuries related to car accidents and over 29,000 work-related injuries and illnesses. While many common accident scenarios result in relatively minor injuries with manageable recovery timelines, some survivors suffer more severe injuries or long-term complications that require additional resources and interventions.

While it can be difficult to effectively study the link between chronic pain and accident-related injuries, some research indicates that up to 45% of road traffic injury victims experience pain for at least two years following a crash. Similarly, one study of work-related injury survivors found that almost 25% of injured workers were still experiencing severe pain 18 months after their accident.

These statistics all suggest that many accident scenarios have the potential to cause long-term harm to survivors – even after the most pressing dangers have passed. Personal injury cases that fail to account for the potential long-term impact of chronic pain and other conditions may leave victims and their families without the resources they need to manage their symptoms in the months or years following an accident.

What qualifies as chronic pain after an accident?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, chronic pain is pain that lasts for over three months. Chronic pain is extremely common in the United States, and is one of the leading reasons Americans seek medical care.

There isn’t necessarily a universal set of symptoms that define chronic pain, though some common types of chronic pain include:

• Joint pain
• Headaches or migraines
• Back pain (very common in work-related injuries)
• Neck pain
• Nerve pain
• Fibromyalgia

Survivors of traumatic injuries are at an increased risk of developing chronic conditions, as tissue damage, nerve damage and musculoskeletal injuries can all result in long-term changes to vital structures.

While some survivors of traumatic accidents experience persistent pain for months or even years after an accident, others experience symptoms in waves or notice their pain increasing over time. In either case, injured victims may have the right to recover compensation if they can show that their chronic condition was the direct result of a work-related incident or another party’s negligence or recklessness – depending on the applicable legal statute.

How to recover compensation

Under Alabama law, accident victims can pursue compensation for chronic pain via personal injury lawsuit or workers’ compensation claim, depending on the specific circumstances of their accident. The process for a standard personal injury suit differs a bit from workers’ comp claims in that work-related cases in Alabama are generally not dependent on proving fault.

As long as you can show that your injuries and chronic pain were the direct result of your work-related duties, you may be able to use your workers’ comp benefits to cover medically-necessary long-term care and disability-related losses – as long as you meet all the necessary deadlines and notice requirements.

For other kinds of accidents (car accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, etc.), a victim’s ability to recover compensation depends on a finding of negligence. To be eligible for compensation in these cases, a victim must be able to show that:

1. Another party involved in their accident owed them a legal duty of care
2. The alleged at-fault party violated their duty of care in some capacity
3. The victim suffered identifiable harm in the incident
4. The victim’s injuries were the direct result of the other party’s breach of care

If you can show that you developed chronic pain as the result of another person’s actions or inactions, you and your personal injury lawyer may be able to argue for compensation under state law. Rather than limiting yourself to pursuing compensation for just the immediate ramifications of your accident, you may also be within your rights to seek damages for future care or long-term suffering should you develop a chronic pain condition.

What kinds of damages are available for chronic pain patients?

In Alabama personal injury cases, accident victims may seek both economic and non-economic damages for accident-related losses. Some commonly sought damages include compensation for:

• Hospital bills
• Emergency medical care
• Long-term rehabilitation expenses
• Physical therapy costs
• Lost wages
• Reduced earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Therapy bills

Chronic pain sufferers often seek compensation for a combination of economic damages (medical bills, rehabilitation costs, etc.) and non-economic damages like pain and suffering. Non-economic damages specifically aim to account for the physical pain and reduction in quality of life that may persist for months – or years – after an injury first occurs.

Because chronic pain can be hard to diagnose and treat, it’s important to work with an experienced personal injury attorney when building your case for compensation. Your lawyer can help you gather the evidence and documentation you need to clearly communicate the severity of your suffering to the court or your insurer and work to have these damages included in your final settlement

Additional considerations

As noted above, chronic pain cases can be a bit complicated, as many symptoms are “invisible” and may go unnoticed for long periods of time following an accident. In Alabama, most personal injury survivors have two years to file a lawsuit after an accident, which can complicate matters should chronic conditions develop over a longer period of time.

One of the ways plaintiffs can help safeguard their financial futures is to work with experienced personal injury lawyers and long-term care planners when building a claim for compensation. Fighting for a settlement award that accounts for the possibility of future complications upfront can help mitigate some of the risk associated with the development of chronic conditions and ensure survivors have enough cash on hand to manage their long-term care needs.

Another hurdle involved in chronic pain cases is Alabama’s strict contributory negligence system. In our state, accident victims are generally only permitted to recover damages from another negligent party if they can show they did not contribute to their own injuries. Under this doctrine, if you were partly to blame for your injuries, you may be barred entirely from pursuing a claim against the other party involved in your case.

For all of these reasons, it’s always wise to partner with an experienced local attorney when attempting to fight for compensation. Your lawyer can help you gather the evidence you need to defend yourself against false claims of contributory negligence and help you argue for a settlement that fairly accounts for the long-term cost of your injuries.

Final thoughts

Chronic pain can completely alter the trajectory of an accident survivor’s life, and may rear its ugly head long after the initial dust has settled. Chronic pain is hard to prove and even harder to quantify for the purposes of a personal injury case. Still, it’s often worth it for accident victims to fight for compensation to help offset the many losses that can be linked to chronic pain.

At Prince Glover Hayes, we understand how hard it can be to focus on the future when you’re dealing with the immediate fallout of a traumatic accident. That’s why our team is committed to providing clients with the right balance of compassion and action when they need it most.

If you were injured in an accident and have begun to experience chronic pain or other long-term discomfort as a result, give us a call today or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team. We can talk to you about your options and help you determine whether you may be within your rights to pursue compensation for your injuries.