What To Do If Your Neck Hurts After a Car Accident in Georgia

Neck pain after a car accident can be an early sign of whiplash, soft tissue damage, or a more serious spine injury. Even minor crashes can strain the neck and cause delayed pain. Prompt medical care is crucial for diagnosing hidden injuries and preventing long-term complications. 

Too often, people view neck pain following an accident as an inconvenience and don’t treat it like the potentially serious medical condition that it is. An experienced Athens car accident attorney understands the pain, impairments, and financial hardships that a significant neck injury can put on a victim.

Understanding what to do if your neck hurts after a Georgia car accident can put you and your attorney in a better position to fight for the compensation you need.

How Do You Know If a Neck Injury Is Serious?

Neck pain is one of the most common complaints from victims following a Georgia car accident. It can be difficult for people to know how serious a neck injury is immediately after an accident. Still, accident victims should never ignore certain signs, even after a minor collision.

Severe, persistent neck pain, limited range of motion, or stiffness that doesn’t improve may indicate a significant neck injury or damage to muscles and soft tissues in the neck. Numbness, tingling, or weakness in the arms, hands, or shoulders can signal nerve damage or a spinal injury. Headaches, dizziness, and shooting pain down the arms are also common warning signs that the injury may affect the spinal cord or surrounding nerves.

Even if symptoms seem mild at first, they can worsen over time. That’s why seeking medical attention immediately after a car accident or any incident that causes neck pain is critical. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent complications and protect your health, and proper medical documentation can also strengthen your legal claim.

What Is Whiplash?

Whiplash is a neck injury most often caused by a sudden back-and-forth neck movement, with rapid movement resembling the cracking of a whip. The neck muscles support the head’s weight, which can be up to 11 pounds in an average adult. When the head’s weight propels back and forth quickly, the acceleration can damage the neck’s muscles, ligaments, soft tissues, and nerves. Whiplash and other neck injuries can lead to pain, stiffness, loss of mobility, and other complications.

Rear-end car accidents are the most common cause of whiplash injuries. However, other types of collisions can also damage the muscles and nerves in the neck. One study indicates that whiplash injuries can occur even at speeds as low as 15 kilometers per hour, which is equivalent to approximately nine miles per hour.

Is It Hard to Prove a Neck Injury After a Georgia Car Accident?

It can be challenging to prove that a car accident directly caused a significant neck injury without substantial evidence, especially medical documentation. One of the most crucial steps a Georgia accident victim must take following a collision is to seek immediate medical attention, even if the injuries appear minor.

Medical documentation in the form of doctor’s notes, diagnostic tests, and X-rays can help support your claim that an auto accident caused serious neck injuries. This information is also essential for establishing the extent of your injuries, the cost of medical treatment, and how your injuries impact your daily life.

In combination with other evidence, such as an accident or police report, witness testimony, and photographs or videos from the accident scene, you can establish how the careless actions of another party caused the accident, your neck injuries, and subsequent financial losses.

What Should You Do for a Neck Injury After a Car Accident?

How you react and the actions you take after a Georgia car accident can directly influence your ability to pursue fair compensation for your neck injuries. Following an accident with a careless driver, you should take these steps:

• See a doctor immediately.
• Get copies of your medical records.
• Save all your medical bills.
• Talk to a Georgia car accident lawyer.
• Be sure to file an insurance claim.

Other things you can do to help protect yourself include documenting your injuries and how they impact your life in a pain journal, staying off social media, and following your doctor’s treatment plan. File an insurance claim as soon as possible, but never offer to give a recorded statement without first talking to a skilled Georgia car accident attorney who can guide you through the process.

What Treatments Are Used for Whiplash Injury?

Treatment options for whiplash injuries depend on the severity of the injury. Physicians may treat minor neck injuries with rest and over-the-counter pain medications. With time, the muscles and soft tissues of the neck heal without the need for extensive medical intervention.

Significant tissue, muscle, or nerve damage may require more involved medical treatments, such as prescription medications and immobilization of the neck using a cervical collar. In extreme cases, surgery and physical therapy may also be necessary.

What Sort of Compensation Might Be Available for a Neck Injury?

The overall value of a neck injury claim varies depending on the specific and unique factors of the car accident. However, in many cases, an injured victim can pursue money for:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Ongoing treatment
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Property damage

Before accepting a settlement for your car accident claim, speak to an attorney who can calculate your losses and build a claim that offers you the best chance at maximum compensation.

How Long Do You Have to File a Neck Injury Claim in Georgia?

Do not wait to seek legal representation. Car accident victims only have two years from the accident date to file a car accident lawsuit. Filing after this time expires means the court can dismiss the case, leaving few to no options for recovering fair compensation.

Contact a Georgia Car Accident Lawyer

A car accident and the resultant significant neck pain can disrupt your life, leaving you with long-term injuries, mobility issues, mental distress, and financial strain. You deserve fair compensation for neck pain and your other injuries. At R. Alan Cleveland, LLC, our car accident attorneys are ready to help you. We’ve already recovered over $150 million in verdicts and settlements for Georgia accident victims.

Contact our Athens office to schedule your free, no-obligation legal consultation. Our results speak for themselves.