How to Prove You Suffered Chronic Pain After a Car Accident

Chronic pain is a common symptom that people experience after a motor vehicle accident. Unlike some forms of personal injury damages that can be evidenced by tangible means like medical bills or lost wages, however, chronic pain is more challenging to show. This can make it harder to convince an insurance company that you are suffering compensable harm.

If you have been injured in a vehicle accident, the personal injury attorneys at Verderame Law Group can help you file a legal complaint in Arizona civil court (where necessary) and negotiate with defense attorneys and insurance companies. In this blog post we introduce ways you can establish proof of chronic pain for claim settlement purposes after a car accident in Arizona. To learn more about our legal services, call us now or reach us online to discuss your legal options with an experienced Arizona personal injury lawyer.

What are the challenges to proving chronic pain?

It is important to understand that most Arizona accident injury claims are settled out of court. This means that instead of proving your case to a jury, depending on how many at-fault parties you have legal claims against you will be negotiating with one or more insurance claim adjusters and one or more defense lawyers.

These representatives are beholden to their employers and to their clients. Even though they may be personally sympathetic to your situation, they cannot take your word for the pain you are going through because their duty to the people who pay them is to minimize if not deny your compensation claims.

Common tactics these lawyers and adjusters use include:

• Claiming that your pain is the result of a pre-existing injury or medical condition.
• Claiming that you are exaggerating or lying about the pain you are experiencing.
• Claiming that the treatment you are seeking for chronic pain is unnecessary or too costly.
• Minimizing the effect of your chronic pain on your ability to work and engage in daily life activities.

The methods these people use to challenge your claims can be subtle. For example, an insurance claim adjuster may contact you by telephone and ask you seemingly harmless questions about what happened to cause the accident or about whether you have seen a doctor yet. But often the purpose of these questions is to get you to unknowingly say something against your own interests.

Similarly, insurance companies may hire private investigators to monitor your social media accounts to try to catch you making statements or uploading videos showing that you are not in as much pain as you claim to be. Or, if you delay seeking medical attention after the accident, they may try to turn this against you by arguing that your pain must not be serious.

This is why it is essential for you and your car accident lawyer to gather sufficient evidence to overcome attempts to thwart your claim.

What kinds of evidence are persuasive in proving chronic pain after an injury?

Oral testimony alone is often not persuasive to insurance adjusters, even though pain and suffering may legally be proven through testimony. In many cases, especially where injuries or causation are disputed, documentary evidence and expert opinions are highly persuasive. This evidence takes multiple forms. Here are some of the more common ways to demonstrate the existence of a chronic pain condition in the aftermath of a car accident.

Medical documentation

Medical records are the bedrock of any claim for damages based on chronic physical pain. Examples of such documentation include:

• Records of emergency or urgent care visits, medical examinations, and diagnostic test results.
• Receipts for doctor visits, prescribed medications, treatments, and any adaptive equipment.
• Your doctor’s treatment notes.
• Referrals to pain specialists and physical therapists.
• Treatment plans for pain by your primary care doctor, pain specialists, and physical therapists.
• Prognosis and anticipated long-term care needs.
• Photos of your injuries.
• Insurance claim correspondence showing any denial or dispute of your claim.

Documentation of your symptoms

Medical documentation gives evidence of what may be causing your chronic pain, but it does not necessarily reflect your experience living with that pain. This is where additional documentation can help you.

Keep a pain journal

If your attorney requests it, start keeping a diary of your pain symptoms for him or her. Write down a detailed description of episodes of pain, including when they occur, the specific symptoms and parts of your body they affect, and how long they last.

• Rate your pain level using an increasing severity 1 to 10 scoring system.
• If your symptoms prevent you from engaging in work or daily life activities, note what those are.
• If you need to use any medical devices because of chronic pain, like a brace or a mobility aid, make a note of this in your pain journal.
• Are you using any prescribed pain medications? Note what those are, how often and when you need to take them.
• Are you losing sleep because of pain? Note whether pain keeps you from falling asleep, or when it wakes you up at night and for how long it keeps you awake.
• If the chronic pain you are going through is interfering with your family, personal, and work relationships, write down how it is affecting them.
• If your pain is causing you emotional disturbances, like episodes of anxiety, feelings of being depressed, or mood changes, note what these are, when they happen, and how long they last.
• Along with your written journal, visual evidence like photos and videos can also be effective in showing before-and-after evidence of what you used to be able to do before chronic pain forced you to stop or show how your mobility and range of motion are limited because of pain.

A pain journal is not an exercise in self-pity or dramatization, and you should not think of it that way. It is a valuable tool to show exactly how post-accident chronic pain is changing and interfering with your life.

• This is important in helping to establish noneconomic damages as part of your settlement compensation payout or, if necessary, to take your case to trial, as part of a judgment award.
• If you are testifying in settlement negotiations or at trial, you can use your pain journal to refresh your memory.

Gather other documentation

Aside from medical records, you can also receive copies of many other kinds of records, communications, and receipts during your chronic pain journey. These may be useful in fleshing out the effects that this condition is having on you. Here are some examples of what to collect:

• Pay stubs and evidence of days and hours you were unable to work (these can help you to calculate lost wages and possible lost income earning potential for long-term chronic pain).
• Statements from family members, friends, and coworkers stating their observations of how your pain has affected your ability to participate in daily activities and to work.
• A written statement from your doctor linking the accident to the pain you are experiencing.

Expert witness testimony

A third important component in establishing the existence, severity, and effects of your chronic pain on your life is to secure expert witness opinions. These experts include doctors, physical therapists, vocational experts, and mental health professionals.

The testimony of these experts can be oral, or in writing through an affidavit or deposition. Expert testimony can add detail and context to the effects of your pain condition on your ability to work, to participate in life activities, and the effects of chronic pain on your mental health and emotional well-being.

Are you suffering from chronic pain after a car accident?

Pain and suffering damages can make up a significant part of any settlement payout or damages award after a trial. But unlike economic damages, like medical bills or lost wages or property damage, pain is intangible by comparison and harder to prove. This, coupled with insurance company reluctance to take claims of pain seriously, poses a major challenge to you as a plaintiff in a personal injury claim.

For this reason, documenting your chronic pain symptoms after a car accident is critical to supporting your claims for noneconomic damages compensation.

At Verderame Law Group, our Arizona personal injury lawyers have extensive experience in helping our clients pursue full and fair compensation under Arizona law for their motor vehicle-related pain and suffering. We know what kinds of documentary evidence and expert testimony is most effective in overcoming insurance company opposition, and how to gather it. This knowledge and experience, coupled with our attorneys’ negotiating skills and experience in personal injury settlements, can make all the difference in how much you receive.

To learn more about how we can help you with your Arizona automobile accident personal injury claim, call us today to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney and to schedule a free consultation. Or, if you prefer, use our online contact form to reach us.