![\"back](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Back-and-Neck-Injuries-From-Rear-End-Collisions-in-Orange-County-and-Inland-Empire.jpg\")
When someone rear-ends your car during a collision, your body\u2019s response is immediate but often unpredictable. During even a minor impact, your neck moves with an unnatural flexion-hyperextension motion. This sudden whip-like movement sometimes triggers a series of physical reactions commonly known as whiplash.<\/p>\n
If a heavy truck<\/a> or a speeding vehicle strikes you in the rear, the speed and weight intensify the impact and vehicle occupants rarely escape the harmful consequences. Severe rear-end crashes cause extensive vehicle damage which contributes to serious or catastrophic injuries. Injured occupants sustain spinal fractures, spinal cord damage, and other life-threatening traumas. These injuries require immediate emergency medical treatment, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and costly lifetime care.<\/p>\n Although whiplash injury<\/a> severity is unpredictable at an accident scene, rear-end impacts affect soft tissues, ligaments, nerves, discs, inter-vertebral joints, and other structures. One person walks away and remains symptom-free. Another feels okay at the scene, but pain, discomfort, and inflammation begin within a day or two. Whiplash symptoms ease within weeks but they sometimes worsen or continue for years.<\/p>\n While less serious than catastrophic injuries, a whiplash condition presents complex recovery and treatment challenges as well. Whatever the severity, back and neck injuries have many common elements: high treatment costs, permanent disabilities, lost income opportunities, and lifestyle changes.<\/p>\n Liability insurance adjusters understand that rear-end accidents cause a long list of neck and back injuries. As the NIH Whiplash Information Page explains,<\/a> whiplash injury symptoms usually include neck and back pain, headaches, inflammation, and stiffness. Injured victims also suffer from unanticipated problems such as burning sensations, memory issues, and depression. Despite supporting information from reliable resources, a credibility gap exists between whiplash victims and the adjusters handling their claims. The injury\u2019s unpredictable nature defies automated insurance company injury evaluation software.<\/p>\n Insurance claim adjusters systematically question whiplash injuries. They challenge doctors\u2019 diagnoses and underestimate settlement values. As most back and neck injury manifestations are internal, when a condition becomes chronic, they suspect malingering or fraud. These attitudes against whiplash promote liability, investigation, evaluation, and negotiation biases.<\/p>\n At Aitken * Aitken * Cohn, our lawyers recommend that our clients never get caught up in a whiplash injury dispute. When you\u2019re injured, you need the legal guidance our personal injury attorneys provide. If an adjuster contacts you before you have a chance to review your case with one of our attorneys, consider these critical facts:<\/p>\n When your whiplash injuries fail to heal after 6 to 10 weeks, they\u2019re presumably more serious than your doctor originally anticipated. Your spine is highly functional yet sensitive. It doesn\u2019t respond well to whiplash trauma. When weeks pass and your pain continues or increases, it\u2019s usually a sign of a chronic problem. The Know Your Back Whiplash Page<\/a> explains that several conditions cause chronic back and neck pain after a rear-end accident.<\/p>\n A forceful rear-end impact jars a vehicle\u2019s occupants so forcefully, it often causes death or significant injuries. Serious rear-end accidents cause severed spines and fractured vertebrae. Bone fragments destroy spinal nerve cells causing paralysis and diminished bodily functions. The 2018 Spinal Cord Injury Fact sheet<\/a> documents the tragic connection between vehicle accidents and spinal cord injuries. Vehicles contribute to more spinal injuries than any other cause. Rear-end accident victims must handle a range of serious and catastrophic injuries and conditions.<\/p>\n Whiplash is a puzzling injury. Each person\u2019s condition manifests its symptoms in different ways and doctors respond accordingly. They begin with traditional back or neck treatments. As pain continues or worsens, they move on to cutting-edge therapies and surgical interventions.<\/p>\n Catastrophic neck and back injuries have few treatment options. If injected in time, methylprednisolone<\/a> minimizes spinal cord damage and maximizes spinal recovery. Unfortunately, patients often deal with the medication\u2019s side-effects, including pneumonia and blood clots. As spinal damage is rarely reversible, treatment centers on healing, rehabilitation, and symptom management.<\/p>\n Personal injury damages fall within two broad categories: economic damages and general damages.<\/p>\n Courts also consider punitive damages under California Civil Code Article 3: Exemplary Damages [3294 – 3296].<\/a> An injured plaintiff must present clear and convincing evidence that a defendant committed oppression, fraud, or malice.<\/p>\n At Aitken * Aitken * Cohn our personal injury lawyers consider it a privilege to serve our injured clients. We represent injury victims in Orange County and the Inland Empire. If you or a family member sustained a neck or back injury in a rear-end accident, we want to hear your story and determine if we can help you.<\/p>\n Call our law offices at (714) 434-1424, or complete our contact form at Aitken * Aitken * Cohn online<\/a> to schedule a free consultation. Our firm handles injury cases on a contingency basis: we charge a fee only after we resolve our clients\u2019 cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When someone rear-ends your car during a collision, your body\u2019s response is immediate but often unpredictable. During even a minor impact, your neck moves with an unnatural flexion-hyperextension motion. This sudden whip-like movement sometimes triggers a series of physical reactions commonly known as whiplash. If a heavy truck or a speeding vehicle strikes you in… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Claims Adjusters and the Whiplash Credibility Gap<\/h2>\n
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5 Facts You Should Know About Discussing Your Claim With an Insurance Adjuster<\/h2>\n
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Chronic Back and Neck Injuries<\/h2>\n
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Catastrophic Back and Neck Injuries<\/h2>\n
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Whiplash Treatment Options<\/h2>\n
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Catastrophic Injury Treatment<\/h2>\n
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Recoverable Damages After a Rear-End Accident<\/h2>\n
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Contact Our Personal Injury Attorneys<\/h2>\n