No Relief from Pain?

The impact of post-accident Chronic Pain Syndrome

Most people feel some sort of temporary pain after being injured in an accident. After all, pain is the way our body tells us that we are injured, and it serves a useful function by restricting our movement whilst our injuries heal. Where pain persists after an injury has healed then it loses its usefulness and becomes a problem. This type of long term unresolved pain is known as chronic pain.

Chronic pain can dramatically impact on your quality of life after an accident. In some cases, the pain may get worse as time goes on. This is due to the nervous system becoming “trained” to better transmit the pain signals to the brain. As well the signals of pain becoming more intense, at the same time your brain becomes more sensitive to these signals. This means that your pain may feel like it is getting worse, even though the injury that originally caused it isn’t getting any worse, or may in fact be healing.

The sensation of being in pain when you might not have a specific injury can be at best inconvenient and distressing, and at worst it can prevent you from living a normal life, as you might not be able to hold down a job or do everyday tasks like going shopping, doing housework or looking after your family.

Types of chronic pain that might be caused by your accident

Chronic pain is divided into several types, based on where in your body the pain appears to be coming from. Here are the most common types:

The first type of chronic pain is somatic pain, where the pain appears to be coming from outside your body. Normally somatic pain will get better in a few days. The types of pain that fall into this category include Fibromyalgia and Chronic Back Pain.
The next category of chronic pain is visceral pain, where the pain appears to be coming from the internal organs. This pain is similar to what you might feel if you have indigestion, but conditions such as pancreatitis or hepatitis might cause visceral pain that lasts for a long time and is very difficult to treat.
Bone Pain is another category of pain which you might suffer after an accident through a bruise or a fracture. Your accident might also have worsened a pre-existing medical condition which affects the bones, such as osteoporosis or arthritis.
Lastly, headaches and migraines can be caused by a variety of injuries and accident circumstances. Migraines are often associated with nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sounds and blurred vision. A less common form of headache that might be caused by an accident is Trigeminal Neuralgia which occurs on one side of the head and can cause intense pain if a specific point on the head is touched.

The treatment of chronic pain can often take months or even years as various different approaches are tried by health professionals. Often it might be necessary to change your treatments if, for example, you build up a tolerance to a particular type of painkiller or medicine. The length of time taken to treat chronic pain can place a strain not only on you but also on your finances. Where your chronic pain was caused by an accident that wasn’t your fault, it might be worth seeking independent legal advice to help you make an accident compensation claim.

Chronic pain accident compensation claims

Camps Solicitors have made accident compensation claims for many accident victims who have found that the injuries they have suffered in their accidents have left them with the symptoms of chronic pain. If you are suffering from chronic pain after an accident and you would like to find out how an accident compensation could help you, talk to Camps Solicitors today.