How to Recover for Invisible Injuries

It is definitely not fair, but it’s an inescapable fact of life in Georgia. If you get hurt in a car crash, slip and fall incident, or other accident, teams of insurance attorneys will start working right away to prevent you from recovering any compensation for your injuries. They will use every argument in the book—and they spend all their time fighting accident claims, so their book is huge.  

They will argue that the person they represent did nothing wrong. But once you’ve proven them wrong on that score, then they’ll try other arguments. One tactic they often use is to claim that your injuries are exaggerated or made up. Unfortunately, this strategy often works well when an accident victim is suffering from injuries that don’t produce visible signs. Burns leave visible scars and broken bones show up on X-rays. But what if you’re suffering from a traumatic brain injury or damage to your spinal cord? Damage to soft tissue often leaves no visible signs, yet the effects of the injuries can destroy the quality of your life.

An experienced personal injury lawyer will know a variety of persuasive ways to demonstrate the extent of invisible injuries and the effects they are having on your ability to work and enjoy aspects of your life. If you contact our team for a free case evaluation, we can explain some of the evidence that may be most effective in proving that you deserve full compensation for the effects of the injuries you’re dealing with. We can’t provide that kind of personal analysis in a general blog like this. Here, we provide a general overview of methods for obtaining recovery from injuries that are “invisible.” 

Common Types of Injuries That are Hard to Prove

While there are a wide variety of injuries that are challenging to prove with standard evidence such as photos and X-ray images, invisible injuries commonly fall into four categories:

• Traumatic brain injuries. These include brain damage that can range from mild to severe. While extensive brain damage may be revealed in medical imaging, mild traumatic brain injuries and concussions may cause significant problems for accident victims without producing much, if any, visible evidence.
• Soft tissue injuries. Damage to nerves, tears deep within muscles, or traumatic damage to tendons often produce no discernible symptoms other than intense pain, which limits mobility. Yet insurance companies will claim that an accident victim is making up symptoms of whiplash or other injuries just to try to get compensation.
• Internal pain. While some damage to internal organs can be detected and revealed through medical testing or imaging, injuries that lead to complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, or similar problems are difficult to prove.
• Mental health. Truck accidents, dog bites, and other traumatic events often overwhelm the mind and leave deep wounds in the psyche that interrupt life for years. Accident victims may suffer panic attacks, flashbacks, and anxiety that causes them to avoid driving, prevents them from sleeping, and can even make them fearful of leaving home. While the impacts of psychological injuries can have a tremendous negative impact on an accident victim’s life, these injuries can be easy to discount and difficult to prove. That is why it is so critical to work with an experienced injury attorney as soon as possible after an accident.

Many times, even if an insurance company does admit that these invisible physical or psychological injuries exist, they will insist that the injuries were caused by pre-existing conditions.

Proving an Invisible Injury

A skilled and dedicated personal injury lawyer may use a variety of approaches to prove the existence and extent of an invisible injury, as well as its impact on the accident victim and their family. While these injuries may not show up on standard X-rays, attorneys can work with doctors to obtain evidence using advanced diagnostic tools such as diffusion tensor imaging. Neuropsychological testing can be used to show mental health impacts.

This evidence works best when combined with testimony from medical experts who can explain the types of injuries suffered and their impact, including how the injuries result in chronic pain. When the accident victim keeps a daily journal describing the pain and other effects and the impact the injuries are having on every aspect of their lives, the entries can provide very powerful evidence. Day after day of entries showing how pain is damaging the quality of life and preventing the victim from engaging in activities can demonstrate the impact of invisible injuries in a way that becomes very believable.

It is also helpful to have testimony from family and friends. These witnesses can explain how the victim’s life has changed since the accident.

Compensation for Accident Victims

When injuries are the result of another person’s irresponsible actions, then the person who is hurt can receive compensation for many different consequences of their injuries. This includes consequences with a direct cost, such as medical expenses. But because invisible injuries cause so much harm to the quality of life, the compensation for non-economic injuries such as pain and suffering is often much higher. Insurance companies don’t want you to know this, so they will often pressure you into accepting a settlement quickly, before you can find out the truth.

Find Out What Your Claim May Be Worth

How much can you receive for invisible injuries? The answer depends on your specific situation. At Michael M. Day Law Firm, we provide free case evaluations so that you can find out what your claim may be worth with no cost and no obligation. Unlike the mega-firms, we limit the number of cases we take so we can focus our efforts on securing the greatest possible compensation for each client. To schedule your free case evaluation, contact us online or call our team at 404-480-4284.