
If you are experiencing vertigo after a car accident in the State of Florida, then you should seek medical treatment immediately. You should not wait to go to the hospital following a car crash. Otherwise, you could be putting your health and also your legal rights at risk.
It is important that you seek legal counsel after an accident, especially if you want to file a personal injury claim. A car accident lawyer will be able to help you pursue the compensation that you deserve for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and other losses that you might have suffered.
At The Law Place, we have over seventy-five years of collective experience when it comes to pursuing compensation for car accident injuries throughout the State of Florida. Our law firm understands the complex nature of car accidents, and we want to assist you every step of the way.
Our team of car accident lawyers will work diligently to ensure that you receive the compensation that you are owed. If you have questions in regard to your case, then please feel free to call us now. Our phone lines are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Contact The Law Place on (941) 444-4444 to schedule a free consultation today.
What Is Vertigo?
Vertigo is a serious type of dizziness that usually happens to a person after they are involved in a car crash. You should always seek medical assistance for symptoms that relate to vertigo. However, there might be a few different reasons to explain why you are experiencing vertigo following a car crash.
What Are the Symptoms of Vertigo After a Car Crash?
Vertigo is a spinning sensation that causes you to feel dizzy. Many people have reported that they feel like their head or the space around them is moving involuntarily. The experience of vertigo can be either temporary or long-lasting, depending on the circumstances.
The most common symptoms of vertigo tend to include:
- Motion sickness.
- Feeling off-balance.
- Light-headedness.
- Headaches.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
What Causes Vertigo After a Vehicle Accident?
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, inner ear infections, and Ménière’s disease are the most common causes of dizziness. However, vertigo that occurs after a car accident is usually the result of trauma to the head and neck.
Whiplash
One of the most common car accident injuries is whiplash. The impact of a car crash will force the head and the neck in a forward and backward motion. The sudden movements will stretch the neck beyond its usual range of motion and create small tears in the tendons and muscle fibers.
The prominent symptom of whiplash is usually pain, but it can also lead to vertigo. The nerve damage in the neck can affect the brain signals that are responsible for spatial awareness, balance, and coordination in the body.
Whiplash injuries can also impact the brainstem (the place where the brain and spinal cord meet) and the cerebellum, which affect your ability to maintain sensory information, coordination, posture, and balance.
Concussion or Traumatic Brain Injury
A concussion is caused by brain trauma or blows to the head and force of a whiplash injury. Concussions can possibly take hours, days, or weeks to show symptoms (and vertigo is one of them).
A concussion is the least serious type of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, issues with vertigo and balance are quite prevalent following a traumatic brain injury. If you think that there is a slight possibility that you might have suffered a traumatic brain injury, then you should rush to the hospital immediately. A brain injury can get worse over time, and you must seek medical attention straight away.
Cervicogenic Injury
A cervicogenic injury is damage to the neck that can lead to headaches and dizziness. It can feet the proprioceptors in the body (they are the sensory receptors that respond to movement and position).
Benign Proximal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
Benign proximal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a condition in which head movements can trigger vertigo. The symptoms of benign proximal positional vertigo (BPPV) tend to include:
- Severe headaches.
- Fever.
- Hearing loss.
- Numbness or tingling.
- Arm and leg weakness.
There is not a known cause of benign proximal positional vertigo (BPPV), but it is usually connected to a blow to the head, and many people have suffered from it.
Broken Temporal Bone
The temporal bones sit at the sides and base of your skull, close to the temples. A broken temporal bone can have an impact on facial muscle control, hearing, and cause symptoms of vertigo.
Is Vertigo Treatable?
In most cases, vertigo is certainly a treatable condition. A doctor can use a combination of medications, physical therapy, and surgery to treat symptoms of vertigo. There are plenty of vertigo patients who work with otolaryngologists or neurologists to build a treatment plan that is suitable for them.
The type of treatment for vertigo will depend on the cause and the underlying condition of an individual patient, such as:
- Vestibular rehabilitation – Physical therapy that is aimed at building strength in the vestibular system by sending signals to the brain about movements in the body.
- Canalith repositioning maneuvers – Movement therapies that transfer calcium out of the inner ear for the body to absorb them.
- Medications – A doctor can prescribe antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, or even steroids to decrease motion sickness, nausea, and swelling.
What Should I Do If I Have Vertigo After a Car Accident?
If you feel vertigo after a car accident, then you should seek medical treatment right away. The faster that you start treatment, the better chances you have of recovery. However, it is important that you are honest with your doctor about all of the symptoms that you are going through so that they can diagnose you correctly. It is possible that you might also need a referral to a specialist that can treat your cause of vertigo.
- You should contact your doctor if you start to experience other changes or your condition worsens.
- You should follow all treatment plans and recommendations from your doctor.
- You should keep track of all the medical bills related to your injuries.
- You should avoid accepting blame or apologizing for the accident.
- You should call a car accident lawyer to help you with your personal injury claim.
What to Do After a Car Accident
It is imperative that you take the right steps to protect your legal rights following a car accident in the State of Florida. A car accident can result in many different types of losses and expenses, and you deserve to be compensated for all of it. The Law Place recommends that you:
- Move to safety – If you are in a dangerous place, then move to safety near the location of the car crash.
- Check for injuries – If you or someone else suffered an injury, then you must use your phone to call an ambulance to the accident.
- Call the police – You are obliged to call the police to the accident as stated in Florida Statute 316.062. A police officer will investigate what happened, and they will write an official report on the accident.
- Contact details – It is important that you get the contact details of the other people involved in the accident, such as their names, addresses, phone numbers, insurance information, vehicle registration numbers, etc.
- Collect evidence – If you are not too badly injured, then you should attempt to collect evidence by using your phone to take photographs and videos of the accident, road marks, motor vehicles, property damage, injuries, and anything else that is relevant.
- Go to the hospital – It is imperative that you go to the hospital after an accident. It is possible for many injures not to develop symptoms until later. In addition, you will not be eligible for compensation if you do not seek medical treatment within 14 days of an accident under Florida Statute 627.736.
- Insurance company – You have a responsibility to tell your insurance company when an accident happens. The time you have will be specified further in your policy agreement. When you speak to your insurance company, do not tell them the details of your accident. If you want, you can always ask your car accident lawyer to speak to them on your behalf.
- Hire a car accident lawyer – It is important that you have a car accident lawyer on your side after a car accident. You will want to protect your legal rights, especially if you are seeking compensation. The Law Place will work day and night to build your case against the at-fault party. Call our office to set up a free consultation now.
Compensation for a Car Accident
The car accident lawyers at The Law Place will need to know all of the details of your accident in order to develop a strong case. We will ask you to tell us what happened before, during, and after the car accident. Every piece of information is crucial when it comes to building a case, and it will also help us to determine the amount of compensation that you could be owed.
- Medical expenses – You could be owed compensation for surgery, hospitalization, doctor’s visits, rehabilitation, physical therapy, medical equipment, prescription medication, and more.
- Lost wages – You could be owed compensation for wages that you have lost since the accident, changes to your usual wages, and a reduced earning capacity.
- Property damage – You could be owed compensation for the damage to your motor vehicle, mobile phone, clothes, and other property.
- Pain and suffering – You could be owed compensation for pain and suffering, which includes physical pain, emotional trauma, mental distress, depression, fear, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and reduced quality of life.
- Wrongful death – You could be owed compensation for funeral expenses, medical bills, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and more in the event that someone you love was killed in an accident. The law on wrongful death is explained in Florida Statute 768.21.
Statute of Limitations on Car Accidents
The statute of limitations explains that you have only four years to hire a car accident lawyer and file a personal injury claim following a car crash in the State of Florida. However, if someone you love was killed in a car accident, then you only have two years following their death to hire a car accident lawyer and file a wrongful death claim in the State of Florida.
If you miss the deadline, then you will not be able to recover compensation later. The statute of limitations is explained in Florida Statue 95.11.
Contact The Law Place Today
If you or someone you know are experiencing vertigo following a car accident in the State of Florida, then you should go to the hospital to seek medical assistance as soon as possible.
At The Law Place, we have over seventy-five years of combined experience and knowledge in managing car accidents for clients who live all over the State of Florida. Our law firm has a long-standing reputation for winning compensation for clients against all odds. We understand that the legal system can seem difficult to understand, but we will help to guide you through it.
If you have concerns or questions about a car accident, then you should get in touch with us now. The phone lines to our office are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
Contact The Law Place on (941) 444-4444 to schedule a free consultation today.