A whiplash injury is caused when you experience a sudden jolt or movement in your neck and it causes the soft tissue in the neck to be stretched and strained. Although whiplash does normally just affect the neck area, it can also cause great pain and discomfort in the shoulders and back.
Physiotherapy treatment is the most common rehabilitation treatment for this type of injury and is usually recommended by your GP if your symptoms are persistent as taking painkillers long term is not an effective way of treating a whiplash injury. However, in many cases, a course of painkillers will be sufficient for minor whiplash injuries and will see the client through until they have recovered. Therefore not all clients will need a course of physiotherapy.
Length of time physio treatment might take for whiplash
There is usually a 6-8 week waiting list for physiotherapy treatment on the NHS and therefore many clients, once the treatment has been recommended, will seek this privately in order to aid their recovery quickly. Although the cost of the private treatment can be included within your claim for personal injury, it does leave you out of pocket until the claim is at the settlement stage and some clients cannot afford to do this. But there is a way of getting it funded…
Here at The Injury Lawyers, if your claim is taken on, we can arrange private physiotherapy through our treatment provider and arrange for funding of it on your behalf. We will receive an invoice at the end of your treatment and the costs will be recovered by ourselves from the insurer of the responsible party. If the claim doesn’t win, the fees are covered by a policy of insurance. So that’s treatment fast, right at the start, when you need it the most.
We arrange this treatment for our clients for early intervention to try and get our clients on the road to recovery as quickly as possible.
Not all treatment is recommended or carried out at the beginning of the claim. As part of your whiplash injury claim, you will have an appointment with an independent medical expert who will assess your injuries, the effects the injuries have had on your day-to-day life and the time frame in which they expect you to make a full recovery. This will be compiled into a report and within this report the expert will provide his recommendations on any treatment or further assessments which may be needed.
If the expert does advise that a course of physiotherapy treatment will aid your recovery, then again, this will also be arranged for your privately and the costs recovered from the insurer of the at fault party.
Although it is always advisable to proceed with any treatment that is recommended, not all clients wish to go ahead with it. However, this can prejudice your claim as it can be seen that you have failed to mitigate your losses, or keep your losses to a minimum. In terms of your injury this means that you have not helped yourself recover as quickly as you could, you may suffer longer without the treatment.
Obviously advice on this subject depends on your particular circumstances and injuries and therefore it is better to get advice that is tailored to your needs.
So please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your case on our claims line, just call 0800 634 7575 to get your whiplash claim started today.
