How to Prove Pain and Suffering in Pennsylvania Without Visible Injuries

Pain and suffering allegations in a personal injury case can be awarded in addition to damages for lost wages and medical bills. The physical pain and emotional difficulties suffered during and after an accident are quite impactful for many accident victims. The value of your personal injury claim can be significantly altered if you are able to successfully prove that you have suffered pain and suffering as a result of your injuries.

What is difficult about pain and suffering, as opposed to medical bills and lost wages, is that pain and suffering depend on your ability to prove a subjective loss with different types of evidence. This challenge becomes even more daunting if the injuries you have suffered are not visible.

Establishing pain and suffering without visible injuries means that hiring an experienced Montgomery County personal injury attorney is of the utmost importance. Anthony C. Gagliano, III, Esquire, P.C., prepares thoroughly and meets the challenges of his clients’ cases head-on. Pain and suffering damages can be won even without visible injuries. Here is how that can be accomplished in your case.

What is pain and suffering in a personal injury context?

Physical and emotional injuries contribute to pain and suffering. There are two basic types of pain and suffering damages:

• Physical pain and suffering include any chronic or long-lasting discomfort suffered in the accident. Low back pain can make it difficult for you to sit for extended periods of time. Neck pain may limit you in terms of being able to reach and lift your arms.
• Emotional suffering may relate to anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues. In many ways, psychological suffering is worse than physical pain. Emotional matters may require you to seek counseling or therapy to treat these symptoms.

The difficulty in proving pain and suffering lies in being able to muster sufficient evidence. Usually, medical records and other tangible evidence is needed to prove the extent of your pain and suffering. That is where having an experienced Montgomery County personal injury attorney can become essential to your case’s success.

Medical treatment and records are a primary source of evidence for pain and suffering damages

As opposed to medical bills, pain and suffering is not something you can simply slip open to find a specific dollar value on a certain page of evidence. Rather, pain and suffering require that you come prepared with documentation to justify the amount of pain and suffering damages you are asking for.

Proper documentation of your medical treatment and diagnoses is essential to proving pain and suffering has occurred. Your word alone is insufficient to prove pain and suffering. Receiving immediate medical care following an accident and avoiding gaps in treatment can help you substantiate the damages you are asking for.

Examples of medical treatment that may be necessary in your case include emergency room, primary physician notes, diagnostic reports, x-rays, and physical therapy treatment notes. The type of medical care you receive will depend on your impairments. Consider an initial visit to your primary care provider, who can best guide you through secondary treatment sources, if necessary.

How testimony factors into a case for pain and suffering damages

Do not discount the importance of your own testimony in advocating for pain and suffering damages. Medical records are essential when it comes to providing a judge or jury with information about diagnoses, treatment methods, and a prognosis for future medical care. Without medical records, there is little chance of proving any damages, not to mention pain and suffering.

That said, do not discount how your own testimony will factor into a case for pain and suffering damages. A judge or jury will want to hear from you about your daily life and routine. How did the injuries suffered in an accident hurt you? What changes has your life undergone as a result of the accident? Answering these types of questions takes a two-dimensional case and makes it three-dimensional.

Difficulties associated with proving pain and suffering damages without visible injuries

It is true enough that pain and suffering damages tend to be hard to quantify. What is painful to one person may be nothing more than a slight annoyance to another. The bottom line is that pain and suffering are ultimately subjective. There is no universal standard for pain and suffering that is applicable to every person or every personal injury case.

On top of that, when your injuries are not visible, it places even more of an emphasis on the quality of the evidence you have to present. The medical records must be thorough in explaining how your injuries occurred and the level of pain you are experiencing during an appointment or hospital stay. X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs can provide a diagnosis or impressions of injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident.

Finally, with injuries not readily visible, there is no margin for error when it comes to proving the extent of your pain. Do not leave anything to chance. Stay off social media for the duration of your case. A photo taken out of context may depict you in a position where it appears you are enjoying yourself, exercising, or doing anything other than recovering from your injuries. All it takes is one untimely social media photo to significantly reduce your likelihood of being awarded pain and suffering damages.

When you need professional legal assistance, contact Anthony C. Gagliano, III, Esquire, P.C.

Attempting to win pain and suffering damages without a visible injury means every detail in your personal injury case- no matter how small- matters a great deal. Do not leave anything to chance. Make the decision to work with an experienced team of legal professionals.

Anthony C. Gagliano, III, Esquire, P.C. offers free consultations. These are opportunities to ask questions and receive feedback specifically about you and your case. Contact us today for the opportunity to grow in knowledge about all aspects of a Montgomery County personal injury case.