Chronic Pain Attorney
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The crash was months ago, and the pain has not gone anywhere. You still wake up sore, and you still plan your day around what your body will allow. The appointments have not stopped, and between the medical bills and the missed shifts, the money keeps going the wrong direction.
The harder part is wondering whether the pain is permanent and whether anyone will believe you if it is. Chronic pain is one of the hardest injuries to value in a Michigan personal injury claim, and when it does not show on an X-ray, an adjuster can treat it as if it is not there. An early offer can close the case for good, long before you or the person you are caring for learns what the years ahead will cost.
Matz Injury Law has spent decades on Michigan no-fault cases where the injury never fully healed. A chronic pain claim needs two things: the injury has to clear Michigan’s threshold for pain and suffering, and the medical record has to connect the pain to the accident. We build the file around both from the first phone call, whether the crash involved a car, a motorcycle, a truck, a bicycle, or a pedestrian.
Why Choose Matz Injury Law for a Chronic Pain Claim
A chronic pain claim gets harder the moment an insurer decides the injury does not meet Michigan’s threshold for pain and suffering. What goes into the file in the early weeks shapes what an adjuster is willing to offer months later, and building that file is where our work on Michigan no-fault claims starts.
Decades of Results in Serious, Lasting-Injury Cases
Steven Matz has more than 40 years of legal experience, and he lectures and publishes on head injury and trial practice. Clients have recovered more than $300 million with the firm, and cases in nine areas of personal injury litigation have resolved at $1,000,000 or more. No two cases are alike, and prior results are not a promise of what yours will bring.
That experience comes from cases where the injury never fully resolved, which is what a chronic pain claim describes. We value future care and lost earning power inside the claim rather than leaving them out because the worst of the pain arrives later. We prepare each case as if the pain is permanent until the medical evidence shows otherwise, which protects a client whose recovery may never be complete.
How We Handle Michigan No-Fault Chronic Pain Claims
Steven and Jared Matz handle these cases personally instead of passing them down a chain of case managers. On a chronic pain file that means the lawyer who reads your first imaging report is the one who argues the threshold question later.
We travel to clients all across Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula, so distance does not decide how a long-term injury claim gets built. Our fee is 22%, not the standard 33 1/3%, which leaves more of any recovery with you for the care a chronic condition keeps requiring.
Our Lawyers Can Help With Chronic Pain After an Accident
Client Testimonials
“Following a near head on collision that left my wife with serious injuries to her leg and a head injury from the air bag that caused “instant onset dementia”, she has been deteriorating and needs constant supervision. Hats off to Steve Matz and all the work he and his firm have done to secure the compensation needed from the insurance company to facilitate her care. Without his tireless help I don’t know where we would be today. I highly recommend Matz Injury Law and if needed would definitely utilize them again.” — Thomas C.
“We had an excellent experience working with Steve Matz. He was knowledgeable, responsive, and took the time to explain every step of the process in a way that was easy to understand. His attention to detail, professionalism, and dedication to achieving the best possible outcome gave me confidence throughout the entire experience. I truly appreciated his prompt communication and willingness to answer questions whenever they arose. I highly recommend Steve Matz to anyone looking for an attorney who is both highly skilled and genuinely committed to his clients.” — Wendy K.
“Jared worked with me when I broke both my ankles at the same time. He was so efficient, friendly and attentive to my needs. He was always in contact with me and answered my calls when I needed to speak to him, or he would call me back soon after. Jared did an outstanding job and looked out for my best interest during this ordeal. I believe Jared got me the most for my injury possible. A special “thank you” to you Jared, and I will refer you to anyone that is in need of an injury lawyer. I owe you a lot of gratitude” — Lisa S.
What Counts as Chronic Pain After an Accident?
If your pain has outlasted the recovery your doctors predicted, it may now be chronic pain, which the Cleveland Clinic defines as pain lasting more than three months. Chronic pain after a car accident can be slow to appear, then settle into something that does not fully resolve. The pain can be constant or intermittent, and it can keep changing how you move, work, and rest long after the visible signs of the injury are gone.
Injuries That Commonly Lead to Chronic Pain
Chronic pain from a car accident often traces back to soft tissue and nerve injuries rather than broken bones. Common sources include:
- Soft tissue injuries and whiplash, which can leave lasting neck, shoulder, and back pain
- Herniated and degenerative disc injuries, which often cause radiating pain into the arms or legs
- Nerve damage, which can produce burning, tingling, or weakness that lingers for months or years
- Joint injuries that limit motion and ache long after the initial sprain or tear
- Lasting effects of a head injury, including headaches and cognitive symptoms
One crash can cause several of these injuries at once, and each one calls for its own medical proof. Back and spinal cord injuries are one common route to lasting pain, and fractures, sprains, and soft tissue injuries are another. A full Michigan personal injury claim values them together rather than one at a time.
When the Pain Does Not Show on a Scan
Some of the most painful injuries are the hardest to see. Soft tissue tears, nerve injuries, and myofascial pain in muscle and connective tissue often do not appear on a standard X-ray, and some do not show clearly on an MRI either.
A normal scan does not mean the pain is imagined, and it does not mean the claim is weak. It means the proof has to come from somewhere other than the image.
Can You Recover for Chronic Pain Under Michigan’s No-Fault System?
Yes, and Michigan’s no-fault system opens more than one path. Your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays reasonable crash-related medical care and 85% of lost wages for up to three years, regardless of who caused the crash. How much medical coverage you have depends on the PIP level you chose on your policy.
PIP carries its own deadlines. A claim for PIP benefits generally must be filed within one year of the crash, unless written notice of injury was received by the insurer within that year or the insurer had already paid benefits. Even then, a claim cannot cover losses incurred more than one year before the filing date (MCL 500.3145). For a condition that keeps generating treatment, that one-year-back rule decides how much of the past a claim can recover.
A separate claim for pain and suffering runs against the at-fault driver. Michigan allows it only when the injury meets one of the thresholds in MCL 500.3135, and for chronic pain the relevant one is serious impairment of body function: an impairment that is objectively manifested, affects an important body function, and changes your general ability to lead your normal life. Chronic pain that is well documented and that limits how you live can meet that standard.
Economic losses above what PIP pays are recoverable from the at-fault driver without meeting that threshold, including future medical costs and reduced earning capacity. The threshold gates pain and suffering only. One limit does apply to the pain-and-suffering claim: you can recover only if you are found not more than 50% at fault, and your recovery is reduced by your share of fault.
How Chronic Pain Affects What Your Claim Is Worth
Chronic pain usually raises the value of a claim because the costs do not stop when the treatment plan ends. An early chronic pain settlement offer tends to reflect the bills already on the table rather than the years of care still ahead.
An injury that heals shows up as medical bills and a few missed weeks of work. A lasting injury has to account for years of treatment, the help a person may need at home, and the income lost when pain changes what kind of work is possible.
Two kinds of losses make up the claim. Economic losses are the measurable ones, such as medical costs, future care, and lost earning capacity. Pain and suffering covers the human cost that has no receipt, including lost sleep, the loss of everyday activities you once enjoyed, and the strain a body in constant pain puts on the rest of your life.
The diagnosis on the chart matters less than how the pain affects daily living, how long doctors expect it to last, and whether it is permanent. A herniated disc that fully heals and a herniated disc that leaves someone in daily pain can carry very different values, even though the words on the scan look the same.
What a Chronic Pain Personal Injury Claim Has to Cover
Future costs are the part of a chronic pain claim that gets undercounted most often. A claim built for a permanent condition projects what care will cost across the years ahead, which can include physical therapy, injections, medication management, surgery, and help at home.
When pain changes what work a person can do, the loss reaches past the paychecks already missed to the earning capacity that will not come back. Treating doctors and life-care planners supply the projections behind those figures, and a Michigan chronic pain lawyer can bring them in before an offer arrives.
Proving Chronic Pain Is Real and Caused by the Crash
The hardest part of a chronic pain claim is often the feeling that you have to prove you are hurting at all. Because pain is invisible and personal, an insurer may argue that it is exaggerated, unrelated to the crash, or already fading. Strong proof answers that argument, and most of it comes from the medical record you build over time.
Four kinds of evidence do most of the work:
- Consistent treatment, so there are no long gaps an insurer can point to as a sign of recovery
- A clear timeline that ties the pain to the crash rather than to something that came before it
- A personal record of your symptoms and how they limit your daily activities
- Opinions from treating doctors who can explain why the pain persists
The defense medical exam, or DME, is the other side of that record. An insurer chooses the doctor, whether the request comes from your own PIP carrier or from the at-fault driver’s defense, and a lawyer can prepare you for the exam and question the findings when the report understates what you are living with.
Get Your Michigan Chronic Pain Claim Reviewed Before the Filing Deadline Passes
Pain that will not quit is exhausting on its own, and deciding what to do about a claim on top of it can feel like too much. What you decide now shapes whether the cost of that pain lands on you or on the driver who caused it.
A consultation with Matz Injury Law is free, and you owe no fee unless your case results in a recovery. Michigan generally gives injury victims three years from the date of the crash to file suit (MCL 600.5805(2)), and filing after that window closes ends the right to recover in most cases.
Before an adjuster asks you to settle for less than your future care will cost, a look at where your claim actually stands can change what you agree to.
Call 866-226-6833 or reach out through our contact form.
Written By Steven Matz
Steven J. Matz is the founder of Matz Injury Law, specializing in personal injury litigation with a focus on car accident victims. With over 40 years of legal experience, Mr. Matz has achieved numerous million-dollar settlements. He holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized among Michigan’s Top Attorneys. Steven J. Matz is a frequent lecturer on legal ethics and personal injury law, and serves on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.
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