Chiari and Car accidents (head trauma)

Last summer (August of 2011) My daughter 13 yrs old at the time was in a car accident. She was hit by a man running a stop sign. She was with friends in an older car (no seat belt) in a neighborhood not high rate of speed. Her head hit and broke the windshield. (We her dad and I were out of town when it happened...ironically my husband was doing a race to raise money for Chiari and Syringomelia). That happened I think on a Saturday I flew home the next day. The paramedics on scene talked to me over the phone and said she needed to be transported because she had a head injury and broke the windshield. No MRIS or CAT scans were even done at the ER. So I being a mom and not a Dr. or an insurance adjuster took her complaints "with a grain of salt". She was sore for a couple of weeks, but the pain continued to become more intense and more often. Finally after the 3rd day of her in fetal position after school in tears I made an appointment with a Physical Therapist. She went daily for 2 weeks I think. It relieved most of the pain and she felt better for a bit. Then the pain started coming back stronger and more frequently. I started to suspect Chiari. My 10 year old son was diagnosed with Chiari when he was 2. I had read on different discussion boards and articles about Chiari and accidents and they scared me bad enough that he rides in the backseat always! Anyways the pain my daughter was having was in the back of her head and down her spine. Different pain than my son has, but from all that I have learned and researched this seemed pretty suspicious. So in May I met with my son's Neuro who we love and he ordered an MRI of her head and spine. The results....Chiari and bulging disks. So now we know, but how do we know for certain if the accident aggravated the symptoms? She has been an active teenage girl who danced and swims competitively. She continues to swim (hoping for it to help with pain and the disks) but has pain every day. Now here is the problem we are running into. The insurance company(FARMER'S INS COMPANY which has been a nightmare...for the man who ran the stop sign and accepted 100% responsibility) does not want to pay for her medical bills and the MRI unless we can prove that the accident caused all of this without a doubt. So Neuro said it's hard to say if it did or not. It is very likely that it has aggravated it. Now I have a hard time signing off with insurance company when she is still in pain and there is still so many unknown and changes in research. All I know is she is not the same kid now that she was before, and when my son was diagnosed at age 2 we were told that it didn't run in families. Today it is being said that it is and my kids are living proof of it. I have 2 kids and they both have Chiari. I apologize for the length of my entry, but wanted to state as many facts as I could. I would love and appreciate any help, opinions, insights, websites etc...that would help us through this miserable process. I don't want to be unfair in anyway with the insurance company, but at the same time I won't stand for them to bully us into something at the cost of my daughters health and well being because I didn't educate myself. They accepted 100% responsibility and I feel they should pay 100% of her medical bills including the MRI's. She had no symptoms to even suggest an MRI before the accident. If any of you have been in an accident I would love to hear your input. Will she continue to have pain/ Will it get better or worse? Will she eventually need surgery? More physical therapy? etc.. I know that everyone is different, but I would love to hear other peoples experiences so I know what to expect.

Thank you very much for your help and support,

Allison Tringham

Hi Allison,

Sorry to hear about the trouble you are going through after your daughter's accident. I think everyone has the same feelings about dealing with insurance companies.

I was diagnosed with Chiari earlier this year - I'm 28 - after suffering really bad headaches almost daily for over 2 years. When I went to the neurologist one of his first questions was had I been in any car accidents or suffered any other trauma to the head. I had been in 2 quite accidents both of which left me with whiplash within the past 9 years. I have also had 2 children the youngest in 2008 and I have suffered from migraines for as long as I can remember.

The NL told me that although Chiari is something you are born with, any kind of trauma can make it symptomatic. They believe that giving birth to my second child brought my symptoms on, but I can date back the onset of some of the symptoms to the car accidents years earlier.

I'm not sure if there is any proof out there that would show for certain a link between accidents and Chiari, but you may be able to find a doctor who would report that the symptoms were brought on as a consequence of the accident your daughter was in.

I hope you find the help you are looking for.

H

Thank you very much for the help and kind words. I will continue to research and find answers, and yes both my father and my husband's father served in Vietnam. That is very interesting! I will have to look into that as well. Thank you again!

Allison



Emmaline said:

I'm sorry for all of your trouble Allison! Trauma can absolutely bring on Chiari discomfort, when there wasn't any before. There are other threads here about that. Do a search to help gather all the information you may need.

Certainly the Chiari was probably there prior to the accident, but not symptomatic until the trauma. Only your NS can advise on whether surgery is needed.

I'm curious, do either of you or your husband have a parent that was in Vietnam? They have linked Chiari with Agent Orange used as a defoliant in Vietnam. Hang in there and hope everything turns out well for your daughter!

I am so sorry to hear that you suffer with such pain. I sure hope you find relief. Thank you very much for your response. Our Neuro (not a Chiari specialist, but his wife has it!) which we love says it could be but I guess he just can't say that it absolutely without a doubt caused all of this and that is what the insurance company wants him to say.

Thank you again and I hope you are having a pain free day!

Allison

helsb83 said:

Hi Allison,

Sorry to hear about the trouble you are going through after your daughter's accident. I think everyone has the same feelings about dealing with insurance companies.

I was diagnosed with Chiari earlier this year - I'm 28 - after suffering really bad headaches almost daily for over 2 years. When I went to the neurologist one of his first questions was had I been in any car accidents or suffered any other trauma to the head. I had been in 2 quite accidents both of which left me with whiplash within the past 9 years. I have also had 2 children the youngest in 2008 and I have suffered from migraines for as long as I can remember.

The NL told me that although Chiari is something you are born with, any kind of trauma can make it symptomatic. They believe that giving birth to my second child brought my symptoms on, but I can date back the onset of some of the symptoms to the car accidents years earlier.

I'm not sure if there is any proof out there that would show for certain a link between accidents and Chiari, but you may be able to find a doctor who would report that the symptoms were brought on as a consequence of the accident your daughter was in.

I hope you find the help you are looking for.

H

Sure she may have had Chiari before, but the accident is what triggered her to become symptomatic. (This is coming from a person who use to be an adjuster for 12 yrs for Farmers Ins and now is still working in claims at another company for 10 yrs. So I know Medical Payment provisions and PIP coverage). If anything the MRI was needed because she was having so many problems and pain after the accident, NOT BEFORE IT! Your doctor should be able to write a letter stating that fact. Good Luck!

I was in an accident 19 months ago and it was after the accident that all of my symptoms came about. I suggest calling a lawyer IMMEDIATELY!!! Your story sounds a lot like mine. I have yet to receive any money and my symptoms got so bad that I had to have the decompression surgery. My medical bills are pretty high and the insurance company has ignored us. I know you don't want to "screw" the company, but look at what their client did to your daughter! Her life will never be the same. You need to fight for her and get her all the treatments possible to improve her symptoms. Her quality of life will never be the same thanks to that guy. The only way you are going to get the insurance company to pay at 100% is to get a lawyer involved.

Good luck with all of this. How in the world an insurance co thinks anyone, even a doctor, could possibly determine this without a doubt is beyond me.

My serious pain symptoms started after a car accident and your struggle with insurence is very familiar to me. Unfortunately my accident was 17yrs ago and very little was known about Chiari at the time. I was 5 days away from my due date so I didn't have an MRI or scans either. They chalked my pain up to Whiplash for a year and a half. I eventually gave up on my claim and wasn't diagnosed until almost 5 years after my car accident.

Your daughter may have had the Chiari prior to the accident but the whiplash caused injury to her brain because of the structure of her brain made in vunerable. There is a study "Chiari And Whiplash Injury by Ezriel Kornel" That was in medical journals. If you have the right lawyer he should be able to make a case for your daughters medical bills at the least. Google Chiari Malformation and whiplash injury.

I am so sorry your daughter is having such a hard time. Sending you prayers.

Wendy

So sorry for all your problems and your daughter's discomfort. How is your son? Did he have surgery? Does he still have to deal with the Chiari?