Delayed Injuries That Can Appear After a Car Accident
When you picture a car accident, the injuries you imagine are most likely immediately obvious, such as serious bone fractures or lacerations. Many car accidents, however, cause hidden and delayed injuries that may appear hours or even days after the collision. For this reason, it is important to wait to answer questions about your injuries until after you have seen a doctor – even if you initially feel fine.
Back Injuries
Many crash victims do not immediately notice back injuries. Their adrenaline may be masking common symptoms, such as pain or stiffness in the back. Other victims may mentally downplay their back injuries and assume they are not serious, only to experience more and more pain and disability as time passes. Common delayed back injuries include:
- Herniated disks
- Slipped disks
- Ruptured disks
- Pinched nerves
- Nerve damage
- Spinal concussions
- Spinal cord injuries
Pay careful attention to any feelings and sensations you notice in your back after a car accident. Do not ignore any symptoms, including tingling and numbness in your back or elsewhere in your body, such as your arms or legs. Back injuries with or without delayed symptoms can be extremely serious and require immediate medical care.
Whiplash
Whiplash may be one of the most common car accident injuries, but it is also one of the most frequently overlooked. Whiplash describes damage to the soft-tissues in the neck (the muscles and tendons), usually from the forces of a car accident whipping the head quickly backward and forward.
Some accident victims notice the symptoms of whiplash right away, such as an inability to move the neck without severe pain. In other cases, the pain of a whiplash injury (and other soft-tissue injuries, such as pulled or strained muscles) may not become severe enough for the victim to notice until later.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries can have delayed symptoms, especially if a car accident causes slow bleeding or swelling in the brain. In these scenarios, the damage to the brain’s tissues may not become severe enough to cause noticeable symptoms until sometime after the car accident. An injured brain might not swell enough to press against the inside of the skull and cause cell damage, for instance, for several hours.
Unfortunately, by the time hidden brain injuries show symptoms, it may be too late to treat them. This is why it is crucial to always go to a hospital if you hit or bumped your head in a car accident, even if you feel fine in the immediate aftermath of the crash. A doctor can conduct tests, including scans and x-rays, to identify a traumatic brain injury from the outset.
Internal Injuries
Internal injuries can describe internal bleeding, hemorrhaging or organ damage. These injuries can occur when the internal organs collide with each other from the forces of the crash. Common examples of internal injuries are punctured lungs, kidney and liver damage, ruptured spleens and internal bleeding. Some internal injuries are immediately noticeable, while others slowly cause more painful or intense symptoms over time.
Psychological Injuries
Finally, a car accident can cause various psychological injuries you most likely will not notice on the day of the crash. In the days or weeks following the collision, however, you may experience symptoms of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, such as nightmares or flashbacks. It often takes time for these conditions to develop and display symptoms.
The possibility of delayed injuries connected to your car accident is why it is important not to answer any questions about your injuries until after you have received medical care. If you tell a police officer or an insurance company you are uninjured right after the car accident, only to discover delayed injuries later, it can be difficult to obtain fair financial compensation.
Always go to a hospital right away after an auto accident in Lowell. Then, consult with a car accident attorney for assistance with your injury claim.