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Hidden Injuries After Car Accidents: Why Immediate Medical Care Matters

Hidden Injuries After Car Accidents: Why Immediate Medical Care Matters
Photo: Unsplash.com

After a car accident, seeking medical treatment might not seem a priority if you feel “fine.” Unfortunately, many accident victims discover serious injuries days or weeks after their crash. Understanding why injuries may not be immediately apparent — and why a prompt medical checkup matters — can help protect your health and legal rights.

Why You Might Not Feel Pain Right Away

In the moments immediately after a car accident — whether a minor fender-bender or severe impact — your body’s natural stress response floods your system with adrenaline and endorphins. We’ve all heard anecdotes of individuals achieving superhuman feats while pumped full of adrenaline, and it’s because these powerful hormones act as natural painkillers.

What isn’t commonly known, though, is that adrenaline can mask injury symptoms for hours or days — long after the event that caused the initial rush of hormones is over. This biological response has long served a critical purpose, allowing our ancestors to survive dangerous situations and reach safety. But when this response occurs today, it can create a false sense of wellness that can delay or prevent crucial, even life-saving, medical treatment.

Once the adrenaline rush subsides, the real extent of any injuries sustained will become apparent. You may notice a chronic headache, feel dizzy or out of sorts, or have a searing neck pain that limits your movement. Each of these symptoms can indicate a severe injury, such as brain or spinal cord trauma, which requires immediate medical intervention to prevent compromising your recovery.

Injuries That May Not Show Immediate Symptoms

Of course, most major injuries are immediately visible, including:

  • Broken bones, where you might see the bone protruding from the affected area.
  • Deep cuts and lacerations from broken glass, particularly on exposed areas like the face, arms, and hands.
  • Visible head wounds from impact with the windshield or steering wheel.
  • Penetrating injuries, where objects pierce the body during the crash.
  • Severe burns from a vehicle fire.
  • Skin scrapes from contact with the road.
  • Any other injury that causes immediate bleeding or swelling.

However, many other serious car accident injuries show symptoms gradually. For example, whiplash often takes 24 to 48 hours to manifest. What starts as minor neck stiffness can progress into chronic pain, limited mobility, and neurological symptoms without proper treatment. Early medical intervention can prevent many of the long-term complications that might otherwise plague accident victims for months or years.

Traumatic brain injuries present another serious concern. You can sustain a concussion or more severe brain trauma without losing consciousness or even hitting your head. Initial symptoms might be subtle — perhaps mild confusion or a slight headache — but these injuries can progressively worsen without treatment.

Individuals with a brain injury are also more at risk of sustaining a second, more severe brain injury. A concussion, the mildest type of brain injury, often heals within three months, but at least three out of ten people suffer lingering symptoms long afterward. If you sustain a second impact while still recovering from a concussion, you risk more severe and longer-lasting symptoms and perhaps even permanent brain damage. But even those who have recovered with no long-term complications will always be more susceptible to second-impact syndrome, as it takes less force to sustain a repeated injury.

It’s easy to see how forgoing medical treatment after an accident could seriously compromise your health. Suppose you have a concussion and don’t realize it, and you continue about your day as if you haven’t been injured. In that case, you risk prolonging your symptoms or worsening your condition, which could require long-term treatment and management, prevent you from working, and devastate you financially.

Internal injuries pose perhaps the greatest immediate risk. Bleeding or organ damage may not cause noticeable pain until the situation becomes critical. You might feel sore and dismiss it as a minor inconvenience, but you might have internal trauma that requires immediate medical intervention. Only a thorough medical examination can rule out these potentially life-threatening conditions.

How Medical Documentation Affects Your Legal Rights

Going to the hospital, seeing a doctor, or attending an appointment at an urgent care clinic are vital for protecting your health after an accident. Still, there’s another reason you shouldn’t hesitate to seek treatment.

If you’re injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you could be entitled to compensation from the at-fault party. For example, you might suffer a head injury in a car accident caused by a drunk driver or hurt your neck after being rear-ended by a motorist who was following too closely.

From a legal standpoint, the timing of medical treatment can significantly impact your ability to recover compensation.

A successful personal injury claim requires evidence that 1) the accident occurred because of the other party’s wrongful actions and 2) you sustained injuries as a result.

Suppose you do not go to the hospital after the accident. In that case, it’s harder to show the correlation between the accident and your injuries, and insurance companies and defense attorneys will use that to their advantage. For example, they might argue that your injuries occurred later in a separate incident (and, therefore, you are not entitled to compensation) or that your injuries aren’t as serious as you claim because they did not warrant immediate treatment (with no evidence to prove otherwise). They’ll use this information to justify offering you a lower settlement, meaning you may get less money than you deserve.

Understanding Future Complications

Immediate medical care also helps mitigate potential future complications. Some injuries, like those involving the spine or nervous system, can worsen over time. Documenting these injuries early allows you to begin treatment as soon as possible, giving you the best possible prognosis. It also establishes the connection between your accident and injuries, allowing you to recover compensation for all the associated losses, even if you’ve yet to incur them.

Common damages available in a compensation claim include your past and future medical treatment — including surgeries, physical therapy, and medication — your lost wages, which can be sizable if you cannot work for months, years, or ever again, and any adaptations you need to make to your home to facilitate independence as you adapt to life with a long-term injury or condition. A personal injury lawyer can explain your rights, calculate the compensation you deserve, and negotiate a settlement or argue your case in court to achieve a fair result.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is for informational purposes only and is not legal or medical advice. Always seek immediate medical care after an accident, even if you feel fine, as injuries may not show symptoms right away. For legal matters, consult a licensed attorney to understand your rights and potential compensation. This article does not create an attorney-client or doctor-patient relationship.

Published by Charlie N.

(Ambassador)

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