Been In A Car Accident? Beware Of Delayed Symptoms Of These 3 Injuries

Law Articles

You've probably heard the advice that you should immediately seek medical treatment after a car accident, even if you don't think you've been injured. However, many drivers ignore this advice, wrongly assuming that if they did have a serious injury, they'd know it. What you may not realize is that it's not uncommon for injuries to show up well after the actual accident. If you don't seek medical treatment right away, you're not only risking your health, but you may also have difficulty proving your personal injury case in court later. In order to be compensated for your injuries, you'll need to show that they occurred as a result of the car accident. But without documentation of immediate medical treatment, the defense could argue that you may have sustained your injuries at some point after the car accident. Take a look at some common car accident injuries that could have delayed symptoms.

Concussion

It's easy to downplay the seriousness of a concussion if you've never had one before. Many people think of a concussion as a minor injury that will heal on its own with little or no treatment. While some people do recover from a concussive injury quickly, others will continue to experience symptoms for days or weeks after the injury occurs. What's more, some patients don't immediately recognize their symptoms as a concussion. If you hit your head during a car accident, you probably expect to have a headache. You may not realize that headache could be a concussion symptom until the next day or the day after when it still hasn't gone away.

Symptoms of a concussion include headaches, blurry vision, nausea or vomiting, dizziness or balance problems, and sensitivity to light and sounds. You may also experience sleep disturbances; sleep too much; feel mentally slow, foggy, or irritable; or have difficulty remembering things or absorbing new information. After one concussion, you're likely to be more susceptible to another one, so it's important to be diagnosed and treated properly so that you can take precautions in the future.  

Internal Bleeding

Internal bleeding should be considered a medical emergency. If you're bleeding internally and the bleeding doesn't stop on its own, you could bleed to death, all without an obvious wound that you can see from the outside of your body. Injuries that cause internal bleeding are not always obvious – it's possible to begin bleeding internally from trauma that outwardly does not look severe. In these cases, the symptoms of internal bleeding might not be obvious at first and might start to appear slowly, before steadily becoming worse and more serious.

The symptoms of internal bleeding include pain and swelling, particularly in the abdomen or leg, which can indicate internal bleeding in an organ located near the abdomen or internal bleeding in the leg. If you have internal bleeding in the head, you may experience headaches and eventually a loss of consciousness. Losing large amounts of blood internally, no matter where the injury is located, can you to feel dizzy or faint and to lose consciousness. You may also see what looks like a deep purple bruise on your skin. This is called ecchymosis, and it occurs when blood leaks into the soft tissue of the body.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious condition that can impact your ability to perform basic functions of your daily life. However, it's difficult to tell whether or not you will have PTSD shortly after an accident occurs. Most people will have some stress reactions after an accident – whether or not those stress reactions can be diagnosed as PTSD depends on how severe and disruptive those symptoms are and how long they last.

PTSD symptoms include reliving the event in nightmares or flashbacks, avoidance of situations that remind you of the event (for example, you may try to avoid driving after a car accident), negative changes in your beliefs or perceptions of the world, and feeling hyperaroused, which can leave you feeling jittery and easily startled or frightened and unable to concentrate or sleep well. If the symptoms last for longer than three months and are severe and disruptive to your daily life, you may have PTSD.

Because these injuries may not be immediately obvious and may not be easily diagnosed at first, it's important to see a doctor immediately after an accident and seek follow-up care if your symptoms change or persist beyond a reasonable time. Not only is immediate and ongoing medical care important to your diagnosis and treatment, but it will also help ensure that you have the documentation to prove in court that your injuries stem from the accident and that you deserve compensation for them. 

For more information on what to do after you are in an accident and are injured, contact a personal injury attorney, such as those at Spesia & Ayers Attorneys At Law.

17 May 2017