When individuals survive a car accident, they may imagine that the pain they feel at the accident scene is the worst of it. Unfortunately, vehicle collisions can leave lasting emotional and physical scars that survivors will only feel the weight of later.
In the aftermath of a collision, some accident survivors experience apparent injuries, like lacerations, that are unlikely to worsen over time. However, other survivors may discover delayed injuries hours, days or even weeks after their accident. These delayed injuries can be just as serious as immediately noticeable ones. Therefore, accident survivors should generally seek medical intervention – even if they feel fine – to help ensure that hidden injuries don’t result in long-term complications.
Whiplash: The silent neck injury
Whiplash is easy to overlook following a car accident because many accident survivors mistake its symptoms for nothing more than a little stiffness. Common symptoms of whiplash that accident survivors shouldn’t overlook include:
- Persistent neck pain that makes turning the head difficult
- Headaches that won’t go away days after the accident
- Dizziness or blurred vision 24-48 hours after the accident
Seeking medical intervention immediately after an accident can help ensure that this silent neck injury doesn’t worsen over time.
Concussions
Most people sustain concussions in a car accident due to the jolting effect of the collision. The collision’s force of impact causes the brain to move inside the skull, potentially causing damage to brain tissue. A car accident survivor might have a concussion if they exhibit the following symptoms:
- Intense yet inexplicable headaches
- Confusion caused by the brain being jolted
- Some memory loss
- Sudden sensitivity to light
Accident survivors should be aware that these symptoms can take days or even weeks to surface.
Delayed injuries can make car accidents much worse than accident survivors could have initially imagined. That’s one why it’s crucial that they seek medical intervention to combat these silent injuries before they get worse. Accident survivors should also consider pursuing compensation to replace some of the financial resources they’ll use for treatment, if their crash was caused by another party.
