Not all car accident injuries are visible
Imagine driving through Dalton on your daily commute. Unfortunately, a van t-boned your car as you were driving through an intersection. After the accident, you did a quick self-check and did not notice any broken bones or cuts. While you may not have noticed any injuries, not all of them are easy to detect or immediately obvious. This does not mean that they are any less serious.
In some cases, it could take hours or days before an injury becomes obvious. This is one of the reasons why you should see a doctor as soon as possible after a car accident. If left untreated, some internal injuries could be life threatening. For more information on common car accident injuries that are not immediately obvious, read further.
Brain injuries
It could take several days before you start experiencing headaches after a car accident that resulted in some kind of brain injury. Depending on the level of force or impact you suffered, a headache could signal a blood clot, concussion or other type of severe injury to your head or neck.
Neck and shoulder injuries
Due to the force of a car accident, many people experience whiplash. This is also a delayed injury that could take several days to manifest. If you are experiencing pain or stiffness in your neck or shoulders, you could have whiplash. In order to determine if you have whiplash, you may need to undergo x-rays.
Back injuries
In many rear-end collisions, the lower back suffers injury. Damage to the vertebrae, muscles or ligaments in the back could take several days to display symptoms.
Internal bleeding
If you are experiencing abdominal pain or swelling, you could be suffering from internal bleeding. Other signs that might point to internal bleeding include deep purple bruising and fainting. This kind of injury can also take hours or days to detect and can be life-threatening. If you have reason to believe you might have internal bleeding, you should seek medical attention immediately.
Tingling or numbness
If you have suffered any damage to your neck or spinal cord as a result of a car accident, you might start to have sensations of numbness, tingling or loss of feeling in your arms and hands. Like lower back injuries, this could also occur after a rear-end collision.
While you might feel fine immediately after a car accident, this could be due to adrenaline. Since some injuries can take several days to become apparent, and some are life-threatening, you should see a doctor as soon as possible even if the accident seemed minor. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a negligent driver, keep in mind that you still have rights and options to fight for the compensation you deserve.