Following a serious car accident, you’re going to have injuries that are readily apparent. You need to seek immediate treatment for this harm, but you also need to be on the lookout for other injuries that might not present themselves until much later. These hidden injuries can end up being quite extensive, too. However, you won’t be able to properly treat them and include them in your personal injury lawsuit unless you know how to spot them.
Common hidden car accident injuries
We know you have a lot to deal with after your accident, but your health should be your top priority. So, as you move forward with your recovery, you should be on the lookout for these common hidden injuries:
- Whiplash: Caused when your head moves forward and then backwards at a high rate of speed, whiplash can take days or weeks to present. But if you start feeling pain and stiffness in your neck, and you experience decreased mobility in your neck, then you should see your doctor to determine if you’ve experienced whiplash.
- Herniated disc: Back injuries are common in car accidents. The puncturing of the gel-like disc between your vertebrae may not be readily apparent, though. In fact, it might take several days for you to experience numbness, tingling, and weakness in your legs or pain in your lower back.
- Traumatic brain injury: A blow to the head can cause a traumatic brain injury. But you might not know that until much later. Here, keep an eye out for confusion, irritability, personality changes, balance issues, chronic headaches, and blurred vision.
- Soft tissue injuries: Harm to your tendons, ligaments, and muscles may not be immediately noticeable. But in the days following your accident, you might start to feel sore and experience limited mobility. Discoloration and swelling can also be indicative these injuries. So, be sure to let your doctor know if you’re experiencing any of these symptoms so that your injuries can be accurately diagnosed and treated.
- Hemorrhaging: The impact of your accident can cause damage to your blood vessels. This, in turn, can cause blood to pool in your organs, which can lead to a whole host of serious medical complications. Yet, you might not know that you have internal hemorrhaging until the condition is advances. So, as you try to cope with your accident, be aware of any discoloration, weakness, abdominal pain, and any other unusual symptoms that might be a sign of something more severe.
- Knee injuries: The twisting of your body during your accident might lead to a torn meniscus or damage to your knee cap. This injury may not be immediately noticeable until there’s enough inflammation to cause significant pain. However, these injuries will probably require surgery to heal, so you’ll want to seek medical attention if you start to experience pain.
- Shoulder injuries: Bracing yourself for impact and slamming into various parts of your car in an accident can damage your shoulder ligaments and your rotator cuff. Like a knee injury, the pain experienced from a shoulder injury might take some time to develop. But given that these injuries can be significant and long-lasting, the sooner you can get treatment the better.
Take a holistic approach to protecting yourself after your accident
Your physical, emotional, psychological, and financial well-being is on the line in the days and months following your accident. If you want to protect yourself, then you need to know how to navigate your personal injury lawsuit in a comprehensive manner. That might sound stressful, but you can find assistance with the process, thereby lifting a burden from your shoulders.