Death by vehicular accidents is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Every year, millions of people are injured or killed in car crashes.
In order to lessen these accidents, car developers continue to make all sorts of safety improvements. Countless lives have been saved through these developments. However, accidents just simply cannot be avoided.
Being part of a car accident is truly an unfortunate situation. This may cause stress, trauma, and all sorts of physical injuries. In more serious accidents, you will be able to see the more obvious symptoms of injury immediately. But sometimes, symptoms of injury may only be felt hours or days later.
Headache
Headaches are common to experience after having been involved in a car accident. If you strike your head hard, your brain may hit the inside of your skull, causing you to sustain a concussion. Symptoms do not often show up immediately. Apart from headaches, you may also feel disoriented, nauseous, and have difficulty in thinking and retaining information.
A splitting headache may also mean you have incurred another undiagnosed head injury, or even a blood clot.
A doctor will typically prescribe pain relievers so that you will feel some immediate comfort. You must also get some good rest and avoid doing any strenuous activities. In order to more precisely diagnose your injury, have a CT scan of your brain done.
Joint and Muscle Pain
Being involved in a car accident means that your body may have taken in a lot of force and trauma. This may cause you to feel sore and all banged up. One of the most frequent complaints for car accident victims is whiplash. This pain in the neck is caused by having your head forcefully thrown back and forth.
You may also experience swelling and reduced mobility in different joints and muscles. This may later turn out to be a tear in your muscles, tendons, or ligaments. These are hard to see on x-rays, making them more difficult to diagnose than injuries on bones.
In the event of these kinds of pain, be sure to rest your body and avoid exerting effort. Aggressive movements may cause even more damage. Physical therapy may be needed to regain strength and range of motion.
Abdominal Pain
Pain and swelling in your abdominal area may mean you have incurred internal injuries or internal bleeding. This may be accompanied by dizziness and lightheadedness. If not serious, internal injuries need to only be kept under observation until it heals on its own. However, in more grave situations, this may be life-threatening if left unnoticed. Surgery may be needed in order to correct it.
Back Pain
If you are experiencing any back pain, you may have sustained injury to the muscles or nerves in your back or spine. These kinds of injuries may sometimes be difficult to diagnose properly as they cannot be detected from just an x-ray. Allow more tests like a CT scan or MRI to be done for a more accurate diagnosis.
Moreover, if it is a nerve-related injury, you may also start to experience numbness and weakness in your limbs. Topical pain relievers and muscle relaxants can be used to soothe you or your pain.
Depending on the extent of your injury, you may need to exercise your back and undergo physical therapy. If your body’s functionality has truly been hampered, surgery may also be needed for injuries such as spinal stenosis or a herniated disk.Regardless of the extent of your accident, you have to continuously monitor your health for any post-accident symptoms. You must not ignore any potential injuries. Immediately seek medical attention in the case where you feel like something is wrong.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer
If you get caught in an incident that results in personal injury, contact a reliable personal injury lawyer at DeZao Law Firm. We will utilize our years of experience to help make sure that you get what is due to you. Schedule a consultation today.