If you were injured in an accident, you may not immediately notice your injuries. In fact, this is fairly common. Symptoms such as neck, back and joint pain often don’t fully present themselves until after the accident. Ideally, if you were injured in a crash, you would seek medical attention immediately after being cleared to leave the scene, but the reality is that sometimes that doesn’t happen.
Keep this in mind, though: From the date of the accident, you do not want to wait too long to seek medical treatment for your injuries. As soon as you notice some pain or other symptoms, seek medical treatment right away. The longer you wait, the more the insurance company will be skeptical that your injuries are directly related to the accident.
Once You Do Get Treatment, Don’t Stop It Prematurely
When injured in a motor vehicle accident, you do not want to have long gaps between treatments. It all goes back to the idea that the at-fault driver’s insurance company will try to find ways to reduce the value of the case. And having gaps between treatments, or waiting too long after the accident to start getting treatment, is a big factor in how the insurance companies evaluate bodily injury claims for settlement.
Common Types Of Delayed Injuries
Many types of injuries might show symptoms in the days and weeks after a car wreck. Here are some symptoms to keep an eye on:
A headache could be a sign that you have suffered a concussion or other serious head injury. Also, a headache could be a sign that you’re experiencing a normal reaction to a stressful event. You won’t know the type and extent of a head injury until you get a medical evaluation. And allowing a head injury to linger without treatment could cause serious and lasting health problems.
Abdominal pain could be an indication of internal bleeding or organ damage. If left untreated, such injuries can result in permanent injury or death.
Neck, back and shoulder pains may also present themselves in the days and weeks after a crash. When these injuries are serious, they can have lifelong effects.
Any kind of joint pain, whether it’s in your shoulder, elbow, hip, knee or ankle, should be carefully monitored after a crash. And you should seek a medical evaluation as soon as possible.
If you experience delayed symptoms after a car accident, you be owed compensation for your injury and the related costs.
For more on that, please see our previous post, “What kinds of damages are available in a personal injury case?“