Immediately after a car accident, it can be difficult to know whether you’ve been injured or how seriously. Sometimes, shock or adrenaline masks the pain right after a traumatic event. In other cases, delayed pain after a car accident may be due to ongoing inflammation, internal bleeding, or other damage.
Too often, our car accident attorneys have seen people suffer more severe consequences of their injuries because they didn’t take pain or other symptoms seriously.
Common Causes of Delayed Pain after an Accident
Here are some common examples of delayed pain after an accident that may signal a serious medical issue. Of course, this isn’t a complete list. If you experience any pain or other medical issues in the aftermath of an accident, you should seek medical attention right away.
Headaches
A headache that comes on hours or even days after a car accident may be a sign of a more serious condition, such as:
- Concussion/traumatic
- Whiplash
- Bleeding in the brain
- Blood clot
All of these conditions can worsen over time if left untreated, and some may be life-threatening. You should know that the impact of a car crash can cause a serious head injury even if you don’t hit your head.
Neck and Shoulder Pain
Stiffness and pain in the neck and shoulders are just one of the common signs of whiplash. Other symptoms may include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, tingling in the hands or arms, muscle spasms, mood changes, blurred vision, and more. These symptoms may emerge several days after the accident.
Back Pain
Back pain after a car accident could signal a serious condition such as herniated discs, soft tissue damage, or spinal cord damage. Sometimes these symptoms go unnoticed due to adrenaline masking the pain, or because a car accident victim assumes that being a bit stiff and achy is normal after a crash and will resolve itself. In other cases, the pain, stiffness, or limitation in movement starts later because the condition is worsening. That could mean inflammation pressing on the spinal cord, internal bleeding creating pressure, or aggravation of an injury as the car accident victim moves around after the crash.
Ignoring this type of injury can worsen the condition, potentially meaning more and longer-term medical care is needed. In some cases, a temporary injury may even turn into a long-term or permanent injury if treatment is delayed.
Numbness or Tingling
Numbness or tingling–especially in the arms, hands, legs or feet–can be a sign of anything from whiplash (when the tingling is in the hands or arms) to spinal injury or nerve damage. These types of injuries can occur in many ways in a motor vehicle accident, including blunt force trauma, a fractured bone pressing on a nerve, a dislocation pinching a nerve, pressure from swelling in soft tissue and more.
Both spinal injuries and nerve damage vary in severity, with treatments ranging from physical therapy and/or medication to surgical intervention. The sooner the condition is diagnosed and the treatment begins, the better.
Behavioral or Cognitive Changes
If you feel irritable or foggy after a car accident, you assume it’s just a response to going through a traumatic event, or caused by the fact that you’re in pain or the stress of dealing with insurance companies and auto repair.
Unfortunately, changes such as sleep disturbance, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, and other changes in temperament and cognitive function may be a sign of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI symptoms may emerge gradually over days or even weeks after the crash.
TBIs may be mild, moderate, or severe, and they impact different people differently. Over time, a TBI may cause a wide range of other symptoms, including vision and hearing problems, dizziness, balance issues, incontinence, and more. Any post-accident symptoms that may be indicative of a TBI should be assessed by a medical professional immediately.
Joint Pain and Limited Mobility
This type of pain can be tricky after a car accident, because it may not be noticeable until the injured person begins moving around normally again. For example, someone who was in a car accident on Thursday and took Friday off to rest might believe they were fully recovered by Monday — only to discover that returning to work triggered new pain or revealed new limitations.
These symptoms may indicate a soft tissue injury, sprain, joint damage, partial dislocation or other conditions. Continuing to strain the injury by going about your normal work day could worsen the injury, so you should get it checked out rather than trying to push through.
Abdominal Pain
Abdominal pain that emerges after a physical trauma like a car accident could be a sign of internal bleeding in the area, or even of organ damage. While you might not automatically connect what seems like a gastrointestinal issue with the accident, you shouldn’t take chances. Left untreated, internal bleeding can be fatal.
Get the Help You Need after a Car Accident
Whether your symptoms after a car accident are on the list above or not, it’s important to seek qualified medical care as soon as possible. Any type of delayed pain after a car accident could be a sign of something serious, as can non-pain symptoms like weakness, fatigue, confusion, sleeping too much or inability to sleep, numbness, and more.
Another important step toward protecting yourself after an injury is to get an experienced car accident lawyer on your side.
Talk to a Car Crash Lawyer at Harrell & Harrell Today
At Harrell & Harrell, P.A., we have extensive experience with personal injury claims and helping victims of motor vehicle accidents secure the compensation they need to rebuild after an injury. Every car accident attorney at our firm is committed to making the process as stress-free as possible, so you can focus on your recovery while we manage the insurance company and legal process. To learn more about how we can help, schedule a free consultation today. Just call (904) 251-1111 or fill out our contact form right now.