Symptoms Can Take Time to Develop
Many hidden injuries may not make themselves apparent for some time after a crash. You may think that you got away injury-free when, in reality, your symptoms just haven’t settled into your body. The following injuries can often prove tricky for you to identify yourself after an accident due to hidden or delayed symptoms:
1. Traumatic brain injury (TBI)—This injury is commonly called the “silent” or “invisible” injury because it is so difficult to identify. Many people don’t realize that they hit their heads in a car accident or they didn’t hit their heads at all, so they never consider the possibility of a TBI. Others may only bump their heads but never imagine it was hard enough to damage their brains.
However, a TBI can happen with even the slightest bump of the head—or even without any direct trauma at all. In some cases, a sharp jolt of the head—like whiplash in a car crash—is enough to cause the brain to shift and collide with the inside of the skull, resulting in a TBI.
Severe traumatic brain injuries are often immediately apparent, leaving a victim unconscious for some time. So-called mild TBIs—such as concussions—are often less obvious after a crash. The symptoms of a concussion can include feelings of disorientation, headaches, and fatigue. These are all natural feelings after a car crash, and many victims assume they are simply “out of it” because of the accident, but concussion symptoms can gradually worsen during the next few days or weeks. Due to the delay, it can be difficult to connect those symptoms to a possible crash injury. For these reasons and more, TBIs often go unnoticed after a car accident—making immediate medical attention even more necessary.
Brain injuries are complicated injuries that are different from person to person. It can be difficult to prove all the effects of your injury, so you want to have a highly experienced car accident lawyer if you receive this type of diagnosis.
2. Soft tissue injuries—A car accident can cause your body to twist or stretch in unusual ways—often so quickly that you may not even realize it happened. A twisting motion is particularly common since the seat belt is only pulled over one shoulder, often stopping that side of the body while the other side twists forward. This sudden, unnatural motion can damage the ligaments, tendons, and muscles of the body.
Sometimes, a soft tissue injury will present obvious symptoms, especially in the case of a serious tear. Less apparent sprains and strains may—at first—result in only slight pain without any other symptoms. It is all too easy to mistake this pain for natural post-accident soreness and expect it to simply go away. Soft tissue injuries in the knees, shoulder, neck, back, and arms may go unnoticed—and thus undiagnosed—for some time. However, during the next few days or weeks, you may notice inflammation, bruising, and other signs that something is wrong.
Sometimes, insurance companies will claim you must have injured yourself in another incident following the accident if you did not seek medical attention right away. Our car accident attorneys know how to argue that you didn’t get help because the onset of symptoms was delayed.
3. Herniated disks—Most people know that neck or back strains commonly result from car accidents. Similar to soft tissue injuries, accident victims may write off the pain as normal after a crash and expect it to resolve itself over the next few days. However, the force of a car accident can cause more damage than you think. Sometimes, a crash can rupture one of your disks—the soft cushions between your vertebrae—causing the interior jelly to push out and irritate the surrounding nerves. This is called a herniated disk, and it can often result in more serious symptoms than a sprain or strain, such as loss of muscle control, muscle weakness, lost sensation, and severe pain.
However, some herniated disks start with no symptoms at all, only to worsen substantially during subsequent weeks or even months. Without a timely diagnosis, the prognosis for an undiagnosed herniated disk can worsen, and more intensive treatments may be required to relieve the problem.
4. Psychological injuries—Many people downplay the seriousness of psychological injuries that can develop after a car wreck. In fact, you may not even consider the possibility that your crash can result in significant psychological damage. However, research shows that more than 9% of car accident survivors develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can result in many adverse symptoms. PTSD can cause nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance of cars, anger issues, and more. You may discount these symptoms as products of stress or other conditions in your life instead of considering a possible evaluation for PTSD. Untreated PTSD, however, can result in anxiety, depression, and intense fear. While all of these conditions are treatable with therapy, medication, and other approaches, sadly, many people fail to receive the remedies they need.
The above are only some examples of many injuries that may go undiagnosed after a car crash. Even if you believe you were in a non-injury car accident, see a trusted doctor to ensure you aren’t missing subtle signs of injury. If you do receive a diagnosis, contact our car accident law firm for more information about your legal rights right away. We have successfully handled car accident cases like yours and can get you the compensation you deserve.
