A car accident can cause many different injuries to its victims, and some of these are not obvious at first. Often, victims may look themselves over after an accident and think they avoided injuries altogether because they do not see blood or feel any pain, but this is a dangerous assumption.
In reality, many car accident injuries do not cause pain or display symptoms. A victim may not realize they are hurt until hours or even days later, and by that time, the injury has often grown much worse. If you experienced a car accident recently in Colorado, do not wait to feel symptoms before you see a doctor for a full examination. Seeking a full medical examination directly after an accident may help you find and treat injuries before they cause lasting pain or impact your health.
Beware of internal injuries
Internal injuries can turn deadly, especially injuries to organs or other forms of internal bleeding. An organ that suffers some damage in a car accident may not cause pain, and may even continue to perform its function while the body works to repair the damage.
Unfortunately, if the body does not successfully heal itself, the organ will then shut down completely, and other organs will follow. Although this injury does not cause pain at first, it can ultimately kill victims who do not seek proper care.
Internal bleeding presents some of the same risks. A small internal injury may not cause pain at first, but if the wound develops an infection, the victim may suffer agony when the infection begins to spread. Not only is this painful, it can be deadly.
Whiplash, and head and neck injuries
Some injuries take time to produce pain or discomfort because the body simply doesn’t register them immediately. Whiplash, or soft-tissue damage, and spinal injuries are often painless when they first occur. However, after a few hours, soft-tissue damage begins to set in, and a victim may find that they are practically paralyzed. This can last for days and even weeks, interfering with every area of the victim’s life and potentially impacting their ability to work. Similarly, a spinal injury may sever or pinch nerves, which can produce numbness, tingling or lasting pain.
In contrast, a head injury may not produce symptoms for up to two weeks, and a victim who does not receive a full medical examination immediately after an accident may not connect the injury with the symptoms.
Recovering from a car accident is a complex process, and it can feel overwhelming at times, especially if a victim suffers more injuries than they realize at first. Protecting your health after a car accident begins with seeking a full medical examination from a qualified professional care provider. Protecting your rights begins with building a strong legal strategy while you work toward physical and financial recovery.
