Why You Shouldn’t Assume You’re Okay After a Car Accident
A serious car accident can leave you shaken, confused, and focused on getting home rather than thinking about what injuries you may have suffered. Sometimes a person walks away from a crash believing they will be okay, only to develop significant pain or other symptoms hours or days later.
That is one reason it is important not to assume that you are uninjured simply because you can stand, walk, talk, or drive away from the scene. Some accident injuries are immediately obvious. Others may take time to become noticeable. Some, including certain traumatic brain injuries and internal injuries, can be difficult to recognize without medical evaluation.
At Kalfayan Merjanian, LLP, our California car accident injury lawyers understand that what initially appears to be a minor injury can develop into a serious medical problem. We also understand that delays in obtaining treatment can create complications when an insurance company later questions whether an injury was caused by the crash. Seeking appropriate medical care after a serious collision protects your health and can also create important documentation of what happened.
Why You Might Feel Uninjured Immediately After a Car Accident
A crash triggers an intense physical and emotional response. Adrenaline can temporarily reduce the perception of pain, making it possible for someone to overlook injuries at the scene.
You may also be focused on the immediate circumstances of the collision. You may be talking with police officers, exchanging information with other drivers, checking on passengers, arranging for your vehicle to be towed, or trying to get home. In that environment, soreness or a mild headache may not seem important.
The absence of immediate severe pain does not establish that no injury occurred. Some symptoms develop gradually as the body’s initial response to the crash wears off. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury and concussion may appear immediately or may not become apparent for hours or days.
What Accident Injuries Can Have Delayed Symptoms?
Neck and back injuries are among the major problems that may become more noticeable after a collision. A person may initially experience stiffness or mild soreness and later develop significant pain, reduced range of motion, muscle spasms, or other symptoms.
Soft-tissue injuries can also take time to become apparent. The same is true of some joint, ligament, and disc injuries. The fact that pain was not severe at the accident scene does not mean that a later-diagnosed condition is unrelated to the crash.
Head injuries deserve particular attention because symptoms can be subtle. Someone with a concussion may initially appear normal but later experience headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, vision problems, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, irritability, or changes in sleep.
Why Are Traumatic Brain Injuries Particularly Easy to Miss?
A traumatic brain injury does not require a visible wound or skull fracture. A concussion, for example, can result from a blow or jolt that causes the brain to move rapidly inside the skull. The resulting symptoms can involve physical, cognitive, emotional, and sleep-related changes.
This can make a brain injury especially difficult for an accident victim to recognize. Someone may think a headache is simply stress from the collision or believe that difficulty concentrating is caused by lack of sleep. Family members may notice changes in behavior before the injured person recognizes them.
The CDC advises people with a possible mild traumatic brain injury or concussion to obtain medical evaluation. Certain worsening symptoms, including repeated vomiting, increasing headache, seizures, weakness or numbness, confusion, unusual behavior, or difficulty waking, require immediate emergency medical attention.
More serious traumatic brain injuries can result in long-term or lifelong health problems affecting thinking, communication, physical abilities, behavior, employment, and everyday activities.
Can Internal Injuries Go Unnoticed After a Crash?
Internal injuries can be especially dangerous because there may be little to see from the outside. A collision can cause trauma to internal organs and blood vessels, and symptoms may not immediately seem connected to the accident.
Abdominal pain, swelling, weakness, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, or other unusual symptoms following a serious crash can require prompt medical attention. A person should not wait for severe symptoms to develop before seeking care for a potentially serious injury.
This is particularly important after high-impact collisions, rollovers, crashes involving significant vehicle intrusion, or accidents in which a person’s body struck the steering wheel, dashboard, door, or another part of the vehicle.
What Other Injuries May Not Be Obvious at First?
A serious crash can cause a wide range of injuries that may become more apparent over time. These can include:
- Neck and back injuries, including herniated or bulging discs
- Ligament, tendon, and other soft-tissue injuries
- Fractures that initially cause relatively little pain
- Nerve injuries
- Shoulder, knee, and other joint injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries and concussions
- Internal injuries and organ damage
- Psychological injuries, including anxiety and trauma-related symptoms
Not every symptom that appears after a crash was necessarily caused by the accident, which is why medical evaluation matters. A healthcare provider can examine the patient, identify potential injuries, order appropriate testing, and establish a record connecting symptoms to the collision when medically appropriate.
Delaying Medical Treatment Can Affect Your Recovery
The medical consequences of delaying treatment depend on the injury. Some conditions can become more difficult to manage when diagnosis and treatment are postponed. With traumatic brain injuries, for example, recognizing worsening symptoms and obtaining appropriate care can be important because complications can develop after the initial injury.
Even when a delayed diagnosis does not make the underlying injury medically worse, postponing treatment can make recovery more difficult. Untreated pain can affect sleep, mobility, work, and daily activities. Someone who continues working or engaging in strenuous activity without understanding the extent of an injury may potentially aggravate symptoms or interfere with recovery.
The CDC recommends contacting a healthcare provider when concussion symptoms do not improve or become worse after returning to normal activities.
Following medical advice and documenting your symptoms can therefore be important parts of your recovery.
Delayed Medical Treatment Can Affect Your Car Accident Claim
Medical treatment is also an important part of documenting an injury claim. When a person waits an extended period before seeing a doctor, an insurance company may argue that the injury was not caused by the collision or was less serious than claimed.
That argument does not mean the insurance company is correct. There are legitimate reasons someone may not immediately recognize an injury, particularly when symptoms develop gradually. But a substantial gap between the accident and the first medical evaluation can create questions that may have been avoided with earlier documentation.
Medical records can help establish when symptoms began, what the patient reported, what examinations were performed, what diagnoses were made, and what treatment was recommended. They can also provide evidence concerning whether later symptoms are medically consistent with the collision.
Does Delayed Treatment Mean You Lose Your Right to Compensation?
A person who does not immediately realize they are injured may nevertheless have a valid personal injury claim.
A person injured because of another party’s actions may seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages, emotional harm, and other losses. In general, California personal injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury, although exceptions and different deadlines can apply depending on the circumstances and the identity of the defendant.
The more important question is often whether the available evidence establishes that the claimed injuries were caused by the crash and what losses resulted from those injuries. A gap in treatment can become one issue in that analysis, particularly if the defense argues that the condition resulted from something that happened after the collision.
The passage of time can also affect evidence. Witnesses’ memories can fade, records may become more difficult to obtain, and physical evidence can disappear. Prompt medical attention and timely investigation can help preserve evidence while the circumstances are still relatively fresh.
What Should You Do If Symptoms Develop Later After a Crash?
You should take new or worsening symptoms seriously, particularly after a significant collision. Appropriate medical evaluation can help determine whether you have suffered an injury and what treatment may be necessary.
Follow the healthcare provider’s recommendations and keep records of your appointments, diagnoses, prescriptions, therapy, and other treatment. It can also be helpful to keep track of symptoms that affect your ability to work, sleep, exercise, drive, or perform ordinary activities.
When symptoms are subtle, family members or coworkers may notice changes before you do. Their observations can sometimes be helpful when discussing your condition with a healthcare provider.
Most importantly, do not attempt to diagnose yourself based solely on how you feel immediately after the accident. Some serious injuries do not announce themselves clearly at the scene.
Why Is It Important to Contact a Lawyer About a Serious Crash?
A serious collision may involve more than a disagreement over who caused the accident. The severity of the injuries, available insurance coverage, disputed causation, and long-term medical consequences can all affect the value and complexity of a claim.
An attorney can investigate how the accident occurred, preserve relevant evidence, obtain medical records, evaluate the relationship between the collision and the claimed injuries, and assess the financial and personal consequences of the accident.
Early legal involvement can also be important when the accident involves multiple vehicles, commercial transportation, disputed liability, significant injuries, or another circumstance in which evidence may be contested.
How Can Kalfayan Merjanian, LLP Help After a Serious Car Accident?
After a serious crash, your first priority should be your health. Once immediate medical needs are addressed, it is equally important to understand your legal rights and protect evidence relating to your injury.
At Kalfayan Merjanian, LLP, we represent people injured in serious California car accidents. We understand that injuries do not always become apparent at the moment of impact, and we carefully examine medical records, accident evidence, treatment histories, and other information relevant to determining what happened and how the crash affected your life.
Our attorneys work to hold negligent drivers and other responsible parties accountable while pursuing compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses permitted by California law.
Contact Kalfayan Merjanian, LLP After a Serious California Auto Accident
Walking away from a serious collision without obvious injuries does not necessarily mean you are okay. Pain, neurological symptoms, internal injuries, and other conditions may become apparent later. Delaying medical attention can put your health at risk and may create unnecessary complications when an insurance company evaluates your injury claim.
Kalfayan Merjanian, LLP represents people throughout California who have suffered serious injuries in car accidents. Contact our firm to discuss your accident, your symptoms, and your legal options for pursuing compensation.
