It is completely normal for injury symptoms to occur days after a car accident. This is a result of our body’s natural “fight or flight” response that is triggered by traumatic events. A car accident is certainly a traumatic event and can evoke this natural reaction. When this “fight or flight” response is triggered, your body releases several chemicals, including adrenaline. The body then reacts to the adrenaline in our system with: sweat, dilated pupils, increased heart rate, and, most notably, reduced recognition of pain. This pain blocking effect is also known as “stress-induced analgesia” and helps people survive frightening or dangerous situations.

However, the pain blocking effect does not last long and many car accident victims will start to feel sore or experience pain in the days following the accident. This is why it’s smart to always seek medical attention, even when you may not feel extreme pain. This is true regardless of whether the impact was minor or severe. Even minor accidents involve tremendous force that can impact the body and cause injury.

Common Injuries

Soft Tissue Injures

Soft tissue refers to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons throughout our body. These soft tissues can stretch, twist, and compress during an accident causing pain, swelling, reduced mobility and strength. However, because of the adrenaline in your system after an accident, these symptoms can develop days after the accident. Most everyone has heard of “whiplash” but many don’t know that it’s classified as a “soft tissue” injury. Whiplash is commonly seen in rear-end collisions when the impact causes the head to snap forward and backward, traumatizing the soft tissues of the neck.

Contrary to what an emergency room may tell you, soft tissue injuries are treatable – and not just with medication. Chiropractic treatment and physical therapy has been proven to help the soft tissues injured in an accident recover faster.

Concussion

Newton’s first law of physics tells us that an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by another force. Therefore, when you are traveling down the road at 40 mph, your brain is also traveling down the road at 40 mph while inside your skull. A sudden accident (“another force”) causes your brain to rapidly decelerate by colliding with your skull. In other words, just because you didn’t hit your head – doesn’t mean that you don’t have a concussion.

Concussions can be serious and the symptoms don’t always show up right away. Concussion symptoms can include:

• Nausea / vomiting
• Blurry vision
• Headache
• Difficulty focusing
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Abnormal sleep
• Ringing in the ears
• Memory loss

You should seek medical attention if you experience any of these symptoms following a car accident.

How We Can Help

Insurance adjusters have one job: pay you as little as possible. Even if you don’t think you’re “that inured” it’s always good to consult an attorney to ensure you’re getting all that you are entitled to. If you have an injury but symptoms don’t appear right away (maybe you even told the responding officer that you’re not injured), that doesn’t mean that you can’t recover for your injures. However, you will likely need the help of an attorney to prove your case.

You may also find that your primary care physician will refuse to see you following an accident. In fact, many doctors refuse to treat car accident victims. That is why we have developed a list of doctors that we know will see and treat you.