Why Symptoms Sustained in Car Accidents are Often Delayed
After a car accident, you might think you’re fine. However, injuries may stay hidden for days until you realize you’re actually hurt. Keep reading to learn why accident symptoms are delayed, and why you should seek medical treatment.
No one ever wants to get in a car accident, but unfortunately, they happen. After a car accident, you may feel fine, like you just escaped serious injury. But this isn’t always the case. Some car accident symptoms are delayed because of the intense adrenaline pumping through your body.
At Vital Orthopedic and Spine Institute, Dr. Robere Missirian and Dr. Asif Shafiq are orthopedic and neurosurgery specialists who offer care after you’ve suffered a car accident. Dr. Missirian, Dr. Shafiq, and the rest of the team are highly experienced in symptoms and treatments for any kind of accident.
What are common car accident injuries?
Injuries sustained in car accidents vary greatly, depending on the severity of the accident. Other factors that play into injuries include whether you were wearing a seatbelt and where your car was hit. Injuries vary from mild cuts to severe trauma.
A number of common injuries can happen with car accidents. Cuts and scrapes are fairly common, along with a few others that include:
Whiplash
Whiplash happens due to the severe force exerted in a car accident. It causes your back and neck to move in unnatural ways, resulting in injury to the tendons and ligaments in your neck, which is known as whiplash.
Broken bones
The force of a car accident sometimes results in broken bones. Your skeletal system is made to withstand pressure, but the impact of an accident is sometimes too much for your bones. Broken bones are usually immediately apparent, unless they’re in a small bone or it’s not a complete break.
Concussions
If you hit your head during the accident, it’s very likely that you will have a concussion. This is caused by your brain moving around in your skull, causing symptoms like headaches and memory problems. Concussions should be evaluated as soon as possible.
Soft tissue injuries
Soft tissue injuries are injuries sustained to your muscles, ligaments, cartilage, or tendons. These can be damaged pretty easily in a car accident, but may not show up for hours to weeks after the event.
Chest injuries also happen, especially when your airbag is deployed. This can lead to bruising or more severe trauma to your ribs and lungs. Back pain and neck injuries also happen frequently from the jolting of your body during the crash.
The reason behind delayed symptoms
Car accidents are a type of traumatic event, both physically and mentally. Because you’re never expecting to get in a crash, your fight-or-flight response takes over if it happens.
During an accident, your body releases a surge of adrenaline, which is essentially its way of getting you through dangerous situations. This is the fight-or-flight response. It’s often accompanied by a fast heart rate, shaking, and sweating.
Adrenaline takes over, along with endorphins, during and after a stressful event. In the case of a vehicle accident, this causes your pain to be masked for hours to days after the event.
This is why you may feel fine after the accident, but begin to feel sore and painful a few days later. Soft tissue injuries, back pain, and neck injuries are some of the most common injuries that are masked by adrenaline.
The truth is, symptoms of injuries may not show up for hours, days, or even weeks after the accident. Car crashes are very stressful emotionally, and you could suffer injuries that don’t appear due to the continued fight-or-flight response.
Steps to take immediately after an accident
After a car accident, it’s important to make sure you’re OK physically before exiting the vehicle. Make sure everyone else who is involved is OK, and if you’re able, move yourself and the vehicle out of harm’s way.
Call the police and emergency response personnel if needed, to get you or someone else to the hospital. The police help you sort out the other information needed for an insurance claim.
The most important step to take after your accident is to seek medical care, even if you feel OK. Dr. Missirian and Dr. Shafiq are experts in treating vehicle injuries. They offer state-of-the-art imaging studies to determine if you’ve suffered any internal injuries that aren’t immediately exhibiting symptoms.
If you decide not to seek treatment immediately, keep your eye out for symptoms over the next few days. Headaches that continue to get worse and severe bruising are both signs that you need to seek treatment. Neck or back pain may also indicate problems that should be evaluated by our team.
If you’ve suffered an injury in a car accident, don’t hesitate to call us today to book a consultation with the team. You can also schedule an appointment using our convenient online booking feature. We have offices in Pompano Beach, Fort Myers, Hollywood, and Lake Worth, Florida.
