What To Do If You Have Pain After a Car Accident

After a car accident, there are many things you must take care of to move forward. Filing insurance claims, getting your car repaired, and dealing with the other drivers are all important and take a lot of your time. Yet, ignoring any pain after a car accident you are experiencing is dangerous. Pain indicates a problem, and without the right care, that problem will get worse, not better.

HawkLaw, P.A. is here to help you get the compensation you need to deal with your pain and get back on your feet. Contact us today to discuss your car accident claim and get the proper help you deserve.

What Causes Pain After a Car Accident?

The pain you feel after a car accident may come from numerous injuries. Force is one of the most common causes of injuries. The force between a car striking another vehicle or object can cause significant damage, including spine injury and neck injuries. The back-and-forth movement of the car can cause a stretching of the ligaments and tendons in this area, causing significant damage. Often, you may not feel an initial injury after the accident, but over the course of a few days, you may develop symptoms such as:

• Headaches you cannot explain
• Back pain
• Shoulder pain
• Neck pain and stiffness
• Confusion

These auto accident injuries may be a sign of whiplash. They require medical attention and should not be put off for long. Remember, this type of pain may easily be considered a headache or tension from stress when in fact, it is a serious injury that carries the potential for numerous complications over time without treatment.

You may also feel pain and discomfort in other areas of your body, including joints and ligaments. For example, you may develop pain in your knees or hips, including soreness and limited mobility. You may also develop back pain from a herniated disc. This can cause pain not just in your back but also in your hips and down your legs. This could be the result of a pinched nerve, too. If you have any pain after a car accident in your joints, arms, legs, or back, it’s important to have this documented and treated by a professional.

Soft tissue injuries may not always relate to lacerations. Some people may have deep bruising that could indicate internal bleeding. These are often delayed symptoms but are still car accident injuries.

It is also common to suffer from broken bones and sprains to your limbs. These are obvious when they limit mobility, but sometimes you may just feel sore initially. Later, with the care of your doctor, you may learn that your pain relates to a small fracture that was not noticed right away.

Pay careful attention to areas of tenderness or feeling ill. Sometimes, internal bleeding and blood clots have no external signs. You may not realize they are occurring until you have significant pain that comes out of nowhere. Blood clots can develop almost immediately or sometimes long after an accident occurs. Monitor for any unexpected abdominal pain, delayed pain in legs or arms, or the onset of headaches that are unexplained.

When Do Car Accident Injuries Show Up?

Some car accident injuries are very obvious right away. This is true of many life-threatening conditions, but not necessarily all. Sometimes, it takes weeks or even months after the auto accident for something to become evident.

For example, if you have whiplash, that may show up right away in some people. It occurs from the back and forth movement of the brain in the skull, which can happen if you are wearing a seatbelt or struck from behind. If left untreated, this can lead to headaches and neck problems later on. It is not always easy to connect what you are feeling weeks later to your car crash.

Seeking medical attention immediately after the accident is key. It ensures that you have documentation of what has occurred right away. Even if this initial trip to the emergency room doesn’t reveal any type of injury, do not ignore the pain that shows up later. It could still be from the car crash.

Delayed symptoms and delayed pain cause people not to get legal or medical help soon enough. Yet, these are serious injuries, and they may impact your future in various ways. Failure to address these common injuries can lead to chronic pain issues in the future.

How to Get the Right Help After a Car Accident

Get seen by a doctor or chiropractor to receive an evaluation for back and neck injuries as well as for internal injuries, even if you feel fine. You may have a head injury even if you feel okay, for example, that could be a traumatic brain injury causing internal bleeding. You can’t see this, and you may not feel it until complications arise. Getting help right away after the accident is one thing you can do to ensure you’re okay.

Report any pain that shows up in the next weeks or months – even if it does not seem like it could relate to the car crash. Have a doctor evaluate if the pain is due to the accident. This is very true of back injuries, including those of the upper back and lower back pain, and injury symptoms such as limited mobility, neck pain, headaches, and confusion.

There are treatment options that may be available to you. For example, you may need physical therapy to help you regain the function of your limbs or help you with fine motor skills if you’ve had damage to them. Sometimes, you may need more extensive rehabilitation to learn how to walk properly after you have back surgery to repair the damage. What’s most important here is to recognize that even small injuries can be severe injuries, especially if they impact your quality of life. Don’t put off or forgo getting the medical care you need.

Getting additional help for your injury case

Then, don’t stop there. Often, a case like this relates to personal injury. That means you may need legal help to support you as you work through these claims. You can set up a free consultation* with an attorney to evaluate your case and ensure you get fairly compensated for any injuries.

Sometimes individuals do not seek out medical care right away. They may be worried about medical bills or be unsure if they are the at-fault driver. When you’re facing this type of complex case, having a legal team by your side to support your recovery is critical. With the help of a legal team, you can get insight into what level of compensation may be available to help you with things like medical bills and getting the more extensive care you need. You don’t have to be alone in your fight to recover after a car accident.

It’s particularly important to consider the importance of a legal team when you have what you think are common injuries or when the accident didn’t seem like it could cause such loss. You may also benefit from legal help if you have delayed injuries that create long-term outcomes, such as range of motion problems that limit your ability to do the job you were doing.

Also, don’t overlook the mental health consequences of accidents like this. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a real loss you may face after being in a traumatic car accident. This type of case may benefit from having additional legal support as well.

Why Choose HawkLaw for Your Car Crash Claim?

You don’t have to try to prove all of your losses on your own. Having a diligent personal injury attorney who can advise you on what to do next is critically important to most cases. We can be there to guide you as you face complications – including knowing what to do to get the compensation owed to you.

Our legal team has extensive experience helping others with delayed injuries as well. If you have pain and suffering from an accident that took place some time ago, reach out to us. Let our team talk to you about the options for recovery in those situations.

Our team can help you with every aspect of your case. That includes helping you get the right medical help to stop suffering in pain after a car accident. We’ll also work with the insurance companies to get fair compensation for you. Don’t speak to an insurance adjuster without our guidance, as that can impact your ability to file a claim in some situations. This can impact your injury claim, especially for accident victims that may have delayed injuries.

With our years of experience and success in helping accident victims get the compensation owed to them, we’re confident we can be here for you, too. In addition to this, our legal team is compassionate. We have helped many people through complicated legal cases like this.

Schedule a Free Consultation* with HawkLaw to Discuss Your Pain After a Car Accident

Right now, you may be feeling like you’re up against powerful insurance companies and attorneys who want to discredit the pain you have resulting from a car accident. You know how you felt before, and you know the limitations you’re facing now. Don’t let that stop you from getting the care you need.

Instead, call HawkLaw now to discuss your case. Let our team offer insight and guidance as you pursue financial compensation to help you overcome the losses someone else caused.  Call 888.HAWK.LAW or use our contact page to get started today!