Delayed Symptoms and Injuries After a Car Accident

Pains and Aches Days After a Car Accident

You were sitting at a stoplight when someone rear-ended your vehicle. Your car sustained damage, but you felt fine immediately afterward. Now, it has been a few days since the car accident, and you’re beginning to experience aches and pains. What’s going on?

Odds are that you sustained one or more delayed car accident injuries, also known as delayed onset injuries, hidden injuries, or latent injuries.

Attorney Matt Boulton has helped a number of Indiana accident victims answer questions related to delayed car accident injuries, and this blog takes a closer look at the most common concerns.

As you review this overview, keep in mind that the state of Indiana allows accident victims to seek compensation for delayed injuries as long as they are no more than 50% at fault for the collision.

To help ensure your rights are protected, Indiana injury attorney Matt Boulton can provide you with a free case review that will reveal your options and next steps.

Symptoms of Delayed Car Accident Injuries

It’s important to recognize the potential symptoms of a delayed car accident injury. Being able to articulate what you are feeling or experiencing is key to having a doctor diagnose a specific condition.

In the case of a delayed injury, an accident victim might experience various symptoms in the hours, days, or weeks after the collision.

Delayed car accident injury symptoms may include a wide range of experiences, including:

• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Tingling in extremities
• Numbness
• Headaches
• Light sensitivity
• Nausea
• Emotional distress

No matter how small or big the accident, each victim will experience unique symptoms based on the specifics of their crash, prior health history, and lifestyle.

For these reasons, as well as protecting your legal rights, it’s important to seek medical treatment at the first signs of any potential for a delayed injury.

Why Do Some Serious Injuries Not Appear Immediately?

Many accident victims will report feeling like their collision “happened in slow motion.” The culprit behind this sensation is the same one often responsible for masking a serious injury: adrenaline.

Adrenaline is a hormone that enters your bloodstream courtesy of your body’s adrenal glands. Also known as epinephrine, this hormone is responsible for the body’s “fight or flight” response when confronting a dangerous or stressful situation, such as a car accident.

In addition to causing a sense of excitement, adrenaline is largely known for its ability to sometimes delay symptoms associated with serious car accident injuries.

In addition to adrenaline, accident victims may also experience delayed symptoms as a result of swelling, muscle and joint inflammation, or other underlying triggers.

Common Car Accident Injuries With Delayed Symptoms

Attorney Boulton has helped Indiana accident victims with a number of delayed symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as a specific injury type, including:

Delayed Head Injuries

Sometimes termed the invisible or silent injury, a concussion or other traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common type of delayed injury associated with car accidents.

Symptoms of a delayed head injury can greatly vary by victim but may include one or more of the following:

• Dizziness or vertigo
• Ringing sounds
• Headaches
• Vision changes
• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Changes in mood or temperament
• Inability to focus or concentrate
• Confusion or problems with memory

Due to the hidden nature of a brain injury, it’s critical that any potential TBI symptoms be reported immediately to your local doctor.

Delayed Soft-Tissue Injuries

Car accident victims with delayed soft-tissue injuries will often experience symptoms in the days and weeks following their crash.

The majority of delayed symptoms involve pain and soreness throughout various parts of the body, such as their neck, back, and shoulder(s).

Accident victims may also experience a gradual stiffness that affects their overall mobility and decreased range of motion associated with various joints.

Reporting delayed accident symptoms to your doctor will help them to diagnose a specific injury, which may include a wide array of conditions, such as whiplash and/or damage to various muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Delayed Internal Injuries

Car accident victims who sustain blunt force trauma to their bodies can be unaware of the actual extent of their injuries.

Cases involving delayed internal car accident injuries may result in damage to various organs such as the spleen, kidney, liver, gallbladder, and lungs.

Additionally, some accident victims mistakenly believe if they don’t see blood, they must be ok, and that can be a dangerous assumption.

Attorney Boulton has investigated a number of accident claims that included cases of internal bleeding. Yet another reason to pay attention to symptoms in the days and weeks following an accident.

Delayed symptoms sometimes associated with internal injuries and/or bleeding may include nausea, dizziness, weakness, unexplained pain(s), discoloration, or visible bruising.

If left untreated by a doctor, internal injuries can be fatal and/or lead to serious, permanent damage.

Delayed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Injuries

Being involved in a serious car accident can be a traumatic event for anyone, which means the after-effects of a collision aren’t always limited to physical injury.

As such, it’s not uncommon for victims to report various feelings, such as unease, fear, depression, and anxiety. Sometimes these feelings don’t appear right away, leaving the victim to experience delayed psychological injuries, often diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

It’s critical for accident victims to consult with their doctor as well as a certified behavioral therapist to ensure their emotional trauma is properly documented and treated.

Why You Should Doctor for Delayed Car Accident Symptoms

There are two primary reasons to immediately consult with a doctor if you experience delayed car accident symtpoms:

• Your health.
• The insurance company.

First, your personal health should always be priority one, no exceptions.

Paying attention to soreness, pains, and other physical symptoms that appear in the days and weeks after a car accident helps to avoid compounding any health problems that may lead to more serious injury and/or death.

Second, the value of a resulting potential personal injury claim will largely be based on medical documentation as well as the patient’s follow-up and compliance with all treatment. Insurance companies seize on any timeline inconsistencies or gaps in treatment as a reason to devalue or dismiss victims’ claims.

Paying attention to delayed car accident symptoms and having them documented by a doctor will help to avoid complications with your health and potential injury claim.

Attorney Matt Boulton Offers Free Case Reviews

If you were involved in a car accident, pay close attention in the following days and weeks to any signs and signals your body may be sending. The aches, pains, and general unease may be symptoms of a delayed injury.

In the event that you have sustained a delayed car accident injury, attorney Matt Boulton can provide you with a free case review and strategy to help ensure the insurance company does not take advantage of your situation.

Boulton Law Group’s Zero Fee Guarantee allows Indiana accident victims to hire an award-winning attorney at no cost. This allows you to focus exclusively on your health while attorney Boulton handles every facet of your personal injury claim. Additionally, there is never a fee or charge until compensation is secured on your behalf.

We look forward to learning more about how attorney Boulton can help you or your loved one.