If you’ve experienced a car accident, ideally, emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and made sure that you had no injuries that required immediate attention. If you have any injuries, such as dizziness or other problems, you should immediately be evaluated by your local emergency room. Immediate treatment following a collision is important not only to ensure you have not sustained more serious injuries but to document the fact that you are injured. Sometimes you may not feel any pain until a day or two after a collision, so if that happens be sure to be evaluated at that time.
Seek immediate medical attention after the accident, then see your physician
While only medical professionals can determine your health or injury status, a personal injury attorney with car accident experience like Flora Stuart can help you recover full compensation for your injuries after your car accident. Attorneys working with car accident and injury clients know what to look out for and how to negotiate with the insurance companies. The following is a brief guide on how long you should feel sore after a car accident. While it is not a substitute for medical evaluation, it should give you a general idea about how long you should be sore or when an injury may be present.
According to AICA Orthopedics, when a car accident occurs, there a variety of injuries that might take significant time to manifest after the accident. While broken bones are immediately apparent, internal injuries may be masked by the adrenaline rush of the accident. If certain injuries take longer to manifest, their cause may be attributed to something else other than the accident or thought to be independent.
Lingering back pain following an accident can indicate more significant harm
You might feel sore following a car accident as a result of the collision itself. While no bones may be broken on internal organs ruptured, the force of your body being suddenly stopped by a collision can be substantial. Physics aside, the weight of a car moving at high speed coming to a quick stop throws you in a direction with great force, whether into the door, the airbags, or your seatbelt. The human body is not meant to go from sixty miles per hour to zero by means of straps or seats, and moderate back pain can evolve into something more.
Consult with a recommended physician or therapist if you have soreness in your back or neck
At Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers, we take immediate steps to get you to physicians and/or therapists so you can get the treatment you need. Oftentimes, soreness of the back or neck due to normal physical exertion will resolve within a period of days or weeks. It is important that a car accident is considered is much more significant than normal physical exertion and that any soreness, however long- or short-lived, may indicate a greater injury. In the recent book “Contemporary Management of Temporomandibular Disorders,” it was noted that stress might enhance delayed pain following a car accident.
Chiropractic care can also be excellent therapy and our law firm works with many chiropractors to facilitate your recovery. It is also important to be monitored by a physician to make sure you do not have any serious underlying problems or need more comprehensive treatment.
We handle your medical bills so you can recover
At our law firm, we go the extra mile. It is important to immediately reserve your PIP benefits which will pay a portion of your medical bills, lost wages, prescriptions, and home care caused by the collision. It is your own insurance company or the insurance company for the car that you were in at the time of the accident that pays the PIP benefits regardless of fault. Generally, PIP will be paid back by the insurance company of the person who caused the wreck.
Temporary back pain can develop into long-term nerve issues
The force of a collision may result in your spinal column being negatively affected. Even a minor shift in your spine can lead to long-term negative results. Car accidents can cause spinal misalignments or may cause vertebrae to shift out of place. While minor shifts may not cause acute pain following the accident and could seem to get better shortly after, they can put pressure on the nerves surrounding the spinal cord. In time this can lead to pinched nerves, numbness, or tingling sensations.
Only an assessment by a medical professional can determine whether you are recovering from minor soreness or may be facing a longer-term issue.
Soreness can literally be in your head
While you might normally think of soreness in terms of your muscles and skeleton, headaches are also a form of soreness that might result from a car accident. While headaches might be a common complaint following a car accident, that does not mean that head pain is not a serious issue. Headaches could indicate a blood clot in the rain, a concussion, or an injury to the head or neck. If you experienced a head injury in the accident, there is the risk of traumatic brain injury from the force of your brain striking your skull during the collision.
It is important that you seek immediate medical attention following injury to your head in a car accident.
Being numb after an accident can also indicate a problem
Much of the attention in this article has been about soreness experienced as a result of the collision of the accident, but numbness or tingling might also result. When you experience numbness in your extremities, a nerve injury might have occurred. This might feel like a tingling sensation, like your skin is on pins and needles, and may range from barely discernible to very painful.
If you have experienced numbness following your car accident, it is important that you seek out professional medical attention to determine the source of the injury.
Sore feelings and mood changes should not be ignored after a car accident
Sometimes the damage that is experienced in a car accident is not physically noticeable or even measurable. Changes in behavior following an accident may indicate neurological issues. Symptoms such as memory problems, changes in personality, issues with sight or hearing, or the development of depression can indicate some form of brain injury linked to the accident. Recognizing that accidents do happen, and harm often results, is important after the accident to keep an eye out for any symptoms that might indicate an injury and the necessity of seeking out medical treatment.
A personal injury attorney experienced with car accidents can help you recover
Car accidents are very common, and insurance companies and other drivers regularly employ attorneys to represent their interests when it comes time to settle on damages related to accidents. Having an experienced, knowledgeable, and aggressive personal injury attorney on your side when you’ve gone through a car accident will help ensure that you obtain the compensation to which you are legally entitled.
An attorney with experience in personal injury law in the context of car accidents knows what to look out for and how to advise you on protecting your interests and promoting your full recovery from the accident.
Schedule a consultation with Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers today!
If you have been injured in a car accident, contact Flora Templeton Stuart today for your free consultation by submitting a case evaluation form, or by calling 888-782-9090 to speak personally with Ms. Stuart.
With offices throughout Kentucky and Tennessee, Flora Templeton Stuart and her team will travel to you if you can’t come to us and answer any questions you may have about your case. In the following material, we’ll present answers to a few common questions we encounter with prospective clients to get our dialogue started, and we’re excited to talk with you about your case.
FAQs
How much do car accident lawyers charge?
Our attorneys only get paid if we win your case. This is known as a contingency fee where our personal injury lawyers get an agreed upon percentage of your recovery.
How much compensation can I recover?
The amount of compensation you can recover depends on your injuries, medical treatment, liability (fault), available insurance to collect, and the experience of your personal injury attorney. Some of the more common damages victims can recover include property damage, lost income, lost quality of life, and physical and emotional pain and suffering. In cases where the at-fault party is intoxicated or conduct is intentional, we can collect punitive damages.
When should I call a lawyer?
You should contact an attorney as soon as you can after a car accident. We are available 24/7 even on weekends. Contact us now online or by calling 888-782-9090.
