Car crash injuries that may take a while to manifest

Car Crash Injuries That May Take a While to Manifest

After a car accident, it’s normal to experience a burst of adrenaline as a natural physiological form of self-protection. As a result, you might feel like you have a lot of energy and came out unhurt. However, some common car accident injuries may not manifest until you later begin to experience symptoms.

Internal Bleeding and Organ Damage

Some car accidents cause your upper torso to harshly collide with the steering wheel, seatbelt or airbag. While you might not immediately notice symptoms, once they appear, they can feel debilitating. You may have persistent chest or stomach pain and noticeable bruising on your abdominal area or chest, and you may find it difficult to move around and tend to your regular daily activities. These symptoms can signify internal bleeding and even damage to internal organs, which is a medical emergency. Seeking prompt medical attention can address the situation and gives you a chance to mitigate the damage. If you decide to file a claim for damages, an Allentown personal injury lawyer can help.

Neck Injuries

Neck injuries, especially whiplash, are one of the most common after a car accident. Whiplash is a soft tissue injury that develops upon the impact of a crash when your head and neck are violently jerked forward and then whip back. Usually, whiplash happens after a rear-end collision. In many cases, delayed symptoms begin to show up after several hours or days and include pain, stiffness, limited range of motion and dizziness. With this injury, you can experience a strain or sprain in the delicate ligaments, muscles or nerves or a herniated disc in your neck. If you experience neck or back pain at all, it's a good idea to get it checked out because the central nervous system isn't able to heal itself as well as your other bodily systems.

Other Soft Tissue Injuries

In addition to whiplash, other soft tissue injuries may lay dormant for several days. These injuries affect your shoulders, elbows, wrists, feet, ankles or knees. You may not initially feel pain because of the adrenaline rush, but the soreness and stiffness may manifest themselves later. Depending on the severity of soft tissue injuries, you might need anti-inflammatory medication, rest or even cortisone injections to relieve the pain.

Head and Brain Injuries

Head and brain injuries are among the most serious hidden injuries that can occur after a car accident. These can range from mild and temporary like concussions to moderate or severe and permanent. In the worst instances, they can result in irreversible brain damage and adversely affect the rest of your life. An Allentown personal injury lawyer can help you prepare a lawsuit against the at-fault party or parties to hold them accountable for your damages. Although some symptoms of brain injuries may immediately appear in some people, others can begin experiencing them days later. The following are common:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Confusion
• Fatigue
• Memory issues
• Sleep issues
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Tinnitus
• Loss of consciousness

These are signs of a traumatic brain injury. The sooner you seek medical attention, the better your prognosis if it is determined that your injury is moderate to severe.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Another common injury that may show symptoms later is one affecting the spinal cord. When the delicate nerves, ligaments and vertebrae in the back suffer damage in a car accident, you may not immediately notice pain and other symptoms. It can take hours or even days before they show when you begin experiencing issues like numbness or tingling in your extremities, stiffness, weakness, incoordination and balance problems or muscle spasms. In more severe instances, spinal cord injuries can cause you to lose control of your bladder or bowels, suffer a change or loss of sensation and even have breathing difficulties. These symptoms are serious and should be considered a medical emergency. If you are in the Allentown or Philadelphia areas and have been injured in a car accident, contact Metzger and Kleiner at (610) 435-7400 or (215) 567-6616 at your earliest convenience to discuss your case.