What are the Symptoms of a Delayed Car Accident Injury?
After experiencing a fender-bender or other vehicle accident, most individuals don’t have visible injuries. In fact, they may get out of the car and feel totally fine. However, the reality is that many people don’t immediately feel symptoms from injuries sustained during an accident.
Known as delayed car accident injuries, it can take anywhere from hours to weeks for symptoms to appear. A prime reason why many people don’t feel pain right away is that they experience a surge of adrenaline. Delayed injury symptoms can make it more difficult to recover compensation in a personal injury claim. Frequently, the insurance company may be suspicious about the amount of time the injured party takes to file a claim or even report symptoms. The best thing anyone with delayed symptoms can do is to speak with a Tucson car accident attorney to discuss their options.
Delayed Car Accident Injuries
There are specific injuries and symptoms a person can experience a few hours, days, or even weeks after a car accident. Some of the more common injuries that take a while to appear to include:
- Whiplash: Whiplash is extremely common in car accidents, especially when a vehicle is struck from behind. Symptoms that this condition can bring about include headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, pain in the neck, shoulders and upper back, and sleep disturbances. Symptoms usually manifest within 12 hours to five days after an accident.
- Soft Tissue Injuries: Soft tissue injuries involve damage to ligaments, tendons, and muscles, especially in the neck. These injuries can begin to appear a day to one week after an accident, with symptoms such as difficulty bearing weight, discoloration in the affected area, inflammation, and stiffness.
- Concussion: A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that can cause a variety of problems to a victim, including those of the behavioral, medical, and psychological natures. The damage occurs when the head sustains a blow that causes the brain to shift and strike the skull. In the case of a car accident victim, it can happen with the sheer force of the head being forced forward while the body is still restrained back. Symptoms include sensitivity to sound and light, loss of equilibrium, mood swings, change in eating and sleeping patterns, headaches, irritation, disorientation, and lowered responsiveness.
- Psychological Trauma: Many car accident victims experience psychological trauma, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a long-lasting mental condition that can significantly change a victim’s life in a negative way. Symptoms include anxiety, mood changes, feeling of hopelessness, flashbacks, disruptions in eating and sleeping, reckless behavior, and negativity.
The best thing to do if you’ve experienced a delayed injury and are now having problems filing a claim is to call an experienced attorney. The Tucson personal injury lawyers at Karnas Law Firm have ample resources available to launch their own investigation of the accident so they can show it led to your injuries. Give us a call at (520) 571-9700 or click here for a free case review.