Car accidents are every Texas driver’s worst nightmare. In addition to the legal and financial ramifications of a car accident, there’s always the worry of severe injury – or worse.
Being in a car accident can be incredibly jarring, if not downright traumatizing. In the event of an accident, it’s not uncommon for drivers to be in shock. This means specific injuries aren’t visible until after the shock wears off. This could be hours or even days after the accident.
The most common invisible injuries
It’s easy to spot an injury if you’re bleeding from that area or if it’s immediately painful. For example, you aren’t going to miss a severe cut to your arm. Not every injury is immediately visible though. Some common invisible injuries include:
- Head injuries
- Neck injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Spine injuries
- Internal injuries
Head and neck injury symptoms
Symptoms for head injuries can take a few days to show up. You might feel fine after hitting your head for the first day or two, but eventually, you might experience symptoms of a concussion or serious traumatic brain injury.
You can have a concussion without losing consciousness. Some of the symptoms that will show up include headaches, increased confusion, memory problems, dizziness, and nausea.
A common problem that goes hand in hand with head injuries is neck injuries, such as whiplash. Soft tissue damage might not show up for a few days but usually manifests as pain or stiffness.
Spine injuries
While back injuries aren’t always immediately visible, but they can be incredibly debilitating and painful when symptoms appear. Upon collision, you might tense your body which can cause muscle pain in your upper to lower back.
If the collision is severe enough, you might also experience a lot of pain around your spine caused by increased spelling and bleeding around your spinal cord. With these injuries, numbness and even paralysis can gradually appear, so you must get to the doctor if you suspect you’ve injured your spine.
Internal injuries are widespread in automobile accidents as well. Going to a doctor and getting checked out is essential, even if you don’t think you’ve hurt yourself. Doing so also makes it easier to file a claim if you need to.
