Should I Worry About Delayed Pain After a Car Accident?

A medical professional can assess your delayed symptoms and provide appropriate treatment. If your injuries came from a crash, you can rely on a Sacramento car accident lawyer to help with your legal claim.

Can Pain Be Delayed After a Car Accident?

Many accident victims experience delayed pain after a motor vehicle collision. Some conditions simply take longer to become noticeable after a crash. Additionally, the initial adrenaline surge from the accident could mask the pain from your injuries.

You should worry about delayed pain after a car accident and take immediate steps to seek medical care for any potential injuries.

Getting fast medical treatment can minimize the overall effects of:

• Soft tissue injuries
• Nerve damage
• Internal injuries
• Spinal injuries

Don’t hesitate to get the help you need to handle delayed injury symptoms.

How to Address Worries About Delayed Pain After a Car Accident

After a car accident, those who can walk away and only need minor treatment often consider themselves lucky. With the wide range of catastrophic injuries high-speed collisions can cause, walking away with a few scrapes and bruises is as good an outcome as most people can hope for.

However, just because you feel okay while exchanging information with the other driver, speaking with the police, and taking other important steps to protect yourself after an accident doesn’t mean you aren’t injured.

You should address your worries by visiting a doctor and getting a diagnosis. You may then need to reach out to an attorney for help building a personal injury claim.

What to Do if You Develop Pain Hours or Days After an Accident

If you develop pain or other injury symptoms after a crash, you should immediately visit a doctor. Do not wait to seek treatment for delayed injury symptoms. Listen to your body and seek the care that you need to heal.

What Are the Symptoms of a Delayed Car Accident Injury?

The following symptoms can denote an unknown injury:

• Headache: May signal neck/head injury, concussion, or a hematoma (blood clot) that can be deadly if ignored.
• Neck or Shoulder Pain or Stiffness: May show up after a few days in whiplash victims
• Numbness: If you lose feeling in your arms and/or hands, you may be experiencing the aftereffects of neck or spine damage.
• Back Pain: Also a sign of whiplash, upper-, mid-, and lower-back pain might be caused by injuries to your muscles, ligaments, nerves, or vertebrae.
• Abdominal Pain: Bruises from the seatbelt are common, but if they are large and persistent or if you feel other pain in the area, you may have internal bleeding and need emergency treatment.
• Changes in Thinking or Personality: Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries are common in car accidents. Though it’s hard to miss more severe injuries, which typically result in unconsciousness, concussions may cause minor brain damage that shows up in strange ways.
• Difficulty With Movement and Coordination: Concussions may also affect the way your brain translates signals to the rest of your body.
• Flashbacks or Nightmares: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common after upsetting situations like car accidents and can affect your ability to engage in or think about things you associate with the incident.

If you experience any of these symptoms, you should seek immediate assistance. You do not have to suffer in silence after a crash. Instead, contact a medical professional and schedule an appointment to diagnose your condition. 

How Long After a Crash Can Delayed Pain Take to Appear?

After an accident, a person can begin feeling pain right away or experience delayed pain, which can take up to two weeks to feel. Immediate pain and injuries will usually be visible and may include include cuts, bruising, and bone injuries.

Causes of Delayed Pain

Now that we have a better understanding of when to expect pain after a car accident, we will dig deeper into the different types of pain you may experience.

They include:

• Internal bleeding or bruising (“seatbelt syndrome”): This syndrome often appears between 24 hours and three days (72 hours) after an accident.
• Brain and neck injuries: These injuries can emerge up to eight days after an accident and, in some cases, may prove fatal.
• Concussion symptoms: These symptoms may not show up for hours or days after an accident.
• Chronic Widespread Pain (CWP): This injury often presents immediately, but patients may suffer worsening or spreading pain through the first year after the accident.

You should worry about delayed pain after a car accident and get medical treatment quickly.

Insurance Companies May Try to Settle Before You Experience Delayed Pain

Though it’s tempting to think the at-fault party’s insurance is working so quickly because they care about you, they’re actually just looking out for themselves. They like to finalize settlements before delayed symptoms appear and alert car accident victims to other injuries that an insurance payment should cover.

If you say “yes” to the first amount they offer, you may not receive enough money to treat your immediate medical needs, much less those that could appear down the road. You should always speak with an attorney before signing any paperwork provided by the insurance company.

Get Help From Our Team if You Experience Delayed Pain

Should you worry about delayed pain after a car accident? If you experience pain in the days or weeks after a crash, you should take it seriously by seeking medical care and reaching out to a personal injury lawyer for help.

You can rely on our team at Triumph Law to provide the help and support you need after a collision. Our car accident attorneys have been helping Sacramento injury victims for many years.

At the beginning of each new case, we sit down with the accident victim to learn exactly what happened so we can build an argument that addresses all of their needs. Don’t let delayed injuries put you in a financial bind. We’re here and ready to address your legal concerns today.