8 Hidden Injuries After A Car Accident

Car accidents can cause catastrophic injuries, including some hidden injuries to watch out for. You may suffer pain and not realize that you have hidden injuries after a car accident. You are entitled to compensation for a car accident injury, even if you have delayed symptoms after car accidents.

These are some of the most common hidden injuries you should watch for after a car accident. Car, accidents injuries should not be taken lightly, so contact us today for a free consultation. If you're in Washington state and need legal assistance, our experienced team of car accident lawyers in Washington can help you navigate the complexities of your case and fight for your rights.

What Are Hidden Injuries?

Hidden car crash injuries include some of the most common car accident injuries. They’re called hidden injuries because instead of immediate pain, victims have delayed pain after injury. For those hit by a car, injuries can cause painful complications, so it’s critical to always receive a medical evaluation.

What to Expect Physically After a Car Accident

Right after a wreck, your body releases adrenaline, which can mask the pain from car accident injuries. You may not feel hurt, but you still suffer from one of these:

1. Herniated Discs

Everyone knows that a neck injury is a common injury in a car accident, generally referred to as “whiplash.” But these hidden injuries can be much more serious than just a mild strain. Sometimes the force of a collision causes the tissue between the vertebrae of the spine to balloon out or rupture. This is called a “herniated disc.” A herniated disc can put pressure on and inflame nerves coming out of the spine. Spinal cord injuries cause very severe pain, loss of feeling, and even loss of control of your muscles, typically in your arms or legs.

These common delayed symptoms after car accidents might occur right away but also can develop in the weeks and months following an auto accident. These injuries require surgery at times and can cause long-term disability.

2. Traumatic Brain Injuries

When your head whips back and forth in an auto accident, or if your head strikes something inside your car, your brain can be impacted. This impact on the brain, called a “traumatic brain injury” (TBI), can cause long-term damage to brain function. These common car accident injuries are insidious, as these hidden injuries are not always obvious right away. Months later, the injured person or his family may notice that he or she is becoming forgetful or is undergoing a personality change, often becoming less patient or even extremely irritated or angry when that was not their normal state previously. Brain injuries can be tricky to treat, as no two brain injuries are alike.

3. Knee Injury from Car Accident

Often during a motor vehicle collision, a driver or passenger is thrown forward and strikes their knee on the dashboard, resulting in knee pain after a car accident. This can result in direct trauma to the knee, resulting in many different types of injuries, such as a shattered patella (knee cap).

The cartilage of the knee can also be damaged, resulting in a torn meniscus or patellar Chondromalacia. Sometimes, similar injuries will occur when a driver jams on the brakes so hard to avoid a collision that his knee is forcefully compressed. This motion can also cause a foot injury from slamming on brakes. These are painful conditions, often requiring surgery. And again, the severity of the injury is not always obvious right away, as it might take some time for more subtle injuries to develop enough inflammation that they become obvious. This can result in knee pain months after car accidents.

4. Shoulder Injuries

Because your shoulder belt only wraps over one shoulder, much of the force from an auto accident can be focused on that one shoulder when you are thrown forward by the impact of a motor vehicle collision. This can also impart a twisting motion to your body. These forces can cause many different shoulder injuries from car accidents, ranging from deep bruising to shoulder strains or even severe tears of the shoulder ligaments that will require surgery to repair.

Shoulder-hidden injuries often worsen over time and become chronic, so don’t ignore any shoulder symptoms after a motor vehicle collision. Get them checked out by your physician!

5. Sprains, Strains, and Other Soft Tissue Injuries

The ligaments and tendons in your ankles, knees, and feet may retain soft tissue injuries after car accidents. Without treatment, these collision injuries can have lasting negative effects on your life. While it may be hard to detect a soft tissue injury in car accidents, these are common symptoms:

• Pain in the affected limb
• Soreness that won’t go away
• Stiffness, especially in joints
• Trouble moving

One symptom you may or may not experience is a significantly limited range of motion.

6. Back or Spine Injuries

Spinal damage from being injured in a car accident can lead to temporary or permanent paralysis. Even if you retain the ability to walk, this kind of car accident trauma can still significantly impact your life, maybe even leaving you in chronic pain.

A slipped disc or herniated disc is a common kind of spinal injury in a car accident. Without surgery, the condition often worsens, putting pressure on your spine and making it hard to move. Spinal injury symptoms after a car accident include numbness, pain, and difficulty moving your legs or bending over. After car accidents, injuries like these don’t go away on their own and often require surgery to repair.

7. Internal Organ Injuries

Damage to your internal organs is a catastrophic injury from car accidents. This car crash injury also causes internal bleeding, which can turn into sepsis quickly if left untreated. Many symptoms may not present until the injuries from a car accident become life-threatening. An unexplained swelling in the abdomen or the sudden onset of a high fever may indicate organ damage or internal bleeding. In these cases, immediate medical intervention is critical to prevent permanent damage or death.

What to Expect Mentally After a Car Accident

The aftermath of car accidents isn’t just physical injuries. Many people involved in a collision know what to expect physically after a car accident. For example, it's reasonable to expect something like knee injuries from car accidents. However, they're unpleasantly surprised and ill-equipped to deal with the psychological wounds that come with injuries from getting hit by a car. Sometimes, a psychological injury from car accidents can present right away; other times, it can cumulatively worsen, especially without treatment or a proper diagnosis.

Car collisions are painful and traumatic events, and many people develop serious emotional and mental health issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or situational anxiety. Getting injured in car accidents can cause serious psychological damage, including flashbacks and trouble sleeping.

Other common psychological car accident after effects include:

• A phobia of being in a car or driving
• Situational depression
• Insomnia or nightmares
• Personality changes from the stress of the accident

These may not be the only psychological injuries from being hit by a car, but fortunately (for many people), they are treatable. Furthermore, compensation for psychological injuries can also be part of your car accident settlement.

Tips to Determine If You Are Suffering a Hidden Injury

There are a few key after-car-accident symptoms that can help you determine whether you need to seek medical attention to diagnose a hidden injury from car accidents:

• Changes in behavior or mood, like anxiety or irritability
• Flashbacks from the collision, a symptom of PTSD
• Trouble concentrating at school or work, which could mean a concussion or TBI
• Leg pain after car accidents that gets progressively worse
• Chronic fatigue — if you’re tired all the time, you could have one of many hidden injuries
• Problems breathing, even when you're sitting still

Any of these car accident trauma symptoms could indicate a serious hidden injury. Early diagnosis is the key to a solid recovery. Additionally, if you delay seeking treatment, it could be more difficult for your car accident lawyer to argue that these injuries were from the wreck.

Taking Care of Your Car Wreck Injuries

Injuries from car accidents should not be taken lightly. If you’re suffering pain and other car accident after effects (like the symptoms listed above), it’s important to see a doctor immediately.

Here are some tips for taking care of yourself after an auto accident:

• Seek medical attention right away, even if you don’t think you're injured
• Rest, and allow your body to heal mentally and physically
• Use ice on inflamed or swollen areas as directed by your physician
• Consider compression on soft tissue injuries
• Elevate the affected injuries above your heart to reduce the swelling

These are commonly recommended treatments, but your doctor’s directions are the best course of action.

Lehmbecker Law Firm Helps You Seek Compensation for Hidden Car Wreck Injuries

The car accident attorneys at Lehmbecker Law can properly value your auto accident claim to determine how much compensation you’re eligible for. We use our deep knowledge of Washington personal injury law and decades of combined experience to value the true cost of your case, including medical bills, lost wages, and damage to your property.

We'll help you avoid lowball insurance offers and do everything we can to reclaim the full compensation that you're entitled to. To schedule a complimentary initial consultation, contact us today.