Top ten reasons why you should be examined after a car accident

The top ten reasons why you should be examined after a car accident are:

1. You may be injured and not know it as the adrenaline rush after trauma is 400 times more powerful than morphine.
2. Injuries such as whiplash usually may not show any symptoms for hours, days or even weeks later.
3. All medical professionals agree that the first 72 hours after an accident are the most critical and a time treatment can be the most effective.
4. The majority of injuries from automobile accidents occur at speeds of 10-20 mph.  Your car might not show much damage, but your body may.
5. A soft tissue injury is permanent as a scar tissue can form in your muscles leaving them less flexible and prone to reinjure in the future if you don’t receive treatment.
6. If you act quickly you preserve your legal rights.  Get prompt medical treatment otherwise you may get benefits denied or limited.
7. In most cases treatment can cost you nothing out of pocket, even if its your fault or you don’t have any health insurance.
8. If you are not injured you can sleep better at night knowing your were completely checked out physically.
9. Statistics shows the longer you wait for treatment after you are injured the longer it takes to heal and requires more treatment.
10. If you are injured your injuries usually will not heal on their own.

What is a soft tissue injury in a car accident?

In a car accident soft tissue injuries are those involving supportive, non-boney parts of the body.  Such parts can include muscles and tendons, ligaments are considered soft tissues as well.  Soft tissue injuries are quite common in a car accident.  Often they are present in the form of tears, sprains, strains, and general soreness.

When a car accident occurs, the impact of the crash can cause the people inside the car to be jolted around. Hard braking and bracing against the impact lead to even more jolting.  As a result a large number of people experience soft tissue injuries in car accidents.

The force of impact in a car accident can cause soft tissues to stretch considerably, resulting in significant damage.  As a result of the damage, individuals often experience pain, swelling, and loss of function bleeding may result as well.

Though soft tissue injuries are very common, they cannot be detected using x-rays for this reason it is more difficult to detect soft tissue injuries than it is to detect bone injuries.  Often an individual with soft tissue injuries will not experience symptoms for hours after the car accident.  In some cases it takes days for car accident victims to begin experiencing symptoms.

Once a person with soft tissue injuries begins having symptoms he or she may experience persistent pain.  Often inflammation is present.  This is a natural result of soft tissue injury and helps to make the accident victim aware that a body part has been damaged.  The pain however can be significant and can stall or inhibit healing if left untreated.

One of the most common soft tissue injuries is whiplash.  This injury occurs when a person in a car is hit from behind in a car accident.  In this type of collision, the head of the accident victim often jolts forward and back again.  The head weighs a considerable amount and when it jolts backward it exerts significant force on the neck.  The resulting whiplash can lead to a range of serious conditions including but not limited to chronic pain, joint dysfunction, and herniated disc of the spine.

Symptoms of whiplash can include:

Neck pain, stiffness, headaches, and burning sensations.   Shoulder, back pain and dizziness may be present as well.  Some sufferers also report memory loss, depression, fatigue and nervousness.

Your insurance company may say that your auto accident injury should heal by itself.  Don’t listen to them.  Soft tissue injuries are very serious.  If improperly diagnosed or treated an auto accident injury can cause long term back, neck pain and suffering.  Seek treatment from a doctor specializing in auto accident injuries immediately.

I personally had a car crash and felt very well at the moment the rescue and police arrived to the scene in less than 5 minutes. On my desire to have the event finished as soon as possible, I did not allow them to examine me and released them.  Days later the symptoms appeared.  Should I've known this information, I would not acted as I did.

Oscar H.