In the aftermath of a car accident, your adrenalin could be so high that you don’t realize you have any aches and pains. You may decline to take an ambulance to the hospital in order to have a doctor check you out, which could end up being a mistake.
Due to the nature of some injuries, you may not know how seriously hurt you are until the next day or even days later. The more you walk around without medical attention for such injuries, the worse they could get and the more debilitating the injuries could end up being.
Injuries don’t always announce themselves
Wounds that bleed or show their true colors right away receive the quickest medical attention. The wounds below don’t fall into this category. Instead, they sneak up on you and could even jeopardize your life before you realize it:
- The signs of a traumatic brain injury sometimes don’t appear until days after the accident. You could easily dismiss your symptoms until they become unbearable, and at that point, it could be too late for a full recovery.
- Injuries to your shoulder could take some time to disrupt your life enough to prompt you to seek medical attention. Letting these injuries go on too long could result in permanent damage.
- What you consider “just” whiplash could actually be a serious spinal cord injury. It could also be an indicator of a traumatic brain injury.
- Knee injuries can end up affecting your mobility, which could affect your ability to work and enjoy your life.
- Many people suffer some sort of psychological trauma in a serious accident. You can’t go through something so violent and sudden without some sort of mental repercussions.
Since you may not see these injuries right away, you need to seek medical attention as quickly as possible after the accident to determine whether you suffered any of them. If so, you can get the care you need, and perhaps, reduce the severity of your injuries.
While you recover, you can pursue compensation from the other driver if he or she was at fault for the crash. If the evidence provided to a New Jersey court proves negligence on the part of the other driver, you may receive much needed compensation to help with your current and future medical needs, to replace your lost income and to cover other financial losses associated with the accident.