What If Injuries Are Not Immediately Apparent After A Car Accident?

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Car accidents are traumatic events that often leave a mark. Fortunately, in most cases, injuries are minor. However, something that seems minor might end up being really serious. Also, you might have a serious injury and not even be aware of it. What you will do after the crash will have an impact on your injury claim and on your overall health.

Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue injuries practically relate to damages that appear on other body parts except for bones. This includes ligaments, tendons, and muscles.

According to auto accident lawyers in Washington DC, these are the type of injuries people instantly look at and want compensation for. This is because they are visible and you can easily figure out that something happened. After all, your back hurts and you feel so much pain you need to go to the hospital.

While with most soft tissue injuries it is very easy to recover and get treatment, with others, things get complicated. The best example of this is whiplash.

Concussions

Our brain is protected by the skull but when we are hit hard or the body is jolted violently, the brain ends up striking the inside of the skull. This is what leads to the concussion.

In many cases, concussions are serious. The big problem is that symptoms rarely appear right after the crash. Even those that appear are sometimes mistaken. For instance, you might have a concussion when you experience problems concentrating, clouded thinking, blurry vision, dizziness, and nausea. If abnormal sleeping patterns also appear, there is a pretty good possibility you have a serious concussion.

Contact A Doctor Right After The Accident

By taking into account the examples of concussions and whiplash, it should be pretty obvious that you absolutely need to go to the doctor as soon as possible after the car crash. The doctor is the only person capable of determining if you have serious injuries or not. Also, you will be monitored for some time after the crash so the appearance of new symptoms can be noticed.

Remember that when you file injury claims, you need to document your injuries. So, there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting checked out anyway.

Never Settle Fast

Exactly because of the fact that your injuries are not always instantly visible after a car crash you should avoid discussing details with insurance companies. If you are forced into a conversation, just ask for time to get a lawyer to represent you. This is because most insurance firms will offer lower sums of money than what you are actually entitled to. If you sign the release they offer and you develop symptoms later, it will be impossible to get more money to be treated.

Always wait until you are completely checked out by a doctor and he tells you all the injuries that you suffered from the car accident. When something else is suspected, you need to wait until all the medical tests are carried out. Only after you are aware of all the injuries you can talk with insurance companies.