If you are seriously injured in a car accident you can physically expect severe pain with tingling in your neck, hands, back or other extremeties. It’s critical you seek prompt medical attention as you may have suffered injuries like a traumatic brain injury, herniated discs, broken bones, neck and back injuries.
Knowing what to expect physically after a car accident is crucial. The awareness of what symptoms to be alert for and the need to seek medical attention immediately if and when they appear is one of the most important things you can do to increase your chances for making the best possible recovery and reducing the likelihood that your injuries will have permanent, life-altering effects.
Awareness is key. Prompt medical attention creates a clear temporal relationship that is important for insurance companies to know your injuries really are caused from your accident and prevents disputes down the road. More importantly, it can help when there are delays or when you seek treatment for injuries that did not appear to show up immediately after a crash. These delayed car accident injuries and symptoms happen all the time, often because one injury, such as neck pain or a back injury, may cause radiation into an arm or a leg, or because the true significance of an injury is not fully appreciated because they are overshadowed by other more obvious injuries and symptoms. Many profoundly disabling injuries, such as a traumatic brain injury, can be “masked” by strong narcotic medications that people are taking for serious physical injuries. People often won’t be truly aware of the impact of these masked injuries until they try to return to work months later.
To learn more, please check out our “Personal Injury” Resource page.
What to expect physically for a TBI after a car accident
Below are the symptoms on what you can expect physically after a car accident in Michigan if you have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, then you should seek medical attention immediately:
- Loss of consciousness
- Loss of memory of events immediately before the accident
- Loss of memory of events immediately after the accident
- Feeling dazed, disoriented or confused
- Feeling drowsy and/or difficult to arouse
- Difficulty thinking clearly and reasoning
- Difficulty making decisions and solving problems
- Difficulty concentrating and paying attention
- Difficulty communicating
- Word-finding difficulty
- Mental trauma
- Problem-solving difficulty
- Poor judgment
- Depression
- Lack of insight
- Slurred speech
- Headaches
- Movement disorders
- Concussion
- Seizures
- Nausea or vomiting
- Dizziness
- Balance problems
- Blurred vision
- Sensitivity to noise and light
- Ringing in ears
- Sleeping a lot
What to expect physically for a disc or spine injury after a car accident
Disc injuries and spine injury symptoms are not the same for everyone, but there is a common range of symptoms spine injury survivors you can expect physically after a car accident. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, then you should seek medical attention immediately:
- Persistent pain along the spine
- Persistent aching or stiffness along the spine
- Muscle weakness
- Loss of movement/restricted movement
- Muscle spasms
- Numbness
- Loss of sense of temperature
- Loss of sense of touch
- Feeling a tingling sensation
- Difficulty breathing
- Sexual dysfunction
- Pinching sensation along your spine
- Painful stinging along your spine
- Problems with your digestion
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
What to expect physically for a shoulder injury after a car accident
Below are the symptoms on what you can expect physically after a car accident for a shoulder injury. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms below, then you should seek immediate medical attention:
- Shoulder pain when lifting or lowering arm, reaching overhead or behind the back or pulling objects
- Shoulder weakness
- Loss of shoulder range of motion
- Limited range of motion
- Catching, locking, popping and grinding sensations
- Instability
- Shoulder weakness
- Tingling or numbness in the shoulder
- Swelling in the shoulder area
- Stiffness
- Inability to perform your normal daily activities
What to expect physically for depression after a car accident in Michigan
Depression frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated by doctors because the symptoms are attributed to other injuries that a person has suffered in an accident. That’s why being aware of the symptoms is so important. Below are the symptoms that you can expect physically after a car accident if you have suffered from depression. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, then you should seek medical attention immediately:
- Sadness and unhappiness
- A feeling of emptiness
- Loss of interest in normal activities
- Changes in appetite
- Inability to sleep or sleeping too much
- Restlessness
- Irritability
- Fatigue and loss of energy
- Feeling worthless
- Feeling guilty
- Inability to concentrate and focus
- Frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide
- Crying spells for no apparent reason
Can I sue the at-fault driver?
In Michigan you can sue the at-fault driver to recover pain and suffering compensation, excess wage loss benefits, excess medical benefits and for a mini tort recovery to pay for repairing damage to your vehicle.
Seriously injured in a crash? Call Michigan Auto Law now!
If you were injured in a car accident in and are not sure what to expect physically and have questions about your legal rights to compensation, call now (800) 968-1001 for a free consultation with one of our experienced car accident lawyers. There is no cost or obligation. You can also visit our contact page or use the chat feature on our website.
Michigan Auto Law is Michigan’s largest and most successful law firm that specializes exclusively in helping people who have been injured in auto accidents.
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More importantly, this client-focused approach leads to better and faster settlements for our clients. Michigan Auto Law has recovered more million-dollar settlements and trial verdicts for motor vehicle accidents than any other lawyer or law firm in Michigan. We’ve also recovered the highest ever reported truck accident and car accident settlement in the state.
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