When the media depicts car crash injuries, they often go for dramatized and exaggerated displays. Given that many people go decades on the roads before they experience a major collision, what they see in movies and on television may be their only reference point for injuries in a car crash.
You probably assume that people with so obvious signs of any serious injury right after the collision occurs, which simply is not the case. There are many kinds of serious injuries, including the three below, which people may fail to notice in the immediate aftermath of a motor vehicle collision.
Stable fractures
Typically, when you break a bone, you can no longer use the affected body part. Attempting to move it or use it to bear weight will cause such excruciating pain that people simply stop.
However, if the bone broke but did not move, the fracture could be stable. Someone might continue using a broken arm or leg for several days until inflammation or exertion exacerbate the injury. Hairline and stable fractures may not display any noteworthy symptoms until hours or possibly several days after the trauma that broke the bone.
Traumatic brain injuries
People can hurt their brains in multiple ways during a car crash. They can hit their head on the window or the steering wheel. They can get hurt because the vehicles’ aggressive motions shake their brains around inside their skulls, causing swelling and severe injury. They could even develop a brain injury because of the percussive force of an explosion.
Brain injuries frequently have delayed-onset symptoms and also symptoms that worsen slowly over time as the pressure on the brain increases.
Abdominal bleeding
Internal bleeding isn’t just an issue if it happens in your head. People can suffer blunt force trauma to their chest or abdomen and begin bleeding internally as a result. That blood loss can cause dizziness, loss of consciousness and death if not treated in a timely manner.
The average person cannot accurately evaluate themselves or someone else in their vehicle for one of these invisible injuries. You will need medical evaluation to determine if you have a stable fracture, a brain injury or internal bleeding. Getting the right help after a car crash will improve your prognosis and your chances of getting compensation for those injuries.