It is always a top priority to seek medical attention after you’ve been involved in a Colorado car accident. After a triage assessment and medical examination, it is equally important to continue to closely monitor your health condition in the days and weeks that follow a collision.
After a crash, it is not uncommon for a person to feel confused or upset. Such feelings may take days to subside and could cause serious harm to go unnoticed. Injuries are not always immediately apparent, which is why any newly developing symptom may be cause for concern.
Symptoms that should not be disregarded
The following list includes symptoms that may arise days or weeks after an accident, which may suggest that you have an underlying injury:
- Upper-body stiffness or pain
- Headache or discomfort in jaws or other facial areas
- Ringing in the ear or bruising behind ears
- Fluid leaking from an orifice
- Abdominal pain
- Discomfort in lower back
- Tingling, numbness or throbbing in extremities
- Vision trouble
- Changes in personality
- Mood swings
Whiplash is one of the most common types of injury you might suffer upon impact in a motor vehicle collision. A severe case of whiplash can cause permanent disability. If you suffer head or facial discomfort, as well as tinnitus or bruising behind the ears, it is a possible symptom of traumatic brain injury, including concussion or a skull fracture.
As time passes after a collision, you can expect to start feeling a bit better each day. If your condition is not improving or new symptoms develop, it is a good idea to seek immediate medical attention and to make sure the attending physician knows that you were recently involved in a car accident. He or she will know what exact tests to administer to rule out brain trauma or other internal organ damage.
Recovery from collision injuries may be long and arduous
Even minor injuries can cause pain and necessitate taking time off work to recover. If you suffer a severe injury, especially a spinal cord or brain injury, it can take months to fully recover and, in some cases, complete recovery never occurs. As you heal from physical injury and emotional trauma, you may need additional support from family and friends, as well as licensed professionals in a specific field, such as physical therapy or psychiatric counseling.
Medical treatment and daily living assistance care is expensive. There’s no reason you should have to bear the full financial burden if another person’s negligence caused the collision that resulted in your injuries. Colorado law allows recovering accident victims to seek restitution in a civil court.
