woman laying down with a headache

4 Invisible Injuries You May Experience After a Car Wreck

By Greg Kohn
Partner

You might feel shaken up after a car accident and not realize that you actually got injured in the collision. Sometimes, it can take hours or even days for symptoms to develop. Also, the adrenaline your body naturally produces in response to a crisis like a car crash could mask some symptoms, like pain.

This blog talks about 4 invisible injuries you may experience after a car wreck. If you or a loved one got injured in a motor vehicle collision, a New Jersey car accident attorney could help you hold the at-fault party accountable.

Head Injury

Contrary to what many people might think, you could suffer a concussion or another type of head trauma without losing consciousness or experiencing other noticeable symptoms. Eventually, the injured person could develop a headache, nausea, confusion, dizziness, ringing in the ears, or other signs of head trauma, but this could take some time. 

An undiagnosed head injury is dangerous because the injured individual might have bleeding in the brain or tissue damage.

Whiplash and Other Soft Tissue Injuries

Car accidents are one of the most frequent causes of whiplash and other soft tissue damage. These wounds need prompt treatment to achieve maximum healing. Untreated soft tissue injuries can cause a lifetime of problems like pain, headaches, stiffness, and decreased range of motion.

Internal Injuries

A severe jolt or blow, like one can receive in a car crash, can cause damage to internal organs. Internal bleeding often goes unrecognized after a car accident, but this type of wound can be deadly.

Back or Neck Injuries

Spinal injuries to the neck and back can take a while to develop. The danger is that the wounded individual might move around as usual, which can cause additional damage to the spinal cord. 

It is always best to seek medical attention after being in a significant motor vehicle collision, even if you are not bleeding or experiencing any obvious symptoms. Let a medical professional who is trained in evaluating trauma patients examine you. 

Recoverable Damages After Getting Hurt in a Car Wreck

After you establish the liability of the at-fault party, you can usually seek compensation for your losses. Some of the common types of recoverable damages for injuries from a car accident include the following:

  • The medical bills you need to treat your wounds. For example, the at-fault party might have to pay the cost of your ambulance, emergency room, hospital, doctor, x-rays, surgery, physical therapy, prescription drugs, and pain management.
  • Your lost wages if you did not get paid your full, regular income while recuperating from your injuries.
  • Pain and suffering. Merely getting your lost wages and medical bills paid does not adequately compensate you for the physical discomfort and emotional distress you endured because of the crash and your injuries.
  • Other intangible losses can include disfigurement from extensive scars, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and loss of enjoyment of life.

You can reach out to a New Jersey personal injury attorney today for a free case evaluation. Contact our office today.

About the Author
Greg Kohn is a partner at Nagel Rice and specializes in complex civil litigation cases, including professional malpractice, personal injury, class actions, wrongful death, products liability, and commercial litigation.  He has extensive experience representing clients in both state and federal court. Greg has tried many jury trials to verdict and has recovered over $50 million in settlements and verdicts in all types of personal injury matters including automobile accidents, wrongful death cases, slip and falls, and other catastrophic injury cases. Greg also handles medical malpractice cases, involving misdiagnoses, wrongful birth, and delayed cancer diagnosis. If you have questions regarding this article, you can contact Greg here.