It can feel like a huge relief to experience a car accident and walk away without any visible injuries or internal pain. Unfortunately, this sense of relief can prove dangerous or even deadly, if a victim suffers internal bleeding or damage to their organs. These injuries often do not cause pain for several days, creating a false sense of safety for victims whose lives may actually be in serious danger.
If you experience a car accident and do not feel any injuries afterward, it is still important to see your doctor or another qualified medical professional and ask for a full examination. A thorough, careful medical examination may identify hidden injuries you cannot feel, speeding up your recovery and potentially avoiding life-threatening consequences.
Your examination may not turn up any injuries, in which case you are truly fortunate, and it might be a good to time to count your blessings. However, if your examination does reveal hidden injuries, the documentation from the exam can serve as a strong basis for a later personal injury claim, protecting your rights and future safety.
Deadly and painless — at first
Two of the most dangerous injuries a person might suffer in a car accident are internal bleeding and partial organ damage. While other injuries pose immediate threats, most of these are relatively simple to identify, such as compound fractures or deep lacerations. Internal bleeding and organ damage may not present symptoms for days, turning deadly before the victim realizes the injury exists.
High-volume internal bleeding is dangerous in the same way that losing a large quantity of blood is dangerous outside the body. If a human body loses too much blood too quickly, it can’t keep running. However, a small internal wound may create bleeding that keeps the wound from healing, and this may allow bacteria to infect the wound. Bacteria continue to grow if they have a food source and nothing to stop them. Once an infection grows strong it may travel through the circulatory system and poison the rest of the body. Once this occurs, the victim is in real life-or-death danger.
Our organs are resilient, and they may recover by themselves if they suffer some damage. During the recovery period, an organ continues to function as well as it can, and may not cause any pain to the victim. Often, however, the organ cannot repair itself. If repair is not possible, then the organ shuts down, and other organs will also shut down. This may take a matter of days or weeks, but when organs begin failing, a victim does not have an easy or guaranteed recovery.
Get the help you need — now
No matter how great you feel after a car accident, it is important to receive a full examination to screen for delayed pain injuries that can cause lasting suffering or death. If you do find serious injuries and require medical attention, you may want to build a personal injury claim to cover your recovery expenses and compensate you for your suffering and lost income. A strong legal strategy allows you to spend time and energy on your physical recovery, keeping your rights and priorities secure along the way.