A car accident impacts life in a variety of ways. Sometimes, it’s simply the headache of navigating getting your vehicle repaired or replaced. However, in more unfortunate cases, car accidents can have short-term and long-term impacts on your health, whether you are a pedestrian, cyclist, driver, or passenger. According to the National Library of medicine, road traffic injuries are a leading cause of disability and create significant economic hardship.
If you’ve experienced a recent car crash, you may have questions, such as, “how long after a car accident can injuries appear”. That’s why it’s important to know some of the most common ways your health can be impacted by a car wreck.
Common Ways Car Accidents Affect Your Health
Your Louisiana personal injury lawyers, serving the Baton Rouge, Livingston, and Gonzales communities, are here to help if you’ve been injured in a car accident. Keep reading to learn more about some of the most common ways your health may be affected by motor vehicle injury.
Structural Injuries
Some of the most obvious effects after a motor vehicle accident include fractures, spinal cord injuries, and whiplash. These structural injuries can result in long-term health effects and disabilities such as chronic pain and difficulties related to mobility.
As whiplash isn’t an outwardly visible injury, it’s important to know the symptoms of whiplash after a car accident so you know what to look out for. The most common symptoms of whiplash often include neck pain and stiffness, tiredness, numbness or tingling in arms, pain that worsens with neck movement, decreased range of motion in the neck, dizziness, and headaches.
Diagnosing and treating structural injuries can require costly x-rays, scans, and tests, resulting in economic as well as health impacts for affected individuals. Oftentimes, the recovery process can be prolonged and incur additional costs, such as physical therapy appointments. Recovery also often requires time away from work to attend any necessary follow-up appointments.
Soft-Tissue Injuries
Soft-tissue injuries can also be a common health result after a motor vehicle accident, such as a bicycle collision or Uber accident. These issues can affect muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These injuries, while less visible, also result in lasting pain that should be addressed by your doctor or healthcare provider. As with structural injuries, soft-tissue injury treatment can result in mounting medical bills and negatively impact finances.
Internal Injuries
At times, motor vehicle accidents can result in injuries that are not visible to the naked eye but can have serious and lasting health effects, such as damage to internal organs. These injuries can be expensive to both diagnose and treat while also having long-lasting financial consequences due to issues such as missed work and hospital stays.
Beyond organ damage, other internal injuries can impact your health. Car accidents can exacerbate pre-existing conditions like arthritis, bulging or ruptured disks, or other medical concerns. Complex and chronic medical issues can also arise after a car wreck, such as fibromyalgia, resulting in long-term disability and chronic pain.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
Another health concern after a motor vehicle accident are traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs. Mild traumatic brain injury, such as a concussion, can result in cognitive impairment. More severe TBIs can lead to more serious medical concerns, resulting in personality changes, seizures, frequent headaches, cognitive problems, executive function issues, and difficulty communicating, among other potential concerns. These health concerns can be temporary or lasting and may result in short-term or long-term disability for those affected.
Psychological Trauma
Have you been experiencing psychological symptoms after a motorcycle accident or truck accident? Emotional and psychological distress can occur after a motor vehicle accident. If you believe you are experiencing anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a car accident, you should contact your doctor or health care professional.
The legal experts at Gauthier Amedee are committed to helping our Louisiana neighbors impacted by short-term and long-term health effects of car crash injury. In addition to the mental and physical effects of these health impacts, motor vehicle accidents can have lasting economic impacts on you and your family. Contact us at (225) 222-2222 with your questions related to the car accident personal injury claim process or other legal questions related to personal injury. Our Gauthier Amedee team is here to serve our Ascension Parish, Baton Rouge, Gonzales, and Livingston Parish communities.
DISCLAIMERS/RESOURCES:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6546419
https://www.cdc.gov/transportation-safety/about/index.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525212
https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/whiplash/symptoms-causes/syc-20378921
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557