Whether you’re in a car accident or a major slip and fall event, your body’s “fight or flight” response will stimulate the release of numbing chemicals. These chemicals mute pain and create a false sense of well-being. When under their influence, even people with serious physical injuries can lack intense physical symptoms, and they might not have the urge to seek medical treatment. The adrenaline-fueled shock response that follows injury events is but one of several ways in which internal injuries are overlooked.
Easily Dismissed Symptoms
Internal injuries are often far more serious than outward cuts and scrapes, but they don’t always cause as much pain. Missing skin in areas rife with nerve endings creates constant, unignorable signals of physical damage. But compressed and severed veins and organs might not.
If left untreated, internal injuries, internal bleeding, and significant changes in blood volume can lead to:
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Confusion
- Rapid heart rate
- Pale skin
Unfortunately, people often respond to these changes in how they feel by seeking rest rather than medical attention. People are more likely to seek medical help for visible injuries than they are for changes in their basic vital signs.
Adrenaline and Shock
Adrenaline and other “fight or flight” chemicals don’t just numb the physical pain of injuries. They can also delay the development of symptoms. If you have internal injuries following a car crash or other injury event, it might take hours or even days for swelling, inflammation, and changes in your vital signs to occur. Each person, accident, and injury response is different. Problems that are immediately identified in one accident victim could go unnoticed for weeks in another.
Emergency Room Care
Even medical doctors can overlook internal injuries. ER doctors make sure that injury victims are in safe, stable conditions before releasing them. But lacking broken bones, contusions, and mangling or disfiguring injuries, patients might be released before any telltale changes in their vital signs occur. This is why accident victims should visit the emergency room immediately after injury events and follow up with their regular doctors as soon as possible.
Latent Symptoms and Injuries
Not all accident-related injuries manifest right away. Among the many potential latent internal injuries are:
- Internal bleeding
- Organ damage
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Soft tissue damage
- Spinal injuries
People with latent internal injuries might feel “off”, but they may not feel excessive pain. Without timely interventions, latent internal injuries can turn into life-threatening medical emergencies.
Soft Tissue and Musculoskeletal Injuries
Not all internal injuries involve severed organs and brain trauma. Slipped and compressed discs, damaged connective tissues, joint damage, and whiplash are internal injuries, too. When checking for internal bleeding and broken bones, ER doctors rarely do full-body scans to assess the alignment of the entire musculoskeletal system. They don’t assess the web of connective tissue that surrounds the organs, muscles, and joints either. The best way to identify internal injuries like these is by working with specialists in musculoskeletal and myofascial health.
How To Protect Your Health and Financial Well-Being
Visiting the emergency room following an accident is the best way to protect your health, even if you don’t feel injured. It also makes it easier to associate your physical damages with the event that has caused them. Follow your ER visit up by scheduling a visit with your regular doctor within the next one to two days.
If you’ve been involved in a collision, it’s important to speak with an experienced car accident attorney about your rights. Your lawyer can make recommendations for ongoing care based on similar cases. For soft tissue injuries, you might work with a chiropractor, naturopath, or myofascial specialist. If you have latent injuries that go undiagnosed for days or weeks, your team of attorneys can help you build your claim based on the needs and nuances of your case. As an accident victim, you’re entitled to receive all the conventional and non-conventional medical care you need to return to your pre-accident condition.
