As soon as you are involved in a car accident, the first priority is to have your health and general condition evaluated at the scene or hospital by a professional emergency medical technician. For less serious auto accidents, it’s still important to assess your own health to make sure you don’t suffer a head, spine, or neck injury. The problem with these types of injuries is that they can become apparent or worsen over time. So it may seem like you are fine after a car accident, but then you can start to develop symptoms later on at that point towards neck and back injuries.

There are signs and symptoms to look for, as well as tips for learning to tell the difference between vague muscle pain and tenderness and an actual serious injury. Continue reading for a post-accident health assessment guide and information on filing a car accident injury claim for injuries and damages sustained in a serious collision.

Controlling your health

Once you have been involved in a car accident, whether it was your fault or not, you should seek immediate medical attention. When a car accident occurs, the authorities are usually alerted almost immediately; either by someone involved in the accident or by a bystander. The police will ask if you or your passengers need to go to the hospital if it is not obvious that someone is hurt. You can do this assessment yourself, or you can simply have an EMT look at you at the scene of the accident or at the hospital.

You may choose to ride in an ambulance for a faster trip to the hospital in emergencies, but for less serious and less obvious injuries, you may choose to go yourself or have a loved one drive you. In other cases, you may feel that you are not injured enough to receive professional medical attention and pass up the opportunity to go to the hospital altogether. Once you are familiar with how to assess your own condition after an accident, you can make a responsible decision to seek further medical assistance or care for yourself.

Here are some symptoms to look for immediately after, as well as the days after, a car accident:

• Headaches

• migraines

• Pain or tenderness in the neck

• labored breathing

• Incrise of cardiac frecuency

• Mental confusion

• Pain or tenderness in the lower back

• Pain in the neck or spine

• Difficulty standing

• pain when sitting

• Swelling of the neck, back, or head

• Redness or abrasions on the body

• Nausea or Dizziness

• Blurry vision

• slurred speech

• bleeding

• Broken bones

• Immobility

Any of these symptoms could be a sign of a more serious injury or internal damage. If you are experiencing more than three of the above symptoms, it is highly recommended that you go to the hospital or request an EMT upon seeing an accident. Concussions are one of the most common and overlooked head injuries resulting from car accidents. And the problem with this type of injury is that a person may seem fine at first, only to later suffer serious consequences and declining health as a result of a careless injury to the head, brain, or spine.

Filing a Car Accident Injury Claim

Contact a licensed personal injury attorney for information on filing a car accident injury claim against a negligent party who caused serious harm to you or a loved one after a car accident or collision. You may be entitled to compensation.