Eight symptoms you should watch for after an accident

Like virtually every driver, if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, your impulse is to say you are “all right.” Indeed, your body becomes charged with adrenaline during a crash. You may not even know you have been injured.

However, it is the day after an event when your body has relaxed, that you experience the bruising and acute pain that is a direct result of a collision.

Proceed with deliberate caution

By definition, a crash disrupts your life. Your schedule for the day and more likely for a week or month has been completely disrupted. More than anything, you want to resume your activities as if the accident had not happened. As natural as this urge is, it is also quite dangerous. Proceeding too quickly with regular activities, especially without the assistance of experienced professionals, not only makes it more likely that you will make judgment errors but may cause you to brush aside potentially serious injuries.

Be watchful for hidden problems

These are the most significant delayed neurological symptoms to be aware of:

• Nausea
• Blurred vision
• Dizziness
• Inability to concentrate
• Distorted thinking
• Persistent fatigue
• Headaches
• Disrupted sleep

These symptoms are sometimes the precursor of more serious underlying injuries that escaped notice immediately following the crash. Trauma physicians report that some symptoms can require as long as 14 days to emerge.

It is essential that you receive a medical diagnosis for any injury you suffer in a collision and that you avoid returning to your normal activities. Even if you said you were “okay” after the wreck, your doctor must agree.