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For many people, the injuries in a car accident fade over time. However, for others, that pain can last for months, years, or even the rest of their lives. Depending on the severity of the injuries sustained in a car accident, the long-term effects can significantly impact your quality of life.
This is not just limited to physical injuries. Psychological side effects such as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can stay with a person long-term and impact their lives just as much as physical injuries. In this post, we will go over the potential long-term physical and psychological consequences of a car accident, financial consequences, and what steps someone should take to manage or even prevent these consequences.
Car accidents can cause serious immediate injuries that will heal short-term but have lasting long-term lingering issues that can affect your quality of life. Some of the long-term physical injuries from car accident injuries include chronic pain, limited mobility, organ damage, paralysis, and scarring.
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Chronic pain refers to lingering pain from an injury that lasts for a few months or longer. While the initial injury from the accident may heal, you can still experience pain in that area long after the accident. Even minor fender benders can cause whiplash as well as neck and back injuries that lead to chronic and sometimes debilitating pain.
Significant injury from a car accident can lead to limited mobility in the area, such as limited range of motion from a shoulder injury. Limited mobility can make even day-to-day tasks more difficult and painful, with some individuals needing the help of mobility aids such as canes or wheelchairs to get around.
In severe cases, what seems like a simple bruise on your side can mean internal damage to your organs. These injuries are some of the worst car accident injuries, can be life-threatening, and may be difficult to spot at a glance because they are not as obvious as a broken arm. This is why it is important to get yourself checked out by a medical professional as soon as you can after an accident to catch these sorts of injuries early on.
Spinal cord injuries from a car accident can lead to partial or complete paralysis of parts of the body depending on where on the spine the injury is. While some cases of paralysis are temporary and improve over time, many cases of paralysis from a spinal cord injury are long-term and could limit you to the use of mobility aids such as a wheelchair or a walker.
Cuts from broken glass or necessary medical procedures after a car accident can leave you with scarring that will be with you for a long time. While minor scarring can potentially fade over time, more significant scarring could be with you for the rest of your life.
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Not only can car accidents cause serious physical injuries with long-lasting effects, but they can also lead to mental health struggles that can linger for months or even years after the accident. One of the most common psychological issues triggered by a car accident is Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
PTSD is triggered by a singular traumatizing event, such as a car accident, that causes long-term symptoms such as increased anxiety, flashbacks to the event, and an inability to return to the site of the accident. It can cause a person to become unable to drive a car without severe anxiety and flashbacks to the accident, which not only impacts your quality of life but also your freedom to travel independently.
While PTSD is one of the more serious psychological side effects you can experience after a car accident, it is not the only one. Other mental health struggles that can develop after a car accident include:
Car accidents can rapidly become quite expensive as bills begin to add up. Expenses can include any medical bills from the accident, lost wages from being unable to work, and even potential increases in your insurance rates. Working with a car accident attorney, such as Shapiro Law Team, as soon as possible can help you avoid being stuck with all of these bills on your own.
Injuries from a car accident can cause you to be unable to work for a time, which puts financial strain on you and your household. Contacting an accident attorney can help you determine if you qualify for any financial aid such as workers’ compensation.
Anyone involved in a car accident needs to seek out assistance as soon as possible, especially medical aid. While some injuries may seem insignificant at first, they can rapidly develop into medical emergencies over time if not addressed quickly. Things like adrenaline can make an injury seem harmless, but once that wears off the true severity of the issue begins to develop. There may also be issues hidden under the surface, which is why it is important to seek out medical care as soon as possible.
While the potential injuries suffered in a car accident can vary dramatically depending on the severity of the accident, there are a handful that are more common than others. Common car accident injuries include:
When you are in a car accident, it is important to not only get yourself medical care as soon as possible but also to make sure you have a Car Accident Attorney ready to help you navigate the claims process afterward. Contact Shapiro Law team in New Mexico, we handle car accident cases including personal injury, wrongful death, and even medical malpractice.
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