The days and weeks following an accident can be very confusing. It’s difficult to know how well you’re handling the crash physically, emotionally, and legally. This is because stress, pain, and soreness often last for a while after the injury occurs. But how long should you be sore after a car accident? And what does it mean if you feel as though you’ve been sore for far too long?
We’re going to explore those ideas in this article, giving you some insight into how long you should reasonably expect to be sore after a car accident. We’ll also give you some pointers on how to handle the situation legally, ensuring that you get the compensation you’re entitled to.
How Long Should You be Sore after a Car Accident?
The first thing that we want to point out, legalities aside, is that any lasting pain that you experience should be closely examined. Most people like to tough things out and let them work themselves out, but injuries caused by car accidents can be severe even if they seem small.
This is true even if your car accident was relatively tiny compared to others that you’ve seen, or even other accidents that you’ve been in.
Remember that the force of any vehicle is powerful at low speeds, and you’re being affected by a giant, rolling, metal object smashing directly into your car. Those damages can be severe, lasting, and life-altering if you don’t look into them.
That said, there is a reasonable amount of time you should be sore.
If You’re Waiting to Take Action
There are certainly some situations in which you could avoid seeking medical help right away.
If the crash was relatively light, you came out feeling great and unaffected by the physical force of the accident, and you’re confident that you truly do feel fine, you might not want to go see a doctor.
This decision might be amplified by the fact that you don’t have a lot of money to spend at the hospital, especially if your check-up ends up finding out that there’s nothing wrong with you, just like you suspected.
All of these things aside, you still might feel a little bit sore the next day. You might also feel sore the day after that. The pain might go away for a while, maybe even weeks, but it could come back eventually.
This is because the damage of a car accident often gets focused on our spine, which is known to turn symptoms on and off. That said, spinal injuries are severe and could lead to life-altering damages.
So, if you take it easy and avoid the doctor after a light car accident, be sure that the symptoms go away after one or two days. If the symptoms persist, you are putting yourself in danger the longer you wait.
If You’ve Seen a Doctor
Odds are that if you were in pain immediately after the crash, you saw a doctor.
This is a smart move for everyone who has the ability. There’s a wide variety of injuries that could come from a car accident, and a checkup from a doctor who knows what they’re looking for could spare you a lot of pain and suffering.
They’ll be able to identify what is wrong with your body in the wake of the crash and give you specific insight into how long you should expect to be sore.
When Symptoms Come Back
The tricky thing about injuries is that they’re not always immediately able to be seen. You might be a little sore right after the accident, only to find that your symptoms are gone the next morning.
You go about your day for the next week or so, and are suddenly hit by severe, biting pain in your arm. It could also be your leg, your back, your head, your hands, or anything else.
There’s a real potential for your symptoms to go unnoticed for a couple of weeks without you being sore. Additionally, your mental and emotional suffering needs to be taken into account.
If you had a traumatic experience during the crash, how can you quantify the length of time and severity of pain? Will those symptoms come back or are they going to go away when the experience is over?
These are all factors that you should consider when moving forward with insurance and legal proceedings.
How to Get What You’re Owed
Because there are so many factors involved in a car accident, it’s difficult for the average person to know how to defend themselves. Things like prior conditions, speeds, seatbelts, physical injury, emotional trauma, and much, much more are all factors to consider.
Working with a lawyer is the best way to receive the compensation you deserve for the experience of going through a car crash. This is especially true if you’ve had to put your life on hold in order to recover.
Physical and mental recovery can get in the way of the money you would have earned at work, even affecting your employment status if your employer isn’t understanding.
You might be in a position to receive compensation for your noneconomic damages as well as your economic damages, and there’s no reason that you shouldn’t.
Don’t sell yourself short of getting what you’re owed, even if you experienced pain for only a few short days after the accident. When that pain comes back, you want to be sure that you’re able to effectively move forward to receive the compensation for any potentially life-altering ailments you acquired from the crash.
Remember, spinal injuries can be lasting, painful, and difficult things to work through. Your journey to recovery will be made far less stressful if you’re able to have financial compensation for the process.
Are You Experiencing Pain?
If you’re still wondering how long you should be sore after a car accident, the answer is that you shouldn’t have to wonder. You should know whether or not the injuries you have are serious enough to get medical help.
Further, you shouldn’t have to worry about paying the medical bill if the crash was not your fault.
At Georgia Auto Law, every member of our team specializes exclusively in Georgia auto accident cases. We are the only law firm in Georgia handling only auto accident cases. This means that we do not focus our time, research, or resources on anything except winning you the most money on your car accident case.
You are welcome to call one of our auto attorneys at any time, day or night, at (404) 662-4949. You can also complete our consultation form, and one of our car accident specialists will reach out to you within minutes. With our No Fee Pledge™, you pay nothing. We are here for you.