How long you should be sore after a car accident depends on the type of injuries you sustained and how severe they were.
Some car accident injuries clear up in a matter of days, while others can lead to chronic pain that lasts a lifetime. In other cases, a person might not experience any pain at all until a day or two after the accident. The best advice is to discuss your condition with your primary care physician, especially if your pain worsens.
Understanding Muscle Pain
Soreness and muscle pain are commonplace in the aftermath of a car accident. According to Mayo Clinic, this condition can impact a small area or your entire body, depending on the circumstances. With that, the muscle pain following a car accident could last a matter of days or for the rest of your life, as it depends entirely on the severity of your injury.
Types of Injuries That Cause Muscle Pain
Bruising and soreness from a minor impact are likely to heal on their own. The soreness related to these injuries typically goes away on its own in a day or two. For deeper bruises or sprains, the pain could last several weeks or longer and require rest and medication.
Sometimes the soreness and pain that come with an accident are related to damage to your nerve endings. When nerve damage occurs, the pain from your accident might never go away.
The Pain Might not Start Until After the Accident
There are times when pain and soreness from a car accident will not be immediately obvious due, in part, to the human body’s flight-or-fight response. As your body pumps itself full of endorphins, it does not immediately recognize the injuries that have occurred.
It is only when these endorphins wear off that you begin to notice the pain that was already there.
Reducing Soreness Through Treatment
The good news for anyone injured in a car accident is that medical intervention could reduce the amount of time you are sore following the crash. While this information might seem obvious, many people fail to take steps to deal with their pain and assume it will go away on its own. Some treatments that could alleviate pain or make it more bearable include:
- Cold or heat therapy
- Prescription pain medication
- Muscle relaxers
- Chiropractic care
- Physical therapy
- Massage
- Surgical procedures
- Steroid injections
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
If pain and soreness do not go away—even with aggressive treatment—it could be a sign that something more serious is going on. Talking with your doctor about any changes in your pain levels is an important part of getting better.
The Importance of Seeking Medical Treatment After a Crash
In the aftermath of a car accident, addressing your physical pain and other medical needs should be your top priority. If you fail to seek out appropriate medical care right away, you could be putting your long-term health at risk. What’s more, you could be reducing the likelihood that you will recover compensation for your injuries through a personal injury lawsuit.
Seeking medical care is important, even if your pain is minor. By talking to your doctor right away, they could have the opportunity to identify the underlying cause of your pain. This diagnosis could include an internal injury you did not know existed. The sooner you see a doctor, the sooner you could begin alleviating the pain and soreness from your auto accident.
Medical Records Can Help Bolster Your Case
Seeing a doctor is also an important step in your personal injury claim process. As such, your doctor will create medical records to not only document your injuries but also their prescribed course of treatment. These records could establish that your injuries are real and that you are entitled to compensation.
What’s more, it is also helpful to have medical records that were created around the same time the injury occurs. This documentation shows that your injury was genuine and that you made an immediate effort to address your source of soreness and pain. Doing so could prevent the defendant from arguing you didn’t do enough and trying to limit your damages.
Count on us to further explain your legal options and how long you have to take legal action under Florida Statutes § 95.11(3)(a).
The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine Goes the Extra Mile
Your doctor can help you understand how long you can expect to be sore after a car accident, in addition to laying out a treatment plan that reduces your soreness.
Along with providing responsive legal care, we can help pursue a compensatory award that covers your damages. Call the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine at 1-800-747-3733 for your free consultation as soon as possible. If you don’t win compensation, we don’t get paid.
