How Whiplash Can Lead to Major Expenses After a St. Louis Auto Accident

Car accidents happen all the time, and car safety features can’t protect you from all possible injuries that might be inflicted by a car crash. Even when wearing a seat belt, you can sustain neck and back injuries. One of the most common of them is whiplash.

What Is Whiplash?

This type of injury gets its name from the sudden movement of your head when your car crashes into another object or even when you hit on the brakes suddenly. It doesn’t take a big collision to affect your neck tissues when this happens, as muscles, tendons, and ligaments suddenly stretch as your head whips from one direction to another.

This injury can have long-term effects and will probably get worse if left untreated.

What Happens If You Leave a Whiplash Untreated?

If you don’t go to the doctor right away, whiplash can have long-term effects that will lower the quality of your life. One of them is the loss of mobility and stiffness.

Untreated whiplash can make you feel pain on a daily basis, which can affect your sleep, mood and even your day-to-day activities.

Tension in the neck can make you feel dizzy or nauseated, cutting some of the blood flow to the brain. This can lead to a snowballing array of symptoms: less sleep means more fatigue, aggravated symptoms, and more costly treatment.

Some of the worst cases of whiplash can actually lead to spinal fractures or fissures, which can be very dangerous and can cause temporary or permanent impairment of the victim.

How Can Untreated Whiplash Can Create a Major Financial Burden

Going to the doctor as soon as possible after you’ve been in a car accident is crucial. During such a stressful event, your body will release adrenaline into your system, which gets you ready to react but can also mask the pain you might feel.

Even if you think that you are unharmed or that your injury will get better on its own, a doctor’s evaluation serves as hard evidence in case you will have medical treatment to pay for and you need your insurance company (or the other driver’s insurer) to cover those costs.

There are, unfortunately, many cases when the victim underestimates their injuries, accepts the first offer the insurance company gives them, signs a release form and then finds out that their whiplash injury got worse and they have to pay huge medical bills out of their own pocket.

Save yourself the trouble and go to the doctor after a car accident to get a proper evaluation of your health. You should also consult a St. Louis car accident lawyer in case your insurance claim seems to be made more difficult by the insurance company’s tactics of saving their own money.

How an Attorney Can Help

The days following a car accident can be very confusing. You may neglect your health and decide not to see a doctor because you are so focused on the settlement process. An experienced St. Louis car accident attorney can guide you and help you determine the best course of action.