If you get in a car, you are in danger. However, there’s never a reason to think you will cause a car accident, or that someone else will. There’s danger in life, and that’s true in cars, when you’re walking down the sidewalk, or when you’re seemingly safe at home.
If you’re unlucky, and you either cause a car wreck or someone hits your vehicle, then you may sustain an injury. If that happens, it’s unfortunate. Hopefully, you will not have a very long recovery process and will be back to your normal self soon enough.
Hiring a personal injury attorney after a car wreck often becomes crucial, especially if there’s some contention about who caused the accident. You might have to ask around to see if your relatives or friends have any car accident lawyer recommendations.
You will also want to get to a doctor if you sustained an injury in the wreck. Let’s talk about some of the most common injuries you can sustain in car accidents and how you can treat them.
Broken Bones
You can easily break a bone in a car accident. However, if it happens, it probably means the accident damaged your vehicle severely, with you inside it.
A fender bender where the other vehicle made little contact probably won’t cause any broken bones. If you sustain a broken bone in a car wreck, that likely indicates you got in a T-bone collision, a rollover accident, or something equally impactful and violent.
You will probably need an ambulance at the scene if you broke a bone, or more than one. If you broke a bone, then you’ll probably know it. Broken bones cause a great deal of pain, especially once the adrenaline wears off.
You can go to a hospital to get a doctor to look you over. They will probably take some X-rays. They will also give you something for the pain.
They may need to operate on you if the broken bone requires that. It’s not always necessary, but you more than likely need it if you have something like a compound fracture where a bone protrudes from the skin.
You will need to rest up for a while during the healing process. You probably can’t work, so you will need to inform your job of that.
After a while, you will likely need to do some physical therapy exercises to strengthen the affected area. That’s not much fun, but it’s the only way the bone can get strong again and you can get back your full range of motion.
Neck Injuries
If a car hits your vehicle from behind, then you might sustain a neck injury. You might get whiplash if you’re in a fender bender situation.
The head and beck rock backward and forward quickly in that scenario. You might not feel any pain in that moment, but you soon will.
If you sustain mild whiplash, then you can probably do okay with some over-the-counter pain meds like Advil or Aleve. You should see a doctor and get X-rays, though, just to make sure you didn’t sustain a more serious injury than you thought.
You may have to wear a neck brace for a while if you injured you neck more seriously. Again, you will probably miss some work as well.
You might apply ice packs or heat pads to alleviate the pain if it’s bothering you, especially during the first few days after the crash. You might have headaches as well.
If that happens, you can lie in a dark room with a cold washcloth on your forehead. You should recover in time, but it’s an unpleasant experience until you do.
Scratches, Bruises, and Cuts
If a car hits your vehicle, then you might sustain a number of small injuries, like scratches, bruises, and cuts. You might not feel much during the accident itself. You have your adrenaline pumping, and you’ll only feel the pain when it wears off.
If you have a very serious cut or scrape, then you may need some stitches to close the wound. If you’re losing blood from the cut or scrape, medical personnel can help once an ambulance comes.
You seldom need surgery for cuts, bruises, or scrapes. If the doctor suspects that you have internal injuries, though, they may recommend that you get imaging to see if it reveals anything serious happening inside your body.
Usually, you have to wait for scratches, bruises, and cuts to heal. Time will repair these wounds, though you will probably feel sore for a while.
You might miss some work while you’re healing, depending whether you sustained minor cuts and scrapes or more serious ones. Hopefully, you can get back to work and not experience pain before too much time passes. In the meantime, use over-the-counter pain meds.
Head Injuries
If you sustain a head injury in a car wreck, that is potentially dangerous. Just like most other injuries, though, you can experience more or less serious ones.
If you bump your head lightly against the dashboard, you might experience a headache for a while, but other than that, you will recover. However, if you notice swelling, a serious headache, or bleeding from the eyes, mouth, ears, or nose, then an ambulance will probably take you to the nearest hospital.
You will probably get an MRI. The doctor can look at your brain this way. MRIs can irritate even the most patient person, but you must do it to determine whether you have brain swelling or anything equally dangerous.
In some situations, you might need surgery following a brain injury from a car wreck. If you have brain swelling, for instance, then a doctor must relieve the pressure.If you have a concussion or TBI, then you’ll undoubtedly miss some work. You will need to take it easy and follow the doctor’s advice. Ideally, you will recover in time and not have any long-term effects.
