Delayed Symptoms After A Car Accident: What Colorado Drivers Need To Know

What Are Delayed Injury Symptoms After A Car Accident?

When you think of a car accident injury, you probably imagine visible scars, immediate pain, or other health issues that are obvious right away. While many injuries do result in immediate symptoms, there are many cases where they simply don’t.

Delayed injury symptoms are symptoms that appear hours or days after the accident. In rare cases, symptoms may not surface until a week later.

Why Some Car Accident Symptoms Take Time To Appear

There are many reasons why car accident symptoms will take time to appear. In all cases, however, when symptoms do start to appear, it’s important that you take action right away. 

Depending on the type of injury you have, the symptoms may be an indication of something serious, or something that could lead to more complications if not treated properly. Here are some of the common reasons why accident symptoms will take time to manifest:

• Adrenaline: After a car accident, it’s normal to be in shock and experience high levels of adrenaline in your body. This can keep you from feeling any pain associated with an injury. Once the shock and adrenaline have worn off, usually after a couple of hours to a day, you might begin to feel pain in your body as a result of the injury.
• Reinjury of a past injury: If you’ve suffered a past injury and were involved in a car accident that resulted in a new injury, the car accident can exacerbate a previous injury, resulting in pain that’s either masked by current pain or hasn’t reached a point where you can feel the symptoms just yet.
• Gradual inflammation and swelling: With soft tissue injuries, like muscle strains and whiplash, micro-tears happen in your muscles, and it will take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours for you to begin noticing stiffness, soreness, or pain.
• Delayed brain injury symptoms: Some mild traumatic brain injuries, like concussions, will take time to manifest. When they do, it can be in the form of dizziness, confusion, or sudden mood changes. It’s important that you seek out immediate care for head injury delayed symptoms. 
• Internal bleeding or organ damage: Symptoms associated with these types of injuries will take time to present themselves because they’re not physically visible. Common symptoms include abdominal swelling, dizziness, and even fainting as an indication.
• Psychological injuries: One of the most common types of injuries that take time to present symptoms is psychological injuries, like post-traumatic stress disorder, which can result in anxiety, depression, and other behavioral health changes.

Common Delayed Injuries From Colorado Car Accidents

Delayed injury symptoms typically occur with injuries that are not visible. Some common types of injuries that will result in delayed symptoms might include:

• Whiplash — The sudden back and forth movement of your head and neck, which can result in tears along your neck muscles
• Internal bleeding or injuries to your organs
• Broken ribs 
• Fractures
• Neurological-related injuries
• Brain injuries

What To Do If You Notice Symptoms Days Later

If you start to notice symptoms that you think are connected to your car accident days after the accident occurred, these symptoms can be cause for concern. It’s important to seek out medical attention immediately, especially if your symptoms include dizziness, lightheadedness, tingling or numbness in your body, unexplained fevers, or changes in your mood, appetite, or overall behavior.

The sooner you seek out medical attention, the sooner a medical professional can help address these symptoms with the appropriate treatments and determine the cause of your symptoms. 

Seeking medical care also provides documentation that your injuries were caused by your car accident, setting up the basis of negligence so that you can pursue legal action.

Can You Still File A Claim For Late-Appearing Injuries?

Yes. Even if you are experiencing late-appearing symptoms related to an injury that was caused by a car accident, you may still be able to pursue legal action against negligent parties.

Under the state’s statute (C.R.S. § 13-80-102(1)(a)), personal injury victims have a two-year window to bring forward a personal injury lawsuit. 

The clock typically starts running from the day the injury happened. However, under the state’s discovery rule, if it was not immediately apparent that you suffered an injury because of an accident, the clock will start ticking from the day that you discovered — or the day you should have reasonably discovered — that you suffered an injury.

There are also certain rules regarding workers’ compensation, government claims, and minors who are experiencing delayed injury symptoms. For example, to pursue a workers’ compensation claim, you must report your injury to your employer within four days of the injury.

Talk To A Colorado Car Accident Attorney Today

If you’re in pain and are experiencing delayed symptoms from an injury that resulted from a recent car accident, you may still have legal rights and options. Speak with an experienced car accident attorney at Bachus & Schanker to learn more about what your legal options look like, what you should do, and how to move forward in building a strong case against defendants.

Related Car Accident Resources