Those hurt in a car crash or at work will often measure the injury’s severity by whether it merited a trip in an ambulance. Cuts, broken bones or burns will be a clear indicator of how bad it is. However, sometimes, those who called 911 and provided first aid to others later find out that they were also severely injured. These delayed symptoms may get diagnosed when that initial pain does not subside or increases.
Common hard to identify injuries
Some severe injuries have nothing to do with broken bones or loss of blood:
- Concussion: Victims with traumatic brain injuries may have hit their head, had their “bell rung” or violently shook. The results may involve blurry vision, nausea, seeing stars, memory loss, fatigue or other symptoms. Usually, these symptoms will go away with time, but they may not or leave victims more prone to injury.
- Trauma: Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety or other emotional damage can leave the victim having difficulty resuming work or normal activities they previously enjoyed.
- Whiplash: This involves snapping the upper body back and forth, injuring the head, neck or shoulders. Sometimes these injuries can linger for months or years.
- Internal injuries: This can happen even when safety equipment does its job, causing trauma to internal organs that only reveals itself after the incident.
- Herniated disks: These spinal injuries can be extremely complex but generally involves a spinal disk pushing against a nerve to cause extreme pain, weakness, tingling or numbness.
- Soft tissue injuries: These include strains, sprains or bruising to tendons or muscles. Common examples include tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome or a rotator cuff injury.
It is best to get these diagnosed and treated
These injuries may seem minor at the time of an incident or may get progressively worse over time. Whatever the circumstances, it is best to be examined and diagnosed by a medical professional who understands the injury. If a reckless driver or some other negligent party caused this physical or emotional trauma, it might also be necessary to file a personal injury claim.