I Have Back Pain Several Weeks After a Car Crash

Neck and back pain are very common symptoms of injuries after a vehicle accident occurs. Often, this pain occurs right away after an incident, but there are times when neck and back pain do not show up until hours or even days after the incident occurs. Unfortunately, this type of pain can last for weeks at a time. Here, we want to discuss what you should do if you begin to experience back pain after a vehicle accident occurs.

Signs and Symptoms May Not Appear Right Away

Our bodies experience a rush of adrenaline right after a vehicle accident occurs, particularly for anything more than a very minor fender bender. When this happens, we are alert and likely feeling very little pain, even if we have experienced an injury. That is why it is not uncommon for individuals to begin to experience the signs and symptoms of the accident injuries hours or even a few days after the incident occurs after the adrenaline subsides.

We strongly encourage any individual involved in a vehicle accident in North Carolina to seek medical treatment immediately. However, we do know that there are times when individuals experience no pain right away and make a choice not to go to the doctor.

Delayed Back Injuries and Medical Care

Late-onset back pain caused by a vehicle accident is a common occurrence. Our bodies are complicated, and pain does not always manifest immediately after an incident occurs. A car crash could cause a strain or sprain in back muscles, it could affect the discs in our spinal cord, and it could lead to a pinched nerve that is not noticed right away. All this means that it could be days or weeks before back pain begins to really manifest after the initial incident.

As soon as you begin to experience any type of back pain after you have been in a vehicle accident, even days or weeks later, you need to go to your doctor right away. The sooner that a doctor can establish a link between the accident and your injuries, the better. Insurance carriers are going to look at how long it took you to go to the doctor after an accident occurs, and the longer the time frame, the more likely they will be to push back against paying compensation for the injury.

Dealing With Insurance Carriers

Insurance carriers will look for any reason to limit how much money they pay in compensation. If delayed seeking treatment, this opens the door for the insurance carriers to push back against the injury claim. That is why we suggest going to the doctor immediately after a crash occurs, even if you do not have much pain. This way, even if symptoms do begin to arise later on, it would be harder to dispute that you did not take the steps necessary and that an accident did not contribute to the symptoms.

However, it may still be possible to recover compensation even if you do not go to the doctor right away. You need to speak to a skilled Raleigh car accident lawyer who can help establish a timeline between the accident and your injuries and work with medical professionals to explain why the signs and symptoms of the injury may not have appeared until later. You may still be able to recover compensation for a delayed back injury.