I’m Experiencing Headaches After a Car Accident

Vehicle accidents can lead to a wide range of injuries, but many of these injuries are not immediately apparent when the incident occurs. In some cases, individuals involved in accidents begin to experience headaches in the hours and days following the crash. Here, we want to discuss what you should do if you begin to experience headaches after being involved in a car accident. Additionally, you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries in these circumstances.

What Causes Headaches After a Car Accident?

Headaches can occur as a result of a wide range of injuries after a vehicle accident occurs. The most common types of injuries that lead to headaches include:

• Open head wounds. When most people think of an open head wound, they think that the pain stays outside of the body where the injury is. However, if a person struck their head hard enough to cause an open head wound, there is a chance that they also caused the brain to become jostled around. The exterior injury as well as a possible interior concussion, can lead to a headache.
• Concussions. Concussions can occur in a few different ways. These injuries can occur when a person’s head comes into contact with another object in an accident, but they can also occur when the body whips around and leads to the brain becoming jostled inside of the skull. A concussion is essentially a brain bruise, and this can take some time to heal, depending on the severity of the injury. Concussions certainly cause headaches.
• Traumatic brain injury. More severe traumatic brain injuries are not uncommon in vehicle accidents, particularly for accidents that occur at higher speeds or with larger vehicles. Traumatic brain injuries can range in severity, and headaches are a symptom of every type of TBI. Some people who experience traumatic brain injuries have headaches that last for years or permanently.
• Whiplash. Whiplash is an injury that primarily affects the upper back and neck by whipping these areas back and forth and stretching muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves. However, the pain from whiplash can stretch towards the head and lead to symptoms of headaches.

Recovering Compensation for These Injuries and Symptoms

It is certainly possible to recover compensation if you are experiencing headaches and other types of pain after a vehicle accident caused by the negligence of another driver in North Carolina. If another driver was at fault, it is critical for you to document your injuries and seek medical care as soon as possible after the crash occurs. Headaches have a variety of causes that may or may not have to do with the vehicle accident, but seeking medical care right after an incident can establish that your symptoms happened as a result of the incident.

We strongly encourage you to work with a skilled Raleigh car accident attorney who has experience handling these types of claims. Your lawyer will not only investigate the incident and gather the evidence needed to prove liability, but they will work with trusted medical professionals to help show how your headaches are linked to the accident injuries. He may be able to recover a range of types of compensation, including coverage of all medical expenses related to the incident, physical and emotional pain and suffering damages, lost wages if you are unable to work, and property damage expenses for your vehicle.