Not all injuries a person might suffer in a car accident cause pain immediately. In some cases, it may take hours or even days for an injury to cause pain, and some of these injuries are potentially very serious.
Any time you experience a car accident, it is wise to have a medical professional examine you for injuries, even if you do not think you suffered any serious ones. Car accidents are often much more physically harmful than people realize, and you may be injured more seriously than you realize.
Delayed pain injuries can occur in many parts of the body, but the some of the most serious injuries that require immediate attention are those that cause pain in the abdomen. If you are involved in a car accident and hours or days later feel pain in your abdomen, it is very important to seek medical attention immediately.
What does abdomen pain indicate?
Abdomen pain after a car accident can indicate a number of potential injuries, two of which are potentially deadly, and must receive immediate attention. Some pain may have relatively harmless causes, like stress-related cramping, but it is usually not possible to know what is causing abdominal pain without proper examination after a car accident. It is very important to obtain medical attention as soon as possible.
The potentially deadly injuries that often cause delayed abdominal pain are internal bleeding and organ damage. Internal bleeding may not cause pain initially if the damage itself is minor enough. Unfortunately, sites of internal bleeding are very susceptible to infection. Once infections develop sufficiently, they may travel through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the heart and brain.
If the injury is severe enough, a person may succumb to the injury in a matter of hours or even minutes from internal blood loss.
Similarly, damaged organs may only function for so long before the organ fails. Once an organ fails, the body cannot sustain itself, often leading to a painful death.
Seek help as soon as possible
Because of the serious risks of these injuries, you should seek immediate medical attention if you develop abdomen pain after a car accident. Once you obtain proper medical diagnosis and treatment, you can consider the circumstances of the accident and whether someone else was responsible for your injury. If so, you may have grounds for a personal injury claim against that party to cover your losses. Be sure to use all the tools you have available to protect your rights as you seek fair compensation.
