Delayed Pain After a Car Accident: What You Should Know

“Delayed pain” refers to an experience where an injury occurs, but the person doesn’t experience pain symptoms until much later. You may feel relieved to walk away from a car accident with no pain. However, the chances of experiencing delayed pain after one are very high.  

Delayed pain is a serious problem because it causes people to skip seeing a provider directly after an accident and then experience worsened symptoms in the future. If you notice you’re having pain days or weeks after a car accident, it’s important to seek help immediately.

Injury and Health Urgent Care offers treatment for car accidents, even if the lack of pain at the time of the accident caused you to avoid medical attention. Melissa Kempf, MD, and Shannon Wait, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, will do everything they can to help you manage your pain and begin to feel well again. But you need to come in as soon as you can. 

The reason delayed pain happens after an accident 

Being in a car accident is terrifying, even if it’s “just” a fender bender. People who can get out of their car and move around afterward are often so relieved that they may experience no pain at all. This can occur even when you have an obvious injury. But why is that? 

Adrenaline, a hormone made naturally in the body, is released when you go through an intense or scary experience like a car accident. This hormone increases your heart rate, blood pressure, and energy levels while masking pain.

Also, inflammation, a major contributor to pain, may not begin for hours and take several days to reach its peak. And if you have internal inflammation, there may be no other symptom but pain to alert you that something’s wrong. 

How delayed pain causes problems for you

Delayed pain can create a mountain of issues when it comes to recovering from a car accident. For one, it’s probably caused you to avoid a doctor’s visit directly following the accident. 

Unfortunately, the longer an injury is allowed to fester, the harder it is to treat. For instance, what begins as a relatively minor back strain from a car accident can eventually affect the surrounding muscles, ligaments, and joints without treatment.  

Additionally, if you didn’t visit the ED or a clinic like ours after an accident, the issue wasn’t documented right away. This can make it harder to obtain financial compensation, either from your insurance or the other driver’s.  

How we help: diagnosis, treatment, and financial compensation

We can absolutely help you, but the most important thing you can do is to visit us as soon as possible after an accident. Don’t wait until the pain worsens or try to treat it at home. 

We want you to come in sooner rather than later so that we can diagnose and manage your injury before it worsens. This typically leads to less pain and an easier recovery overall. 

We’re also here to help you file claims for financial compensation, and will connect you with an appropriate legal team if you don’t have one of your own. But remember: It’s harder to do all of these things when you avoid seeking help immediately after an accident.  

Get help today

Delayed pain is very common after a car accident. You can get help at our San Antonio, Texas, office today. Just make an appointment by phone or online.