Car crashes are common; 2.3 million people suffer injuries in a car crash every year. When you get into an accident, the body is violently shaken, sometimes resulting in injuries or damage. This could range from minor aches to severe injuries.
However, if another driver’s negligence caused the accident, car accident attorneys in Atlanta could help you seek compensation for your injuries. When car crashes happen, it’s essential to know the kind of impact they can have on your body. So if you’re curious about what happens to your body in an auto collision, we’ll give you an idea in this article.
The Adrenaline Rush
The adrenaline rush is one of the first things that occur during a car crash. Adrenaline is a hormone released in the body when there’s sudden stress. The goal of the adrenaline rush is to prepare the human body for a flight or fight response. There are many ways an adrenaline rush affects the body, and some of them include:
- Increased heart rate
- Higher energy levels
- Dilated pupils
- Feeling little to no pain
- More strength and stamina
- Heightened senses
Although an adrenaline rush can be helpful after a car crash, it is also quite deceptive. An adrenaline release will mask the feeling of pain. Therefore, it could make you ignorant of injuries sustained after a car accident.
That’s why seeking medical attention after an auto accident is essential, even if you don’t feel pain. Sometimes, the pain takes time to seep through, but it might be too late by the time you realize it. Additionally, car accident attorneys in Atlanta can use the records to help you seek compensation for injuries suffered during the accident.
Injuries That Can Occur to Your Body During a Car Crash
When you’re driving, your body and the vehicle share what is known as kinetic energy. When you want to stop the car the regular way and hit the brakes, the energy moves to the break and allows you to control the car easily.
However, the case differs when you get into a sudden, unexpected car accident. The body takes on the whole energy, resulting in injuries and severe pain. Although cars today help to protect us from this energy by absorbing most of the impact during a crash.
But there are times when the body still absorbs the energy, putting you at risk of getting injured from the impact. Here are various things that can happen to different body parts during a car crash.
Head Impact
After an impact, the body keeps moving at the same speed as before the accident. This happens even if the vehicle stops or slows down from a crash. This speed is only controlled when the body comes in contact with another object like the airbag, seat belt, car door, windshield, or other items in the car.
Head impacts usually result in severe injuries like traumatic brain injury. There are various types of traumatic brain injury, the most common being a concussion or a closed injury.
Whiplash
Another type of injury that could occur when there’s an impact due to a car crash is whiplash. It’s even more common in a rear-end accident. In such a car crash, the neck is thrown backward from the impact before rebounding forward.
This movement causes the tendons and neck muscles to stretch. It can result in minor damage to the neck, back, and spine.
The good news is that whiplash tends to fade away on its own. You can treat most of its symptoms with an ice pack or painkillers. Symptoms of whiplash to look out for include dizziness, blurred vision, pain or numbness, sleep disturbance, ringing in the ear, or inability to turn the head.
Injured Limbs
Arms and legs are usually less protected from movement than other parts of your body during an accident. Therefore, they could also come in contact with other car parts during the impact. This impact can result in bruises, cuts, and fractures.
Upper Body and Spine Trauma
Your collarbone is one of the most fragile parts of your body. Unfortunately, it’s also the first part of the body that becomes injured in a crash since the seatbelt is right in front of it.
During impact, the left or right collarbone can break; this usually depends on the side of the car you’re sitting on. If it’s a high-speed car crash, it could also result in your ribs breaking upon impact.
Since the ribs protect the lungs, this inevitably increases the chances of your lungs collapsing drastically. Additionally, it propels the heart forward with the rest of your body, causing it to hit the halls of the chest and the ribs.
Sometimes this could cause the heart to bruise, cause extensive blood loss, or even cause instant death. In addition, the disc between your spine could experience disc herniation from whiplash and the impact of the car crash.
Pelvic Injury
An injury to your pelvis is one of the most severe injuries you can sustain in a car crash. Treatments for pelvic fractures usually require surgery and rehabilitation. Sometimes, a pelvis fracture results in enormous medical bills you shouldn’t have to handle alone. Luckily, car accident attorneys in Atlanta can help you seek compensation to cover past and future medical treatments.
Emotional Response of the Body in a Car Crash
Besides the body reacting physically during a car crash, your brain also responds. Therefore, the emotional impact of a car crash can be significant. It might happen immediately like the adrenaline rush or over time, especially if the car accident victim suffered considerable damage, loss, or pain.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is also quite common amongst car accident victims. However, most people are unaware they have PTSD because they don’t know the symptoms. Some of them include:
- Feeling anxious when faced with reminders of the car crash like driving, screeching tires, or visiting the site
- Difficulty concentrating or sleeping
- Avoiding similar situations in the future
- Flashbacks and nightmares of the crash
- A negative outlook on life
For the emotional response after a car crash, your car accident attorneys in Atlanta can help you seek non-economic damages like pain, suffering, and emotional distress.
Are You a Car Crash Victim? Contact a Car Accident Lawyer Today
As you can see, many things happen to your body in a car crash. Depending on the nature of the accident, the crashes could be severe. In some cases, the injuries are fatal and result in losing a loved one. Whether your injuries are mental, physical, or emotional, you have the right to compensation if the car crash wasn’t your fault.
At Weinstein Law Firm, our personal injury attorneys in Atlanta understand that the moments after a car crash can be difficult. Our personal injury attorneys in Atlanta will deal with insurance claims while you focus on recovery. Contact us today to discuss your case and how we can help.
