If you have been involved in a traffic accident, you should be sure to get checked out for injuries, and that should include an X-Ray.
Even if you are able to “walk away” from the crash, you should still visit an emergency room or doctor to get checked out to be sure that you are not suffering from injuries.
SYMPTOMS MAY NOT BE IMMEDIATE
What you should understand is that symptoms from injuries may not always show up immediately.
After a wreck, the adrenaline from the excitement may mask symptoms. But even a small fender-bender is enough to cause serious injury. That is why you should get an X-Ray even if you think you are not injured.
Especially in the case of whiplash – the sudden jerking of the head and neck back and then forward – an X-Ray or MRI can reveal damage to the soft tissue in the neck.
Beyond whiplash, there could be any number of other injuries, especially soft tissue injuries or hairline fractures, that aren’t immediately evident to the injured person.
EARLY TREATMENT IS KEY
But early treatment of injuries is extremely important, and patients should not wait for symptoms to get checked out. If you fail to get checked out for injuries, you risk making a minor injury more serious without treatment.
If you decline medical treatment immediately following a wreck, but you begin to experience soreness or pain in the days following the wreck, you should visit a doctor and consider at that point getting an X-Ray.
