A car crash can be a traumatic and life-altering event. It can leave you with physical and emotional scars that can take time to heal. One of the most common questions that car crash victims have is, “How long until I feel better?”
We understand. You want to get your body back, your life back, your finances back. You want the pain and the stress from a car crash—that was not your fault—to end.
While we wish there was a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, there is not. Various factors determine how long it will be until you “feel better” after a car crash. These factors include the type of injuries that were sustained, the severity of the injuries, and how much treatment you received for your injuries throughout the process. It also includes factors such as age, physical condition, and pre-existing injuries.
- Immediate Physical Impact:After a car crash, it is important to seek medical treatment immediately…even if you feel fine. Some injuries, like whiplash, disc injuries, or internal injuries, may not be noticeable at first. Your adrenaline after the car accident may prevent you from feeling any pain right away, and it may take hours, days, or even weeks until you begin to notice symptoms from your car crash.
- Emotional Impact:It is important to pay attention to your emotional health, as well, after a car crash—especially if you are injured because of the negligence of another driver. Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a variety of other mental or emotional trauma can arise after a car crash. While some people may move beyond the emotional impact of the crash quickly, for others it may take weeks, months, or even longer to move beyond those feelings.
- Acute Phase of Recovery:The acute phase of recovery is the time when your body is actively recovering from the injuries you sustained in the car crash. During this time you will focus on treatments such as chiropractic work, physical therapy, and visits to your medical provider.
During this time, it is EXTREMELY important that you listen to your doctor’s advice. You may be referred to a specialist such as an orthopedic surgeon, a concussion specialist, a back or neck pain specialist, or another type of specialist.
Again, you should not ignore the emotional impact your car crash has on you. While your friends and family may stop asking about your injuries and how you are feeling, you may still be feeling stress and anxiety, as well as physical pain, from the car crash. Mental health care is as important as physical health care in many ways. Do not hesitate to consult with a therapist or counselor to help you navigate the complex emotions that come in the aftermath of a car crash, especially one that was not your fault.
How long this acute phase of recovery lasts is dependent on how severe your injuries are, how effective your treatment is, and whether you are following through with all the recommendations from your medical providers. A concussion or a neck or back injury may take months of treatment before you start to feel better after a car crash. In the alternative, some other injuries may require less time and less treatment before you feel back to normal.
In the worst-case scenario, there are some injuries that people face after a car crash where they never fully heal. In those cases, there may be ongoing treatment years to come or a doctor may advise that even additional treatment will not improve the injury, in which case, you will face pain for the foreseeable future.
What Should You Do Next?
At Debbie Taussig Law, we understand the pain that our clients feel daily after they have become injured because of someone else’s negligence. We want to take the burden of fighting the insurance companies off of your shoulder so that you can focus on one thing…feeling better after your car crash.
We will not only deal with the insurance companies for you, but we will also help you find the right types of medical providers so that you can receive the best treatment for your specific injuries. Not all injuries should be treated the same, and finding the right providers will make all the difference in your healing time.
With over 20 years of experience, Debbie not only knows the intricacies of personal injury law, but she also can advise you on the type of specialist that can help. She also has personal experience as a victim of a car crash, and as a result, she can relate to her clients on a deeper level and advise them as their lawyer, as well as offer compassion that only someone with firsthand experience can offer.
Call us today at 303-442-0176.
