You may be asking yourself how long I will be sore after a car accident. You may be sore right away or not feel any soreness at all, until a couple days after the car accident. Auto accidents can cause severe to slight injuries. How long you are sore after a car wreck depends on many factors.
How long you will be sore after a car accident depends on many factors.
The intensity of the soreness and the pain experienced depends upon many different factors.
The speed of the vehicle
The speed at which the accident occurred could have a direct relation to how long you will be sore afterwards. The faster the speed, generally the more severe the injury. Therefore, the longer you will be sore from the crash.
The size of the vehicle
If a tractor trailer hits you going 15 mph vs. a car hitting you at the same speed, the outcomes will be very different. The size and weight of moving objects does have a bearing on things such as property damage and injuries. Tractor trailers don’t move very much if you hit them with a small compact car. So, all the forces of that impact are usually absorbed by the smaller, lighter vehicle.
The use of seat belts
Not wearing a seatbelt can make your head hit the steering wheel and cause other types of closed type head injuries. Or even worse, get ejected out of the car. What would have been a minor injury now has turned into a catastrophic one.
Airbag Deployment
Airbags are designed to save lives. In some rare cases they also can cause injuries. Burns to the face and neck, and broken bones.
Where the car was hit
If you get hit directly where you are sitting, your injury and soreness will be much more severe. Where your car was hit and the speed at which it was traveling will have a direct bearing on how long you are sore.
Severity of injury
The severity of injury is obvious depending on how long you will be sore after an accident. Injuries can take days, weeks, or months to heal depending on the severity and type.
You age and past medical conditions.
It also may include your age, any current or past medical conditions you may have had. Putting a number on how you will be sore is very hard to do, it has everything to do with the individual that was injured in the car wreck.
After the accident: medical care
Did you wait to see a doctor or go right away? In some cases, people wait until the pain becomes unbearable before they visit a doctor. Waiting can prolong how long you will be sore. Furthermore, it’s advisable to seek medical care immediately following the crash to ensure you don’t have any hidden injuries. This allows the doctor to start treating the affected area eliminating prolonged soreness and inflammation.
How long will I be sore after my car accident depends on the injuries as well?
The type of injury you sustained has a lot to do with how long you will be sore after your car wreck. You may have suffered broken bones or have soft tissue injuries. No matter what injury you have suffered, you need to seek medical attention ASAP after you have been involved in an auto accident.
A car wreck leads to different kinds of impact on the body. If you are lucky (i.e. if you were wearing a seat belt and your car had an airbag) these injuries are not too severe. However, any injury requires immediate medical attention.
Soft tissue injuries
This is when the car wreck has caused an injury to the weaker areas of the body such as the tendons, muscles, and the ligaments. These injuries can be in the form of sprains, bruises, or strains. An injury to the soft tissues results in soreness and stiffness which cause great pain.
Soft tissue injury occurs in auto accidents, but can occur with other activities such as sports, aircraft accidents, etc. The more severe the collision, the greater the force felt, the higher the chances of injury to the victims.
How long you are sore following the soft tissue injury depends on the impact of the car accident. Ice packs, pain killers, and muscle relaxers can help you function, but they will not heal anything. Ice packs, rest, compression, elevation, are used to treat the soreness.
Physical Therapy from a PT or Chiropractor can be utilized to help with the soreness. However, it is always advised to seek medical attention to rule out fractures and internal bleeding.
Soreness areas (soft tissue)
- Arm Pain
- Back Pain
- Contusions (bruising)
- Headaches
- Leg Pain
- Muscle Weakness
- Neck Pain
- Shoulder Pain
- Whiplash
Injuries that are a direct result of a car accident have an impact on how sore you will be and how long they will last. Proper medical care can prevent soreness and pain.
You will be sore after you have been involved in a car accident, how long depends on many factors. The soreness you feel may be ligaments and tendons that have stretched beyond their range of motion. Your body type or previous medical conditions may have an impact on how long you will be sore after your car accident.
Whiplash
A very common type of damage that occurs during an accident is that of whiplash. This is an injury that affects the neck and the head due to the sudden back and forth of the neck because of the accident. The injury results in soreness of the neck, sharp pain in the neck and discomfort in the back.
In the case of whiplash, the pain is not only felt immediately but also emerges regularly in the next few days following the accident.
The soreness of the neck may seem very minor, but if not treated properly it can result in even more issues further down the road. If ignored the victim may experience extreme discomfort to the point that regular movement may get affected. Treatment of whiplash includes direct spine and neck manipulation, ice, heat.
Broken Bones
How sore you will be after you have broken a bone in a car accident may depend on what you broke. Broken bones may require surgery to set. Pins or rods may be used to set a broken bone. How long you will be sore after a broken bone depends on what bone you broke and how long it takes to heal.
Common broken bones in car accidents
Arm
Ribs
Sternum
Legs
A broken Tibia will require surgery to fix, and you will be sore for quite some time. If you suffered a broken rib, you may find yourself sleeping in a recliner. Broken ribs may stay sore for 4-6 weeks. Unless your rib punctured soft tissue, there is not a lot a doctor can do for a broken rib other than to tell you it is broken. Broken bones can initially be very painful. You may be sore for quite some time during the healing process.
Seeing a doctor or medical provider
70% of people involved in an auto crash that saw a doctor experience pain and are sore for up to six weeks after the car accident; for those that did not receive medical attention those numbers are much higher.
The car crash is over in a matter of seconds, but as mentioned above, the effects stay for a while and can impact one for an extended period. It is for this reason a medical checkup is essential after a car wreck to assess possible hidden injuries and provide treatment for those injuries as quickly as possible.
When you see a doctor right after a car accident, he is going to check several things. They may do X RAYS, MRI, or a CT. These imaging services can tell the doctor if he is dealing with a broken bone or soft tissue injuries. An accident doctor is going to recommend a treatment plan that will help you stay sore and reduce your pain.
It’s important to follow the doctor’s advice and stay on your treatment plan. In some cases, the patient will quit going to the doctor. If you have a personal injury case, this could be detrimental to it. Before quitting your treatment plan it’s important to talk to your doctor or attorney and explain why you want to quit.
How long will I be sore after an auto accident?
How long you are sore after a car wreck depends on many factors. Every car accident is different, injuries suffered from auto accidents can be mild to severe. Your soreness level will depend on if you see a doctor. If you never see a doctor after a car wreck, there is no doubt you will be sore longer than someone who did visit a doctor and receive treatment for their injuries to put a definitive answer on how long you are sore would depend on the severity of the accident and the severity of your injuries.
If you have been driving for quite some time and have not experienced a car wreck, you are lucky. However, there is a probable chance to be in one at any point in time you will be involved in an auto accident. So, it’s better to educate yourself as to what you need to do after an auto accident and the medical care you need to take afterwards.