Motor Vehicle Accident: General Precautions
Strong forces may be involved in a car accident. It's important to watch for any new symptoms that may signal hidden injury.
It's normal to feel sore and tight in your muscles and back the next day, and not just the muscles you injured. Remember, all the parts of your body are connected. So while at first one area hurts, the next day another may hurt. Injuries cause inflammation. This then causes the muscles to tighten up and hurt more. After the pain at first gets worse, pain should slowly improve over the next few days. But report more severe pain to your health care provider.
Even without a definite head injury, you can still get a concussion from your head suddenly jerking forward, backward, or sideways. Concussions and even bleeding can still occur, especially if you've had a recent injury, take a blood thinner, or are over age 65. It's common to have a mild headache and feel tired, nauseated, or dizzy. Know what warning signs of concussion to report to your provider.
A motor vehicle accident, even a minor one, can be very stressful and cause emotional or mental symptoms after the event. These may include:
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A general sense of anxiety and fear.
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Recurring thoughts or nightmares about the accident.
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Trouble sleeping or changes in appetite.
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Feeling depressed, sad, or low in energy.
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Being irritable or easily upset.
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Feeling the need to stay away from activities, places, or people that remind you of the accident.
In most cases, these are normal reactions and are not severe enough to get in the way of your normal activities. These feelings often go away in a few days, or sometimes after a few weeks. Talk with your health care provider if they last longer, get worse, or disrupt your daily life.
Home care
Muscle pain, sprains, and strains
Even if you have no visible injury, it's not unusual to be sore all over and have new aches and pains the first couple of days after an accident. Take it easy at first, and don't overdo it.
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At first, don't try to stretch out the sore spots. If there is a strain, stretching may make it worse.
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You can use an ice pack or cold compress on the sore spots for up to 20 minutes at a time, as often as you feel comfortable. This may help reduce the inflammation, swelling, and pain. To make an ice pack, put ice cubes in a plastic bag that seals at the top. Wrap the bag in a clean, thin towel or cloth. Don't put ice directly on your skin.
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After the inflammation and pain go away, you may be left with stiffness. If this is the case, you can use a heating pad, especially on your low back.
Wound care
Medicines
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Talk to your health care provider before taking new medicines, including over-the-counter products, especially if you have other medical problems or are taking other medicines.
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If you need anything for pain, you can take acetaminophen or ibuprofen, unless you were given a different pain medicine to use. Ibuprofen is a good anti-inflammatory that can help with these types of injuries. Talk with your provider before using these medicines if you have medicine allergies or chronic liver or kidney disease, or if you ever had a stomach ulcer or gastrointestinal bleeding, or if you are taking blood thinner medicines. Always follow your health care provider's instructions.
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Be careful if you are given prescription pain medicines, narcotics, or medicine for muscle spasm. They can make you sleepy and dizzy and can affect your coordination, reflexes, and judgment. Don't drive or do work where you can injure yourself when taking them.
Follow-up care
Follow up with your health care provider, or as advised. If emotional or mental symptoms get worse or don't go away, follow up with your provider as soon as you can. You may have a more serious traumatic stress reaction. There are treatments that can help.
If X-rays or CT scans were done, you'll be told if the results show any concerns that affect your treatment.
Call 911
Call 911 if you have:
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Trouble breathing.
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One eye pupil that's larger than the other.
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Repeated vomiting.
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A headache that gets worse or doesn't go away.
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Restlessness or agitation.
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Confusion, drowsiness, or trouble waking up.
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Fainting, loss of consciousness, convulsions, or seizures.
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A fast heart rate.
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Trouble with speech or sight.
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Trouble walking, loss of balance, numbness or weakness in one side of your body, or a facial droop.
When to get medical advice
Call your health care provider right away if you have:
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Pain in your neck, back, belly (abdomen), arm, or leg that is new or gets worse.
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Redness, swelling, or pus coming from any wound.
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Mental or emotional symptoms that don't get better or that get worse.