If you get involved in a car accident, one of the most important steps to take is simply to seek medical attention. This may be provided by EMTs at the crash scene, for instance, or by the staff at a local emergency room. But it’s important to talk to these medical professionals to get their opinion on your injuries.
There are those, however, who say that they haven’t been injured at all and refuse medical treatment. You are certainly allowed to do this, but it is risky. It’s possible that you are injured and you don’t even know it, so refusing treatment just delays the type of medical care that you actually need. This could make your condition or your symptoms worse. Let’s look at one way that this can happen.
The role of adrenaline
For one thing, the adrenaline rush that you feel after the car accident can sometimes mask the pain of your injuries. You are still hurt, but those injuries either are not apparent or do not seem nearly as bad as they actually are.
By creating this adrenaline rush, your body is trying to help you get through a traumatic situation in which you’ve been hurt. It’s part of your fight or flight syndrome, and it can help people survive traumatic experiences. But it can also cause issues after the fact if it makes you assume that you aren’t injured and so you delay critical medical care.
If it turns out that you do have serious injuries that were caused by a negligent driver, then it may also be important to look into your options to seek financial compensation.
