consider being examined by a medical professional to make sure you haven’t sustained injuries. The timeframe for your physical
It’s important to seek medical assistance after a crash.
recovery depends upon the seriousness and permanence of your physical injuries. Physical recovery may never be complete. Even if your injuries are not severe, you may move a little slower than others or may experience intermittent pain. If you sustained serious injuries after the crash you have probably already seen a number of doctors and may have
spent a significant amount of time in a health care setting. You may have been released from a hospital and are now going through rehabilitation. At any point in the process, recovering to the best of your body’s ability may depend on the hope and courage you have in following the advice of your physicians, no matter how tired and frustrated you get.
The healing process is different for each person.
Head and Brain Injuries
Many victims and survivors experience silent, unseen, and sometimes undiagnosed injuries to the brain. In fact, substance impaired driving crashes are a leading cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The crash can cause the brain to bounce back and forth within the skull. This bouncing back and forth causes bruising, bleeding, and even stretching or tearing of important brain structures. Society in general, including some health care providers, believes that in order for a person to have traumatic brain injury, he or she must suffer from a coma, skull fracture, lacerations, or broken bones. This is simply not true. Immediately after a crash, it is not unusual for a head-injured person to discuss what happened with law enforcement officers and emergency medical personnel, or even exchange driver’s license and insurance information. When these things are
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