Feeling Fine After a Crash? Delayed Symptoms Still Matter

If you were in a car accident and feel off a day or two later, you’re not imagining it. Delayed symptoms after a car accident are health problems that appear hours, days or longer after the crash, not always at the scene.

Common delayed symptoms include neck and back pain, headaches, dizziness, numbness or tingling, belly pain, and changes in sleep or mood. Some of them need emergency care right away.

Why do some symptoms show up hours or days after a crash?

Symptoms often start hours or days after a crash because shock and adrenaline can hide pain while you’re still at the scene. Many people feel fine that day and sore the next. Muscles, ligaments and joints can stiffen and swell over the following day or two, and that’s when pain becomes easier to notice.

Brain injuries can follow the same pattern. The Brain Trauma Foundation states that brain damage after a traumatic brain injury can worsen or develop during the hours and days after a crash. Feeling okay early doesn’t mean the crash caused no injury. It means symptoms haven’t shown up yet.

A symptom that appears days later can still be tied to the crash. New Mexico’s Herrera v. Quality Pontiac decision explains that a proximate cause produces an injury in a natural and continuous sequence. It doesn’t have to be the only cause. Whether a specific symptom is linked to your crash depends on the facts.

What delayed symptoms should you watch for after a crash?

The most common delayed symptoms include neck pain, back pain, headaches, dizziness and numbness. Write each one down when it starts, not from memory later.

• Neck and shoulder pain or stiffness. Pain may limit how far you can turn your head.
• Low back or hip pain. Pain that spreads, moves or changes over time deserves a provider’s review.
• Headaches, dizziness or blurry vision. These can signal a head injury.
• Ringing in the ears or trouble concentrating. Note when it started and how often it happens.
• Numbness, tingling or weakness in the arms, hands, legs or feet.
• Sleep changes, fatigue or unusual irritability.

Concussion symptoms are easy to miss. In a study of concussion in college students, researchers reported that symptoms can affect thinking, physical function, emotions and sleep. They can last long enough to affect daily life or work. That study did not look at car accidents, so it describes concussion in general.

Why do I feel sick after a car accident?

Feeling sick after a crash often has more than one cause. Physical injury, the body’s stress response, pain and poor sleep can all happen at once.

Nausea, lightheadedness or a general sense of being unwell can point to a head injury or an internal injury. Those symptoms deserve a medical check. Tell your provider about every symptom, even ones that seem minor or unrelated. A medical provider decides which tests make sense.

Some symptoms last a long time. A randomized trial of mild traumatic brain injury reported persistent postconcussion symptoms involving memory, sleep, mood and quality of life. That trial doesn’t show when symptoms first start after a car accident. It does show why lasting symptoms deserve follow-up.

What is the most common injury from a car accident?

Many people who feel fine at the scene later report neck and back soft-tissue pain. Soft tissue means muscles, tendons and ligaments. A whiplash-type injury is one common example.

Other injuries that show up after crashes include head injuries, shoulder and knee injuries, and chest or belly bruising from a seatbelt or airbag. Serious injuries such as spinal cord injuries, fractures and internal bleeding can happen in many kinds of crashes. That’s why symptoms should be checked rather than assumed to be minor. You can read more on our spinal cord injury page.

Can anxiety and emotional symptoms show up after a car accident?

Yes. Anxiety, nervousness when driving, nightmares, flashbacks and trouble sleeping are common emotional responses after a collision.

These symptoms can appear days or weeks after the crash. They can affect work, family life and driving. Someone who once drove a highway every day may start avoiding it. Note that change in your records.

Tell a medical provider or mental health professional about emotional symptoms. The trial linked above also reported anxiety and PTSD-type symptoms among persistent problems after brain injury. Including them gives a full picture of how the crash has affected you.

When do delayed symptoms need emergency care right away?

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away for a severe or worsening headache, confusion, repeated vomiting, fainting, seizures, slurred speech or vision loss.

Get emergency care, too, for new weakness or numbness that is spreading, loss of bladder or bowel control, or trouble breathing.

Severe or worsening belly pain, a swollen or hard belly, or pain that won’t settle needs prompt medical evaluation. Seatbelts can bruise the chest and belly, and that pain should be checked, not waited out. If symptoms keep going after a first visit, go back and tell the provider.

How do you track symptoms and take your next step?

Write down each symptom, when it began, how strong it is and what makes it better or worse. Keep copies of medical visits, prescriptions and bills. Save photos of the vehicles and the scene, plus the police report number.

New Mexico has reporting steps after a crash. A driver involved in a crash that causes bodily injury or death, or property damage to an apparent extent of $500 or more, must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice to police if the crash occurs within a municipality, or otherwise to the county sheriff or the nearest New Mexico State Police office (NMSA 1978, § 66-7-206). The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash that causes bodily injury or death, or total property damage to an apparent extent of $500 or more, must forward a written report to the Department of Transportation within five days after the crash (NMSA 1978, § 66-7-207).

Frequently asked questions