Are you suffering from a headache after a car accident? Headaches can be incredibly painful and may indicate that you suffered from a serious or even life-threatening injury. If you’re currently experiencing a headache that resulted from a crash, it’s best to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Here at Lee Steinberg Law Firm, our Michigan car accident lawyers represent personal injury victims. So if you’ve suffered from a head injury or another affliction after a collision, you can contact our team, and we’ll help you recover the full compensation you deserve.
Here’s what you need to know about headaches after car accidents and what you should do when suffering from this potentially-serious condition.
Are Headaches Common After a Car Accident?
It’s incredibly common for car accident victims to suffer from headaches, as many injuries one may sustain in a crash can cause temporary or chronic pain and discomfort.
Some types of car accident injuries that can cause headaches include:
- Whiplash: Whiplash is a common injury that occurs when the head and neck are forcefully jerked back and forth during a collision. This sudden movement strains the neck muscles and ligaments, leading to tension or cervicogenic headaches.
- Spinal Injuries: Car accidents can also cause different types of injuries to the spinal bones, including pinched nerves, herniated discs, and bulges in the spine. These conditions can cause radiating pain from the neck to the head, resulting in headaches.
- Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Injuries: The forceful impact of a car accident can cause injuries to the temporomandibular (jaw) joint. TMJ injuries can lead to headaches, particularly in the temples or around the jaw area.
- Head and Facial Trauma: Car accident victims may sustain head and facial injuries, such as fractures, contusions, or lacerations. These injuries can result in headaches due to localized pain, inflammation, or damage to the nerves and blood vessels in the affected area.
- Concussions: A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that may cause you to suffer from minor or severe headaches. This condition may also cause dizziness, nausea, confusion, sensitivity to light and noise, and more. These injuries are relatively common in car accidents due to the force of impact.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Concussions are the most common type of TBI, but car accident victims may suffer more serious brain injuries, such as a diffuse axonal injury (DAI) or brain contusion. Other TBI symptoms besides headaches include dizziness, memory problems, trouble concentrating, seizures, vomiting, personality changes, and more.
Your headache may indicate a serious or even life-threatening injury, such as a spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury, so you should seek medical attention immediately.
How Long Do Headaches Last After a Car Accident?
Because many different injuries can cause headaches, it’s challenging to predict how long a victim may suffer from this condition. For example, a headache after a car accident may subside within only a few minutes, but it can also last for a week or even longer.
Many car accident victims suffer from episodic headaches, meaning that they occur regularly but less than 15 times per month. However, others may suffer from chronic headache pain, which means that they suffer continuously or the headache occurs more than 15 times per month.
Suffering from chronic headaches may indicate an incredibly serious condition, but regardless of your headache’s duration or frequency, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible to diagnose the problem.
What to Do After Suffering from a Headache Caused by a Car Accident
If you’ve experienced a car accident and are now suffering from a headache, you need to take immediate action to ensure your safety and recover compensation for your injuries:
- Call an Ambulance: If you’re still at the accident scene and you or someone else involved in the collision has suffered from serious injuries, you need to call 911. Receive medical treatment at the scene of the accident, and allow the emergency responders to transport you to the hospital if necessary.
- Contact the Police: You’re legally obligated to contact the police after a crash in Michigan if anyone is injured or if the accident results in more than $1,000 in property damage. Wait for the police to arrive on the scene and answer their questions. The police will create an accident report that you can use as evidence when filing your claim.
- Seek Medical Attention: Even if you don’t require emergency medical treatment, you should receive medical attention as soon as possible in case you’ve suffered from a serious or life-threatening injury. Receiving immediate medical attention is also important for proving that the car accident caused your injuries. You should also continue receiving treatment per your physician’s instructions.
- Contact a Car Accident Attorney: The sooner you get in touch with an attorney, the better. A car accident lawyer can assist you in gathering crucial evidence to support your claim. An experienced attorney can also handle communication with the other driver’s insurance company, navigate complex legal procedures, and leverage their experience to advocate for a higher settlement on your behalf.
- Inform Your Auto Insurance Company: You’ll need to submit a No-Fault benefits application with your insurance company within a year of the accident. This application should detail your injuries as well as when and where the accident occurred.
- Avoid Communication with the Other Driver’s Insurance Company: You should never communicate with the negligent driver’s insurance company directly. Instead, have a car accident attorney communicate with them on your behalf. It’s especially important to avoid signing a settlement or agreeing to a recorded statement without your attorney’s guidance.
Contact a Michigan Car Accident Lawyer
If you’re suffering from chronic headaches or another condition after a car accident, you should contact a Michigan car accident attorney to assist you with your case. Your attorney can help you recover the compensation you deserve that’s not covered by your no-fault insurance policy.
For expert car accident and traumatic brain injury lawyers, contact Lee Steinberg Law Firm. Call us today at 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733), or you can schedule a FREE case evaluation online here.
