It is common for an Illinois accident victim to have seemingly minor to moderate injuries and not seek medical attention following a mishap. When injuries are not major, many affected individuals try to let the injury heal without treatment. These types of injuries can range from bruises to any impact in the cranial area that does not manifest immediately. However, there are those who are impacted in the cranial area who do not suffer external injury at first only to experience pain as time goes on. This occurrence is a clear sign that the patient may actually have internal injuries known as post-concussion syndrome.
What is post-concussion trauma?
Post-concussion syndrome commonly occurs after an MVA when a victim experiences cognitive problems. The problems are first recognized as pain or swelling in the cranial region. What someone considers just a lump on the head could also have affected the brain to some degree. The question is how solid was the impact and how much damage is done. Even a simple concussion can linger for a significant time as it develops and worsens into PCTS.
Symptoms of post-concussion syndrome
While some lower-level head injuries do go away with time and heal normally, some do not. There are signs that the injury is more severe than was anticipated when certain things such as amnesia and persistent headaches continue after the accident. Illinois MVA attorneys advise that seeking medical attention is imperative when this is happening because there could well be an extensive injury that has gone undetected before the continuing repercussion pain. The pain is a clear indicator of the problem, but it takes in-depth medical evaluation to pinpoint the exact damage and produce a long-term prognosis for the issue.
The problem for these accident victims is that brain injury can have a dramatic long-term impact on the life of the injured. MVA victims only have one opportunity for financial justice following an accident in most cases, and it is vital to have a comprehensive evaluation of any injury as soon as possible following a collision. This is why it is so important to always seek medical attention following any head injury, regardless of the perceived injury extent.