Hi, in this video, we will discuss a question I received recently: “how does a car accident feel?” My name is Matt Eason. I’ve been practicing personal injury law for over 25 years. We get a ton of different questions, and this one came in yesterday.
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The question of “how a car accident feels” is probably best analogized to “what does hot sauce taste like?” Quite frankly, it varies dramatically depending on the salsa or hot sauce and the car accident.
Most people who are involved in a car accident initially are just grateful to be alive. You’re sitting there at the scene of the accident, and you look down at yourself. There’s no blood on you. Your bones aren’t popping out of you, and you can move. So, at that exact moment, most people don’t feel anything from a car accident. If anything, it’s a euphoria of being alive.
People who have suffered a soft tissue injury in a car accident, though, will start to feel symptoms of that soft tissue injury 30 minutes to a couple of hours after the accident, when that euphoria is beginning to wear off. And then, the general feeling of being in a car accident will be like having gone to the gym for the first time, where you’re feeling a little bit of pain. Your mind is thinking, “Oh, I might be sore. I am still alive. I feel good.”
Many people wake up the next morning, and now their muscles are starting to tighten up, and they’re starting to feel sore after the accident. What will happen is that feeling will sometimes be in your back, then your neck, and then your shoulder. It feels like it’s just pulling on it. It’s a generalized pain.
What’s really unexpected for many people is that pain feels like it’s moving around. At one point in time of the day, it will feel like it’s in their shoulder, then in their back, and then back in their shoulder, then in their neck, and back again. The pain moving around their body is confusing to a lot of people.
What is happening is all of those muscles were overworked in the accident. They’re all fighting for attention and recovery. That constant fight and battle amongst them gives you this odd feeling of why the pain moves around.
Most people find a successful resolution to a soft tissue injury through physical therapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, or acupuncture. Some physical manipulation in your muscles can help those muscles recover and reduce the time you’re in that uncomfortable feeling.
After a first gym session in a long time, you will wake up in the morning sore, and that soreness at that level usually lasts for about two full days. You are still sore on the third and fourth days, but it is more of a moderate soreness. By day five and six, it is usually a mild soreness. By day seven, you’re unsure if you’re sore or if it’s between the ears, and you don’t want to go back to the gym. For most people, by day eight, you are completely recovered, and you can go back to the gym. If you’re not, that’s usually a sign that you did something more significant than overworking your muscles.
A car accident lifecycle is very similar to going to the gym, except that instead of two days, two days, and two days, it typically is two to three weeks, two to three weeks, and two to three weeks. The reason for the extended period from a car accident to the gym is that when you go to the gym, you overwork one muscle or muscle group. For a few days, you just relax and rest those muscles. Unfortunately, you overworked several muscles or several muscle groups from a car accident, so those muscles are pulling on each other and fighting each other for attention.
We will have clients come in, saying, “Yesterday, the pain was in my neck. It’s in my back today, and an hour ago, it was in my shoulder.” The pain feels like it’s moving around because it’s a constant tug of war between your muscles for attention. It’s that tug of war, and the muscle’s inability to rest typically has the pain lasting instead of two days, two days, and two days lasting two to three weeks, two to three weeks, and two to three weeks.
When you go to the doctor’s office or hospital after a car accident, one of the most common drugs they prescribe you is a drug called Flexeril. It’s a name brand for a muscle relaxant, and as a muscle relaxant, it does just that. It’s a big giant pill to get your muscles to back off each other and stop fighting each other. Unfortunately, Flexeril is probably the number one drug taken one time and then never again because it just makes you feel icky.
Most people have better results with some kind of holistic therapy instead of drugs. Physical therapy is a great remedy. In addition, chiropractic care and acupressure or acupuncture can be great holistic treatments for muscle tissue injuries. Hopefully, getting that type of holistic care can accelerate your healing time and thus reduce the length of time you’re sore overall.
Like when you go to the gym and you get past the eight-day mark, if you are still in a lot of pain, that is usually a sign that you need to follow up with a physician for possibly some imaging to determine if you tore a muscle and need some surgical intervention or something else. A car accident is very similar when you get past week six, eight, or ten, and you are still in a lot of pain, then that is usually a good sign that you need to get into a physician. You may need an MRI or some other type of imaging to determine exactly what is wrong with you.
Again, my name is Matt Eason, and I’ve been practicing personal injury law for over 25 years here in Sacramento. If you have been involved in a car accident in Sacramento and are confused about the pain, what you’re going through, and what you need to do in the future, I hope you consider contacting our car accident law firm. It’s Eason & Tambornini. We are located at 1234 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Our phone number is 916-438-1819
