Car accident pain is common, but if it lingers for weeks or months after your accident, you may be wondering if something more serious is going on. Here are some guidelines for determining whether or not your car accident pain needs a more serious medical evaluation.

Location of Pain

Pain that's located in your arms and legs may point to a broken bone. Even if the pain isn't severe, a hairline fracture could need attention to be corrected. Pain in the back and neck can be serious. It may indicate that there's a spinal injury, especially if it doesn't get better.

Longevity of Pain

Pain that's due to muscular tension or shock should go away after a few weeks at least, assuming that you are doing some massage, stretching, or exercise to get rid of tension. If it doesn't go away, then you may have a more severe injury to deal with.

Slow Onset

Similarly, pain that wasn't there to begin with but is now getting worse is something to be concerned about. If it's something that will resolve on its own, it should be getting better. And pain that slowly evolves is a classic sign of hidden spinal damage from a car accident.

Accompanied By Other Unusual Sensations

Another sign of serious injury is that your pain is accompanied by other sensations that you aren't used to. For example, have you felt tingling or numbness in your extremities? Check this out right away. It could be a sign of neurological damage.

Only a medical evaluation can tell you for sure whether your car accident injury is serious. A chiropractic or physical therapy evaluation at a clinic like Physical Therapy Center PC will be helpful even if your injury turns out to be no big deal. If you're having recurring symptoms to the point where you're worried about your health, getting the right medical care is important; it could potentially correct a serious injury or provide fast pain relief. Plus, chiropractic knowledge of your bodily system can be helpful for correcting ongoing issues with posture and spinal health that can affect your body in so many ways.

Chiropractic and physical therapy treatments for car accident pain will vary based on the cause and symptoms, but it might involve using massage techniques or giving you at-home exercises and braces to use to improve your spinal health and alignment. Physical therapy treatments are especially popular for rehabilitating a neck or limb that has been sprained during an accident. Ongoing treatment may be needed to fully eliminate whiplash pain, but it's worth the effort to make sure you don't have any long-lasting effects of your accident.