A doctor checking his patient for chest pain sustained in an accident.Car accidents bring terrible pain, trauma, and costly losses. One would hope that a few trips to the doctor’s office or the physical therapist would be enough to begin feeling better, but when there is a sudden pain in your chest, the worst might be far from over.

With high speeds and a sudden jolt to a stop, victims of a car accident may endure injuries to their chests. Some feel delayed pain that limits their strength and mobility and may indicate a dangerous medical condition.

Chest pain — no matter the circumstances — is always concerning and requires medical attention right away. It can emerge days or even weeks after a crash.

If you were in a car accident and suffered chest pains, call Bert McDowell Injury Law. No one should have to go through the fear and added expense of receiving and treating an injury to the chest caused by a negligent driver.

Do not settle for less, and call our local Hartford office today. Schedule a free case review when you call us at (203) 633-7449 or reach us online when you complete our form.

A Hartford Car Accident Chest Pain Attorney Is Here for You

Reaching out to an experienced personal injury lawyer after a car accident is often key to receiving the compensation you need to repay medical bills and other damages derived from the accident. While one has the option to file a claim and work on their case alone, the amounts they may miss out on may leave them in the red, paying out of pocket for expenses and losses that should have been covered.

Car accident chest pain attorneys know the ins and outs of properly processing claims, what to expect, and how to resolve the claim with the best interests of their clients in mind. When you choose to work with an experienced Hartford car accident attorney, they will be able to:

  • Explain the claims process and what to expect throughout
  • Collect and review all evidence to determine liability
  • Calculate all medical costs and other damages, including projected future losses
  • Put together a claim and submit it to the negligent party’s insurance company
  • Negotiate with all other parties until a satisfying settlement is reached
  • Represent your case in a lawsuit or jury trial if no insurance settlement can be agreed upon

What Should You Do if You Feel Chest Pain After a Car Accident?

Injury and pain are both frustrating and impact the way a victim lives their life, but what happens when the pain comes much later after the crash? Maybe days or weeks — even in some cases months after an accident — a victim can begin to experience chest pains.

One thing is certain: chest pains are frightening, as most think of a heart attack or, worse, a medical condition they will not survive.

Seek Medical Care

If you begin to feel chest pain, always seek medical attention immediately. When it comes to matters of the heart, time is of the essence.

The quicker you address the pain, the sooner the medical staff will be able to come to a diagnosis and treat your pain. Doctors may perform different scans to help get to the bottom of things, like CT scans, MRIs, or X-rays.

Some of the injuries seen in car accidents that cause chest pains are rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, and sternal fractures. On rarer occasions, severe thoracic injuries led to fatal outcomes, which included ruptures to the aorta or the heart or lungs.

Document What Happened

While not always possible, depending on the severity of your injuries, doing what you can to document the scene helps prove the negligent party’s liability. If possible, take pictures of the scene, get information for possible witnesses, and contact and insurance information from the other driver.

Receiving the insurance information from the other driver is critical when pursuing a compensation claim. In addition, when the police arrive at the scene and perform their investigation, contribute as much information as you can to be documented in a police report.

A copy of this document is issued to all parties involved. It contains the police’s preliminary conclusions as to the possible causes of the wreck, and it will list any citations if they apply.

Call a Hartford Car Accident Chest Pain Lawyer

The last step is to call your personal injury lawyer. Hospital bills, medication costs, and lost time at work all come at a cost, and it should not be left for you to bear on your own.

Chest pain may take surgery, hospitalization, and many weeks of therapy to successfully heal from, meaning that the victims will be busy handling multiple appointments on top of handling their typical daily responsibilities.

At Bert McDowell Injury Law, our team of experienced personal injury lawyers has helped many find a satisfying solution to their losses. Personal injury attorneys will ensure that all the evidence is reviewed, that your claim is properly built and submitted within a reasonable time, and that you receive necessary communications throughout the process.

More importantly, a personal injury attorney will step in to be your representative and advocate while you focus on healing and working toward normalcy.

Chest Pains Symptoms

Even if your chest pain appears minor, seek medical care right away. Pain can be anything from a burning sensation to limiting mobility to the arms and shoulders.

Some common symptoms felt by victims affected by a chest pain injury include:

  • Pain when coughing, laughing, sneezing, breathing deeply, or when lying on one’s stomach
  • Limited movement in the torso, chest, shoulders
  • Tenderness around the ribs
  • Bruising and swelling in your torso
  • A ‘crunchy’ or ‘crackling’ feeling under your skin or your ribs
  • Coughing up blood

The bottom line is that chest injuries can be from many different problems, and the only way to confirm the root cause is through a medical evaluation and scans. Getting medical care right away is the only solution to coming to a diagnosis and beginning treatment.

Common Reasons for Chest Pains After a Car Accident

One would think that chest pains happen only after a major car accident, but they happen more frequently than that, even during what is normally considered a minor accident. Chest pain can be caused by seat belts or airbags, as the force of the crash will propel the victim against their restraints.

Although these preventative measures are placed in cars to prevent serious injury, seat belts, and airbags sometimes cause injuries. The seat belt design is meant to keep a person inside their car and in their seat in the quick moments of a crash.

Without a seat belt or the deployment of an airbag, victims will be tossed against their steering wheel or ejected from the car, causing more severe and possibly fatal injuries.

Some causes of chest pain are:

  • Bruised ribs
  • Fractured ribs
  • Heart attack
  • Muscle strains
  • Organ injuries
  • Whiplash

Bruised Ribs

Like your organs, ribs can also become bruised after a car accident. Victims are thrown against their seat belts, which will lock to prevent them from experiencing more severe injuries.

However, in return, their ribs will press against the seat belt with significant force, causing bruising that can lead to serious discomfort for many days.

Fractured Ribs

Tenderness to the skin over the ribs, pain while breathing, coughing, laughing, and more may all be symptoms of broken ribs. Chest pain can be caused by broken ribs or other breaks to the surrounding bones in the thoracic area.

Any fractures in this body part can be extremely dangerous as the ribs protect vital organs from damage. A broken bone may possibly puncture or damage the organs they are meant to protect.

Heart Attack

Car accidents put a lot of stress on the body, and with the right circumstances, they can cause a heart attack days, weeks, or even months after the crash. Victims typically feel significant chest pain and possibly pain going down their arms.

They may feel sluggish and tired. Especially for victims older than 65, they are at a higher risk of having a heart attack even up to 180 days after a crash.

If you suspect that you may be having a heart attack, seek medical care immediately.

Organ Injuries

The heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, and other surrounding organs can be damaged in a car accident and are life-threatening. Punctures, bruising, swelling, and rupture of internal organs are all possible injuries that one can endure after a crash.

Organ injuries can cause a build-up of fluid and more severe medical events, like a heart attack or cardiac arrest.

Whiplash

The sudden jolt forward and back puts a lot of strain on your neck, shoulders, arms, and chest. Although this medical diagnosis is the least severe out of all other possible outcomes, it does not mean that it is painless.

Victims who suffer from whiplash experience pain, tension, limited mobility, and strength for many weeks after an accident.

Hire a Trusted Local Hartford Car Accident Chest Pain Law Firm

Facing a chest injury after a crash is terrifying and requires an immediate medical evaluation and diagnosis. If you experienced chest pain after a car accident, call a personal injury attorney right away.

Leave evaluating evidence, building a solid claim, and negotiating with insurance companies up to the pros while you focus on recovering from your injury. Handling car accident claims, especially those that include chest injuries, can have their own complexities that the average person does not have the time, experience, or patience for.

If you are feeling chest pains because of a recent car accident, seek medical attention right away and call Bert McDowell Injury Law. We are here to help.

Give us a call in Hartford at (203) 633-7449 or contact us online to schedule a free case review with an experienced attorney near you today.