How to Seek Medical Attention after an Accident?

Regardless of whether you have obvious injuries following an accident, it is always highly recommended that you seek medical attention as soon as possible. There are several injuries that can be asymptomatic for several days following an accident but will still need to be diagnosed as early as possible to ensure that the patient is healthy and does not require any emergency medical treatments. It is common for accidents to lead to internal injuries, which are incredibly difficult to diagnose without the help of a medical professional. It is especially important that those who have had an accident where their head may have made an impact with something seek medical attention right away to rule out the risk of any head injuries that will only worsen if not treated in a timely fashion.

Urgent care clinics are able to take in walk-in patients, whether they have made an appointment or not. This fact is predominantly what distinguishes an urgent care clinic from a normal primary care physician’s office, in that no appointments are required, ensuring that everyone has access to the medical care that they require to treat all unexpected or unplanned injuries or illnesses. Many urgent care clinics will offer extended office hours compared to the average primary care office, making it that much easier to access necessary medical care after an accident. SoCal Urgent Care offers even longer office hours than the average urgent care clinic, making high-quality medical care accessible for everyone and allowing patients to get the care they need following an unexpected accident.

Since there are some injuries that commonly occur following an accident that don’t have obvious symptoms like a visible cut or broken bone, it is important to know what symptoms to look out for to help determine if you should seek medical attention following an accident. These symptoms include:

• Severe headaches, dizziness, ringing in the ears, slurred speech, or confusion: indicative of a serious head injury that requires medical attention as soon as possible.
• Soreness or numbness occurring in the back: possibly indicative of trauma in the back, potential spinal cord injury.
• Internal pain or nausea: indicative of injuries to the internal organs.

Whiplash following a car accident is also incredibly common but often overlooked as it can occur with minimal impact and provide no obvious immediate symptoms. Some underlying symptoms of whiplash to look out for include pain or stiffness of the neck, reoccurring or persistent headaches, and pain that radiates through the arms and shoulders. Damage to the organs and tissues in the abdomen is also common following a car accident due to the pressure from the seatbelt, which may not be visible to the patient but can be indicated through abdominal pain.

Some injuries can take several days to become symptomatic, at which point they may already be severe or incredibly serious if no medical attention or treatment has been sought, so even if you feel fine, it is still highly recommended that following any accident that may have caused an internal injury, whether it be to internal organs, the head, or the spine, that the patient be brought to an urgent care clinic as soon as possible to rule out or treat severe injuries before they worsen. Even minor symptoms or injuries should be assessed shortly after the accident occurs to make sure that a more severe injury does not develop down the road.

At SoCal Urgent Care, you may receive a precise diagnosis and the right kind of care. For more information, please contact us or request an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 710 S Brookhurst St. Suite A, Anaheim, CA 92804 (less than 3 miles away from Disneyland). We serve patients from Anaheim CA, Buena Park CA, La Palma CA, Cerritos CA, Cypress CA, Stanton CA, Garden Grove CA, Fullerton CA, Placentia CA, and Olive CA.