If you, like most Texas residents, drive on a daily basis, you have a high chance of being involved in a car accident. Though you may have driven years without experiencing a collision, your luck recently ran out, and you have felt shaken and achy since. It is important that you pay attention to any pain or discomfort you have because even seemingly minor issues could point to more serious harm.
Hopefully, you went to your primary care doctor for an assessment even if you did not receive medical treatment immediately after the accident. Of course, if you are experiencing pain, going to your doctor is a smart step to take. In particular, if you experience leg pain after the crash, you do not want to write it off as something inconsequential.
A symptom of other injuries
It can be difficult at times to pinpoint exactly where or why a part of the body hurts. If you experienced shooting leg pain after the crash, you may have chalked it up to your leg hitting something or something hitting your leg during the accident. However, leg pain could point to other injuries, including the following:
- Whiplash: Like many people, you likely think of serious neck pain when you think of whiplash, but this injury can also cause leg pain.
- Sciatica: If the accident caused you to suffer an injury to your sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back down the back of each leg, you may experience leg pain and back pain or numbness. If left untreated, permanent nerve damage could result.
- Piriformis syndrome: The piriformis muscle is in your buttock, and if the accident caused compression of that muscle, you could experience pain symptoms similar to those of sciatica as well as muscle spasms and buttock pain in addition to leg pain.
- Back injury: If you feel pain in both of your legs that travels below the knee, you may have suffered a back injury, like a herniated disc or other serious harm.
It may seem easy to dismiss leg pain as nothing serious, but in reality, it could point to an injury that needs medical attention.
Dealing with the effects of your injury
It is always best to allow medical professionals to assess your symptoms and determine what injuries may be causing your pain. In the event that your leg pain does point to a more serious injury, one that could have lasting repercussions and negative impacts on your life, you may face a number of difficulties. Missed work, medical bills and more could cause financial hardships for which you may want to pursue compensation. If another driver caused the injury-causing accident, you may want to look into your legal options.