What You Need to Know
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Chest pain after a car accident is a serious warning sign and may indicate internal injuries
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Seek medical attention immediately, even if the pain feels mild at first
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Symptoms can appear hours or days later, especially with internal bleeding or inflammation
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Medical records play a critical role in your injury claim and directly impact your case value
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Insurance companies often downplay chest injuries, making early legal guidance important
Table of Contents
What to Do Immediately If You Have Chest Pain After a Car Accident
If chest pain occurs after a car accident, seek medical attention immediately, even if the pain feels mild. This may indicate internal injuries like rib fractures or organ damage that are not visible right away. Avoid speaking with insurance companies before getting care. From a legal perspective, early medical documentation protects your claim and helps prove the accident caused your injury. This matters because delays can reduce both your recovery and your case value.
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Seek emergency medical care immediately
If chest pain occurs after a car accident, do not wait to see if it goes away. This may indicate serious internal injuries such as rib fractures, lung damage, or even trauma to the heart. Go to the nearest emergency room or call 911 right away. Getting prompt medical care not only protects your health but also creates critical documentation that connects your injury to the accident. -
Monitor your symptoms closely
Pay attention to any changes in how you feel over the next several hours and days. Chest pain can worsen or new symptoms may appear, including shortness of breath, dizziness, or pain that spreads to your arm or jaw. These changes may indicate a more serious condition developing beneath the surface. Tracking your symptoms carefully helps both your doctors and your legal team understand the full extent of your injury. -
Document your injuries and medical care
Start gathering evidence as soon as possible. Take clear photos of any visible injuries, keep copies of your medical records, and write down how your pain affects your daily life. This may include difficulty sleeping, working, or performing normal activities. From a legal perspective, detailed documentation strengthens your claim and helps prove the impact of your injuries. -
Avoid speaking with insurance adjusters
Insurance companies often reach out quickly after an accident, but their goal is to limit what they pay. If chest pain occurs after a car accident, they may try to downplay your injury or suggest it is not serious. Avoid giving recorded statements or accepting any early settlement offers until you understand the full extent of your condition. What you say early on can be used against you later. -
Contact a car accident lawyer as soon as possible
An experienced attorney can guide you through the next steps and protect your rights from the start. They will handle communication with the insurance company, gather evidence, and ensure your injuries are taken seriously. This matters because chest injuries are often underestimated, and having legal support early can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case.
Get a free case review today and understand your next steps.
Why Chest Pain After a Crash Can Be Dangerous
If chest pain occurs after a car accident, it is often caused by blunt force trauma during the collision. Your chest may have struck the steering wheel, tightened against the seatbelt, or absorbed impact from the airbag. Even in lower-speed crashes, the force placed on your body can be significant.
This may indicate:
- Internal injuries that are not immediately visible
Damage beneath the surface can occur without obvious bruising or external signs. This includes injuries to muscles, blood vessels, or internal structures that may worsen over time. - Organ damage, including the lungs or heart
The chest protects vital organs. Trauma can lead to conditions like a bruised lung (pulmonary contusion) or even injury to the heart muscle, both of which can affect breathing and circulation. - Inflammation or internal bleeding that worsens over time
After an accident, your body may begin to swell or bleed internally. Symptoms can start mild and become severe hours or days later, especially if left untreated.
From a medical perspective, the real danger lies in hidden injuries. You may feel sore or think it’s minor, but serious conditions can develop without immediate warning signs. This is why early evaluation is critical, even if the pain seems manageable at first.
From a legal perspective, this matters because invisible injuries are often challenged by insurance companies. If chest pain occurs after a car accident and you delay treatment, insurers may argue that your injury is not serious or not related to the crash. Prompt medical care creates a clear record that protects both your health and your claim.
Where Chest Injuries Occur After a Car Accident
If chest pain occurs after a car accident, the location of the pain can provide important clues about the type of injury involved. Different areas of the chest protect critical organs, and trauma to each area can lead to different medical risks.
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Upper chest (collarbone area)
Injuries here may involve the clavicle or upper ribs. Pain in this area can make arm movement difficult and may indicate fractures caused by seatbelt force. -
Center chest (sternum)
This area often absorbs direct impact from the steering wheel or airbag. Pain here may indicate a bruised sternum or deeper trauma affecting the heart. -
Side chest (rib cage)
Rib fractures are common in collisions and can cause sharp pain when breathing, coughing, or moving. This may also affect lung function. -
Lower chest
Pain in the lower chest may be linked to internal bleeding or organ damage involving nearby organs. These injuries can become serious if untreated.
From a medical perspective, identifying where your pain is located helps doctors diagnose the underlying injury more quickly.
From a legal perspective, this matters because clearly documented injury locations help connect your symptoms to the crash and support your claim.
Chest injuries are fairly common following automobile accidents in Georgia. They also happen to be one of the most serious injuries that are not always obvious at the time of the collision.
Many car crash survivors become aware of this type of injury after their shock and adrenaline have subsided—sometimes days, weeks or even months later.
Experiencing Chest Pain After a Car Accident?
Learn the crucial steps to take if you suffer from chest pain after an accident. Protect your health and legal rights with professional guidance.
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What Causes Chest Pain After a Car Accident?
During an accident, you can injure your chest by hitting it on the steering wheel, the doors or the dashboard. The seat belt and airbags can also cause chest injuries. A minor blow to the chest can knock the wind out of you. If you continue to have breathing problems, then it could be a sign that organs in your chest have been injured.
Hitting your chest on the steering wheel, dashboard, seat belt or airbag can cause:
- Damage to the sternum which can injure your heart, large blood vessels or esophagus. The sternum is your breastbone, which is the long, flat bone located in the center of the chest and connected to your ribs by cartilage.
- Damage to the trachea. The trachea is your windpipe, which is the tube that is made up of sturdy rings of cartilage through which air is transported to and from your lungs.
- A punctured lung. The force from a car accident can break a rib and cause it to tear the lung deeply enough that it seeps air into the chest cavity. Once a lung has been punctured, the result can be a collapsed lung.
- Injury to the kidneys, if the blow is to the back of the chest.
- Injury to the spleen, if the blow is to the lower or side chest. Your spleen is a fist-sized organ located in the upper left side of your abdomen.
- Fractured ribs. The rib cage protects your heart, lungs and other major blood vessels.
Injuries from airbags
During a crash, the airbag is inflated with a chemical propellant, causing the bag to deploy in less than 5 one-hundredths of a second. This inflation also tightens the seat belts. The airbag is a lifesaving safety device, but it can cause an injury due to this violent deployment.
The combustion that occurs when an airbag deploys can cause burns to a driver or passenger’s chest, neck, face and arms. The burn is similar to a chemical burn and very painful. The force of the airbag deployment can bruise the skin, and the noise can cause hearing loss.
The safety of airbags has increased over the years. When airbags were first used, there were several claims from individuals who suffered severe burns and scars to their face, chest and arms. Today, there are only rare cases of chest injuries from an airbag. In these cases, the injuries suffered typically include rib fractures, sternum fractures, bruising, rupture of the aorta, pneumonia and a heart attack.
Are Seatbelts and Airbags Safe?
Generally speaking, being restrained by a seatbelt is much safer than not wearing one at all.
However, the National Institutes of Health have published several papers documenting the few fatalities that were caused by airbags. These cases involved extensive rib fractures, severe bruising within the chest cavity, and cuts and punctures of the heart and its surrounding membranes.
In most of these cases, the occupant was significantly below average height and sat less than 10 inches from the steering wheel. This caused the airbag to generate the full force of the deployment to the occupant’s chest. Sometimes, the driver was slumped forward due to another injury, causing this same effect.
This is why children younger than 12 should ride in the back seat, and a rear-facing infant seat should never be placed where there is an active airbag.
Chest Injury Symptoms
Chest injuries may cause you to feel soreness beneath your ribs or pain when you breathe. Other symptoms of a chest wall injury are pain when you cough, take a deep breath and laugh. It can also be painful to move in bed and walk.
Symptoms of an injured sternum typically involve intense pain that gets worse when you breathe, cough or rotate your torso. You can also have bruising and swelling over the area of the fracture. A fractured sternum may cause crepitus (a crunching sound made when broken bone ends to rub together).
Symptoms of a damaged trachea are wheezing, stridor (a high-pitched, musical breathing sound), shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing, coughing and hoarseness. If the swelling to the trachea is extensive enough, it can start to block your airway.
Symptoms of lung damage are trouble breathing, shortness of breath, feeling like you are not getting enough air, decreased ability to exercise, coughing, pain or discomfort when breathing in and out.
Symptoms of an injury to the kidney are blood in the urine, right or left abdominal pain, muscle guarding, low back pain, and abdominal bruising, swelling and pain.
Symptoms of an injury to the spleen are pain in the upper left abdomen, tenderness to touch in the upper left abdomen, left shoulder pain, confusion, lightheadedness or dizziness.
Chest pain can limit the movement of your arms, shoulders and trunk. Chest pain can also cause difficulty sleeping and performing your normal daily activities. Chest pain can be exacerbated by coughing, sneezing and laughing. Minor chest injury pain can last days or weeks, while a moderate to severe chest injury can take weeks and months to heal.
When Should You Go to the ER?
If chest pain occurs after a car accident and you experience any of the following symptoms, seek emergency care immediately:
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pressure or tightness
- Pain radiating to your arm or jaw
- Dizziness or fainting
This may indicate a serious condition such as internal bleeding or heart injury.
This matters because waiting too long can lead to severe complications or even death.
What to Do if You Experience Chest Pain After a Car Accident
Chest pain should be treated seriously. If the injuries are not treated immediately, they could worsen significantly. Chest pain may be a symptom of broken ribs, a punctured lung or internal bleeding.
If you have chest pain after a car accident, you should seek medical attention immediately.
A doctor can examine you and order medical testing if they think it is needed. Diagnostic tests include X-rays and CT scans. A doctor can diagnose the extent of your injury and treat you properly.
When you see the doctor, be sure to tell them if you recall hitting anything inside of the vehicle at the time of the accident. This will help the doctor give a more accurate diagnosis and prescribe better treatment.
Treatment and Recovery for Chest Injuries
Treatment for a fractured sternum involves applying ice packs, taking anti-inflammatory drugs and limiting movement as well as avoiding heavy lifting. The typical recovery time for a fractured sternum is about 10-12 weeks, though this timeline will be longer if surgery is required. One potential complication of a chest pain after a car accident is a chest infection. If the fractured sternum is from trauma, it is possible to bruise the underlying lung tissue or heart.
Treatment for damage to the trachea varies significantly depending on the extent of the injury. The trachea can be damaged in an automobile accident as a result of minor bruising or being crushed. The recovery time depends on the extent of the injury. If the trachea is damaged to the extent that it prevents air from entering the lungs, this could be a fatal injury.
Treatment for a punctured lung varies depending on the severity of the trauma and the amount of damage to the lung. If it is a small puncture, you may only need oxygen and rest.
Treatment for injury to the kidneys as a result of a traumatic blow or collision is usually bed rest. A bruised kidney usually heals on its own, generally in up to 2 weeks. However, a complication of a bruised kidney can be internal bleeding.
Treatment for a ruptured spleen is surgery. Many people with a ruptured spleen experience serious internal bleeding that requires immediate surgery. The surgery may be to repair or remove the spleen. The risk of surgery to remove the spleen is serious infections, such as sepsis. Recovery usually takes anywhere from 3 to 12 weeks.
Similar to a fractured sternum, treatment for fractured ribs is also ice packs and limiting mobility. Unlike when you break your arm or leg, your ribs cannot be isolated for a cast or splint. Therefore, doctors are only able to concentrate on helping the patient with the intense pain from a fractured rib. Recovery for broken ribs is usually 1-2 months. The complications that can occur with broken ribs are the ribs puncturing some internal organs or lungs, and pneumonia.
If your internal organs or lungs are damaged in an automobile accident, this is more serious. Lasting damage may or may not be treatable and, in some situations, severe chest pain after a car accident can be fatal.
Chest Injury Prevention and Legal Options
Chest injuries can cause a huge disruption in your life. Besides the intense pain, you may not be able to conduct your normal activities of daily living. You may need to have help taking care of day-to-day tasks, and you may have to miss work, exercise and hobbies.
While sometimes there is no way to avoid an accident that was caused by someone else, you can make the wise choice to be responsible for your own safety by always wearing your lap and shoulder seat belts.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that you should sit at least 10 inches back from the steering wheel or dashboard. Children and shorter people may consider sitting in the back seat. The NHTSA suggests that only if you have a condition or circumstance which prevents you from safely following these guidelines, should you have your airbags deactivated or turned off.
If you or a loved one suffer a chest injury as a result of an automobile accident, you must seek medical treatment immediately. Remember to tell the medical professional about any memory you have of striking anything inside the vehicle. After you’re stabilized and are receiving treatment, contact the experienced Georgia car accident attorneys at Scholle Law to get help properly documenting your injuries and presenting them to the insurance company.
Call us at (866) 592-1296 or contact us online today for a free, no-obligation consultation.