Leg pain after a car accident can be extremely serious – and it warrants immediate medical attention. If your leg hurts after you’ve been in a crash, even if you walked away from the accident, you could have a traumatic injury that needs treatment.

Leg Pain After a Car Accident: 5 Things You Need to Know

Some injuries – including serious leg injuries – take time to show up. This happens for a couple of reasons. Sometimes, your body is filled with adrenaline following a car crash; you might not notice much pain, even if you’re severely injured, because your body is trying to figure out what’s going on. Another reason you may not notice an injury for a while is that soft tissues can swell long after trauma occurs. There are other reasons you might not notice leg pain right away, too, such as when you’re focused on pain in other parts of your body.

But if you have leg pain after a car accident, here are five things you need to know:

Leg pain can be a symptom of soft tissue injury.
After a car accident, leg pain may signal that you have a herniated disc in your back.
Leg pain can be a symptom of sciatica.
If your leg hurts, you could have a bone fracture.
You have to take leg pain seriously – and you need medical treatment.

Here’s a closer look at each.

#1. Leg pain can be a symptom of soft tissue injury.

During a car crash, your body’s soft tissues can be injured badly. The muscles, ligaments and tendons in your legs could be torn or ruptured, and that can be incredibly painful. These types of injuries can be debilitating – in fact, a soft tissue injury can keep you out of work for a long time.

Related: Common truck accident injuries

#2. After a car accident, leg pain may signal that you have a herniated disc in your back.

If your car accident forced one of your spinal discs out of place, it could cause leg pain. This typically occurs when spinal fluid leaks and puts pressure on a nerve that affects your leg. You might also be experiencing back pain, but that’s not always the case.

#3. Leg pain can be a symptom of sciatica.

Even the slightest spinal misalignment – or even inflammation – can put pressure on your sciatic nerve, which begins near your lower spine and runs down your legs. You could experience a wide range of painful sensations (or even numbness) as a result.

#4. If your leg hurts, you could have a bone fracture.

Bone fractures are serious injuries, and sometimes people aren’t aware that they’re suffering from a broken bone. That’s especially true in a fracture where the bone isn’t broken all the way through – but cracks in the bone can cause a significant amount of pain.

#5. You have to take leg pain seriously – and you need medical treatment.

If you’ve been in a car accident, you need medical treatment – even if you think you’re fine. It’s always a good idea to get yourself checked out by a medical professional. That’s because many injuries aren’t immediately apparent. For example, you could have serious whiplash and not know about it until hours (or even days) after the crash. The same is true for traumatic brain injury; it’s possible to have a TBI and feel fine for a while, but then the brain can swell and cause serious problems.

Even minor car accidents require a medical checkup. The longer you allow injuries to go unchecked, the more potential they have for becoming more serious.

Do You Have Leg Pain After a Car Accident That Was Caused by Someone Else’s Negligence?

If you were in a car crash and you’re suffering injuries as a result, you may benefit from talking to an attorney.

Call us right away at 818-230-8380 or fill out the form below to tell us what happened. We’ll be happy to visit you at home, in the hospital or in our office – and if you’re entitled to compensation, we can help you get what you deserve.