Following any type of car accident, it is a good idea to seek medical attention. After all, your body’s stress response may disguise injury symptoms, causing you to erroneously believe you are ok instead of seriously hurt.
Going to the emergency room may also put your mind at ease and improve your chances of receiving compensation from the driver who caused the crash. While emergency physicians regularly check accident victims for bodily harm, they may miss three types of potentially catastrophic eye injuries.
1. Detached retinas
The retinas in your eye send signals to your brain, making them critical in your ability to see. A blunt-force impact or even rapid deceleration may cause a retina to detach. With minor detachments, blurred vision is often a symptom. If you have a more severe injury, though, you may completely lose your ability to see.
2. Hyphemia
Hyphemia is the accumulation of blood at the back of your eye. The condition happens when blood vessels rupture, potentially causing you to experience pain and blurred vision. Without proper treatment, hyphemia may lead to vision loss.
3. Skull fractures
While there is a good chance an emergency room physician can diagnose and treat a skull fracture, you may need an eye specialist for orbital damage. A serious injury to the parts of your skull that house your eye may lead to removal of the eye or other catastrophic consequences.
Even if you emerge from a collision without fracturing your skull, your eyes may not be so lucky. Therefore, you may need to follow up with an ophthalmologist to check for any of the common injuries that tend to occur in motor vehicle accidents.