What Happens To Your Body During a Car Accident?
From fatal collisions to fender benders, motor vehicle accidents involve a significant amount of force.
Accident victims will often leave the incident without noticing any immediate injuries. However, this does not mean they won't experience pain symptoms later on.
In this blog, we will discuss what chemicals are released in the human body and how they help protect and increase your survival rate during a car accident.
Related post: How to Best Support your Car Accident Claim?
Table of contents:
- Understanding survival traits and human fight or flight physiology during and after a car accident
- Fight or flight
- Physical side effects from adrenaline during a car accident
- After-effects of adrenaline surge
- What is adrenaline?
- What are endorphins?
- The psychological model
- What Physical Injuries Can Occur?
- Visit an Arrowhead chiropractor after your accident
- Free chiropractic consultation
Understanding Survival Traits and Human Fight or Flight Physiology During and After a Car Accident
When you are driving or are a passenger in a car, the car and your body have kinetic energy.
When a sudden stop occurs, the energy from your movement is transferred to the brakes to help you stop quickly.
In a sudden car crash, this kinetic energy is released and impacts the body, which can cause injury and pain.
Often times, people will feel an extreme sense of urgency take over their body giving them the ability to react quickly to danger.
Or after a collision, you might walk away pain-free, claiming you haven't suffered any injuries and dismiss medical treatment.
Many patients report car accident injury symptoms arising 2 to 3 days after the incident and often leave a crash reporting no injuries.
It's also common for people to describe a car crash in slow motion, known as slow motion perception or an out-of-body experience.
What Causes Our Bodies Reaction?
What causes our bodies and minds to react to threatening events in this way?
What is the science behind this, and does it protect us from harm?
Natural hormones are secreted throughout the body when we undergo a traumatic event.
Other activities that can spark these chemical reactions include bungee jumping, high altitude, nail-biting football matches, bike stunts, and even watching a movie or reading a book.
Often, we don't think twice about these heightened senses, but when our lives are threatened, we develop an instinctive defense against danger.
Experiencing a car accident certainly qualifies as a catastrophic event.
Fight or Flight
The term “fight or flight” is often associated with circumstances under which adrenaline is released into the body.
With dilated blood vessels and air passages, the body can quickly pass more blood to the muscles and increase oxygen in the lungs, resulting in a boost in physical performance for short bursts of time.
For example, if we are attacked by a dog or involved in a severe type of collision.
We experience an energetic feeling that gives us the power and strength to either escape or attack.
Because of this, an adrenaline rush can be intense for a period of time. It can be used to avoid danger, react quickly, and even help rescue others.
Physical Side Effects From Adrenaline During a Car Accident
- Your vision can become tunneled in a forward direction, causing threats from the side to disappear from your field of vision
- Your hearing can also become tunneled-sometimes preventing you from hearing attacks or warnings that come from the side
- No feelings of pain
- Heightened sense
- The sudden boost of energy
- Increased breathing
- Dilated blood vessels
- Increased blood flow
After-Effects of Adrenaline Surge
- Your hands can shake, making you feel quite weak. This is because of the falling blood sugar that was pumped into your system to provide the energy needed for a flight-or-fight survival response
- Sometimes, a sudden loss of adrenaline can result in an endorphin rush, which can result in sudden fainting. This sudden fainting episode is caused by a drop in blood pressure and heart rate and should not be confused with the fear response.
- The unexpected release of intense emotion that was suppressed during the adrenaline surge most often erupts in the form of crying.
What Is Adrenaline?
Adrenaline is a natural hormone produced by the adrenal glands and secreted throughout the body when we undergo a traumatic experience.
An Adrenaline Rush is an incredibly intense feeling such as sadness, happiness, or any other intense emotion.
This hormone creates a powerful natural reaction designed to give our bodies the strength to escape or attack a dangerous threat.
What Are Endorphins?
Endorphins are neurotransmitters in the brain and act as natural pain relievers.
Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that allow the transmission of signals from one neuron to the next across synapses.
These chemicals transmit signals throughout the nervous system and are found in the part of the brain, specifically in the pituitary gland.
A receptor is a molecule that transmits signals, and an endorphin binds to a receptor that morphine and other opiates gravitate to, known as the “opioid receptor.”
Endorphins affect both emotional responses and blocking pain. When endorphins interact with the opioid receptors, pleasure and satisfaction are experienced.
The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates produce endorphins during:
- Exercise (runners high)
- Excitement
- Pain
- Spicy food consumption
- Love
- Sexual activity
The reproduction of endorphins requires positive stress, such as diet, exercise, and general well-being, but stress and pain trigger their release as well.
The Psychological Model
Glad, sad, and mad, with fear as a sidebar. In general, a person is typically in glad mode.
If stress weakens a person’s state to sad or mad, endorphins are released to re-elevate them to gladness.
If fear is ignited, endorphins similarly allow coping by providing a feeling of calm euphoria. Therefore, our brain maintains a certain quota of endorphins to ensure survival under duress.
Most car accidents will create a similarly heightened level of excitement.
Your body will generate endorphins and adrenaline, which means you feel increased energy and possibly a lack of pain.
The same concept applies to athletes who are injured during a game. They continue to play without noticing the injury until the game is over.
That's because their bodies produce adrenaline and endorphins, two chemicals that supercharge our bodies and even block physical symptoms.
What Physical Injuries Can Occur During a Car Accident?
Typically, in a car crash, especially a high-speed crash, the body will absorb energy, and the risk of an injury increases.
Here is a short list of common injuries to different parts of the body:
Upper Body and Spinal Injuries
One common automobile accident injury, especially at a high speed, is a broken collar bone, sometimes due to seat belt use.
During a high-speed car crash, the ribs can become fractured due to the impact of the crash. Because the ribs form a protective barrier around the lungs, a lung collapse can occur during a rib fracture.
During a car accident, the heart is thrust forward with the rest of the torso. The heart can come in contact with the ribs, resulting in bruising.
Spinal cord trauma and disc herniation are also common types of injuries that occur in a car crash. These injuries can lead to back pain or neuropathy.
These types of upper-body injuries can cause acute or chronic pain.
Whiplash is a common car accident injury that can cause severe neck pain, especially if left untreated.
Head Injuries
Head and neck injuries are common because the body continues to move at the speed it was moving before the car accident occurred.
Kinetic speed stops when part of the body, such as the head, is thrust forward and contacts another object within the automobile.
These injuries are very common and should be taken seriously.
Some other common car accident injuries that crash victims experience include:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
- Internal Injuries
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Soft Tissue Injuries
- Broken Bones
- Internal Organ Damage
- Fatal Injuries
- Skull Fractures
- Pelvic Fractures
- Reduced Range of Motion
- Blood Loss
- Tissue Damage
- Memory Loss
- Cervical Injuries
- Blunt Force Trauma
- Abdominal Pain
Always Seek Medical Care After a Car Accident
After a car crash, you should always seek medical attention immediately, even if you don't experience immediate pain.
Your doctor will be able to tell you if you sustained any injuries to your body and can monitor any symptoms of potential injuries, including red flags to watch out for.
If you decide to file a legal claim after your injury, it's imperative you have documentation of your treatment and that you sought medical help within a reasonable amount of time.
If you wait too long to see a doctor, you could risk losing your insurance claim due to insufficient medical care after an accident.
If you were involved in a vehicle crash and suffered injuries, finding a trusted medical facility can be challenging.
Fortunately, most chiropractors offer a free consultation so you can get to know the clinic first.
Visit An Arrowhead Clinic After Your Accident.
At Arrowhead Clinics, we have a quality team of doctors and chiropractors who have been treating auto accident injuries and patients for over 40 years.
Chiropractic care can help treat a wide range of auto accident injuries and can help prevent any long-term effects the injury may have on the body.
When you speak with our medical professionals during your free consultation, they can refer you to an experienced accident lawyer who will ensure that your medical bills are paid.
Personal injury attorneys are experts at handling all aspects of car accident claims. They work diligently to help you during this difficult time, ensuring you're not suffering from financial burdens as well as physical pain.
If you were involved in an auto accident, don't hesitate to contact our Chiropractic Clinic for a personalized treatment plan.
Our chiropractors will ensure that you receive the treatment you need to make a full recovery and will refer you to an experienced car accident lawyer who can help with your claim.
Click below to schedule a free consultation today.
