You are involved in a serious car accident. You do seem to avoid any broken bones or serious cuts and lacerations, but you wind up with a head injury from hitting your head on the side window during the accident.
The authorities come to the car accident scene and ask you if you want medical attention. However, you think it may be expensive and time-consuming, so you are tempted just to go home. You do have a headache, but you think it is probably just a concussion. You may believe you can recover on your own with rest and hydration, thereby avoiding high medical bills and other complications.
But doing so is a significant risk. It could even be a fatal mistake. It is always best to get medical attention after suffering a head injury.
The symptoms could get worse
For one thing, you may have a more serious head injury than you realize, and the symptoms could actually get worse in the hours or days following the crash.
For instance, maybe there is bleeding around the brain. This happens with some head injuries when blood vessels are broken, such as with a subdural hematoma. With medical attention, you may be fine. But if you just go home and try to rest, the bleeding continues and pressure mounts inside your skull, causing further damage to the brain. This could lead to symptoms that progressively get worse, including migraines, loss of motor skills, memory issues, sensory issues and much more. A subdural hematoma may even become fatal if medical intervention is never provided.
Of course, you could also have a simple concussion. But this helps to show why it is best to get medical attention and then look into your options to seek financial compensation from the driver who caused the accident.