Internal Bleeding: Hidden, But Very Dangerous
When you are injured and start to bleed, you see it. There is blood, and it gets everywhere…right? Well, not always. Sometimes, you can suffer from what is known as internal bleeding. Because the bleeding is inside, it certainly is not readily noticeable, which can make it all the more dangerous if it is not quickly attended to.
How Internal Bleeding Happens
Internal bleeding can occur many different ways. Of course, direct trauma can cause bleeding, such as smashing your midsection against a steering wheel, crushing a limb between two objects, or by having a large item fall on you. But internal bleeding can also be the consequence of another injury. For example, a broken bone that breaks so severely that it punctures internal organs can cause internal bleeding.
Bleeding creates two serious dangers: The first is the obvious loss of blood. The second is that as the blood comes out, there’s nowhere for it to go. So it ends up putting dangerous pressure on, and possibly crushing, other vital organs.
Remember that internal bleeding can happen even if your skin isn’t punctured or penetrated. Just a very forceful impact on your skin from the outside can cause bleeding internally, even if your skin looks fine from the outside.
Symptoms of a Bleed
How do you know you’re suffering from internal bleeding, if you can’t readily see it? After a trauma, look for any of these symptoms:
- Being dizzy or passing out (which should always be a sign to get medical help immediately)
- Lowered blood pressure
- Difficulty seeing
- Severe headache or stomach pain
- Trouble breathing
- Sometimes, there may be bruising that you can see, but not always
Internal bleeding can be so severe that your body can go into shock. Weakness, profuse sweating, very low blood pressure, or lowered alertness or extreme drowsiness can all be signs of shock.
Remember that your body has a natural clotting mechanism, but if the bleed is significant enough, you still may bleed enough to cause serious injury. Additionally, many people take prescription medicines that can slow or stop the body’s clotting abilities.
Individual Organs
Many organs, if they bleed, can also be serious medical problems, and require immediate medical attention. For example, bleeding in the lungs can cause trouble breathing. Bleeding from a liver or a spleen can result in severe abdominal pain and swelling.
Slow Bleeds
Something else that makes internal bleeding so dangerous is that in some cases, the bleeding is relatively slow. That means that at first, you may not have symptoms, or you may not think anything is wrong with you.
Later, as time goes by and the bleeding gets more significant, you may have left the hospital or the emergency room. But the bleed is getting worse. This is why it is always best to be with someone else, so you can be monitored after an accident, to make sure your condition doesn’t deteriorate.
Our Tampa personal injury attorneys can help you if you are in any kind of accident. Schedule a consultation today to discuss your rights after you are injured in an accident.
Resource:
webmd.com/first-aid/internal-bleeding-causes-signs
