After a car accident or any injury that causes a concussive injury, you have to make sure that you are taking proper steps that will help you heal. Trying to do too much or trying to get back to regular activities too quickly can lead to you causing more problems than what you had immediately after the accident.
It is important that you take time to rest after the concussive injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends finding out if your employer will allow you to work shorter days or take off of work in the days following the accident. This is a good idea no matter what type of work you do.
Cutting back on work hours and taking things easy at home are important because your brain needs to rest. This means that activities that require a lot of thought, as well as those that involve physical effort, should be avoided.
Overtaxing your brain with physical or mental effort can make you feel much worse. It can also cause it to take longer for you to heal from your injury because your brain’s energy is being directed toward the use of the brain instead of the healing process.
Even basic activities like surfing the Internet and watching television can cause your recovery to slow. Ideally, you should spend time simply resting after your injury. Since you will likely have to miss work and will need medical care, you might opt to seek compensation for the concussive injury so that some of the financial effects of the injury might be lessened.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion,” accessed June 24, 2016