Soft-tissue injuries can halt your lifestyle completely

After a car accident, you may feel a sense of relief if you quickly assess yourself and do not feel any serious pain or obvious injuries. Hopefully, you truly escaped the accident without suffering any harm, but it is possible that you suffered injuries that you cannot feel — at least not yet.

Delayed pain injuries are often difficult to diagnose without a full medical examination because they do not produce pain in a victim or any visible signs of injury, like bleeding. Unfortunately, many of these injuries are still serious, and may result in lasting pain and significant suffering.

After you experience a car accident of any kind, you should go see a doctor to receive a complete medical assessment, to make sure that you do not have delayed pain injuries that may worsen before you recognize them. Prompt medical care ensures that you do not suffer needlessly and helps you build a strong personal injury claim if necessary, to protect your rights while you recover.

Soft-tissue injuries can practically paralyze you

When you think of whiplash, you may envision someone wearing a cartoonishly large foam collar while they wait for their neck pain to subside. This is a common trope in movies and television, but the pain and stiffness induced by soft-tissue injuries can practically paralyze a victim for weeks at a time.

Although whiplash and other soft-tissue injuries may not cause pain initially, within a few hours or days, the affected muscles produce incredible pain and stiffen, making it difficult or impossible for the victim to move freely.

In many cases, a victim may not be able to move their head or back, or may suffer some other discomfort that keeps them from doing their work and earning an income. Even though soft-tissue injuries typically heal over a period of days or weeks, the time that the victim spends healing may cost them significantly. Make sure you understand all the impacts of a soft-tissue injury before you neglect important medical care.

Your rights deserve strong protection

Because soft-tissue injuries do not produce visible symptoms, it is easy for some people to assume that victims of these injuries exaggerate their pain or invent it entirely. This assumption is understandable if a person has never suffered a soft-tissue injury themselves, but once a person experiences the debilitating effects of whiplash, the seriousness of the injury is clear.

If you suffer soft-tissue injuries in a car accident, you must take care to protect your rights in North Carolina and your opportunities for fair compensation. With legal guidance, your rights will remain secure while you work toward physical recovery and complete compensation for your losses and suffering.