Car accidents may result in delayed-pain back injuries

A back injury can make it difficult or even impossible to continue many kinds of work, as well as everyday tasks around the home. Often, a back injury is obvious, because of the pain it produces and the limitations it places on the injured person, but not all back injurious are obvious at first.

Car accidents produce many kinds of injuries, some of which do not produce pain until hours or days afterward. Delayed-pain back injuries are some of the most common, and without a post-accident medical examination, a victim may not realize they suffered an injury for some time.

If you recently experienced a car accident and have not received a full medical examination, now is the time to do so. You may have several untreated injuries that can get much worse without treatment, leaving you with ongoing pain and longer recovery times. In some cases, injuries that do not receive prompt medical attention get so much worse that a victim may never fully recover from some of the symptoms. A medical examination helps identify these injuries before they cause pain and other complications, and may serve as the basis for a strong personal injury claim, if your injuries occurred because of someone else’s actions or negligence.

Delayed-pain back and spine injuries

The heavy impact of a car accident can affect a victim’s back in several ways. Most commonly, car accident victims experience soft tissue damage, or whiplash, in the muscles throughout the lower back, upper back and neck. Victims may not feel any soreness or stiffness immediately after the accident, only to feel severe pain and immobilizing stiffness after several hours or after they sleep.

Whiplash is a temporary injury, but is still extremely painful during recovery. While some individuals raise their eyebrows at injury claims based on whiplash, it is likely that they have never personally experienced moderate or severe whiplash themselves. Those who have experienced this injury know how painful and even paralyzing it often is.

Car accidents may also cause herniated discs in a victim’s spinal column, or may crack the vertebrae themselves. These injuries may not be painful at first, but over time these injuries may pinch or sever the nerves running through the spinal column, leading to general or localized pain, tingling or burning sensations. Without proper treatment, these injuries may last indefinitely.

Protecting your future quality of life

Choosing to avoid treatment not only leaves you to deal with unnecessary pain, it may turn an injury that can heal into an injury that never heals and continues to degrade your quality of life. Protecting your future is important, and this involves seeking the medical care that you need and the legal tools necessary to keep your rights secure while you recover. If you do need to build a personal injury claim to recover fair compensation for your medical costs and suffering, make sure to use high-quality legal tools and guidance as you need them. Your future happiness may depend on it!