Often, car accidents can leave you with a damaged car but no injuries. However, car accidents can sometimes leave you with injuries that require medical care and substantial expenses. Discover common injuries a person can sustain in a car accident.
Whiplash
Whiplash is a specific neck injury that usually happens due to the force and speed of an object, such as a car, slamming into a car. This force causes a person’s neck to whip back and forth, which, in turn, can cause considerable pain, stiffness, headaches, and dizziness.
While most people can recover from whiplash in a few weeks, some might suffer long-term consequences. No matter the severity of the whiplash, whiplash usually recovers medical attention. A doctor might prescribe pain medications, provide injections for pain management, recommend physical therapy, or even require a person to wear a collar.
All of these can impact both your finances and quality of life, especially if you need ongoing treatment. Medical records, injury pictures, and journals can all document the impact that whiplash has had on your life and help you with an auto accident injury case.
Broken Bones
Broken bones from car accidents usually occur from a person coming in contact with hard surfaces or debris, which can also pin a person in between two objects or bend their body into awkward poses. Broken bones can also happen because a person is thrown from a car or brace themselves beforehand in an attempt to avoid injury.
Broken bones can cause severe pain, including swelling, bruises, or numbness. Additionally, broken bones might stick out of the skin or be contorted oddly.
Common bones to break after a car accident include bones in the arm, wrist, leg, collar, rib, back, spine, hip, or skull. Most of these are treatable with a cast, pins, bone resettlement, or surgery. However, they do take a while to heal, and all the treatment a person receives usually costs money. Additionally, a person might be disabled and miss work. They might even be unable to work at the same job or at all.
Sprains
While often not as severe as broken bones, sprains still can cause pain and require treatment. Depending on the severity of a sprain, a ligament may stretch, tear, or separate.
Many sprains simply need rest, pain medication, ice packs, elevation, or bandage compression. However, if your sprain is more severe, you might need physical therapy, a brace, a splint, or surgery — all of which might include high medical expenses. And, of course, a sprain may hinder your ability to work, write, or move your injured body part. Therefore, compensation for sprains is often worth pursuing, especially if you suffer complications from your injury.
Brain Injuries
Often more dangerous or even catastrophic, brain injuries resulting from a car accident can cause memory loss, confusion, communication issues, and even loss of balance. The brain can bruise and bleed, which is why brain injuries require prompt and often extensive treatment.
Common brain injuries include concussions and contusions, as well as injuries that do not get oxygen to the brain quickly. While some injuries can be minor and heal quickly, some brain injuries require months to heal or even are permanent. All of these might need substantial treatment and hospital stays, so pursuing compensation for this type of injury can help you so your finances do not suffer.
Open Wounds
Open wounds from a car accident can range from minor cuts and bruises to infected and deep wounds that require surgery.
For example, an abrasion might need proactive cleaning to avoid infection, but it usually can clear up quickly. However, a laceration can be deep, which can cause blood to come out quickly in large amounts. Additionally, if you have a skin puncture, where something pierces the skin, or avulsion, where skin and tissue come off the skin, you often require medical attention.
Treatment for an open wound may be as simple as washing and bandaging, but it may also be as complex as surgical reattachment or stitches. Prompt medical treatment is necessary so you do not suffer from infection, fever, or even lockjaw.
Again, all this medical treatment can add up quickly financially. Make sure to take pictures of the injury and retain medical records of the extent of your injury and documentation of the costs for treatment. All of these can help with an auto accident injury case.
Whatever injuries a person sustains, they have the right to seek compensation to help with medical costs and changes to quality of life. If you have been in an auto accident because of someone else’s reckless actions, get in touch with Garrison Law Firm. We have extensive experience in auto accident lawsuits and will be happy to sit down with you in a free consultation to discuss your legal situation.