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With millions of cars on the road, it is no wonder that most people are involved in a car accident at some point in their lives. Whether it is a minor issue or a more serious medical problem, if you crashed your car, or if a car crashed into you, you may experience an injury. Car crashes can cause similar types of injuries to the people involved.
After the crash, you may experience the aftereffects of a certain type of injury called a soft tissue injury. The pain and disability associated with soft tissue injuries could cause you to have to seek medical help, take time away from work or adjust your lifestyle. You may stress over how you will pay bills or handle insurance claims.
What are soft tissue injuries?
Soft tissue injuries consist of contusions, strains and sprains. A contusion is bruising, a strain is a muscle or tendon overuse injury, and a sprain is damage to a ligament surrounding a joint. These injuries may result in stiffness and pain, and you could have swelling and limited mobility. During a car crash, occupants bump around in the vehicles, which causes these types of injuries.
A pain in the neck
One very specific and common type of soft tissue injury is whiplash. A whiplash occurs when a rear impact causes you to forcibly whip your head back and forth. The most common symptom is a sharp neck pain, and you can also experience neck stiffness, difficulty concentrating, memory problems and back issues.
You may experience the effects of whiplash right away, or the issue can develop over the course of a few days. Once you notice pain that you think is from whiplash, you should seek medical attention immediately. This is important because whiplash, if left untreated, can cause long-term pain in the back and neck.
Seeking help
As mentioned before, soft tissue injuries can be immediately noticeable or may take a few days to emerge. In both cases, it is important to get medical help for the problem. When seeking medical attention, you should keep detailed records of dates, costs and diagnoses for your own records. You should also take notes on how the injury has affected you. If you take time off from work, make a note of that, too.
In some cases, if another party is at fault for the incident, you can have your costs reimbursed by their insurer. Your insurance company may also cover the effects of whiplash and other car crash injuries. In either case, your records will be important to show the damages. An experienced personal injury attorney can help determine who may be responsible and provide support to injury victims. Many work on a contingency basis and offer free consultations to injured people.
