Common Injuries Resulting from a Pile-Up Car Accident
A pile-up car accident, also known as a multiple-vehicle collision, can damage your vehicle and leave you injured and needing medical care. Some injuries are minor and won’t affect you in the long run, but others are severe and require medical attention, surgery, and even hospitalization. There are three categories of injuries: soft tissue, head, and internal. Any of these injuries can be minor, moderate, or severe, which is why understanding them is so important. Today’s blog discusses these types of injuries and what you should do about them. Soft Tissue Injuries Bruising/Contusions You’d be surprised by how many bruises and contusions you can end up with after being in a car crash. You could have bruises around your waist from your seat belt restraining you during the accident, broken glass or car parts, or hitting your arms or legs against your car’s interior. If you notice stomach pain or other symptoms of seat belt syndrome, you’ll want to seek medical care immediately in case you have a more severe injury. Whiplash Whiplash is a common injury. A pile-up car accident will force your body to move quickly in abnormal ways in all directions, which can strain the muscles and ligaments in your neck and back. That strain causes whiplash. Whiplash can bother you for a while after a car crash, but with proper medical care, you can get back to your usual self in time. Neck/Back Injuries Whiplash isn’t the only neck/back injury out there. Other neck/back injuries can include herniations, ruptured discs, and spinal injuries. A herniation occurs when part of a tissue or organ pushes through a weak spot in the surrounding tissue or muscle. While herniations can happen in many body parts, abdomen and back herniations are the most common. If there’s a ruptured disc, the soft, jelly-like material inside the spinal disc pushes through a tear in the disc’s outer layer, causing severe pain. It can put pressure on nearby nerves, causing numbness or weakness in the affected area. You could have a ruptured disc without realizing it since it can take time for the symptoms to appear. Plus, symptoms can range from mild to severe discomfort, so you might not realize it’s that severe until your symptoms get bad enough. Spinal injuries include herniations and ruptured discs, but they also cover many other injuries, including minor sprains, fractures, or even spinal cord damage. Spinal injuries are severe and require immediate medical attention since your symptoms could indicate a problem that your body has had but is only now producing symptoms of. Awareness of new and developing symptoms is vital to caring for yourself after an accident. Limited mobility, stiffness, soreness, and pain are signs that you are still injured and may need to see a doctor. Additionally, physical therapy can often be essential to a full recovery, especially if you’ve had surgery. Head Injuries Concussions A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that occurs when there’s a blow or jolt to the head, causing the brain to bounce or twist inside the skull. A concussion caused by a car accident typically occurs when you hit your head on your car. Common symptoms of a concussion include memory issues and feeling like something in your brain isn’t working right. You might experience a headache, confusion, dizziness, and light sensitivity. You can often wholly recover from a concussion, but immediate medical attention is usually required. Without proper care, you could experience long-term cognitive and neurological problems. A doctor can provide treatment that will go a long way toward reducing headaches and preventing permanent damage. Traumatic Brain Injuries Traumatic brain injuries are severe and can permanently affect your health and well-being. While a concussion will make you feel like something is wrong with your brain, a traumatic brain injury will change how your brain functions. Those changes include how you think, how you process information, and how you regulate your emotions. Recovery is possible, but it could take years to recover fully. Internal Injuries Broken Bones Broken bones, also known as fractures, can happen for various reasons. Most commonly, they occur when there’s a sudden force on the bone. That force can come from the impact of a pile-up. How severe a fracture is, varies from a hairline crack to a complete break that causes the bone to fragment. No matter how minor or severe, proper medical care will ensure proper healing and prevent-long term complications. Broken arms, legs, ribs, and ankles are common car accident injuries. If you have a fracture, you might need surgery to recover completely. You might be out of commission for a couple of months, but you’ll likely make a full recovery. Internal Bleeding Internal bleeding is severe. It happens when there’s damage to a blood vessel that causes blood to leak into the body instead of flowing through vessels as it should. If you feel weak, dizzy, and have abdominal pain, you should immediately seek medical care, as this could indicate internal bleeding. It’s important to note that internal bleeding isn’t usually visible. A pile-up can damage your organs and cause them to bleed. Immediate medical intervention is often life-saving for this kind of injury. Flickinger Boulton Gooch & Robson Can Help If you’ve recently been in a pile-up car accident, Flickinger Boulton Gooch & Robson can help you. You may be able to collect damages for your injuries and your pain and suffering. Contact us today for your free case evaluation to see how we can best represent you. Call us at 801.500.4000, or fill out the form on our website.