Common Injuries Seen in Car Accidents
Being in a car accident in NYC can not only wreck your car, it can wreck your body. It can be hard to recover from the personal injury an accident can cause. Even worse, some physical issues aren’t readily apparent.
Fractures and soft tissue damage for e.g. whiplash injuries might not show up right away, but instead, they become obvious after a few days or even weeks after your accident. So get to the ER immediately after a wreck so your lawyer has doctors’ notes to support your case.
Head Injuries
Head injuries can occur during any kind of collision, from minor fender benders to high-speed crashes. In many cases, this type of personal injury isn’t immediately obvious, especially if you have no visible wounds.
However, head trauma is the leading cause of death in car accidents, so even seemingly minor impacts can result in serious brain damage that you might not notice right away.
Traumatic brain injury is sometimes seen in car accident victims. TBIs vary in severity, so you could have mild, moderate, or severe brain damage depending on the extent of damage to delicate tissue. Traumatic brain injury usually results in some form of permanent disability.
Internal Organ Damage
Internal organ damage is one of the most dangerous long-term effects of a car crash. Injuries like a ruptured spleen or liver often don’t show up until hours or days after an accident occurs because they don’t cause external wounds and often require surgery to repair properly.
Internal organ damage can also lead to other complications like sepsis and gangrene if left untreated for too long after an accident occurs, so don’t ignore any of your symptoms.
Bone Fractures
The shin and the femur are the most common bones to be fractured in a car accident. The femur, or thighbone, is located on the outer part of your thigh, just below your hip joint. It connects your hip to your knee joint via two large joints known as the ball-and-socket joints.
A fracture of this bone results when one part of the bone hits another hard object such as another person’s body part, an object in the car, road surface, or steering wheel.
Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury, or SCI, occurs when there’s damage to any part of your spinal cord, which is made up of nerves that carry messages between your brain and other parts of your body.
SCIs can range from mild nerve damage that only affects sensation to severe nerve damage that causes paralysis or loss of control over bodily functions.
Whiplash
Whiplash is a soft tissue injury that occurs when your head suddenly jolts forward, backward, or to the side. The sudden movement puts pressure on the nerve roots in your neck and upper back. You may also experience pain in your arms, shoulders, and/or back.
The symptoms of whiplash can last from a few days to several months and sometimes even longer. Your injury may be more severe if you were involved in an accident with another vehicle, or if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of impact.
Headaches are one of the most common symptoms after a car accident and they can be caused by whiplash. However, also might be brought on by anxiety over the event itself or even by stress from having to deal with insurance companies after an accident.
Headaches typically go away within a few weeks, but if yours last longer than that, consult your doctor to rule out other more serious causes like a TBI.
Speak to a Car Accident Lawyer Right Away
You might think that after a car crash, the worst part is over. But if you’ve been injured, there’s a long road ahead. The insurance company will try to argue that your injuries aren’t as serious as they really are or that they weren’t caused by the accident at all.
As we’ve discussed, some common injuries seen in car accidents don’t show up immediately, so regular doctor visits are essential to document your condition. Call Greenstein & Milbauer at 1-800-842-8462 or provide your details in the form below and we’ll reach out to you to discuss the details about your case and how to ensure you’re properly compensated.