Soft tissue injuries involve the supporting, non-bony parts of the body; typically the muscles, the ligaments or the tendons. Common soft tissue injuries that are caused by direct trauma include sprains and strains from severe stretching, and contusions or bruises from a blow.
These kinds of injuries typically result in pain, bruising, swelling or loss of use. Symptoms can often be treated with ice packs, rest, bandaging and elevation. But when injuries inhibit your normal movement, or if you have pain and swelling that continues or worsens over several days, you need to seek medical treatment.
In a car accident, your body is subjected to a variety of forces that inflict direct trauma. As the impact and/or vehicle braking throws you around you are likely to experience soft tissue injuries. Hopefully these injuries are minor, but a serious soft tissue injury may not be apparent until long after the accident. Also, you could have unseen internal bleeding that needs to be treated immediately.
Many auto accident victims relate not feeling much pain until the day following the accident. This results from your adrenaline flowing during and after the accident. Adrenaline masks symptoms and keeps you from detecting injuries that are not visible. It can take days for you to begin feeling effects from the crash, and that makes an insurance company doubt the validity of your claim.
You need a lawyer who can help you expect the unexpected. For more than 22 years, our legal firm has successfully pursued these kinds of claims for people all over New Jersey.
After your car accident, work accident or slip-and-fall accident, never assume a lack of immediate symptoms means you are uninjured. See a doctor right away. Leaving some injuries untreated leads to serious complications and, depending on the injury, costly long-term treatment. In fact, as your legal team, we will help you arrange medical care and keep up with your records.
If you manage your medical treatment directly through the insurance company and without an attorney experienced in personal injury law and auto accidents, you could be denied the money for proper treatment. Insurance companies want to settle your claim for as little as possible and will downplay your injuries in order to pay you the least amount for your treatment. Adjusters will try to get you to accept a monetary settlement even while you’re still at the accident scene, well before you could possibly know the extent of your injuries. To learn more, see our page on insurance adjusters tactics.
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Whiplash
A very common form of soft tissue injury incurred from a car crash is whiplash, which occurs when a person in a car is hit from behind. At impact, the accident victim’s head snaps forward and then back again. Because the average adult head weighs from 8 and 12 pounds, this sudden action exerts considerable strain on the neck.
Whiplash can lead a number of serious conditions, including chronic pain, joint dysfunction, and herniated discs of the spine. Whiplash symptoms include neck pain and stiffness, burning sensations, headache, shoulder and back pain, and dizziness. Some sufferers also report fatigue, memory loss, nervousness and depression. If untreated, whiplash can lead to chronic disabilities.
Soft Tissue Injuries Difficult to Prove
With few exceptions, soft tissue injuries cannot be clearly proven nor disproven. Typically, proof of injury is made through medical records and exam results, your complaints as the accident victim, and additional expert testimony. But sometimes there is little to no documented proof of soft tissue injury. Even for accidents where the other driver is clearly at fault, there is no guarantee you will be able to recover sufficient damages for your case.
Talk to us before you sign or settle anything with an insurance company! We will make sure that you get what you need to get your life back to normal.
The Law Offices of Peter N. Davis and Associates is a personal injury law firm in New Jersey and service communities such as Paterson, Newark, and Passaic. Our staff has more than 60 years of combined law experience and welcome personal injury cases related to auto accidents, trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, workers’ compensation and premises liability. To schedule a consultation with one of our practicing attorneys, please give us a call at 973-279-7246 or complete our inquiry contact form.
