When a car accident happens, a person’s body is vulnerable to a wide variety of injuries, as a Milwaukee personal injury lawyer can attest. These bodily damages can range from small cuts and bruises to head trauma and fractures. Broken glass from the window shield poses a threat, as glass shards can impale the skin on any part of the driver or passengers body. Here we cover the range of injuries a person may suffer after a serious car collision.
What Kinds of Head Injuries Are Common for Auto Accidents?
The most common injuries associated with the head after an accident include brain injuries, damage to the eyes, face or jaw fractures, and dental injuries. A severe blow to the head can cause the brain to move within the skull, resulting in a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A concussion is considered a TBI and most often heals on its own within a few weeks of resting. A more severe TBI condition can impair some of our critical bodily functions, including the ability to speak, vision, memory, and concentration. If an eye is damaged in a car crash, it usually results in some form of vision loss.
What Exactly Is Whiplash?
Whiplash is an injury most frequently associated with car accidents, where the neck stretches and abruptly snaps back to place. The wreck impact causes the vehicle to either stop quickly or accelerate. During whiplash, discs, ligaments, vertebrae, or even the spinal cord can be damaged. In more severe cases, whiplash can lead to paralysis or losing function in an extremity. Less severe whiplash may not be felt right away, but can eventually build into a chronic pain that needs regular medical treatment.
Do Airbags Fully Protect the Driver or Passengers Chest?
An airbag installed into the dashboard and steering wheel can greatly reduce the intensity of a chest injury. However, the impact of a crash can still break the ribs, breastbone, cause fractures to the clavicle, and organ bruising. A diaphragm rupture is a common condition resulting from blunt trauma to the middle or lower chest. A diaphragm rupture is a tearing of muscle across the lower rib cage, which is crucial to breathing.
How Can Legs, Knees, and Toes Be Injured?
If legs are injured in a car accident, it most often is a result of a smashing into part of the car closest to the driver or passenger. The impact can cause contusion, fractures, or sprains. Knees are especially vulnerable and are most susceptible to a tearing of the meniscus when twisted or rotated in an abrupt manner. Toes can also be smashed or broken during collisions where the side or front area of the car is squished.
Are There Any Injuries People Forget to Look For?
When visiting your doctor, he or she can perform testing associated with car accident injuries to check for any body system abnormalities, internal bleeding, or other underlying damages. However, many doctors can forget about the emotional impact a car accident may have on a person. Do not hesitate to tell your doctor if you are suffering from immense fear, nervousness, stress, anxiety, or depression. Your doctor can give you resources or even recommend you to a therapist for help with emotional challenges post car collision.
Thanks to our friends and contributors from Hickey & Turim, SC for their insight into head injuries and personal injury cases.