Car accidents can cause a lot of serious injuries - many of which are clearly visible after a wreck. However, some of the most commonly sustained car accident injuries aren’t visible to the naked eye. These injuries happen inside the body, affecting our nerves, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and other soft tissue.
Soft tissue injuries can be devastating, causing victims to struggle with chronic physical pain and limited mobility. Many times, soft tissue injuries affect a crash victim’s ability to work and perform everyday activities like bathing, walking, or driving. When you suffer a soft tissue injury, it's important to consult with an experienced car accident attorney in Albuquerque.
What Are Some of the Most Common Types of Soft Tissue Injuries?
Common types of soft tissue injuries include:
Whiplash
Whiplash is a soft tissue injury that affects the muscles, nerves, ligaments, and/or discs in your neck and spine. When you’re in a car accident - particularly a rear-end collision - the force of impact can make your head whip back and forth rapidly. As a result, your neck can overextend and/or become hyper-compressed.
Every year, roughly 3 million Americans suffer whiplash injuries in traffic accidents across the nation, with half of all victims experiencing chronic issues. Many don’t realize they’ve been injured right away. The signs and symptoms of whiplash - including a stiff neck, tenderness at the site of injury, numbness, and headaches - can manifest hours, days, or weeks after a collision.
Strains
Strains are a type of soft tissue injury that affect our tendons, which are connective tissues that help our bones connect to muscle and other types of body tissue. When you’re in a car accident, it’s not uncommon to experience strains in the lower back, as well as the knee, ankle, neck, and shoulder.
Common signs of strain injuries include painful movement, limited mobility, tenderness, inflammation, and swelling. Some crash victims who experience a strain may also hear a popping sound when the injury occurs.
Sprains
Ligaments are pieces of tissue that connect bones to other bones in our body, creating joints. When a ligament is stretched or torn, it’s called a sprain. Sprains can happen when you twist unnaturally or suffer forceful trauma directly on a ligament. Crash-related strains often involve the wrists, knees, and ankles.
Common signs of sprains include stiff joints, pain, an inability to bear weight on the affected area, and muscle spasms.
Contusions
Contusions, which are also known as bruises or hematomas, are a type of soft tissue injury that occurs when blood vessels under the skin are damaged. Contusions can manifest externally or, in some cases, on the brain when a victim suffers blunt-force trauma to the head in a car accident.
Don’t Underestimate The Impact a Soft Tissue Injury Can Have On Your Life After a New Mexico Car Accident
Soft tissue injuries can require extensive medical care, force you to miss time at work, and have a sizable impact on your ability to live and enjoy your life. If you’ve suffered soft tissue injuries in a New Mexico car accident because someone else was negligent, you deserve to be compensated.
At Singleton Schreiber, our New Mexico car accident lawyers want to help you get the compensation you need to recover from your soft tissue injuries. Call one of our New Mexico law offices - in Albuquerque, Clovis, Hobbs, Las Vegas, Los Lunas, Mora, and Ruidoso - to schedule a free consultation with our award-winning legal team today.
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