Car accidents can leave Mesa, Arizona, residents with serious injuries, resulting in significant medical bills and lost wages. Understanding the most common injuries suffered in car accidents can help you recognize when to seek compensation through an auto insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.
Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries are among the most common injuries suffered in car accidents. These are injuries to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons and often lead to chronic pain conditions if victims don’t receive adequate treatment.
Whiplash is a particularly prevalent soft tissue injury caused by motor vehicle accidents, with rear-end and head-on collisions being significant contributors. This injury affects the soft tissue in the neck and can cause pain in the neck, back, and shoulders, stiffness, headaches at the base of the skull, and numbness or tingling in the arms.
Broken Bones
The impact of a car crash can easily break bones, with cracked ribs being a particularly common injury caused by seat belts. Other notable broken bone injuries suffered in car accidents are hand, wrist, and forearm injuries suffered by drivers because of the steering wheel. These injuries can take months to fully heal and may require corrective surgery.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Injuries to the spine can cause debilitating, lifelong injuries that require long-term treatment or care. For example, if a spinal disc shifts out of place during a crash and pinches your spinal cord, it can lead to chronic pain that requires surgery. If the force of the crash is strong enough, it can even sever your spinal cord entirely, causing permanent paralysis.
When you suffer from a long-term or permanent injury, it’s essential that you work with an experienced injury lawyer who can help you calculate your future medical expenses.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a blow to the head causes the brain to strike the inside of the skull, resulting in bruising, swelling, or bleeding. TBIs can range from mild concussions to severe brain injuries that cause permanent physical and cognitive disability.
Any time you suffer a head injury, you should seek medical attention. Early intervention may be able to mitigate some of the long-term effects of these injuries. However, those who suffer from serious TBIs often require long-term care.
Internal Organ Injuries
Some of the most dangerous injuries you can suffer in a car accident are internal organ injuries. Symptoms of internal bleeding and organ damage don’t always appear immediately after a crash, and your adrenaline may mask the pain for a few hours. The damage can spread and worsen during this time, leading to potentially fatal conditions.
Crushed Limb Injuries
In particularly bad crashes, arms and legs can get crushed in the wreckage. While those suffering these injuries sometimes make full recoveries, they may also never fully regain the use of the crushed limb. In severe cases, amputation may be necessary.
Wrongful Death
Tragically, some car accident injuries prove fatal. In such cases, Arizona law allows certain surviving relatives of the deceased to pursue a wrongful death claim against the driver or other parties at fault for their loved one’s passing. A successful wrongful death claim can recover compensation for the deceased’s funeral and burial expenses, medical bills, and lost income, as well as for the family’s pain and suffering, loss of love and guidance, and loss of household services provided by the deceased.
Contact Our Mesa, AZ, Car Accident Lawyers
If you suffered an injury in a Mesa, AZ, car accident, contact Valley Injury Team to speak with an experienced injury lawyer about your case. We’ll review the accident and your injuries, explain your options for seeking compensation, and answer any questions you have about the recovery process.
