Common Soft Tissue Injuries After A Car Accident
Soft tissue injuries are among the most common injuries in car accidents, especially in minor to moderate accidents.
Some people think soft tissue injuries aren't a big deal.
Soft tissue injuries aren't visible, and they typically don't require serious medical intervention.
However, soft tissue injuries left untreated can cause a lifetime of problems.
If you sustained injuries in a car accident, seeking medical attention from car accident chiropractors is the best way to ensure your recovery.
If you've been involved in a car accident, you may be wondering what soft tissue injuries are, how they happen, what the symptoms are, and how they're treated.
We'll discuss all of that and more in the article below.
Table of Contents
Common Soft Tissue Injuries After A Car Accident
Contusions
Whiplash
Sprains
Strains
Why Are Soft Tissue Injuries Dangerous?
Chiropractic Care For Soft Tissue Injuries
Determining Compensation For Soft Tissue Injuries
Contact Advanced Injury Care
What Are Common Soft Tissue Injuries After A Car Accident?
Soft tissue injures occur when the ligaments or tendons in the body are damaged.
This can occur as a result of overuse as well as from sudden trauma, like car accidents.
With soft tissue injuries, pain, swelling, bruising, and loss of function are possible.
Your range of motion can also be significantly affected.
The most common types of soft tissue injuries that can occur during a car accident are sprains, strains, contusions, and whiplash.
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Contusions
A contusion is the medical term for a bruise.
We all know that contusions, or bruises, are caused by direct or repeated blows.
The underlying muscle fibers and connective tissues are crushed, but the skin isn't broken.
The discoloration that comes with contusions is caused by blood pooling around the injury.
Contusions are very common in car accidents because it's easy for a person in an accident to make contact with an object inside of the car.
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Whiplash
Whiplash happens when the head and neck are forced to move back and forward violently, like the motion of a whip.
The medical term for whiplash is a cervical strain/sprain or hyperextension injury.
People with whiplash experience neck stiffness, sharp neck pain, back problems, and cognitive issues.
Sometimes it can take days or even weeks for the symptoms of whiplash to present.
Depending on the severity of the whiplash, it could take months or longer to go away.
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Sprains
A sprain is a stretch or tear of a ligament.
Your ligaments are durable bands of connective tissue that fastens the end of one bone to another.
When a ligament tears or stretches too far, your joints won't be adequately stabilized or supported.
The areas of the body that are most susceptible to sprains are ankles, knees, and wrists.
If you're involved in a car accident, your wrists or ankles could be sprained because of the steering wheel and pedals.
There are three grades of sprains.
A grade 1 sprain is mild and happens when there is just light stretching and some damage to the ligament fibers.
A grade 2 sprain is moderate and is a partial tearing of a ligament.
With a grade 2 sprain, you might experience abnormal looseness in your joint when moving it in different directions.
A Grade 3 sprain is a complete tear of the ligament, leaving the joint will nonfunctional.
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Strains
A strain is an injury to your muscles or tendons.
Strains typically occur in your feet, legs, and back.
Similar to sprains, a strain can result from a stretch or a partial or complete tear.
Pain, muscle spasms, weakness, swelling, cramping, and inflammation are possible.
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Why Are Soft Tissue Injuries Dangerous?
The main reason soft tissue injuries are dangerous is that they're often not treated the way they should be.
If someone believes they have a sprained ankle, they may skip the doctor and go to the pharmacy and pick up a compression wrap or foot sleeve.
But without a proper diagnosis, it's impossible to know if the way you're treating an injury is correct.
When soft tissue injuries are undiagnosed and untreated, the injuries are likely to get worse.
As time goes by, the damage could be debilitating and require serious intervention, like surgery.
It's better to have an injury examined when it happens so you can avoid the more invasive treatments later.
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Chiropractic Care For Soft Tissue Injuries
Chiropractic treatment is indispensable for soft-tissue injuries.
Chiropractic care isn't just about treating your symptoms, but the cause of your symptoms.
Muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, and pain relievers do nothing to improve the outcome of injured tissue.
However, chiropractic techniques increase joint mobility and allow an increase in rehabilitation.
Chiropractors commonly treat Soft-tissue injuries due to car accidents.
Chiropractic care offers a unique approach to these soft-tissue injuries that many other health care providers do not.
Chiropractic care restores your body's systems, giving your body the power to heal itself.
And, chiropractic care does it without the use of harmful medications and invasive surgeries.
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Determining Compensation For Soft Tissue Injuries
If you're suffering from a soft tissue injury as the result of a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation.
Things like medical expenses and lost wages as a result of time away from work should be covered.
To determine exactly what options might apply to your case or for assistance with the claims process, you should enlist the help of an experienced car accident attorney.
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Contact Advanced Injury Care Clinic
Advanced Injury Care has one goal in mind, and that's to help the injured with both their physical and financial recovery after car accidents.
They achieve this by providing patients with chiropractic care and referrals to the top personal injury attorneys in their area.
This gives their patients the best opportunity to heal from their injuries with treatment that is not damaging or dangerous, as well as obtain financial compensation after their accident.
If you or someone you love has been involved in an accident, click the button below to get started with Advanced Injury Care.