Types of Injuries In Accident Cases

This article covers the most common types of injuries in accident cases, ranging from the least to the most traumatic types of physical injuries. We listed post-traumatic stress syndrome as the last category because it is considered a non-physical injury. Still, its range of harming the person can be severely debilitating. Let’s learn about the types of injuries in accident cases

Most Common Types of Injuries In Accident Cases:

• Soft Tissue Injuries
• Cervical Strain (whiplash)
• Bulging and Herniated Disc Injuries
• Spinal Cord Compression Injuries
• Boken Bones – Fractures
• Head and Brain Injuries
• Burn Injuries
• Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD)

Soft Tissue Injuries – Cervical Strain

Whiplash is a trauma-inducing injury involving the cervical spine’s soft tissue and ligaments of the neck and shoulder region. It is caused by the neck being suddenly and forcibly thrown forward and then back again, resembling a whipping motion.

The injury to the tissue and ligaments results from the sudden acceleration and deceleration, typical in most rear-end collisions, especially when the rear-ending vehicle travels at a high rate of speed when it collides with the vehicle at a complete stop.

Even when the rear-ending vehicle is traveling at speeds between 20 to 35 MPH, which is considered slow-to-moderate, the occupant of the rear-ended vehicle can suffer serious tearing of the soft tissue and ligaments surrounding the cervical spine.

Extent of Trauma Dependent On Age, Preexisting Condition and Physical Posture at Impact

Also, depending on the age and sitting position of the driver at the moment of impact, the trauma to the neck can result in bulging or herniated discs, which can impinge on nerve roots that branch out from the spinal cord.

An older person with pre-existing injuries, such as spinal bone spurs, is especially vulnerable to sustaining severe cervical injuries, which can result in the need for spine surgery.

The most common symptoms of whiplash may include the following:

• Decreased range of motion of the neck
• Presence of muscle spasms in the neck and back
• Neck, shoulder, and back pain
• Cervical and thoracic swelling

Mild-to-moderate soft-tissue injuries usually take between two to ten weeks to completely heal.

Chiropractic Treatment

Chiropractors

Chiropractic care treats cervical and back strain injuries in a natural and non-invasive manner. Chiropractors’ skills and techniques focus on relieving neck pain and other whiplash effects, which can become a chronic condition if not treated.

Chiropractic treatments can consist of a variety of spinal adjustments. They may effectively reduce symptoms by decreasing pain levels, muscle spasms, and tissue inflammation.

The treatment can also help restore the full range of cervical movement after an accident.

Standard therapies chiropractors use include:

• Ice and heat therapies,
• Massage
• Spinal Adjustment
• Stretching exercises
• Nutritional advice
• Electrical muscle stimulation

Duration of Chiropractic Treatment

As with any injury, several factors will influence the duration of chiropractic treatment:

• Severity of damage to tissue and ligaments
• Length of time between injury and treatment
• How well the patient adheres to the treatment plan
• The size and strength of the cervical musculature
• The age and general health of the patient
• Presence of any pre-existing condition affecting mobility

Most orthopedic physicians agree that immediate care following an accident is the most effective way to eliminate pain and prevent residual and chronic problems. The longer the wait to start treatment, the greater the chance of developing a chronic condition and the more difficult it becomes to treat.

The Four General Spine Levels from Top to Bottom

Each Spine Level Contains Sublevels Separated By Discs

• Cervical Spine
• Thoracic Spine
• Lumbar Spine
• Sacral Spine

Potential Disc Injury

Should a chiropractic patient complain of numbness and shooting pains in their legs or arms, it can indicate the presence of a bulging or herniated disc injury. In either case, the condition requires an immediate referral to a neurologist or neurosurgeon.

A referral to a medical expert is because Chiropractors are not qualified to treat these kinds of injuries. Neurological injuries are beyond the Chiropractor’s scope of expertise.

Let’s focus on understanding neurological symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment. We will begin by covering some of the basic anatomies of the brain and spine and, specifically, the role spinal discs play in protecting the spinal cord and related nerve groups.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries

The spinal cord goes from the base of the brain, known as the Medulla, down into the brain stem and through the spinal canal, which comprises bone and discs. At each level, the cord fans out laterally in both directions through openings in the spinal skeletal structure surrounding and protecting the spinal cord.

The spinal cord branches out into groups of nerves called nerve roots and then into still smaller nerve groups that eventually turn into a vast microscopic network of nerves that travel through our entire body.

What Is A Disc?

Discs are small circular cushions that sit between each of the spinal canal’s bone structures. The discs protect both the spinal cord and the bone structures of the spinal canal. The discs comprise about 30% of the total length of our spine.

According to the National Institute of Health, we have 25 discs that are located in the following regions of our spine:

• Seven discs in the cervical spine
• Twelve discs in the thoracic spine
• Five discs in the lumbar spine,
• One disc in the sacral spine.

Each disc is a type of circular cushion that functions like a miniature shock absorber between the spine’s protective bone structures of the spinal canal.

Without discs, bones would sit on top of bones and crumble whenever we used our backs to do almost anything, like bending and lifting.

Disc Bulge and Herniation

When a neck or back is subject to trauma, the disc can bulge or herniate into the spinal canal, causing the cord’s nerve roots to be compressed against the bony structures that surround it.

Should the disc impinge upon the nerve roots that fan out from the spine, it can lead to significant nerve root damage.

In severe trauma, the bulging or herniated disc can sometimes compress against the cord’s nerve roots and even the spinal cord itself.

Should part of the spinal cord get compressed, a condition known as myelopathy, it can present a high risk of severe and permanent paralysis of the arms and legs.

Primary Causes of Herniated Discs

Car accidents and heavy falls affecting the back are the most common causes of disc injuries. Herniated disc injuries can be life-changing injuries.

Severity Levels of Disc Damage

• Bulging discs
• Ruptured discs
• Fully herniated discs

Diagnosing A Disc Injury And Its Implications

The nature and extent of damage caused by disc bulges or ruptures can be measured by the severity of the physical symptoms they cause in a patient. In moderate to severe cases, the damage can cause a loss of sensation, strength, and function in our extremities which can be detected by physical exam and nerve conduction study.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

The MRI is one of the most powerful medical diagnostic tools for looking inside the human body with clarity and can provide three-dimensional high-contrast images of the spinal cord and its surrounding structures.

Suppose an MRI scan reveals disc impingement of a nerve root, which branches out from the spinal canal. In that case, the patient’s symptoms usually manifest as shooting pain, numbness, and stabbing sensations down the arms and legs.

The MRI is often followed by a nerve conduction study (EMG) which measures nerve signal loss from specific nerve groups branching out from the cord.

Nerve Damage Diagnostics (EMG)

Neurologists are the physicians who conduct and analyze the nerve conduction study results.

A nerve conduction study measures the speed at which electrical signals travel down nerve pathways that activate muscle movement. Ultimately specific nerve groups can be traced back to nerve roots and associated with a particular level and location of the spine.

Sometimes, the disc and bony structures that protect the spinal cord can be compressing upon the cord itself, stopping blood flow into the cord, which can quickly result in permanent paralysis. If the cord compression is severe enough, the result can be hemiplegia or paraplegia – conditions that require life-long 24-hour nursing care.

Treatment For Minor Disc Injuries

The treatment for minor disk injuries, such as a bulge without herniation, begins conservatively with physical therapy and anti-inflammatories.

The goal of anti-inflammatories is to reduce the swelling near the affected nerve roots so that surgery is not necessary. Should the pain and numbness continue or worsen, depending on the severity of the symptoms, the patient may have to undergo a discectomy, which is the surgical removal of the bulging or ruptured disc.

Disc injury surgical procedures are much less invasive today. Discs can now be removed through a process known as a microdiscectomy.

Next, we will look at traumatic head injuries, the difference between open and closed head injuries, and their effects on the brain.

The following is a summary of such conditions.

Broken Bones In Personal Injury Cases

From a legal perspective, broken bones are viewed as a serious personal injury, primarily because of the severe pain and resulting physical limitations they cause. In the case of multiple broken bones in which surgery has been performed, an extensive rehabilitative period is required for post-surgical physical therapy and recovery, which sometimes can take up to three to four months to complete.

Bone Fractures Occur in High and Moderate Speed Collisions

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2018, it was reported that an average of 3.4 million emergency department visits resulted from motor vehicle accident injuries. Compound and simple bone fractures are car accident victims’ most common orthopedic injuries.

As mentioned, a severe bone fracture could render a person physically incapacitated for months. It can also cause permanent damage to the bones and joints affected. While high-impact speed impacts are known to cause the most damage to bones and surrounding structures, there are also ways for a person to suffer serious injury from low-to-moderate speed collisions.

For example, consider the case of a stopped driver who hears the sound of screeching breaks behind them. 

A common reaction is to brace for impact by locking the arms straight while tightly holding on to the steering wheel. A stiff bracing of the limbs is a common cause of breaks and injury to the arms and wrists and can happen at relatively low-to-moderate speeds.

The Need For Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

Medically diagnosing a bone fracture and its severity can require a CT Scan or MRI. Simple radiographs can provide reasonably good views, but certain subtle fractures are not easily detectable through X-rays.

The types of medical treatment usually prescribed for simple bone fractures include positioning the area of the bone break in a cast or soft brace, sometimes traction, followed by physical therapy and home exercises to build muscle and ligament strength. These remedies do not necessarily include surgery. However, other ways of treating broken bones do require surgery. The medical specialists who diagnose and treat these injuries include orthopedic physicians, orthopedic surgeons, physical and rehabilitative physicians, and physical therapists.

Surgery For Broken Bones – Open Reduction and Fixation

According to MedlinePlus, surgery for broken bones can consist of open reduction with internal fixation and open reduction with external fixation.

Open Reduction – Internal Fixation

 Internal fixation includes surgery to repair the bone and inserting internal metal rods, screws, or plates to repair and fix the bone in place. This procedure is suggested for complicated fractures that casting cannot realign.

Open Reduction – External Fixation

External fixation includes surgery to repair the bone and placement of an external fixation device on the fracture. Unlike internal fixation, external fixation uses an external frame that supports the bone and holds it in place during healing. This procedure is suggested for complex fractures that cannot be repaired using internal fixation.

Shoulder Injury – Impingent Syndrome – Rotator Cuff

Bracing the arm can also do severe shoulder damage to the muscles and tendons of the rotator cuff, causing a painful tearing condition known as impingement syndrome. Specifically, if the arm is locked and braced, the sudden force of a rear-end collision could travel through the arm and into the shoulder, which can cause severe inflammation to the rotator cuff and even a rotator cuff tear.

Twisting Position of Body Upon Impact – Femur, Pelvis, and Ribs

One can also suffer a severe injury if the person is in a twisted position immediately before impact and thrown forward and back, as is common in rear-end collisions. The bones most likely to fracture in a moderate-to-high-speed car collision include the femur, pelvis, and ribs.

Why Bones Break

In personal injury cases, forensic experts are asked to explain the physics behind how bones can break in car collisions without direct, blunt physical contact with the bone. The simple answer is that a bone is likely to break when the force exerted through it is stronger than the force it can bear.

Types of Bone Fractures

Many bone fractures include partial or complete fractures, open or closed wound fractures, and stable or displaced fractures. Other common types include:

• Comminuted Fracture (Three or more pieces of the bone are fractured)
• Compression Fracture (A large part of the bone is crushed)
• Depressed Fracture (A fractured bone is pressed inward, such as in a skull fracture)
• Incomplete Fracture (Where only one side of the bone breaks)

Head And Brain Injury Cases

Neurosurgeons

Serious personal injury accidents sometimes involve head injuries. When this happens, if severe enough, a neurosurgeon should be called into the case to evaluate the patient and, if necessary, be prepared to perform brain surgery.

Neurosurgery has one of the most extended training periods of any medical specialty. Neurosurgical specialists can diagnose and surgically treat damage to the brain and trauma caused to the spinal cord.

Types of Head Injuries

Two Major Types of Head Injury

In serious personal injury accidents involving head injuries, there are two major types, open and closed head injuries:

Open Head Injury

Open head injuries penetrate the skull and brain. In these types of head injuries, such as a high-speed head-on car collision in which a metal object penetrates the scalp and brain, the resulting brain dysfunction will be closely correlated to the damaged area of the brain.

An open-head brain injury is often fatal or results in severe and substantial loss of cognitive function and life-long paralysis.

Closed Head Injury

A closed head injury results from a slip and fall or from a car accident, where the head is bluntly impacted. These types of injuries can have serious consequences, mainly if the trauma causes brain swelling, known medically as a subdural hematoma, which usually requires immediate brain surgery to drain the fluid and reduce the swelling.

Loss of Consciousness – Concussion and Blackout

Suppose you have experienced a closed head injury resulting in a loss of consciousness. In that case, it is possible that you suffered a brain injury. The following are possible signs that you suffered a brain injury:

• Memory loss
• Headaches
• Vision loss
• Speech loss
• Fatigue
• Inability to concentrate
• Personality changes

After a head injury, you should immediately seek medical care if you suffer from one or more of the above symptoms.

Diagnosing A Brain Injury

To determine whether you have suffered such an injury and the extent of neurological damage sustained, it is usually necessary to undergo an MRI scan and neuropsychological testing by an experienced neurologist.

The next area of traumatic injuries we will cover is burn injuries. The most serious of them happens in car accidents where a vehicle and its occupants are engulfed in flames and suffer third-degree burns.

Burn Injuries

The occurrence of burn injuries is more common than you might first suspect. According to a 2016 National Burn Center Survey, over 450,000 burn victims in the United States required emergency treatment.

Over 60% of the estimated acute hospitalizations caused by burn injuries were admitted to 128 burn centers across the country. Burn centers averaged over 200 annual admissions.

Causes of Burn Injuries:

• Negligent electrical wiring
• Defective products
• Toxic chemicals

Three Classifications of Burns

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are three classifications of burns:

First-Degree Burns

Minor burns only affect the skin’s outer layer and may cause redness, swelling, and pain. It usually heals with first-aid measures within several days to a week. Sunburn is a classic example.

Second-Degree Burns

This type of burn affects the skin’s outer and secondary skin layers. It usually manifests as red, white, or splotchy skin, is extremely painful, and can cause significant swelling.

Second-degree burns can appear wet before developing into painful blisters. Second-degree burns can cause permanent scarring.

Third-Degree Burns

Third-degree burns reach below the two skin layers and penetrate the fat beneath the skin, causing wounds to appear charred and black or white. The skin can also appear waxy or leathery.

Third-degree burns destroy nerves and can cause difficulty in breathing. Depending on the extent of third-degree burns, they can be fatal. If not, third-degree burns are life-changing, cause severe deformities, and often require long-term medical care.

Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Post-Traumatic Syndrome (PTSD) is more commonly seen in times of war where there are intense and violent exchanges between combatants.

In personal injury cases, PTSD results from a person experiencing a perceived life-threatening injury ranging from a serious car accident to being caught in a burning home due to an electrical failure.

Causes of Post-Traumatic Stress

When danger is perceived, the body is hardwired to trigger an assortment of chemical and hormonal reactions – we are suddenly in immediate fear and apprehension of danger.

We are in an excited state of fight or flight. It is common for people who have PTSD to feel stressed or frightened, even when the threat is no longer present.

PTSD is an anxiety-induced emotional disorder due to exposure to a highly dangerous or life-threatening event. This is commonly seen in severe automobile and traffic accidents where the threat of death or significant bodily injury is perceived as both real and imminent.

Broken Heart

Not every danger, however, has to be life-threatening to qualify as PTSD. It can also develop by learning about the unexpected death of a loved one. It has been well-documented that one could die from a broken heart. The clinical name for this is “Takotsubo Syndrome.” It’s also known as Broken Heart Syndrome.

Obsessive Flashbacks

The most common symptom is the persistent re-experiencing of the event through obsessive thoughts and flashback memories redundantly being played out over and over again.

It is not uncommon for victims of repeated domestic abuse to experience PTSD. The same is true for victims of child abuse and people who have been forcibly raped.

Common Symptoms of PTSD

Clinical Findings of PTSD

• Feeling easily agitated by noises
• Sleep disorders
• Severe avoidance of locations or events that trigger memories of the trauma.
• Loss of control of emotional and individual autonomy
• Experiencing deep feelings of guilt and depression

PTSD Treatment Options

When seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, you will want to consider a healthcare specialist specializing in the treatment of trauma and PTSD.

Beyond the doctor’s credentials and experience in trauma, it’s also vital that the patient feels safe and comfortable with the doctor.

Behavioral And Talk Therapy

Behavioral therapy slowly reintroduces the patient to their fears. It gradually helps them take small steps to overcome their emotional fears. Talk therapy can also be quite valuable in this context.

Medication – Antidepressants

Antidepressants are often prescribed in conjunction with talk therapy. Two antidepressants that have been approved for treating post-traumatic stress disorder by the FDA are Sertraline and Paroxetine.

Both medications have been used to treat depression with significant success, but once taken on a regular or prolonged basis is difficult to come off them.

There is another word of caution concerning using antidepressants – most have some side effects. The most common include insomnia, headache, nausea, and agitation.

Some doctors prescribe Benzodiazepines when it is believed the PTSD patient needs to be tranquilized to sufficiently relax or fall asleep.

Legal Considerations in Claiming PTSD

Accident victims rely on their personal injury lawyers to determine whether it makes strategic sense to actively pursue a client’s post-traumatic stress disorder as one of the elements of the accident victim’s damages.

Some juries have been reluctant to award significant amounts for pain and suffering if it is based on a claim for post-traumatic stress disorder rather than severe physical injuries.

Personal Injury Lawyers

If you have specific questions or require additional information about your legal rights and obligations, consult a verified Personal Injury Lawyer as soon as possible.

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