What Are Common Car Accident Injuries?

Although the exact circumstances of your car accident, along with the severity of the impact, will determine how severe your injuries will be, many car accident injuries cause problems for months, years, or even a lifetime. A significant number of car accident victims will find themselves unable to return to the life they had prior to the car accident. These car accident victims may suffer physical difficulties which make mobility an issue, interfering with a job or career, or may suffer mental and emotional issues, making both work and personal relationships difficult.

Even car accidents that occur at relatively low speeds can result in serious injury, particularly to the neck and back. Many victims of car accidents may even suffer symptoms related to the accident for six months or longer after the accident. According to Back2Health, as many as ten percent of all car accident victims will end up either partially or permanently disabled. Additional car accident injury facts from the same site include:

Rear-end collisions typically cause more cervical spinal damage than a front or side collision.
Whiplash, which is five times more common among women than among men, occurs most often in those between 30 and 50 years of age, causing victims to lose an average of 8 weeks of work.
Among three-quarters of car accident victims with whiplash, the symptoms will last for more than six months.
There are as many as six million car accidents across the United States each year.
A car accident that occurs at speeds as low as five mph can result in neck injury.
Between the first and second years following a car accident, more than 20 percent of injury victims saw their symptoms worsen.
The “typical” driver will have a “near” accident as often as one to two times per month.

Because of the number of car accidents that occur each day in the United States, it is likely you or someone close to you will suffer injury from a car collision. In fact, according to a Forbes article, you will file a claim for a car accident approximately once every 17.9 years. This means, statistically speaking, that you could experience four car accidents during your life. Of course, even if you do experience that many collisions, some of them could be nothing more than minor bump-ins, while others could be extremely serious. While a very wide variety of injuries result from auto accidents, studies of insurance claims and personal injury lawsuits point to certain injuries that crop up more often than others. These injuries include:

Internal bleeding can be extremely dangerous if it is not detected soon after the collision. This is yet another reason you should immediately seek medical attention following a car accident. The adrenaline rush you experience during a car accident may mask symptoms related to internal bleeding, and only your doctor can determine whether you truly are “fine” or not.
Whiplash injuries are definitely among the most common injuries resulting from a car accident. Whiplash can be a mildly painful condition or a very severe condition. While insurance companies, and even jurors, tend to discount the severity of whiplash injuries, serious injuries to the neck can result in memory loss, an inability to concentrate, and other cognitive issues. A whiplash injury tears the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the neck as a result of the sudden, jerking motion.
Knee trauma occurs when the impact of the crash causes your knees to forcefully strike the dashboard, resulting in serious pain to the kneecaps and ligaments. Knee injuries can be complex, not to mention painful, and can cause mobility issues as well.
Traumatic brain injuries are also common injuries resulting from car accidents. Even if there is no overt sign of a cut or bruise, when the head snaps forward, then backward violently, the brain is slammed into the hard bones of the skull. This is known as a closed head wound and can result in serious traumatic brain injury. Brain injuries can result in weakness, insomnia, neurological disorders, the inability to concentrate, speech difficulties, chronic headaches, motor skill problems, and sensory issues as well as many more problems. Not only are traumatic brain injuries devastating to the victim and his or her loved ones, they are also financially devastating.
Back, neck, and spinal injuries are often the result of car accidents. These injuries can be relatively minor sprains and strains to fractures, spinal injuries causing paralysis, and disc injuries. In the same way whiplash and other neck injuries can manifest days, or even weeks after the accident, back injuries can also show up later on, causing such severe and chronic pain that the victim is unable to work or return to his or her normal day-to-day life.
Facial lacerations can occur when the face comes into contact with glass, the steering wheel, or the dashboard. Scrapes, bruises, lacerations, and fractures can occur, causing not only significant pai, but psychological issues as well. Since our faces are what we present to the world, disfigurement caused by facial lacerations can result in life-altering emotional trauma.
Scrapes and cuts are common occurrences following a car accident. You could be hit by loose objects in the car, or a body part could come into contact with a hard part of the vehicle. Scrapes and cuts can be extremely painful and can also expose the victim to a risk of infection.
Broken ribs occur even in a light to moderate impact car accident. Broken ribs are extremely painful, requiring rest to heal the damage.
Fractures of other bones, including broken arms, hips, shoulders, and legs, are common injuries from car accidents. A car accident places significant force on your body, causing painful bone breaks.
PTSD can result following a car accident more often than you might think. Mental and emotional injuries from the car accident may make it extremely difficult to resume your normal life.

How Can a Southaven Car Accident Attorney Help You?

If you have been involved in a Mississippi or Memphis, TN car accident, you could benefit from speaking to an experienced attorney from Stroud, Flechas & Dalton. To get the compensation you need and deserve, which will allow you to make a full recovery, work closely with a knowledgeable Stroud, Flechas & Dalton attorney. We understand the difficulties you are experiencing and will assist you in fully documenting your injuries, seeking a financial settlement which will fully compensate you for your injuries. Contact Stroud, Flechas & Dalton today!