Soft-tissue injuries can be one of the most difficult car accident injuries to treat. They often occur if your car is struck in the rear by another car. When head-on crashes, sideswipes, broadside accidents, and other types of car crashes happen – it’s natural to focus first on the broken bones, head trauma, and other injuries. Injuries to tissues and muscles often occur in these more forceful car accidents, too.
Victims with soft tissue injuries often can’t work due to the pain. The range of motion of the affected body part will be limited. Soft tissue injuries affect the muscles, tendons, nerves, ligaments, and tissue. Symptoms include pain, inflammation, swelling, spasms, and weakness.
Common soft tissue injuries include:
- Sprains
- Strains
- Contusions
- Whiplash
- Tendonitis
- Bursitis
- Torn muschles
According to the Mayo Clinic, “the difference between a strain and a sprain is that a strain involves an injury to a muscle or to the band of tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone, while a sprain injures the bands of tissue that connect two bones together.” Contusions are essentially bruises that don’t involve a break in the skin.
According to Johns Hopkins University, tendonitis is “inflammation of the tendon, a flexible band of tissue that connects muscle to bones.” Bursitis is “the inflammation of the bursa, a fluid-filled sac that provides a cushion between bones and muscles or tendons.”
Whiplash occurs most-often in rear-end collisions when the neck rapidly moves back and forth – causing a soft tissue injury to the neck. Symptoms make take hours or days to appear which is why it’s important to seek medical care (usually at an emergency room) as soon as possible after a rear-end car accident.
What treatments are used for soft tissue injuries due to car accidents?
The initial care involves RICE – rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Ice care involves applying cold packs or using a cold towel several times a day. Compression involves applying gentle pressure to the affected area. Elevation means raising the area of the injury above the heart – while you’re at rest.
Most car accident victims with soft tissue injuries often treat with a physical therapist for weeks or months. This will hopefully return normal range of motion. Diet and exercises (such as swimming) may help. In severe cases, such as rotator cuff tears, surgery may be required.
Can soft tissue injuries be permanent?
Yes – in some cases, they can. Moreover, people who suffer a soft tissue injury could be more likely to re-injure the same body part, even in less catastrophic scenarios. For example, if you sustain a wrist injury in a car crash, you can reinjure that same wrist by doing everyday jobs or activities. This can eventually lead to long-term repercussions: living in chronic pain, losing the ability to perform your job duties, or even necessitating surgical intervention later in life.
At Delius & McKenzie, PLLC, our Sevierville car accident lawyers fight for drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and bicycle riders who are injured due to a car accident. We understand how even minor aches and pains can make your life unbearable on a daily basis. Our lawyers work with your doctors and physicians and health providers. We understand just how much you’re hurting, what your prognosis is, and what medical care you’ll need to get healthy. For help with any car accident case, call (865) 428-8780 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment. We represent car accident victims – in Sevierville, Seymour, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and the surrounding Tennessee areas.
Attorney Bryce W. McKenzie received his JD from University of Tennessee College of Law, and has been a clerk for the Court of Criminal Appeals. He is admitted in Tennessee, Federal Court, and the US Court of Appeals. Read more about Bryce W. McKenzie.
