Soft tissue injuries, which are common in car accidents, are often harder to prove.

The most severe St. Louis car accident injuries are often easy to understand for both yourself and insurance companies. When you go to negotiate for compensation, it may be fairly simple to show what happened. On the other hand, soft tissue injuries are not so straightforward because the evidence of them is often less apparent. Despite being less visible, these injuries can still be debilitating for the person suffering from them. Given the pain and complexity surrounding these injuries, victims of them do well to speak with a St. Louis car accident lawyer to ensure fair treatment. Below, you’ll learn the basics about soft tissue injuries and what to do if you ever suffer one.

Definition

Soft tissue refers to the parts of your body that support your bones and organs. This includes muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, fascia, fibrous tissues, blood vessels, fat, and more. A soft tissue injury is an ailment that affects these body parts. A few typical soft tissue injuries are sprains, strains, bruises, and whiplash.

Why Getting Compensated May Be Difficult

There are two primary reasons why these injuries are so hard to get compensated for. The first is that they are often hard to prove. As mentioned above, something like a broken bone is incredibly easy to demonstrate. You take an X-ray, you show up to your negotiations in a much-needed cast, and generally face few questions about your ailment. With soft tissue injuries, what is wrong may be barely visible with medical tests, or not at all. The second reason is that these injuries are often seen as less debilitating as others, so insurance companies will discount them. This is not true, as an ailment like back pain can keep a physical laborer out of work for years. Still, this is the assumption that many insurance providers operate on.

Your Top Pieces of Evidence

To prove your injury, you will need every piece of evidence available. This evidence will primarily be made up of medical documents and opinions. If you can get any sort of pictures or medical assessment documents that back up your claim, then do so. Another possible piece of evidence is an expert witness that is willing to testify on your behalf.

How to Get Compensated

Once you have obtained all of your evidence, it is time to compile it and present it. Generally, with the help of a lawyer, you will craft a plan to convince an insurance company, or a courtroom, that you deserve compensation. Your lawyer will gather more evidence if needed, tell you how strong your case is, then argue it for you.

It is important to remember that insurance companies are businesses that are trying to turn a profit. Part of that profit-seeking might be giving you a low offer for your soft tissue injury. One of the best ways to prevent this from happening, and to combat it if it does, is to hire an experienced St. Louis car accident lawyer. They will help you gather evidence, create a case, and get all of the compensation you deserve.

Whiplash injuries can manifest in a variety of ways such as neck pain, upper back and shoulder pain, headaches, fatigue, low back pain and cognitive changes.

When many people think about whiplash, they may just think of neck or back pain. However, whiplash injuries can manifest in a variety of ways such as neck pain, upper back and shoulder pain, headaches, fatigue, low back pain and cognitive changes.

Each patient may experience a different set of symptoms based on various factors such as direction and force of impact, speed of the vehicles at the time of crash, and age, sex and physical condition of the person. Also, symptoms of whiplash may not be immediately apparent, and may show up days or even weeks after the crash. In this post, our St. Louis whiplash attorney will discuss some of the common injuries resulting from whiplash trauma.

Neck Pain

Neck pain is reported by almost 90 percent of those who suffer whiplash. The pain radiates across shoulders, between the shoulder blades and up into the head. Whiplash trauma can affect the tissues of the neck including discs between the vertebrae and the facet joints.

The most common cause of neck pain from a car accident is facet joint pain. It is felt at the back of the neck and the area is tender to touch. Disc injury is also common cause of chronic neck pain.

Damage to the ligaments and muscles in the neck and upper back are the leading cause of late appearing pain.

Headaches

Headaches are the second most common symptom of a whiplash injury, and they affect nearly 80 percent of patients. Some headaches may result from a brain injury, others are related to injury of the facet joints, ligaments and muscles.

Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ)

It is a serious, but less common disorder resulting from whiplash. TMJ begins as pain, and popping noises in the jaw with every movement.

Brain Injury

Whiplash trauma can lead to a mild or moderate brain injury. Our brain is a very delicate structure and is suspended in fluid call the cerebro spinal fluid. The violent motion of the skull can cause the brain to bounce off inside the skull. This can lead to bleeding or bruising in the brain. The patient may experience symptoms of a concussion and may lose consciousness. In most cases, the patient just experiences disorientation and confusion after the injury. Any type of brain injury can have serious long term effects.

Dizziness

Injury to the facet joints of the cervical spine can cause dizziness. In some cases, dizziness can result from an injury to the brain or brain stem.

Lower Back Pain

Surprisingly, whiplash trauma can cause lower back pain as well. Lower back pain was reported in more than half of the rear end collisions and in three quarters of all side impact collisions.

Seeking Legal Help

Even mild whiplash injuries may take months to heal. However, more than 20 percent of the patients continue to experience pain, restricted movement and weakness for up to two years.

Read more: Whiplash Treatment