Soft Tissue Injuries
Whiplash is one of the most well-known car crash soft-tissue injuries, and it is also one of the most difficult to be compensated for because it ‘s hard to prove and easy to exaggerate.
In some states, the at-fault driver is responsible for injuries they cause, and their insurance provider pays for the injuries you sustained. However, in no-fault states, where you aren’t even allowed to seek compensation from another driver unless you have sustained serious injuries, your own Personal Injury Protection policy will cover your medical expenses.
If you sustain a soft-tissue injury in a wreck, one of the most important things you can do for your case is to thoroughly document the accident and get medical documentation for the injury. This means making sure the police are called to the scene of the accident and they file a report and making sure you are treated by medical professionals as soon after the accident as possible.
Injury Complications
Be aware, the symptoms of a soft-tissue injury may not show up immediately following the accident; they may present in the hours or days following the crash. While some minor muscle injuries may heal without treatment, serious sprains, strains, and tears require soft-tissue therapy. If you neglect to seek this type of treatment, the injury could cause chronic pain and limit your movements for years to come.
When injured tendons, muscles, and ligaments are left to heal on their own, scar tissue can form, making the tendon, muscle, or ligament less elastic, weaker, and prone to injury. Chronic pain or pain that flares with use are signs that you need soft-tissue therapy.
Compensation for Injuries
Most insurance companies have established, pre-determined amounts they will pay to settle an injury claim. If you have incurred, or are expected to incur more than that amount in medical costs and injury-related expenses, more than the amount the insurance company offers, you may seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. However, if you win less than what the insurance company originally offered you, you may have to pay the court costs and fees. You don’t want to use a soft-tissue injury to try to get more money then you should, but you also deserve to receive a fair amount that covers your losses.
Proving Your Injury
Unlike broken bones, which can be proven by an x-ray or other diagnostic tools, soft-tissue injuries like torn muscles or tendons, severe strains and sprains, deep muscle injury, and nerve damage are difficult to “see” even with diagnostic technologies. This doesn’t mean that the injuries aren’t painful and won’t interfere with normal, daily activities including work. It just means that it is especially important to see a doctor and follow their orders, including going to all follow-up visits.
Before an insurance company pays a claim or a court decides your case, you will have to prove that the accident caused you an injury and the at-fault driver is responsible for losses you sustained because of the injury.
Call us today to learn more about the compensation that may be available to you for soft-tissue injuries caused by a car crash.