6 Car Accident Injuries with Lasting Effects

Any car accident can cause trauma, and any injury can be painful and expensive to treat. However, many injuries resulting from car accidents can also disrupt your life for the long term and change everything. When you’ve experienced a life-altering injury with lasting effects, it is essential to find a personal injury attorney who can help you assess your current and future medical needs. Having professional help is especially valuable when fighting an insurance company for a fair settlement that will protect you through the years.

Fast Fact:
Each year, over 2 million car crash victims in the US suffer permanent injuries that affect their lives go forward.

Six Permanent Car Accident Injuries

1. Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): A traumatic brain injury is a serious brain injury resulting from head trauma. The CDC reports that motor vehicle accidents are responsible for one-fifth of TBI hospitalizations annually. When the head is violently shaken, it can slam into the skull, stretching or destroying the nerve fibers responsible for carrying information from the brain to the rest of the body. Mild symptoms include headache, nausea, fatigue, and dizziness. Severe symptoms include difficulty thinking clearly, difficulty in learning or retaining information, personality changes, hearing, vision, or perception loss, weakness and coordination issues, and mood changes. Severe TBIs can result in debilitating disability. TBIs can be exceptionally costly over the long run, as physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities can prevent the ability to work or live on one’s own. Some patients suffer from seizures, combat depression, turn to drugs or alcohol, or need to live in assisted living.

2. Spinal Cord Injuries: A spinal cord injury can result in paralysis of the region(s) below the injury to the spinal column. Spinal cord injuries can result in exceptionally high medical expenses, but there are many costs that many people forget to consider. When all four limbs are paralyzed (quadriplegia), the first year of medical expenses cost an average of $1.079 million. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), each subsequent year of care can cost at least $185,110. Patients require rehabilitation, physical therapy, caregivers, and specialized adaptive equipment – such as accessible adaptations to home and vehicles.

3. Neck and Back Injuries:  In the United States, more than 800,000 traffic accidents result in neck injuries each year. These primarily rear-end collisions can result in whiplash, ligament or nerve damage, herniated discs or vertebral dislocations. While some of these injuries can heal in a few weeks, others can cause lifelong pain. Back injury symptoms often include tingling, weakness, numbness, and chronic pain.

4. Chronic Pain: Severe, ongoing pain affects 20% of adults in the United States, nearly half of which report that the pain prevents them from working and functioning on a daily basis. Even collisions that seem insignificant can result in damaged ligaments and nerves that can cause pain and even a loss of mobility.

5. Mental and Emotional Health Injuries: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a grouping of symptoms caused by experiencing or even witnessing a traumatic event, such as a car accident. Those living with PTSD may become aware of symptoms soon after the accident, but symptoms can appear years later. PTSD symptoms include intrusive memories, avoidance of anything that reminds the victim of their trauma, adverse mood changes, and self-destructive behavior.

6. Loss of a Limb:  Serious car accidents can cause limbs to be severed or damaged to the point where amputation is necessary to save the victim’s life. This happens more than you may expect. In the United States, 507 people lose a limb each day, and nearly half of that limb loss (fingers, arms, legs) is due to trauma, including car accidents. Limb loss victims also tend to experience depression and have difficulty adapting to their new reality. Along with medical expenses, patients often need assistive devices and costly prosthetics.

If you have been seriously injured in a car accident, you need to fight for the money you will need to move forward. Probinsky & Cole is prepared to take on your case and ensure that your interests are protected. Car accident injuries don’t need to ruin your life. Call today for more information.