Car accidents are the leading causes of injuries in our country. More than 37,000 people die in road crashes each year and more than three million people are injured.
Each car crash is different. It can vary depending on the car and the person involved. Some key factors in determining the severity of the accident are:
- Whether the airbags deployed
- How fast the cars involved were traveling
- How the people were sitting
- Where the car got hit
- Whether the person was wearing their seatbelt
Even with these different factors, there are common injuries that can be sustained from a car accident. These injuries can range from head injuries to facial injuries.
Head injuries are usually the most serious car accident injuries. A person, in the midst of an accident, can hit their head on the steering wheel, dashboards, headrest and windows. This can cause traumatic brain injuries, such as concussions and comas, and lead to long term problems, such as skull fractures, hearing loss and vision problems. Even if there are no visible signs of trauma, such as bruising, the force of the impact can jostle the brain inside the skull and cause it to swell and bleed. Symptoms of head injuries include:
- Seizures
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Concentration
- Memory difficulties
- Anxiety
- Depression
Back injuries usually occur when the spinal cord is damaged. The spinal cord can be damaged by displaced bone fragments, disc material or ligaments bruising or tearing into spinal cord tissue. When the spinal cord is damaged, a person can experience nerve damage, which causes loss of control over body pasts and even paralysis. The most common back injuries are:
- Herniated discs, which happens when there is a problem with one of the rubbery cushions between individual bones in the spine
- Fractured vertebrae
- Thoracic spine injury
- Lumbar radiculopathy, in which pain runs down one or both legs from the lower back
These types of injuries can cause long lasting pain and discomfort, especially if symptoms do not appear immediately.
Neck injuries, such as whiplash, are the most common car accident injury, especially in rear-end collisions. Whiplash is caused by the sudden movement of the head and the neck. Vocal cord paralysis is also a common occurrence after a car accident, but is usually just temporary. Other, more serious, neck injuries are cervical dislocation, cervical radiculopathy, which is a disease of the root of a nerve from a pinched nerve, and disc injury.
Chest injuries from blunt force can cause broken ribs and collapsed lungs. If a person has a heart problem, they can also go into cardiac arrest. Many chest injuries require immediate medical attention, such as internal bleeding of:
- Bowels
- Kidneys
- Spleens
- Livers
- Lungs
- Hearts
- Aortas
Facial injuries are usually common, but not as serious as others. Facial injuries can be caused by the steering wheel, dashboard, airbag, windshield, side window, car seats and shattered glass. These can range from scrapes to bruises to dental injuries and temporomandibular disorders of the jaw, more well known as TMJ.
If you have been in a car accident and are suffering any short-term or long-lasting injuries, you deserve compensation for your pain. De Lachica Law Firm is committed to helping you with your personal injury case.
Contact Houston car accident injury lawyer de Lachica Law Firm today.