San Diego Soft Tissue Injury Lawyers

Chronic Pain and Mobility Issues After an Accident

After an accident, a medical professional can access your immediate injuries, such as cuts, bruises, brain trauma if you hit your head, and broken bones. However, several injuries are more invisible and take longer to reveal themselves. In the days following the incident, you may find it hard to stretch your legs and arms, have difficulty sleeping or sitting for long periods of time due to back pain, or cannot put weight on your ankle. These are all indicators of soft tissue damage, which can be hard to immediately spot and have long-lasting ramifications on your life.

Injuries such as sprains, strains, torn tendons, and damaged rotator cuffs can make performing daily tasks extremely difficult. You may find it hard to go to work, play with your kids, exercise, and enjoy your favorite hobbies. Treatment often takes the form of physical therapy, but this will take you away from work and can come with persistent medical bills. If you suffer a soft tissue injury because of someone else’s negligence, contact the San Diego soft tissue injury attorneys at jD LAW. We can review all evidence to determine if you have a case and how you can pursue compensation. Call us at (760) 630-2000 to schedule a free consultation.

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How Accidents Cause Soft Tissue Damage

Soft tissue refers to the parts of the body that connect muscles and bones. They bear much of our body’s weight when we stretch and extend our limbs and are important for mobility. When these parts of the body become damaged, we can find it hard to walk, sit, sleep, and fully use our limbs.

In an accident, whether it is an assault, a fall, or a vehicle collision, the body absorbs a large amount of energy. This can lead to serious trauma, including soft tissue damage. Your ligaments and tendons may become extended beyond their normal limits, bruises during an impact, or outright torn, such as in the case of a torn Achille’s tendon.

Accidents that cause soft tissue damage often involve high-impact collisions, such as:

• Car accidents where the tendons and ligaments in the neck become pulled out of place, causing whiplash
• Bicycle and motorcycle accidents where the legs become struck by a vehicle or the shoulders if you land on your back
• Falls that cause you to land roughly on a limb, like your ankle, causing a sprain
• Assaults where you are knocked down or even stabbed with a knife
• Construction accidents that include falls, being struck by an object, pinned between equipment or work material, and vehicle collisions
• Dog attacks if the animal knocks you to the ground

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Complications of Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue injuries often present themselves in the form of pain, discomfort, and limited mobility. Luckily, the body is capable of healing this damage on its own with rest, proper exercise, and limited stress. However, insurance companies will often discount these injuries after an accident, treating them as minor or nonexistent. There are no tests for soft tissue damage, only evaluations by medical professionals as to whether a patient has an injury or not. Insurance companies may try to dismiss or refute these diagnoses.

However, these are very real injuries that do impact accident victims every day. For many residents of San Diego who live paycheck-to-paycheck, a week of work can be difficult to handle, and a month can be devastating. Alongside the pain and discomfort you are experiencing, you might have to attend weekly or biweekly physical therapy sessions to regain full mobility and deal with the pain. This can cause you to take more time off work if your injuries are extensive, such as in the case of a torn rotator cuff. In more serious cases, soft tissue injuries may require surgery to repair the damage.

All these costs can add up quickly and affect the future of your household. Rather than accepting a low offer from a dismissive insurance company, you should discuss your case with an attorney to determine how much compensation you can receive after an accident.

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Recovering Compensation

Compensation in personal injury cases will depend on the extent of the damages, or costs, you have suffered as a result of the accident. Generally, most claims include your immediate medical expenses, costs of treatment for any long-lasting injuries, lost wages, and mobility equipment you may need while recovering. These costs are generally referred to as economic damages, or any cost that has a bill attached to it. To calculate economic costs, your attorney can include your medical bills from visiting an ER, the costs of prescription medication to deal with pain and inflammation, physical therapy bills, income taxes, or previous pay stubs to calculate lost wages.

In addition to the financial costs, California courts allow you to pursue non-economic damages, or costs that do not have a financial burden attached to them. These often include pain and suffering and emotional trauma following an accident. These are harder to determine, as there is not a bill associated with non-economic damages, and you will want to review the matter with your attorney to determine what is available to you.

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Securing Legal Representation

The financial and emotional toll of soft tissues can be extensive. They can limit your ability to perform well at your job, enjoy a healthy sleep schedule, take part in past hobbies and activities, and even spend time with your family and friends. Getting proper treatment is necessary to make a full recovery from serious soft tissue injuries, but that treatment often comes at a high cost.

If your injuries were caused by another person’s negligence or carelessness, you do not deserve to bear that cost alone. Instead, you may be eligible to pursue a personal injury claim. To ensure you have a fair shot at compensation, contact an San Diego personal injury attorney at jD LAW. Our legal team and lead attorney can review your case to determine liability, help calculate the damages you have suffered, collect evidence in your case, and pursue compensation in the form of a settlement or jury trial. Call us at (760) 630-2000 to learn what options are available to you.

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Additional Information

• Strains | Sprains | MedlinePlus
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
• Sprains, Strains and Other Soft-Tissue Injuries - OrthoInfo