After an accident, it is common for victims to suffer multiple types of injuries. While some injuries are plainly visible, such as bone fractures or open wounds, others, such as soft tissue injuries, are harder to detect. While they may not always be visible, soft tissue injuries can be debilitating and cause severe, lasting pain.
If you or a loved one suffered soft tissue injuries in an accident due to another person’s negligence, you may be able to pursue compensation to pay for medical care or lost wages. Our experienced South Carolina injury lawyers at Joye Law Firm can help you file a successful claim to receive a settlement for the full extent of your injuries.
What is a Soft Tissue Injury?
Soft tissue injuries occur when the body’s soft tissues are damaged. Soft tissue includes body parts like discs, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, adipose tissue, and the skin.
Soft tissue injuries typically result from a sudden, violent movement, such as when two vehicles crash into one another. They can also occur in workplace incidents like slips and falls or crush injuries.
Common soft tissue injuries include:
- Whiplash: This is a specific type of neck injury where multiple types of soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves) have been damaged. Whiplash is a common soft tissue injury that results from a car crash. It is caused by a sudden and violent back-and-forth head and neck movement during a car accident.
- Herniated Discs: One of the most common back injuries, herniated discs occur when the soft center of a disc pushes through a crack or rupture in the firm outer layer of the disc. This can put pressure on nearby spinal nerves causing serious pain.
- Contusions: Also known as bruises. Contusions are caused by blunt force trauma, such as a direct impact with an object, damaging the skin and blood vessels underneath.
- Sprains: A sprain occurs when the ligaments connecting muscles to bones have been stretched beyond their normal range of motion. The most severe sprains are torn ligaments, which can cause intense pain.
- Strains: Unlike sprains, strains result from sudden and violent movements on the muscles and tendons. Strains can cause intense pain, create feelings of stiffness, and impair the affected limb’s range of motion.
- Bursitis: Prolonged pressure on the bursae, a fluid-filled sac near joints like the elbows, shoulders, and hips, can cause inflammation, known as bursitis. This condition typically causes pain when moving the affected joint or body part, limiting movement and causing muscular weakness.
Challenges to Receiving Fair Compensation for Soft Tissue Injuries
While soft tissue injuries are real and can have severe and debilitating effects, obtaining compensation for soft tissue injuries after an accident is often challenging. Unlike fractures and other, more visible injuries, soft tissue damage does not appear on X-rays and may not always leave visible symptoms.
Although you can seek a settlement to pay for medical expenses and rehabilitation related to your soft tissue injuries, insurers often don’t want to pay a fair amount. Disinformation campaigns by some insurance companies attempt to undermine the validity of soft tissue injury claims by perpetuating the false narratives that these injuries, including whiplash, are exaggerated or fabricated entirely by individuals seeking compensation for their medical treatment and pain.
Insurance companies might argue that the lack of visible evidence on X-rays equates to an absence of real injury, leading to doubts about the authenticity of claims. These tactics can diminish the seriousness of your injuries, denying the genuine pain and suffering you have experienced and preventing you from receiving a fair payout.
How a Skilled Injury Lawyer Can Help You Get a Fair Settlement
If you or a loved one was injured in a car accident in South Carolina, our experienced personal injury lawyers at Joye Law Firm have the resources to help. We can collect concrete evidence of your soft tissue injuries, link them to the accident, and demonstrate that your pain is real.
- Accident scene evidence: Photos of your car’s damage, video footage of the crash from dash-cams and traffic cams, as well as witness statements can help contextualize the accident and demonstrate where you received your soft tissue injuries.
- Pictures documenting your injuries. Some soft tissue injuries, like bruises, leave openly visible symptoms, such as red or discolored skin, swollen lumps, and visible deformities.
- Medical records and imaging tests. We can obtain treatment records from doctors and medical experts. Specific imaging tests, such as MRI, CT or myelogram scans, can also detect some forms of soft tissue damage. We will gather and present these documents to prove you were injured and show your commitment to seeking treatment and receiving follow-up care.
- Mental health documentation. If your soft tissue injuries have resulted in emotional distress or pain and suffering, we can demonstrate how the injuries’ have impacted your mental health. We can also use bills for medication or behavioral health services you paid for to deal with the aftermath of the accident.
Talk to the Injury Lawyers at Joye Law Firm Today
Joye Law Firm has proudly worked for the people of South Carolina since 1968. Our team of expert personal injury attorneys has over 250 years of combined experience helping accident victims.
We understand that not all injuries leave visible symptoms, and we know that the pain and suffering you endure are real and affecting your life. Fortunately, you don’t have to face the insurance companies alone – Just Call Joye.
Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation. We can review the circumstances of your case, go over your legal options, and help you take your first steps toward compensation.
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