Injury Library
Accident Injury Types
Understand the injuries commonly associated with accidents - symptoms, treatment options, and what they mean for your recovery and legal options.
Broken Bones and Fractures
A fracture is a break or crack in a bone, ranging from a hairline crack to a complete break with multiple fragments. High-impact accidents - car crashes, falls, and construction accidents - are leading causes, and severe fractures often require surgery, extended immobilization, and months of physical therapy before full function returns.
Burns and Chemical Injuries
A burn is damage to skin and underlying tissue caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, or friction, classified by degree from surface-level redness to full-thickness charring. Burns from accidents can range from minor to life-threatening, and severe cases often require specialized care, multiple surgeries, and extensive rehabilitation, with lasting scarring and functional limitations that affect daily life.
Internal Injuries
Internal injuries are damage to organs, blood vessels, or tissue inside the chest or abdomen - things like organ damage, internal bleeding, and thoracic or abdominal trauma - that are not always visible from the outside. Because symptoms can be delayed, these injuries are among the most dangerous after an accident, which is why prompt medical evaluation matters.
Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries from a car accident are damage to muscles, tendons, and ligaments - sprains, strains, muscle tears, and contusions - rather than to bone. They are among the most common injuries in accidents, and despite often being dismissed as 'minor,' severe soft tissue damage can cause chronic pain, limit mobility, and lead to significant medical costs and lost wages.
Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury from a car accident is damage to the nerves inside the spinal column that carry signals between the brain and body, often causing partial or complete loss of motor function, sensation, or autonomic control below the injury level. It is among the most severe accident injuries, with effects that may be permanent and require lifetime care.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) after a car accident is damage to the brain caused by a blow, jolt, or rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head - it can occur without any visible head wound. TBIs range from mild concussions to severe, life-altering brain damage, and effects may not fully appear for days or weeks after the accident.
Whiplash
A whiplash injury after a car accident is caused by rapid back-and-forth movement of the head, which strains or tears the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the neck. It is most commonly caused by rear-end car accidents, and symptoms can appear days after a crash, which is why early medical documentation matters. Insurers frequently underestimate this injury, making that documentation even more important.
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