Evaluating Long-Term Car Accident Injuries in Atlanta

By Grant Law Office on January 3, 2022

The impact of a car crash can cause a wide variety of injuries, ranging from mild to fatal. Even with prompt medical treatment, some injuries can have long-term effects on car accident victims. This is why it is important to consider future losses in seeking compensation from responsible parties.

What Car Accident Injuries Can Have Long-Lasting Effects?

Car accidents often leave victims with lingering and painful injuries. Common crash injuries with long-term effects include whiplash, meniscus tears, cervical spine injuries, and soft tissue damage to the muscles and ligaments of the neck, back, chest, arms, and knees. Catastrophic injuries that have life-altering effects on victims and their families include:

• Traumatic brain injury: Severe TBI can affect cognitive abilities, memory, personality, behavior, balance, and motor skills.
• Spinal cord injury: When the spinal cord is injured, it can cause complete or partial paralysis below the level of the injury (quadriplegia or tetraplegia).
• Amputation: Loss of a limb can mean permanent disability, chronic phantom pain (debilitating pain in a body part that is no longer there), and severe emotional trauma.
• Scarring and disfigurement: Severe scarring can cause long-term pain and loss of mobility. Disfiguring injuries can also have serious emotional and psychological effects on victims.
• Eye injuries: Damage to the eyes in a wreck can cause vision loss or blindness.
• Fractured bones: Severe fractures usually require surgical repair and can lead to pain and decreased mobility that lasts a lifetime.

What Types of Car Accidents Can Cause Lingering Physical Damage?

The force of any motor vehicle accident can cause injuries that have long term effects on the victim. Types of crashes likely to cause serious, lingering injuries include:

• Speed-related collisions: The faster a vehicle is traveling, the greater the force of impact, and the more severe injuries are likely to be. Herniated disc is a common car accident injury that can cause chronic pain, numbness, weakness, and loss of mobility.
• Truck accidents: This type of crash can be particularly deadly for passenger vehicle occupants, because of the sheer size and weight of large commercial trucks. Victims may suffer internal organ damage, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or other life-altering damage.
• Pedestrian accidents: A person on foot has no protection in a collision with a 4,000 pound passenger vehicle. Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles may suffer fractured bones, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or serious soft tissue damage.
• Side-impact collisions: The sides of a passenger vehicle provide little protection for occupants in a crash. Victims may suffer serious injuries to the head, trunk, and extremities.
• Rear-end collisions: This type of crash often causes whiplash when the neck is hyperextended from a back to a forward position. Symptoms of whiplash include neck, shoulder, back, and arm pain, headaches, and ringing in the ears. They may be long-lasting and require extensive treatment.

Why Is It Important to See a Doctor After a Car Accident?

It is critical to seek medical attention for your injuries as soon as possible after a car accident. A thorough exam by a qualified medical professional may reveal injuries that might otherwise go temporarily undetected. The sooner you begin receiving treatment, the better your chances of a full recovery.

A doctor’s visit also documents your injuries for purposes of your personal injury claim. Your doctor may order diagnostics, and you may need to see a chiropractor, physical therapist, or other medical professionals. It is important to document any medical care you receive related to your car accident and keep track of any and all related expenses.

Call an Atlanta car accident lawyer at Grant Law Office at (404) 995-3955 for a free consultation. We can tell you if you have a case and what damages you may be entitled to claim.