Something as simple as slipping and falling can alter your day, your week, or even your life.
The injuries that result from a slip and fall accident are scary because they happen so suddenly.
A slip and fall can happen anywhere, at any time, at no fault of your own.
They can be very painful, and could potentially produce medical bills and lost wages in the millions of dollars depending on the severity of your injury.
Aside from car accidents, slip and fall accidents are the most common type of accidental injury.
We hope you are never injured in a slip and fall accident, but if you are, understanding slip and fall injuries will help you better communicate your injuries to your chiropractor as well as your lawyer.
This will allow your chiropractor to design a treatment plan suited to your needs, and it will help your attorney prepare your claim for compensation.
So what are the most common types of slip and fall injuries? They range from minor to severe, and potentially life-threatening.
We will discuss a few of them below.
Table of Contents
- Soft Tissue Injuries
- Broken Bones
- Head Injuries
- Ankle, Wrist, and Knee Damage
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Start Your Road To Recovery
Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries aren't outwardly visible, so it makes them hard to diagnose and prove in a lawsuit.
Sometimes you won't even realize you have a soft tissue injury until hours, days, or even weeks after your slip and fall accident.
Soft tissue injuries range from whiplash to ankle sprains, to tears in your tendons or ligaments.
If they are left untreated, soft tissue injuries can cause chronic pain, and leave you open to further damage or injury.
Even if you feel fine after your fall, you should always seek medical care just in case you've suffered a soft tissue injury that hasn't shown symptoms yet.
It's always better to be safe than sorry; you don't want to deal with one of these injuries for the rest of your life.
Broken Bones
Broken bones occur when there's more pressure on the bone than it can handle.
A slip and fall can easily result in stressful force on your bones throughout your boy.
In slip and fall accidents, hip, wrist, and ankle fractures are some of the most common types of broken bones.
The older you are, the greater your chances of getting a broken bone as a result of a slip and fall.
Head Injuries
Even head injuries that appear to be minor are medical emergencies.
If you fall and hit your head, especially if there is swelling, bleeding, or a brief loss of consciousness, you need immediate medical attention.
Minor concussions will generally clear up on your own, but more serious traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, can permanently alter your ability to function.
Head injuries cannot be diagnosed on symptoms alone, and even the most severe head injuries produce very minor symptoms at first.
That's why you need to see your doctor, no matter what, after any head injury, no matter how "fine" you feel.
This will also increase your odds of a successful lawsuit since a medical visit will produce documentation of your injury.
Ankle, Wrist, and Knee Damage
During your fall, there's a chance you will take an unusual or uneven step.
You could also put your arms out to try and catch yourself before you hit the ground.
When this happens, you could tear a ligament in your wrist or ankle, resulting in a sprain or strain.
Ligaments don't receive a lot of blood, so sprains and strains take a long time to heal.
Even though they might not seem serious, an ankle or wrist injury can interfere with your life in a significant way.
You might not be able to walk, type, cook, lift your children, or button a shirt depending on your injury.
Knee damage is also common during a slip and fall because it's easy to twist your knee as you fall.
Your knee is a very complicated collection of bone and ligaments.
When you hurt your ACL or MCL in your knee, it can take months to heal.
In addition to those tears, you can also dislocate your patella.
There's a chance you will need knee reconstruction right away or sometime in the future.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries occur when the spinal cord is either severed or compressed.
These injuries are almost always life-threatening and require immediate medical attention.
They will also likely require ongoing treatment for the rest of your life.
They are the most costly injuries to treat, with spinal injuries costing upwards of a million dollars in the first year after the accident.
A general rule of thumb is that the higher up in the spinal cord the injury is located, the more extensive and life-threatening/altering the damage will be.
Injuries high in your spine often produce quadriplegia, while injuries lower in the spinal cord may only produce paraplegia.
Start Your Road To Recovery
As you can see, many of the injuries that result from seemingly innocent slip and falls can dramatically alter your day, if not your life.
If you've been hurt in a slip and fall injury, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
And, if your slip and fall was due to someone else's negligence, you shouldn't be responsible for your medical bills or lost wages.
Advanced Injury Care Clinic in Tennessee can help you recover not just physically, but also financially by connecting you with a chiropractor as well as a lawyer.
Our Nashville Slip and Fall Chiropractors are experts in treating injuries caused by slipping and falling, as well as helping patients get the compensation that they deserve for their injuries, pain, and suffering.
If you or a loved has been hurt in a slip and fall accident, seek help as soon as possible.
Click the button below to schedule a Free Slip and Fall Consultation with the chiropractor at the Advanced Injury Care Clinic in Tennessee.
