Vehicle accidents are a leading cause of injury in the United States. In 2019, the NHTSA reported an estimated 2.74 million auto accident injuries in the country. Most of these can be classified as penetrating or impact injuries. When loose objects inside your car or shattering glass cut or scrape you during an accident, you are said to have suffered a penetrating injury. Impact injuries are caused by your body bumping against a solid object.
Beyond these broad classifications, auto accident injuries can be very varied. Nonetheless, auto accident clinic Robbinsdale MN experts maintain that you are more likely to suffer some types of injuries in a car crash than others. Here is a closer look at these injuries.
Neck and Chest Injuries
When the vehicle you are in gets into an accident, it stops suddenly. This change in momentum tends to throw your body forward and then back very forcefully and suddenly. This motion is unnatural and can cause injuries when you hit the steering wheel or as your body moves against the seatbelt.
Naturally, these injuries often occur in the neck and chest area. Chest auto accident injuries can range from minor bruising to broken ribs and internal bleeding. Neck injuries, on the other hand, are often soft tissue injuries called whiplash that can also be minor or severe enough to require months of recovery.
Head and Brain Injuries
As your body jerks during an accident, you may hit your head against the window, steering wheel, or other objects in the car. This impact is known to cause head and brain injuries. Head injuries are common cuts whose severity depends on how deep the cut is.
On the other hand, brain injuries happen inside your head when your brain moves around forcefully due to impact. You can suffer a concussion, which is often mild, or a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Severe TBIs are difficult to detect and can cause long-term effects like brain damage if not caught early.
Scrapes and Cuts
Cuts and scrapes in a car accident are often caused by loose objects flying in the car upon impact. They can also result from you bumping against a broken window. Whatever the cause, most of these injuries are minor and may not require emergency care. That said, go to a hospital immediately if you notice heavy bleeding from a car accident cut or scrape.
Back and Spinal Cord Injuries
Along with your neck, you can also hurt the rest of your spinal column, most especially your back. Back injuries are easy to treat as long as they do not involve damage to the spinal cord. This type of injury can be very dangerous as it can cause partial or total paralysis.
Seek Medical Assistance for Auto Injuries
As you can see, car accidents have the potential for serious harm to your body. What is even more notable is that the sudden trauma of auto accidents can make many injuries slow to appear. In all the chaos, you may not even notice you have a back injury or cut on your leg. This is why it is important to see a doctor after a car accident whether or not you think you got injured. By providing early treatment, they can prevent your injuries from worsening. You can make an appointment at any time.