What Is a Soft-Tissue Injury?

Many accidents can lead to soft-tissue injuries or damage to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in our bodies. These injuries can result in severe pain, bruising, and lasting damage – and if you suffer a soft-tissue injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, you could be facing expensive medical bills and other damages you were not prepared for. However, there are ways you can seek compensation for your soft-tissue injury with the help of a Las Vegas injury attorney.

Types of Soft-Tissue Injuries

Many different accidents can lead to a soft-tissue injury. Depending on the cause, you can experience a number of different symptoms, may need special treatment, and need varying lengths of time to recover. The most common types of soft-tissue injuries include contusions, abrasions, avulsions, sprains, and lacerations.

• Lacerations include open wounds that expose the soft tissue below the skin. They usually have jagged edges.
• Contusions usually appear as discoloration and swelling on the surface of your skin. You develop contusions due to a direct-force trauma at the injury site.
• Abrasions can affect all three layers of the skin, similar to burns.
• Avulsions occur when you lose chunks of skin or muscle as a result of the injury.
• Sprains are common at your joints and may come with the same surface injuries as contusions. However, sprains occur through twisting and rolling instead of a direct impact.

Experts often group lacerations, abrasions, and avulsions together because they involve open soft-tissue injuries, whereas contusions are closed injuries. Lacerations, abrasions, and avulsions occur when your tissue separates and becomes an open wound, leading to blood loss and increasing the risk of infection.

On the other hand, contusions and sprains do not involve open wounds. With contusions, you may experience internal bleeding that is trapped in your tissues, which can lead to additional symptoms such as swelling, pressure, and reduced blood flow.

What to Do After a Soft-Tissue Injury

You may develop a soft-tissue injury in a number of accidents. Perhaps you tripped over an uneven sidewalk and rolled your ankle, leading to a sprain. Maybe you were in a car accident and suffered from contusions and lacerations. In some situations, however, you were not responsible for the cause of your injury. In these instances, you can hold the at-fault party responsible for your damages.

In the state of Nevada, you have the right to claim compensation for your injuries if someone else’s negligence or recklessness led to them. However, holding someone accountable for a closed soft-tissue injury such as contusions can be difficult, since your symptoms may not appear until after the initial injury.

To protect your right to compensation and to preserve vital evidence following the accident, it is important to take the following steps.

• Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Your medical records will be a vital piece of evidence in your future claim, and your doctor can diagnose your injury as soon as possible.
• Do not say that you did not suffer any injuries until after you see a doctor. The soft-tissue injury may not be apparent yet, and admitting you are not suffering from any injuries prematurely can decrease your chances of collecting compensation in your case.
• Contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to discuss your case. Your attorney will examine all of the pieces of evidence available to him or her and advise you of your legal options. In addition, your lawyer can help you navigate the complex claims process.
• Do not speak to any insurance adjusters until you talk to your lawyer. You may make a statement that the company can use to deny or reduce your claim. Your attorney can help guide you through these discussions so you can collect the compensation you need to recover.

If someone else caused your soft-tissue injury, you have legal options available to you through either a personal injury lawsuit or insurance claim. However, your ability to collect this compensation depends on the circumstances of your case and whether or not you can prove that the other party was at fault. Contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your case and your most viable legal options.

If you would like to learn more about the personal injury claims process, or you would like a guide on how to win your personal injury case, just add your email below. We will send you our top tips for absolutely free.

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