Car accidents may oftentimes cause injuries with long-term effects on a person’s health and wellbeing. Not only they’re a heavy nuisance but they may incur irreversible losses on a victim’s waking life. Fortunately, car accident victims may be able to pursue just compensation or claim damages with regards to the ill long-term effects caused by a collision incident.

Before one can have a look at their legal standing, it’d be better for them to know more about the different ailments caused by an unfortunate collision. Listed below are some of the possible long-term effects a car or motorcycle collision may inflict on your well-being. A group of experienced and trusted injury lawyers such as the Uber Accident Lawyer Los Angeles might also help answer some common legal questions about car accidents and associated injuries.  

Likewise, a specialist motorcycle accident lawyer can help you get the compensation you deserve if you find yourself in a road collision.

Neurological Injuries 

Sustaining a head injury is a fairly common occurrence during a car accident. Mild fender benders can jerk someone enough to make their headbang against their headrest. That minor bump is believed to affect the brain since vehicles travel at high speeds and brains are very susceptible to damage. Such an impact may likely result in nerve damage. 

The nerve damage can manifest in several ways. One of the most common effects is blindness. Sudden blindness specifically leads to a wide range of challenges in the victim’s life. Fortunately, some websites, like ptlawkc.com, guide individuals who are suffering blindness and other related health concerns caused by a car crash in moving forward with their lives and finding peace in their situations through legal action. 

Besides blindness, nerve damage may also result in the following neurological injuries: 

• Traumatic Brain Injury 

Car crashes are believed to be the leading cause of TBIs or traumatic brain injuries. They may result in long-term hospitalization with hefty medical bills and cause permanent mental or physical disability. Patients who appear to have already fully recovered from traumatic brain injuries may still have symptoms that never go away. 

A TBI can occur when there’s a blow to the victim’s head from another object, violent shaking, or a sudden strike against the skull by the brain.

• Neuropathy 

This condition is characterized by nerve damage in a car crash victim’s peripheral nervous system. It can affect a person’s balance when walking and their ability to hold objects. 

Nerve fibers can become compressed in neuropathy, causing pain and numbness to the limbs. 

• Radiculopathy 

This is a condition that damages or compresses the nerves as they leave a person’s spinal column. Pain and weakness or numbness in the legs or arms may also result from radiculopathy, as with neuropathy. Pain may radiate throughout a car accident victim’s lower back and into their limbs.

Physical Injuries

The body may never be in the same state as it was prior to the accident anymore even if some injuries heal over time. For many car accident victims, several issues may arise ranging from changes in mobility to other injuries. Unfortunately, some of them can be long-term and impact a person for a lifetime.

Here are some of the physical injuries resulting from a crash that can have long-term effects on the health of the individuals involved in the accident:

• Fractures 

A car wreck may fracture or break any bone in the body. There are many possible causes of a person’s bone fracture due to the incident. Getting crushed in the crash, being thrown from the car, having the bones and limbs bent or twisted unnaturally, being thrown backward or forward in an unnatural way, external objects hitting the body, or the force of the crash itself typically causes the breaks. 

Bones that are said to be susceptible to fractures during a car accident include the ribs, vertebrae in the spine, neck bones, and bones in the skull.

A cast or surgery is often required to facilitate the healing of fractures. However, it’s said that no amount of treatment can heal the bones or help them fuse properly in some extreme cases, leaving the victim with a lifetime of impairment.

• Loss Of Limbs 

Car crashes are also a leading cause of the loss of a digit or limb in an accident, known as ‘traumatic amputations.’

Car accidents can severely damage a victim’s toes, fingers, feet, hands, or even an entire limb that reconstruction isn’t a viable option. Sometimes being crushed in the crash or hit by sharp metal or glass may severe an appendage. The doctor may even require surgical amputation in some cases as a way to save the victim’s life or prevent further damage.

• Soft Tissue Injuries

The physical injuries that belong to this category can take several weeks up to a few months to heal. Soft tissue injuries include a sprain or ligament and tendon tear. The recovery of the patient may depend on their age and health.

• Whiplash  

Whiplash is a neck injury that results from rapid, forceful back-and-forth movement of the neck. Rear-end car collisions commonly cause this injury. 

Whiplash’s long-term effects can include constant ringing in the ears and ongoing bouts of dizziness. Stiffness and chronic pain in the shoulders and neck may also result from this physical bodily injury.

Emotional Injuries

High levels of stress are usually found in people long after getting involved in an accident. The same holds true even after a seemingly minor crash. Paying close attention to their traumatic experience’s emotional effects is vital among car accident victims. They should seek help from mental health experts immediately after noticing signs of emotional distress. It’s essential to note that career and relationships may be disrupted if the problems linger.

Emotional and psychological injuries that car accidents may cause are:

• Depression 

One of the most common emotional effects of car crashes is depression. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), depression, specifically a major depressive disorder, affects around 16.1 million adults every year. Signs of depression include loss of interest in day-to-day activities and overwhelming sadness. If symptoms go on for weeks, a disorder may be diagnosed.

• Sleep Disorders 

A wide range of sleep problems or disorders may result from stress due to a traumatic event. Stress is said to over-stimulate the brain. The overstimulation triggers the release of epinephrine and adrenaline. These neurochemicals are known for keeping people awake, causing nightmares and flashbacks, thus, disturbing sleep. Adding to the list of problems is daytime fatigue.

• Anxiety

An estimated 44 million adults also live with a form of anxiety disorder, still according to the ADAA. People who experienced an auto accident are part of that number. Phobia, separation anxiety, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder are psychiatric disorders that fall into this category. Anxiety may also result in irritable bowel syndrome or IBS.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the long-term effects of auto accidents can alter a person’s life. That’s why before entertaining settlement negotiations, victims should seek legal representation to uncover the damage’s true extent. If car crash injuries prohibit someone from enjoying the work they once loved, an experienced lawyer can help mitigate the accident’s long-term ramifications by securing comprehensive compensation.