The human body is amazingly resilient, and yet the impact to soft tissues after a fall, a vehicle accident, or repetitive motion from work tasks can have serious, painful and long-lasting consequences. Injuries to tendons, muscles, nerves and ligaments are common, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored.



Causes of Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue injuries can be either extrinsic – caused by blunt force – or intrinsic, originating within the body from overuse.

Extrinsic soft tissue injuries can result from accidents involving:

• Motor vehicles
• Slip-and-falls
• Improperly maintained sidewalks and parking lots

Here’s one example. Let’s say you’re stopped at a traffic light when the car behind you fails to slow down in time and rear-ends you. Even though you were wearing a seat belt and feel OK immediately after, the damage to your body might not be evident for a couple of days, such as with bruises, or never be readily obvious to the untrained eye.

• It’s just as important to see a doctor several days after an accident as it is to get immediate help for bleeding and broken bones apparent at the time of the accident.

Intrinsic soft tissue injuries can result from:

• Continuous, repetitive movement on a computer’s keyboard
• Poorly designed office equipment, such as chairs that don’t properly support the spine and neck

Types of Soft Tissue Injuries

Some common soft tissue injuries include the following:

• Whiplash: When the neck sustains a sudden, forceful back-and-forth movement, such as from a motor vehicle accident, it’s called whiplash. The symptoms can include headache, neck pain that gets worse with movement, neck stiffness, upper arm and shoulder pain, and fatigue or dizziness. While for many people the symptoms improve in a few weeks, some people suffer for years.
• Sprains: A twist to the wrist, ankle or knee can damage ligaments, the elastic tissue around the joints that connects bone to bone. Ligaments can be mildly affected, partially torn or completely torn. Surgery can be needed to repair severely torn ligaments.
• Strains: A strain involves injury to a muscle or tendon and can be caused by overuse. Similar to sprains, surgery to repair damage caused by strains is sometimes needed.
• Contusions: Contusions, or bruises, can be much more than the discoloration of skin. They can be tender and painful, and occur in any part of the body. When you’re in a car accident, a seat belt or a deployed airbag can cause a chest, heart or pulmonary contusion, which can be very serious.
• Pinched nerves: There are many reasons why nerves become compressed, or pinched, from overuse to trauma. Pinched nerves can cause pain, numbness and tingling that gets worse over time.

Relief from Your Soft Tissue Injury

If your soft tissue injury is the result of another person’s careless or negligence action, you could be entitled to compensation that covers medical expenses, lost time from work, and pain and suffering. It’s important to hire personal injury attorneys, like those at Sayegh & Sayegh, who have expertise litigating personal injury cases. Contact us online to discuss your case with a Sayegh & Sayegh attorney today.