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Posted on: 19 June 2019

There are more than 6 million car accidents in the United States every year, and half of those result in injuries, of which two-thirds are permanent injuries. Here is a look at some of the most common injuries that occur, requiring treatment from a car accident physician.

Head And Brain Injuries

Unfortunately, head and brain injuries are common in motor vehicle accidents. Even with a seat belt and airbag deployment, the sheer impact and force of some collisions make going unscathed virtually impossible. A brain injury may be minor, such as a concussion, or it may be far more severe and cause a major traumatic brain injury (TBI). A severe TBI may produce symptoms such as memory issues or cognitive impairment and may last for months or even be permanent.

Neck And Spinal Cord Injuries

As with head and brain injuries, the force of a collision plays a major role in causing neck and spinal cord injuries. The head and body are whipped forward and jerked backward, even when a seat belt is in place. And while seat belts definitely save lives, collateral injuries are an unfortunate reality. A neck and spinal injury can be as minor as whiplash, which is when the neck is hyperextended, or it can be as serious as broken vertebrae and even paralysis.

Broken Bones

Modern cars are designed to crunch up on impact in some areas during a collision. These areas are called "crumple zones." This gives the vehicle the ability to absorb and transfer the force of the collision to itself rather than to the occupants in the car. This is an improvement over older vehicles that lacked this ability; fatalities used to be much more common due to the fact that the human body is not built to withstand that force.

Unfortunately, just as some injuries are incurred from the protective actions of the airbag and seat belt, so too do crumple zones occasionally result in injuries. For example, in a head-on collision, your legs may be broken when the front of the vehicle crunches up to protect your more vital body parts and organs.

Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissues injuries are injuries that result from stress on a ligament, tendon, or muscle. It's almost impossible to be involved in a car accident, even a minor fender-bender, without experiencing some type of soft tissue injury. Pulled muscles or strained ligaments and tendons are so common because most people see an accident coming and tense up.

If you have sustained one of these injuries or another kind of injury due to being in a car wreck, go see a car accident doctor today.