What is a Soft-Tissue Injury?
Soft tissue injuries can lead to significant setbacks for victims. The term “soft tissue injury” describes any injury that occurs to the soft tissues in our bodies rather than the hard bone injuries that occur. Some of the most common soft tissue injuries include bruises, sprains, strains, contusions, and more. Here, we want to take a deeper dive into soft tissue injuries, properly define them, and examine whether or not individuals can recover compensation give a soft tissue injury is caused by the actions of someone else.
Acute Soft Tissue Injuries
Many soft tissue injuries are immediately visible right after they occur. We can refer to these as acute soft tissue injuries. By acute, we are referring to trauma that has a sudden onset. Typically, we see acute traumatic soft tissue injuries occur as a result of car accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, workplace incidents, slip and fall accidents, sports injuries, or some other type of sudden traumatic incident.
Some soft tissue injuries actually penetrate the skin. This can include lacerations, avulsions, abrasions, puncture wounds, and more. These penetrating injuries come with a heightened risk of a person sustaining an infection, as well as significant blood loss.
Not all acute soft tissue injuries will necessarily penetrate the skin. Contusions are also considered a soft tissue injury, but the bleeding happens below the skin in results in hematomas or a continued blood loss that does not clot. Sprains and strains are also considered in acute traumatic soft tissue injury. These injuries typically occur after leverage is applied to various parts of the body as opposed to a traumatic striking below.
Soft Tissue Injuries Caused by Overuse
Not all soft tissue injuries are acute. Some of these injuries occur over time through overuse or repetitive motions. In fact, sometimes, these injuries are referred to as repetitive stress injuries (RSI). Perhaps the most commonly referred to repetitive stress injury is carpal tunnel syndrome, which affects the lower portion of a person’s wrists and can affect their ability to use their wrists and hands.
Overuse soft tissue injuries can occur all over the body and lead to significant pain that prevents a person from undergoing day-to-day activities. Some of the other types of overuse injuries include:
- Tendonitis
- Tennis elbow
- Bursitis
- Muscle tears
- Muscle strains
In many cases, these overuse soft tissue injuries occur as a result of a person’s workplace activities, particularly in areas where individuals have to perform the same motions repetitively over long periods of time. Additionally, these injuries are common in athletes who also perform repetitive motions.
Delayed Injuries and Compensation
Recovering compensation for a soft tissue injury can be challenging, particularly if the injury is not immediately apparent. In some cases, individuals do not experience the symptoms of soft tissue injuries until hours or days after an injury actually occurs. It is still crucial for individuals to seek medical treatment as soon as they think they have sustained any type of injury. The quicker an individual can seek medical care, the quicker they can ensure their well-being and establish a solid link between the incident and any injuries they sustained.
Call us today to speak with an Atlanta personal injury attorney.