When Can I File a Claim Over a Soft Tissue Injury?
You can file an insurance claim or sue over a soft tissue injury if you can show that someone else was to blame for the injury and that you needed medical care after the car accident.
Soft tissue injuries aren’t as obvious as other car accident injuries, such as broken bones or traumatic brain injuries, but the symptoms can be quite serious.
If you’re stiff, you’ve lost range of motion or you can’t put weight on a joint, that can affect your ability to work and live your normal life.
Pain from soft tissue injuries can also make it hard to concentrate or remember information.
In some cases, these injuries can even lead to more serious complications, including blood vessel damage, nerve damage and compartment syndrome—swelling that can cut off blood supply to muscles and may require surgery.
If you’ve racked up medical bills and missed work, your injury has real costs, and you could have a real case.
An Indiana car accident attorney can answer your questions and help you assess your legal options.
Start with a FREE evaluation of your claim.
What Should I Do If I Suffered a Soft Tissue Injury in a Car Accident?
If you do suffer a soft tissue injury in a car accident, you shouldn’t brush it off or wait for more medical issues to develop. If you want to build a convincing personal injury case, you should take these steps right away:
Step #1: Seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
It’s always important to receive treatment after a car accident. This protects your health and helps establish that the crash caused your injuries. Getting treatment right away gives insurance companies less room to argue that your injuries were exaggerated or that you got hurt in another way after the crash.
You can go to your primary care physician, urgent care or the emergency room, and then follow up with any specialists your doctor recommends.
Step #2: Keep track of all medical expenses.
This can take a lot of work, but it’s important to keep everything organized. Make sure you have copies of bills from your doctor and specialists, but also remember to log any other expenses you incur due to your injuries.
Imaging tests, such as MRIs and ultrasounds, can show soft tissue injuries. Prescription medications can help you manage pain, and physical therapy can help you regain mobility.
All of this costs money, and if you’re pursuing damages after a car accident, these expenses should factor into the compensation you seek.
Step #3: Be ready to show that you missed days of work and lost wages.
If your injuries kept you from working, take time to carefully record how many days or hours of work you missed.
Did you need to reduce your hours or take time off as you recovered? Did you ever need to leave early to go to medical appointments? Did your work duties need to change due to your injury?
This is all relevant to your personal injury claim. If your soft tissue injury impacted your ability to work, you should be compensated for that.
Step #4: Talk to a lawyer if you haven’t already.
If you still haven’t contacted an Indiana car accident lawyer, now’s the time to reach out to our firm and schedule a free consultation.
The FVG team can give your soft tissue injury claim the attention it deserves. We’ll help you sort through everything you’ve gathered and build your case.
You need to keep following your treatment plan and send our team any additional medical evidence that could make your case stronger. We can work together to secure compensation you need.
