Soft-tissue injuries after a car accident often leave victims struggling to negotiate a fair settlement with insurance companies. While X-rays clearly show broken bones, victims often find it challenging to document damage to muscles, tendons and ligaments, even when the pain significantly impacts your daily life.
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At Schmidt Kramer, our Harrisburg car accident attorneys understand how these invisible injuries affect accident victims. We know how challenging it is to recover, manage financial burdens and navigate the legal process alone. Our firm is here to help.
Schedule your free consultation today: 717-727-2500.
What Are Soft-Tissue Injuries?
A soft-tissue injury involves damage to your body’s muscles, ligaments and tendons. These injuries commonly occur when the force of a car crash causes your body to jerk suddenly.
Common soft-tissue injuries include:
- Whiplash: often occurs when your head snaps forward and back, straining neck muscles and ligaments. Some victims may experience neck pain, headaches and limited range of motion.
- Sprains and Strains: Impact can stretch or tear ligaments connecting bones (sprains) or muscles and tendons (strains). These injuries frequently affect the back, shoulders and knees.
- Contusions: Severe bruising from impact trauma that damages blood vessels and muscles beneath the skin. While bruises may fade, underlying tissue damage can persist.
These injuries often cause:
- Limited mobility
- Muscle spasms
- Swelling and inflammation
- Persistent pain and stiffness
- Reduced flexibility and strength
Even seemingly minor soft-tissue injuries can lead to chronic pain and long-term complications without proper medical care. Documentation from a healthcare provider helps establish the connection between the crash and your injuries.
How Car Accidents Cause Soft-Tissue Injuries
Car accidents cause soft-tissue injuries through sudden, violent forces that damage the body’s muscles, tendons and ligaments. Here are some ways soft-tissue injuries may happen.
- Impact Trauma: The collision force throws occupants against seatbelts, airbags or vehicle surfaces, causing direct tissue damage. Higher the speed, the more severe the potential injury.
- Rapid Deceleration: When a vehicle stops abruptly, the body moves forward until restrained. This whipping motion may strain the neck and back tissues.
- Twisting Forces: Side impacts or spinning crashes can twist the body unnaturally, tearing or stretching soft tissues beyond their normal range of motion.
- Compression: The impact force can compress the spine and surrounding tissues, particularly in rear-end collisions. This compression often damages back muscles and spinal ligaments.
Even low-speed crashes can cause significant soft-tissue damage. The body’s natural reflex to brace for impact can increase muscle and ligament strain. Symptoms may take hours or days to fully develop, making immediate medical evaluation vital for documenting the cause of injuries.
Why Insurance Companies Fight Soft-Tissue Injury Claims
Insurance companies aggressively challenge soft-tissue injury claims to minimize payouts and protect profits. They often exploit the invisible nature of these injuries, questioning their severity since damage does not appear on X-rays or vital medical imaging.
Common insurance tactics include:
- Arguing symptoms existed before the accident
- Claiming injuries are not as severe as reported
- Suggesting that delayed symptoms are not linked to injuries crash-related injuries
- Pushing quick, low settlements before full injury impact is known
- Using gaps in medical treatment to deny causation
They may hire medical experts to dispute injury claims or monitor victims’ social media for evidence contradicting injury claims. Without clear imaging evidence, insurance companies often downplay the impact of chronic pain, reduced mobility and daily life limitations. Victims need thorough medical documentation and experienced legal representation to counter these denial tactics and secure fair compensation.
Proving Your Soft-Tissue Injury Case
Building a strong soft-tissue injury case requires systematic documentation and medical evidence. Start by seeking immediate medical care after your accident and maintaining detailed records of every hospital visit, doctor appointment and therapy session. These medical records create a clear link between the crash and your injuries while documenting your ongoing symptoms and treatment needs.
Keep a daily log of how your injuries affect your life. Track your pain levels, mobility limitations and activities you can no longer perform. Photograph visible bruising or swelling and save records of missed workdays and income losses. These details paint a compelling picture of your injury’s impact.
This evidence can dispute the insurance company’s attempts to minimize your claim. For instance:
- Expert testimony strengthens your case significantly.
- Medical specialists can explain your injury mechanisms and expected recovery timeline.
- Physical therapists document your progress and limitations.
- Medical experts calculate future treatment costs.
Call Our Harrisburg Firm After Car Accident Soft-Tissue Injuries
Do not let soft-tissue injuries derail your life. We understand how these injuries cause chronic pain, lost work time and mounting medical bills. Our attorneys work tirelessly to prove the true impact of your injuries and secure fair compensation.
At Schmidt Kramer, our skilled car accident attorneys have built a history of securing favorable results for clients across Harrisburg. Our experienced legal team will document your injuries, calculate your full damages and fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact us to schedule your free consultation or fill out our simple online form to discuss your case with us and take the first step toward recovery.
Experienced. Local. Lawyers. Call: 717-727-2500.