Bad Chest Injuries from Slip and Fall Acidents and Car Accidents

Kalka & Baer's accident attorneys give a description of some serious chest injuries that commonly result from motor vehicle accidents and slip and fall accidents. Chest injuries are one of the more common types of injuries a person will sustain from a car accident. Sometimes even these injuries are caused by the protective force of a seatbelt or airbag. Serious slip and fall accidents can result in bad chest injuries as well.
The impact from falling, whether you hit the ground or another object, can create complicated medical problems. Here are some of the most common injuries to the chest we have seen from our clients...

Rib Fracture
A broken rib, or fractured rib, is commonly caused by a motor vehicle accident. A rib break or fracture can be potentially dangerous if the bone damages any surrounding organs or blood vessels. Healing time for this kind of chest injury can last for a couple of months, so it is important for the injury to be well rested and controlled by pain medication.

Bruise
Bruising is expected after a car accident. Simply, a bruise is the pooling of blood from the breakage o
f blood vessels under the skin. A medical evaluation is always recommended after an accident; a doctor can rule out something more serious that a bruise could be hiding (hematoma, vitamin c deficiency, etc.).

Blunt Trauma
Often interchanged with the terms blunt injury, non-penetrating trauma, or blunt force trauma, blunt trauma refers to physical damage to the body. Blunt trauma is technically not a medical condition but more so a diagnosis, like an indicator or a more serious injury caused by a motor vehicle accident.

Laceration
Any cut that tears the skin is referred to as a laceration. It is unlike an abrasion where the skin is scraped because the skin is not missing just separated. In a car crash, there are many factors that could cause lacerations to a person- glass, metal, objects within the vehicle itself.

Pneumothorax
This is the medical term for a collapsed lung. When air collects in the space around the lungs, the lung suffers pressure and it cannot expand the way it needs to provide proper breathing. A common result of suffering a rib break or fracture, pneumothorax can be treated by rest and oxygen if it is small or through the use of a chest tube if it is more severe.