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Acceleration-Deceleration Injuries
Acceleration-Deceleration Injuries
Rapid acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle can cause serious injuries to occur. The most common deceleration and acceleration injury is whiplash. You can also suffer serious brain and shoulder injuries in such situations. Acceleration and deceleration injuries can occur when a stationery vehicle is hit by a moving vehicle, which causes the moving car to stop suddenly and the stationery vehicle to move suddenly. Another situation where this can happen is when a moving vehicle hits a stationery object such as a tree or a wall. These injuries can be extremely painful and may take months and even years to recover from.
Brain Injuries
When a moving person comes to an abrupt halt and the brain within the skull still has a forward momentum, the brain can hit the inner surface of the skull and get bruised. Brain injuries do not just reduce your quality of life but are also very expensive to treat. These injuries impact speech and motor skills of the victim, which may force the victims to relearn how to speak or move their limbs. You are likely to suffer traumatic brain injury when you experience a severe case of whiplash. Symptoms for such injuries include
- Fatigue
- Memory problems
- Hypersensitivity to sound
- Having difficulty concentrating and paying attention,
- Diminished abstract thinking, and more
The different types of brain injuries are concussions, contusions, coup-contrecoup, penetration, and diffuse-axonal injury.
Whiplash Injuries
People often ignore a sore neck after an accident but that symptom can easily develop into a serious case of whiplash. Whiplash injuries are actually small tears in the neck muscle that occur when neck muscles are strained or stretched. This extreme stretching happens when the neck forcefully moves forward and backward when a car rapidly accelerates or decelerates in a collision or crash.
The most severe whiplash injuries that can lead to death often happen in front-impact crashes. In such crashes, damage to the upper cervical spine and hyperextension is highly likely. This kind of injury can lead to tension headaches, migraines and vision problems. Generally, whiplash can be incredibly painful, and for that reason needs to be treated immediately to prevent patients from developing psychological conditions such as anxiety or depression.
Injury on The Shoulder
Damage can occur on the shoulder because of rapid acceleration or deceleration. Due to the force produced in such situations, muscles in the shoulder can be stretched unnaturally causing them to tear. The direct symptom of such an injury is significant pain in the shoulder whenever you try to move your arm. In other words, a shoulder injury can make it difficult for you to carry out even simple household chores. You need to see a doctor if you lose strength in your arm or notice a sharp pain every time you move your arm.
Acceleration-Deceleration Injury Lawsuit
You may be entitled to legal compensation from the party that caused your accident and resulting injuries. This depends on the cause and circumstances surrounding your injuries. You will need an experienced lawyer that is knowledgeable about TBI’s and whiplash. A lawyer who knows just how these injuries can impact your life is more capable of coming up with an estimate that can cover expenses related to those injuries.