Chest injuries occur at a high frequency, often during car or workplace accidents. Injuries to the chest may involve damage to the heart or lungs and can permanently hinder the injured person’s earning ability. If you or a loved one has recently experienced a chest injury, it’s important to understand the potential long-term impact.
If you’re struggling with lost income or excessive medical debt related to a chest injury, a Lawrenceville personal injury lawyer may be able to help. They can assist you in recovering the personal injury compensation you need.
Understanding Chest Injuries
An injury to the chest can range in severity from minor to fatal. Chest injuries most often occur due to blunt force trauma or the chest area being crushed or caught between objects during an accident. Because the chest contains a variety of organs, bones, and tissues, the exact nature of a chest injury can vary widely by person.
A chest injury can involve damage to the:
- Heart
- Lungs
- Rib cage
- Sternum
- Muscles
- Nerves
- Cartilage
- Tendons
At first glance, a chest injury that impacts the organs may seem to be more severe than those that involve soft tissue. However, this isn’t always the case. While a heart or lung injury is always a serious and potentially life-altering event, it’s difficult to give a general prediction of the long-term impact.
For example, a lung contusion might heal quickly and result in no lasting symptoms for one individual. For another, an injury to a chest muscle, such as the pectoralis major, could result in long-term loss of strength and mobility, which can, in turn, significantly impact that individual’s lifelong earning ability.
Chest Injury Complications
The chest serves as a protective cage for the heart and lungs, two vital organs. When the surrounding bones and muscles are injured, the primary injury can lead to secondary injuries or serious medical complications.
Some potentially life-threatening complications that can arise as the result of a chest injury include:
- Pneumothorax: Punctured or collapsed lung
- Hemothorax: Blood around the lungs
- Aortic Dissection: Tear in the main artery of the body
- Subcutaneous Emphysema: Air trapped under the deepest layer of skin
Chest injuries can also lead to other serious issues like infection and sepsis.
All these medical complications can be fatal if they’re not promptly treated. Additionally, the chest is located directly above the abdomen, which has little protection in the event of an accident. An accident that causes a chest injury brings a significant chance of also involving damage to abdominal organs.
Common Causes Of Chest Injuries
Any type of accident has the potential to result in trauma to the chest. However, certain accident types are most commonly associated with chest injuries.
Common causes of chest injuries include:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accident
- Falls
- Slip and fall accidents
- Sports injuries
- Penetrating injuries
Car and workplace accidents are some of the most common situations that lead to chest injuries. Both bring a high risk of the chest being crushed or penetrated by a foreign object.
If you need to seek chest injury compensation down the road, the type of injury has a direct impact on your options for recovering compensation. For example, car accident chest injuries in car accidents involve attempting to secure compensation through the other driver’s auto insurance, while a workplace accident entails obtaining compensation through an employer’s workers’ comp policy.
Chest Injury Treatment Methods
Chest injury treatment typically begins with making sure the injured person’s respiratory and circulatory systems are stabilized. If the heart, lungs, or other organs were injured in the accident, stabilizing organ functioning is also a medical priority. Once life-threatening injuries are addressed, treatment depends on the type and extent of the primary injury.
Serious damage to the lungs or heart may entail emergency surgery. Surgery may also be necessary in cases of severe damage to the nerves or bones. Broken bones typically need to be set or placed into a cast or brace.
Soft tissue injuries tend to take less invasive treatment and may simply require rest. However, the injured person’s health, age, and injury severity directly impact their long-term healing outcomes.
Any type of chest injury will involve a period of rest, with more severe injuries likely needing some amount of hospitalization. Physical and occupational therapy are commonly recommended after a chest injury to help the injured person recover strength, mobility, and healthy organ function.
Long-Term Outcomes After a Chest Injury
Some chest injuries can result in a full recovery. However, others may have a lasting impact on the individual’s health. A chest injury that damages the heart or lungs may result in permanent damage to those organs, leading to long-term health complications.
Injuries involving the bones, nerves, or soft tissues often lead to long-term effects such as:
- Severe chronic pain
- Loss of strength
- Reduced mobility
- Reduced range of motion
- Issues with balance and stability
- Shortness of breath
- Circulatory issues
Lingering health problems like these can significantly affect the quality of life, impacting an individual’s ability to participate in family life, complete household chores, and enjoy hobbies like weightlifting or running. In many cases, these long-term effects have a significant impact on earning ability, resulting in the need to stop working or change careers.
Common Costs Associated With a Chest Injury
Chest injury costs tend to grow in proportion to injury severity. A relatively minor chest injury is likely to result in smaller medical bills and a short amount of time off work. Serious or catastrophic injuries can result in many thousands of dollars worth of medical bills. The impact on employment might be long-term or even permanent.
When a chest injury is serious, a personal injury lawyer can help you file an injury claim to obtain compensation for both the financial and non-financial impact of the injuries.
These often include:
- Past and future medical bills
- Medical device costs
- Attendant care costs
- Prescription medication costs
- Physical or occupational therapist costs
- Past and future lost wages and benefits
- Pain and suffering damages
Personal injury compensation is identified based on all these injury costs as well as the impact on quality of life. As a result, case value is unique in every chest injury claim.
Call a Lawrenceville Chest Injury Lawyer Today for a Free Consultation
If you or a loved one has experienced a serious chest injury in Lawrenceville, GA, you’re not alone. You should never accept that you’re responsible for your injury costs without first consulting a personal injury lawyer.
Lawson Personal Injury Attorneys offers free, no-obligation consultations. We’ll review your case and advise you on how you can move forward with obtaining compensation for your chest injury. Call Lawson Personal Injury Attorneys at 678-446-3655 today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Lawrenceville personal injury attorney.