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Can I Hire a Lawyer for Soft Tissue Injuries (STI)?


— April 15, 2020

You have the right to take legal action and hold the faulty driver accountable.


Every day we have millions of people behind the wheels of cars. With so many people on the road, it’s not a wonder that auto accidents happen almost daily. While some of the accidents lead to minor injuries, others result in significant injuries that lead to substantial damage and personal injury cases. When one is involved in an auto accident, there are many injuries one may suffer from. One of the most unthought-of is a soft tissue injury. The soft tissue injuries are part of the many personal injuries sustained after a car accident. What is unique with these kinds of injuries is that they are tough to prove. One may assume that the plaintiff is merely exaggerating the injuries to receive more compensation. This is the time to do everything possible to provide evidence to substantiate the soft tissue injury and file a personal injury lawsuit or an insurance claim.

What is a Soft Tissue Injury

A soft tissue injury is the damage caused to muscle, tendons, and ligaments in the body. After the injuries, one can experience a lot of pain or swelling. Soft tissue injuries occur during a sudden or unexpected movement during an auto accident, sports, or even while exercising. According to the Mayo Clinic, soft tissue injuries can make moving extremely hard. It can also limit an individual’s physical activities. Some types of soft tissue injuries include:

  • Whiplash: It’s also termed as neck strain. It happens mostly during an impact or unexpected force exerted on the neck. The tendons or muscles in the neck can be injured or torn due to the forward or backward response of an impact.
  • Strain: This is a type of injury where a ligament is torn or stretched during a sudden movement in a collision. The injury can result in muscle spasms, pain in the joints or swelling.
  • Sprains: These injuries differ from strains in one significant way: they involve an overstretched ligament. They are commonly caused by sudden movements, such as in an auto accident.

While the above injuries may seem minor, they take time to heal. Some even require surgery to repair the torn ligaments or tendons. They can also lead to permanent disability if not treated well. After a car accident, an individual may be in a state of shock. One may not notice that he/she has suffered from soft tissue injuries. If you have been involved in an auto accident and think you have suffered from soft tissue injuries, you need to seek medical help immediately to ensure the injuries are diagnosed correctly.

Proving Soft Tissue Injuries

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine; image by Jarmoluk, via Pixabay.com.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine; image by Jarmoluk, via Pixabay.com.

As stipulated earlier, soft tissue injuries are complicated to prove, especially to the insurance adjusters. Most of the time, you will find that the insurance adjusters deny claims for auto accidents if the victims fails to prove they suffered enough. Soft injury tissues may not manifest themselves in x-rays or other significant tests such as MRIs. It’s only through your subjective pain that you can pinpoint these injuries. Despite this, you can still recover from injuries if you contact a Wasilla auto accident lawyer. Most of the time, an individual who has suffered from soft tissue injuries never recovers wholly. It’s better to have a lawyer by your side that can deal with insurance companies or medical providers and see you get what you deserve.

Why You Should Hire A Lawyer

If you have suffered from soft tissue injuries, you may wish to consult a car accident lawyer to help you file a claim. A good lawyer can even recommend retaining a medical professional to help identify your injuries. Soft tissue injuries can result in extensive medical bills that can overwhelm your family. If you believe you suffered the injuries due to someone’s negligence, you shouldn’t wait to pay the expenses out of your pocket. You have the right to take legal action and hold the faulty driver accountable. The lawyer will handle your case and ensure you get the right compensation while you focus on recovering. In a nutshell, your lawyer will:

  • Shield you from the insurance company that may exploit you: Insurance companies tend to be aggressive when it comes to defending soft tissue injury cases. Therefore, it becomes impossible to file a claim without a lawyer.
  • Provide the right evidence: You need to have the proper evidence when claiming compensation. Your lawyer can gather evidence from police reports or from witnesses to ensure you have something to show that the injuries happened. Contacting the lawyer immediately after the car accident would be beneficial so that he/she may have an early investigation that will preserve the right evidence.
  • File your case within the statute of limitations: Every injury related to the personal injury should be filed within a given time. If you miss the deadline, it becomes tough for you to recover from injuries suffered.

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