Car accidents can cause various injuries including arthritis. Some of them can be mild and can heal in no time, but others can be quite a challenge and may affect your entire quality of life. Some accidents won’t heal ever, and people simply have to learn how to live with them.
What’s important when you are injured in a crash is that you seek medical help as soon as possible. Even if you don’t feel injured, you should get examined just in case. Some injuries may trigger pre-existing injuries or cause certain conditions that might not seem like they appeared because of the car accident.
One of the overlooked injuries is arthritis. In cases where an accident causes or aggravates arthritis, the symptoms won’t show right ahead. Instead, it will take time for the symptoms to appear.
What’s important is that you seek legal assistance from an Indianapolis car accident lawyer.
What is Arthritis?
The simplest definition of arthritis is the inflammation of a joint. It can affect several joints and the symptoms include joint stiffness, swelling and pain.
There are various types of arthritis that you may develop after a car accident. However, two types of arthritis that may be caused or worsened by a car accident:
Post-Traumatic Arthritis
Post-traumatic arthritis involves damage to the cartilage in an injured joint. It may occur from trauma to the body supported by the impact of a car accident. Cartilage damage may be anything from bruising to cartilage loss. Damaged or lost cartilage rarely grows back, which is followed by scar tissue. The scar tissue may conflict with movement in the joint which can cause further damages.
Post-traumatic arthritis may also occur in joints where cartilage hasn’t been damaged. If you had a bone fracture and it heals out of place, this could lead to arthritis in the future. Broken bones or torn ligaments can happen in car accidents; both can lead to post-traumatic arthritis even years after the accident. Even if the injury is entirely healed, the trauma to the joint increases the chances of arthritis.
Symptoms of post-traumatic arthritis may manifest as joint pain, limited mobility, and swelling.
Simple activities such as walking up and down stairs or playing sports can be painful. If the case is milder, the doctor will prescribe medications and will recommend strengthening exercises. If the case is severe, then surgery might be needed.
If you injured your joint in a car accident, ask the doctor about the chances of developing post-traumatic arthritis and what precautions you should take to lower this risk. If you don’t know about potential post-traumatic arthritis, you might have the challenge to get a fair settlement. The settlement is significant in case if years later your post-traumatic arthritis requires complex surgery.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
This arthritis is connected with aging and the risk be increased if you had a trauma from a car crash. Severe trauma to a joint can accelerate a continuous inflammatory disorder, which may lead to the spread of inflammation to other joints.
What To Do In Such a Case
After the accident, it’s important to get medical help. Even if you don’t have any visible injuries and feel well, make sure to get a medical exam. This is important because sometimes internal injuries may appear after a few days. Without a medical record of your condition, the insurance company will have a better chance to argue that your injury happened because of some other accident, and not the actual car accident you were in. This will make things much more difficult for you if you have to seek a compensation claim to cover your medical bills.
When it comes to arthritis that appears years after the accident, it’s best to hire an attorney to help you seek the claim. You might be entitled to certain benefits like rehab or medical expenses.
Your personal injury attorney will help you collect your claim for pain and suffering as well. Post-traumatic arthritis can easily cause you pain and suffering since it can significantly affect your everyday life. You might not be able to work or enjoy simple things like hiking, playing spots.
Dealing with all the legal matters, negotiating with insurance companies, and seeking claims can be time-consuming, stressful, and complex.
Allow our team to stand by your side. For any question you have, Rowe & Hamilton team is here to answer it for you. Schedule your first free consultation today.
