Broken Bones
A broken bone messes with virtually every aspect of your life: your work, your home environment, your plans, and your peace of mind. Suddenly, you’re stuck waiting on a healing process that can stretch for months if the break is bad enough. Some people bounce back, but others never fully heal.
When a personal injury happens because of someone else’s negligence, everything just gets compounded. On top of dealing with physical and emotional pain (and the bills that come with them), you’re now faced with the challenge of how to hold the right people accountable.
Getting accountability requires that you fully understand the fracture you’ve suffered, how it occurred, and the full picture of its impact on your life.
Types of Broken Bones
Not all broken bones are the same. A clean break in your arm, for instance, isn’t the same as a shattered ankle or a crushed vertebra. Every kind of fracture comes with its own difficulties.
Simple Fractures
Simple fractures are clean breaks, usually treated with a cast and rest. Still, even a “simple” break can mean weeks out of work and months of reduced activity.
Compound Fractures
These open fractures involve the bone breaking through the skin. Compound fractures often require surgery and have a high risk of infection. Recovery is generally slower and more painful as well.
Spinal Fractures
These are severe injuries. Vertebrae fractures can lead to conditions like nerve damage, paralysis, or lifelong pain, meaning victims may never fully return to their old lives.
Pelvic Fractures
Hip fractures are particularly devastating for older adults. Recovery is long, painful, and often results in permanent loss of mobility.
What Causes Broken Bones?
You can break a bone in hundreds of ways, but personal injury claims often involve a few repeat offenders.
Car Crashes
High-impact car accidents can easily snap bones, especially in your arms, legs, and ribs. Seat belts and airbags can help take the brunt of the crash force, but they’re not always enough to prevent fractures.
Workplace Accidents
Jobs in construction, warehouses, or manufacturing carry a constant risk of crush injuries, falls from great heights, and accidents involving complex machinery. Workplace accident victims may be entitled to workers’ compensation if they were injured while performing job-related duties.
Slips and Falls
You don’t have to fall from a ladder or trip down a flight of stairs to end up with a broken bone. It only takes something like a wet floor in a grocery store or a damaged sidewalk to cause a slip and fall, potentially resulting in a broken bone. For older adults and kids, these circumstances can turn especially dangerous quite quickly.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents
When a car hits a bicyclist or pedestrian, broken bones are almost guaranteed because there is nothing to protect the person from absorbing the force of impact.
What are the Consequences of a Broken Bone?
Though the pain of a broken bone might fade in time, its costs don’t. With all the extra expenses that pile up while you’re recovering, the financial hit you take could be brutal. And when the injury wasn’t your fault, that burden can feel even heavier.
Costs for victims often include:
- Medical Bills: ER visits, X-rays, surgery, physical therapy, follow-ups, and prescriptions
- Lost Wages and Diminished Earning Capacity: Time off work for healing (or an inability to return to work at all)
- Long-Term Care: Rehab, home health assistance, home and/or vehicle modifications, and medical equipment
- Out-of-Pocket Costs: Crutches, braces, transportation to appointments, and child care
Insurance doesn’t always cover everything. Even with “good” coverage, accident victims often end up drowning in medical debt after a serious fracture. Filing a legal claim could provide some much-needed relief. If someone else’s negligence caused your injury, they should be the ones paying, not you.
Emotional and Mental Impact
A broken bone can hurt far beyond physical symptoms. You’ll have to deal with the frustration of not being able to move freely, the embarrassment of needing help, the fear of falling again, and the depression that can quickly take hold in response.
Some people also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the event that caused the injury, especially if it was a traumatic situation like a car accident. These emotional impacts are just as real as the physical damage, and they matter in personal injury claims.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Charlotte Personal Injury Lawyer at Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers Today
A broken bone might seem like a minor injury, but there’s nothing innocuous about it when you’re the one suffering. If someone else’s actions caused your injury, you shouldn’t be left to pick up the pieces alone. Often, the key to getting compensation is proving your damages.
An experienced Charlotte personal injury lawyer can help you collect the evidence required to build a strong case. Evidence often involves photos of the scene, medical records, and witness statements. Documentation is everything, as is speed. The sooner the evidence is gathered, the stronger your case will be.
Contact Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers today at (704) 980-9999. Our Charlotte personal injury attorneys are here to help you assess your case and fight for compensation that covers everything you’ve been through, not just the hospital bill.