If you’ve suffered one or more broken bones in a St. Louis car accident, you may be wondering how long it will take for you to recover ─and how you will pay your rising medical bills and make ends meet in the meantime.
If you’ve suffered one or more broken bones in a St. Louis car accident, you may be wondering how long it will take for you to recover ─and how you will pay your rising medical bills and make ends meet in the meantime.A broken bone from a MO car accident is a severe injury. Pain, swelling, damage to the surrounding tissues, and mobility problems can set in immediately when a bone is broken. Many broken bones require surgery to repair, as well as extensive rehabilitative therapy.
Contact a MO Car Accident Lawyer
In addition to an excellent medical team, you will need the help of an experienced St. Louis bone fracture lawyer to stand up for your rights to compensation after a serious auto accident. At The Bruning Law Firm, our St. Louis car accident lawyers are dedicated to providing relief for accident victims who are struggling to cope with broken bone injuries and need a strong advocate to take some of the pressure off of them. Over the years, we have successfully recovered millions of dollars for accident victims, and our car accident injury lawyers have been recognized as members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers.
Schedule a free consultation with us today to discuss your auto accident case, and learn how we can make a difference in pursuing maximum compensation for you.
Our Broken Bone Attorneys Will Fight for Full and Fair Compensation
If you are coping with a broken bone injury, the skilled car accident lawyers at The Bruning Law Firm will fight aggressively for the maximum compensation you and your family will need in the months ahead. This may include:
- Payment for medical expenses, including future treatments.
- Lost wages and diminished earning capacity.
- Compensation for the pain and suffering you have been through.
- Damages to your vehicle.
- Punitive damages to punish the at-fault party for extremely dangerous behavior.
An insurance company may already have approached you with a low settlement offer to squash your car accident claim. It is important that you speak with a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer before signing your rights away.
What Types of Bone Fractures Happen in Car Accidents?
At The Bruning Law Firm, our St. Louis bone fracture lawyers have extensive experience working with accident victims to collect detailed medical records and build a strong case for compensation. Understanding the different types of bone fractures is essential to determining what your recovery process will look like and what types of compensation you will need.
The most common types of bone fractures that car accident victims suffer include:
- Hairline fractures: A hairline fracture is a small crack in the bone.You may not notice this type of fracture at first, especially if you have another, more severe injury. Many people think a hairline fracture is “just a sprain” – until an X-ray proves differently.
- Simple fractures: In a simple fracture, the bone breaks but stays contained within the skin. In some cases, the injured person needs surgery to repair these fractures.
- Compound fractures: A compound fracture not only breaks the bone, but breaks through the skin as well. Also known as an “open fracture,” a compound fracture increases the risk of injury, scarring, and blood loss. It often requires surgery to correct.
- Avulsion fractures: These types of fractures occur when a piece of bone or a ligament pulls away from the bone. Surgery is commonly used to fix avulsion fractures.
- Greenstick fractures: Also called a “buckle fracture,” this break occurs when the bone bends or buckles, cracking it without snapping it in two. Children are more likely to suffer these types of fractures than adults because their bones are still developing.
- Transverse fractures: This is when a bone is broken into two pieces, and one piece is at a right angle to the rest of the bone.
- Oblique fractures: These breaks run on a diagonal and usually happen when one bone twists over another. Although these types of bone breaks are rare, car accidents can cause them.
- Comminuted fractures: A bone that is crushed or smashed into multiple pieces has suffered a comminuted fracture.
Depending on the type (or types) of fracture you are coping with after a car accident, you may need surgery, a cast, expensive medicine, and months rehabilitation to get back to where you were. As our St. Louis bone fracture lawyers investigate your accident, we will thoroughly document all of your expenses and how this injury is affecting your life to determine how much compensation you will need.
Which Bones Are Most Likely to Break in a Car Accident?
An adult human has 206 bones.Children have even more bones, including “growth plates” that fuse together into the long bones as the child grows.Nearly any of these bones can be broken in an accident, but some bones are more likely to break than others.
These are the most likely sites of bone breaks in a car crash:
- Hip fractures: Some studies indicate that a broken hip is the most common type of broken bone in a car accident. It might also be the most common type of serious injury in a crash, after whiplash.
- Tibia, fibula, or femur fractures: The bones of the leg are often broken in a crash, especially if the passenger compartment or doors buckle inward. Although the femur, located in the thigh, is the largest and one of the strongest bones in the body, it can break during a crash. The tibia and fibula, in the lower leg, can also break.
- Broken ribs: One or more broken ribs may occur when the body slams into the seatbelt or airbag during a crash. Severely injured ribs can lacerate or damage other organs, such as the lungs.
- Facial and skull fractures: These injuries most often happen in a crash when the head or face hit the dashboard or are hit by the windshield or another object.
- Back fractures: Any of the vertebrae in the back may crack or break during a crash. These breaks are especially common in head-on and rear-impact crashes.
- Arm and wrist fractures: When you see a crash coming, your body braces for it instinctively – including using the arms to help steady you. As a result, the bones of the arm and wrist are in the position to take the most damage – and they may break as a result.
- Clavicle (collarbone) fractures: The collarbone is one of the most fragile bones in the body, making it more likely to break in an accident.
Although these are the most common types of broken bone injuries, car accident victims can suffer any number of other types of fractures. If you are experiencing any pain or symptoms of a broken bone injury after a car accident, you should seek medical help immediately.
What to Do If You’ve Broken a Bone in a MO Car Crash
If you break a bone in a car accident, or if you are suffering from pain, swelling, or difficulty moving:
- Have a doctor examine the area as soon as possible. An examination and imaging tests such as X-rays can help determine what happened, so your doctors can provide proper treatment.
- Remember to keep all your medical appointments, including follow-up appointments, visits with specialists, and physical therapy appointments. Follow the instructions for using your medication, cast, crutches, or other devices carefully. If you have questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
- Designate a single safe place to keep all the paperwork related to your accident. This may include accident reports, doctor’s bills, receipts from the pharmacy, and other items. If you pay for something related to the accident, such as medication or car repairs, put the receipt with this paperwork. It will help you establish exactly how much compensation your attorney will demand from the insurance company.
- Finally, don’t wait: Contact an experienced St. Louis bone fracture lawyer today. Every day that passes after an auto accident, evidence disappears and memories of the crash become less clear. You need a skilled attorney to launch an investigation and start collecting evidence in your case right away.
Let Our St. Louis Bone Fracture Lawyers Take the Burden Off You
If you have suffered a severe bone fracture in an auto accident, you may already be feeling pressured by an insurance company to take a low settlement offer. Don’t let the pressure get to you.
Contact us today to schedule a free case evaluation, and find out how we can help you. Whether you are in St. Louis or elsewhere in Missouri or Southern Illinois, our car accident lawyers can meet with you wherever is most convenient.
