Huntsville Soft Tissue Injury Lawyers
Strong advocacy when car accidents, slip and fall accidents, and other accidents cause soft tissue injuries in North Alabama
Soft tissue injuries can cause severe injuries and a lifetime of pain. Your soft tissue includes muscles, ligaments, tendons, and other body parts. While some soft tissue injuries may heal with rehabilitation and time, other soft tissue injuries may require surgery and may never fully heal. At Martin & Helms, we have more than 25 years of experience and working relationships with physicians to show who is liable for your soft tissue injuries and what medical care you’ll need to maximize your recovery. We’re ready to fight for the compensation you deserve now.
How can we help? We can help by answering the following questions:
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- What is a soft tissue injury?
- What types of accidents cause soft tissue injuries?
- What are the symptoms of soft tissue injuries?
- How do doctors diagnose soft tissue injuries in Huntsville?
- How do doctors treat soft tissue injuries in Huntsville?
- What is the value of my soft tissue injury claim?
- Do you have a Huntsville soft tissue injury lawyer near me?
What is a soft tissue injury?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a soft tissue injury is an injury to the “soft’” parts of your musculoskeletal system. These soft parts include your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Your soft tissues help you move and help support your body.
The different types of soft tissue injuries that you may suffer from include the following:
- Strains happen when you “overstretch or tear a muscle.” Sudden movements, such as those that happen if you are in a car accident, can cause a strain. A whiplash injury is a strain of your neck and spine.
- These soft tissue injuries are tears in a ligament. Ligaments hold your joints together. They “connect and stabilize the muscles and bones in a joint.” Your ligament can stretch or tear if an accident forces your joint too far out of its normal range. A common sprain injury is when you sprain your ankle if you twist it or sprain your wrist if you try to save yourself if you slip and fall.
- This soft tissue injury is a bruise due to broken blood vessels. They often cause discoloration under your skin. Breaks of your blood vessels can occur due to a forceful blow. Some contusions, such as a muscle contusion, may not be visible.
A few types of soft tissue injuries that are due to repetitive strain injuries include tendonitis (inflammation and swelling of a tendon) and bursitis (inflammation and swelling of a bruise).
What are the symptoms of soft tissue injuries?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, pain and swelling are very common symptoms of soft tissue injuries. Swelling “is a sign of inflammation, which is your body’s way of responding to an injury. Your body is sending extra blood and resources to the area to begin the healing process.”
Other soft tissue injury symptoms include loss of range of motion, stiffness, difficulty moving or putting pressure on the affected body part, bruising, tingling, and numbness.
Possible complications of soft tissue injuries (which can be quite serious) include damage to blood vessels, hemorrhaging, loss of blood supply to your tissues, nerve damage, and compartment syndrome (which may require emergency surgery).
Long-term complications include contracture, chronic inflammation, unstable joints, and heterotopic ossification.
How do doctors diagnose soft tissue injuries in Huntsville?
Your physician should conduct an oral exam and a physical exam. In some cases, they may order an MRI.
How do doctors treat soft tissue injuries in Huntsville?
Most soft tissue injuries heal without hospital stays or surgeries. You should have an examination by an ER doctor after any accident to verify if you have a soft tissue injury so your doctor can provide the appropriate treatments. Because there are limited ways to verify your soft tissue injury, the insurance doctors for the defendants may argue that you cannot be in that much pain if you didn’t obtain an immediate medical review.
Standard soft tissue injury care uses the protocols of PRICE and LOVE.
PRICE stands for:
- P To protect the injury during healing, you might need to wear a cast, brace, or splint.
- R Rest is the most important part of healing for any musculoskeletal injury.
- I Ice helps reduce pain and inflammation. Apply an ice pack for 20 minutes at a time.
- C An elastic bandage around your soft tissues can reduce swelling and bleeding.
- E While resting your injury, keep it elevated to reduce blood flow and swelling.
Other treatments include avoiding anti-inflammatories and LOAD which stands for:
- L Loading means gradually returning some mechanical load (weight or stress) to your injured part.
- O Research has found that a positive approach to recovery can affect your prognosis.
- V This means increasing blood flow to your injured tissues. While you might use ice and compression to reduce blood flow earlier on, later on, blood flow can help with healing.
- EPhysical therapy can help restore strength and flexibility to your weakened tissues. This can help prevent reinjury as you return to your activities, especially for unstable joints.
Soft tissue injuries can take weeks or months to heal. The insurance companies for the defendants may request that you have an independent medical exam (IME) so another doctor can review your injury. We’re here to explain how the IME works, how to prepare for the IME, and how we work to counter any adverse findings by the IME physician.
What is the value of my soft tissue injury claim?
The insurance companies for the defendants will try to argue that your soft tissue injuries are minor injuries that should heal quickly. At Martin & Helms, we consult with your doctors to verify your injuries, explain why they are a major cause of pain and suffering, and detail the extensive costs for related treatment.
Our Huntsville soft tissue injury lawyers demand compensation for the following:
- All your medical bills of every nature, including ER care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, all other types of therapy, hospitalizations, surgeries, doctor visits, chiropractic care, and other types of reasonably necessary medical care.
- All your income losses, including salary benefits, business income, and permanent disability compensation.
- Every moment you experience physical pain or discomfort, and every moment you experience anxiety, depression, or emotional trauma.
- Any property damage, including vehicle damage.
- Loss of bodily function.
- Loss of life’s pleasures.
- Loss of consortium.
We may also seek punitive damages for conduct that is reckless or intentional.
Do you have a Huntsville soft tissue injury lawyer near me?
We meet clients from our office at 2317 Market Place SW, Suite A in Huntsville. We discuss cases by phone and online video platforms like FaceTime and Zoom. We also make arrangements to meet clients away from our offices when necessary.
We’re here to answer your questions and prepare for each step of your claim.
Speak with Martin & Helms today about your soft tissue injuries
We understand how difficult it is to live with soft tissue injuries. These injuries can make everything you do more difficult or impossible. Your medical bills keep mounting. You may not be able to work. At Martin & Helms, we treat each client like family. We can fight to obtain all the compensation you deserve to improve your health, your finances, and your outlook on life.
Please call us or complete our contact form to schedule a free initial consultation. We represent clients in Huntsville, Decatur, Madison, Athens, Harvest, Hazel Green, Meridianville, and throughout North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley. We handle soft tissue accident claims on a contingency fee basis. This means our compensation depends on your compensation.