You can suffer many types of injuries in a car accident, with a broken bone among the most likely. From your feet all the way up to your skull, every bone in your body is susceptible to injury in a crash.
If you suspect a broken bone after a car accident, move to safety and administer first aid. Also, call 911 to request an ambulance, as the responding paramedics can stabilize your injury and quickly transport you to a local hospital.
There are several ways to treat a broken bone, with the final strategy based on the location of your injury, the severity and if there’s any damage to the local area.
Here are some of the most common treatment options:
- Setting the broken bone: With a displaced fracture, your doctor may want to manipulate the bones back into position. Doing so promotes proper healing.
- Immobilization: Regardless of the bone you break, immobilization is almost always necessary. Restricting movement gives the bone time to heal, while preventing additional injury. With a broken ankle or wrist, for example, you can expect to wear a cast for an extended period of time.
- Medication: Shortly after the injury, you may require pain medication to ease your discomfort. As the healing process progresses, you won’t require nearly as much pain medication.
- Surgery: It’s not typically required, but surgery may be necessary if you have one of these injuries: displaced fracture, multiple fractures, loose bone fragments, fractures that affect a joint or ligament damage.
- Physical therapy: After your bone heals, your doctor is likely to suggest physical therapy and rehabilitation. This is used to restore full strength to the injured area, while improving flexibility. If you opt against therapy, you may never make a full recovery.
Once you understand your injuries and receive treatment, you can turn your attention to the cause of the motor vehicle accident. For example, you may learn that a trucker was texting, thus causing them to crash into your vehicle.
With the right information, you can then determine if you’re in position to file a lawsuit against the negligent party. This may be necessary in order to collect all the compensation that you’re entitled to in California.