Slip and fall accidents can cause many different types of injuries from minor to severe, even fatal. Often, a person who gets hurt in a slip and fall incident has more than one wound. If you get injured in a slip and fall accident, a Chicago personal injury attorney could help you pursue a claim for compensation against the negligent property owner who caused your injury. Here are some of the common injuries from slip and fall accidents:
Arm and Shoulder Injuries
We all have a natural reflex to throw our arms out to try to break a fall. Doing so might protect other parts of our bodies from severe injuries, but at the expense of our arms and shoulders.
The wrist was not intended to fear the full weight of the body in a fall. This delicate part of the body often gets fractured in a slip and fall accident. Sometimes, bones in the arm get broken during the fall. Also, because the body often twists or contorts when falling, many people suffer dislocated shoulders during these accidents.
Leg and Hip Injuries
When a person falls forward, they might land on their knees, injuring the kneecaps or ligaments. Broken ankles are another common injury with slip and fall accidents. Depending on how hard the person falls and other factors like arthritis and osteoporosis, they might suffer a broken bone in the legs or a broken hip.
Fall injuries are one of the frequent causes of people losing their mobility. Some people never walk again without a walker, or they have to use a wheelchair permanently. After a fall causes significant wounds, some people decrease their physical and social activity out of fear of having another fall.
Spinal Cord Damage
Some people get neck or back injuries from slip-and-fall accidents. If something like a broken vertebra penetrates and severs the spinal cord, the result could be paralysis from the point of the injury downward. Sometimes spinal cord damage is fatal. People who survive spinal cord damage often live with the consequences for the rest of their lives.
Head and Facial Trauma
Facial injuries are common if the person falls forward or strikes an object with their face on their way down to the ground. Facial fractures, lacerations, broken teeth, eye injuries, and damage to facial nerves can happen.
Whether a person falls backward, forward, or lands on their side, head trauma is a common injury with these accidents. Concussions, hematomas, skull fractures, and traumatic brain injury can result from the fall.
Minor Wounds
People who suffer severe wounds like the ones we just discussed often have additional injuries, like cuts, scrapes, and bruises. They might need stitches for deep or extensive lacerations. Bruises need to be watched in case they develop blood clots.
Any breaking of the skin should get cleaned thoroughly and monitored for infection. Muscle strains and sprains are common after falls because of the way the body tries to protect itself from injuries. A person might twist their body in an unnatural manner, causing a sprained muscle, or strain a muscle trying to grasp hold of something to prevent the fall.
Contact Our Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys
If you got injured in a slip and fall accident that was the result of someone else’s negligence and you were not on your own property, you will want to talk to the Chicago personal injury attorneys of Hale and Monico about recouping your losses and holding the careless party responsible for your injuries. Contact our office today for help with your case.