You would think that slipping and falling is not a big deal. All you need to do is dust yourself off and carry on with your day. However, you would be surprised at how many different types of injuries can result from a simple slip and fall.
Types of Slip and Fall Injuries
Cuts and Abrasions
The least serious injuries of a slip and fall are cuts and abrasions. When you fall, you can scrape your knee, your hand, and so on. Such injuries can be taken care of with simple first aid.
However, if your fall was really bad, then it would be a good idea to seek medical attention since there could be other, underlying injuries such as soft tissue damage that you are not aware of.
Soft Tissue Injuries
When you slip, you could end up sustaining a soft tissue injury such as a hand, wrist, ankle or another joint sprain. It doesn’t seem serious, does it? However, a slip and fall can also cause even more serious tissue injuries such as massive tears in your ligaments or tendons.
If you leave such injuries untreated, you could end up being plagued with chronic pain, or even not being able to work normally. Such injuries could also leave you susceptible to further injuries of the same kind since your tissues could already be weakened.
And since most soft tissue injuries do not result in immediate symptoms, it is best to get yourself checked up after a slip and fall.
Broken Bones
You can easily end up with a bone fracture from a slip and fall. So, if you are experiencing sudden, sharp and extreme pain in a bone or a joint, get to an emergency room immediately.
Head Injuries
If you slip and fall, and end up hitting your head, you could need immediate medical care – especially if your injury is bleeding, or you lose consciousness, however briefly.
If you’re lucky, it will just be a minor concussion that a few painkillers and some rest will fix. However, it could something more serious and even life threatening such as traumatic brain injuries. Such injuries could permanently damage your ability to function.
It is important that you get medical attention immediately if you hurt your head when you slipped and fell. You would be surprised to learn that many serious head injuries produce little or no initial symptoms immediately after a fall.
Spinal Injuries
You would be surprised to learn that a simple slip and fall can actually cause an injury as serious as your spinal cord being damaged. Such injuries are always serious and require immediate medical attention. They also usually require long-term treatment.
There are stories of people slipping and falling, and sustaining spinal injuries that have left them completely paralyzed, so do not take your injuries lightly.
Causes of Slips and Falls
While a slip and fall could just be carelessness on your part, there are many times when these incidents take place due to the negligence of others. For example, someone may have spilled a liquid on the floor, or there is no warning sign of a wet floor, or the floor has an uneven surface, holes or indentations that make walking difficult, and so on.
If you have had a slip and fall injury and it was through no fault of your own, then you have the right to consult slip and fall injury lawyers to see if you are eligible to file a suit against those whose negligence resulted in your injury. By law, all property owners have a legal obligation to ensure that they have taken proper and reasonable measures to protect visitors from harm.
