Falling can set off several injuries, from minor scratches to major injuries. You could sustain a bruise when you lose balance, even for a moment, and stumble on a smooth surface. However, falling from a height on a hard surface will break bones and cause facial damage. Whether injuries are serious depends on your health, the environment, and how you fell. Awareness of the extent of injuries will help you appreciate the risks and body damage caused by falls.

Understanding these injuries is also crucial when pursuing a personal injury case. From these injuries, you will seek economic damages, including medical expenses, and non-economic damages, like pain and suffering. This guide explores these in detail.

Types of Falls

There are different types of falls, with diverse causes and risks. These falls also lead to various kinds of injuries. The most common include the following:

  • Accidental falls — An unanticipated fall can occur due to a slippery floor, obstacles, or poor lighting. You can easily fall if you walk on a wet surface or trip over clutter. Awareness and hazard reduction can prevent these incidents.
  • Slipping falls — This fall occurs when your foot loses traction, often on wet, icy, or polished surfaces. Because slipping happens suddenly, you may not react quickly, increasing injury risk. Wearing slip-resistant footwear helps reduce this risk.
  • Tripping falls — These happen when you crash or stumble into a tripping hazard, like an uneven sidewalk or a loose rug. Unlike slipping falls, tripping falls stop your motion suddenly so you fall forward, which is more dangerous. Keeping walkways clear prevents these incidents.
  • Syncopal falls — These falls occur when a person experiences a sudden loss of consciousness due to medical conditions like heart disease or neurological problems. Since they occur without warning, they often cause serious injuries.
  • Mechanical falls — You experience mechanical falls due to a structural failure, like a broken railing or chair that collapses under you. A regular check of the furniture and railing will help stop these falls.
  • Drop falls — These falls happen suddenly and are often linked to neurological disorders. In these accidents, you are conscious but cannot control your fall, unlike syncopal falls.

Some falls happen because of personal (intrinsic) factors like old age, muscle strength, or related diseases, while others are environmental hazards (extrinsic). Older people are more likely to fall as their mobility or vision declines, or they experience chronic illnesses.

No matter your age or illness, you could still fall because of lighting, floors, or the layout of the surface.

Common Types of Injuries Associated With Falls

Falling can cause various injuries, which could range from a mild bruise to life-threatening trauma. How hard you hit the ground, what you hit, and your health determines your injuries' severity. Some injuries heal quickly, while others yield long-term complications. External factors can cause falls, too, not only the person’s age or health. For example, wet ground, bad lighting, uneven surface.

Head Injuries

Falls can lead to varying degrees of head injuries, from a simple bump to traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is important to know this range because even a minor incident can have unseen consequences. So, you should assess if you have sustained injuries and seek treatment fast.

A concussion is a very common head injury caused by a slip or trip and fall. While it is considered a mild injury, the symptoms of headaches, dizzy spells, confusion, and memory loss must not be underestimated. They need to be checked by a doctor to avoid potential complications. Apart from the concussion, falls can also lead to a skull fracture, where the skull bone breaks. Fractures can be as simple as linear fractures or a more complex depressed fracture. Skull fractures can occur due to mechanical falls, hard surface collisions, and assault.

Moreover, falls could also lead to a bleed inside the brain (hematoma) like subdural, epidural, and intracerebral hematomas, which is also dangerous. Subdural hematomas arise from the tearing of veins that run between the brain.

Moreover, falls could also lead to a bleed inside the brain (hematoma), such as subdural, epidural, and intracerebral hematomas, which are also dangerous. Subdural hematomas arise from the tearing of veins that run between the brain and the skull and thus take time to form, while epidural hematomas are due to arterial bleeding and can quickly increase pressure in the skull. Bleeding in the brain’s tissue itself is called intracerebral hematomas. These cause major headaches, weakness, seizures, and altered conscious states that need immediate attention.

The injuries are classified under a broader term called traumatic brain injury. A mild TBI could cause temporary cognitive deficits, like mild concussion. Severe TBI could mean you could end up disabled for life. This includes problems with how you think, personality changes, and physical disabilities. So, it is important to know the symptoms of a major head injury. If you faint, have a bad headache, keep throwing up, have a seizure, or have a watery substance come out of your nose or ears, you need to see a doctor right away.

The above injuries are often diagnosed with CT scans and MRIs. Treatment options for these injuries depend on their severity. Depending on severity, observation, medicine, or surgery could be the preferred treatment. If a head injury is not treated, it can cause cognitive impairment, personality changes, and impairment of physical abilities. For this reason, you should see a doctor, even with mild symptoms.

Bone Fractures

The falls can result in different types of broken bones or fractures, with the hip, wrist, and ankle being some of the common areas injured. To address these injuries effectively, it is important to know the different types of fractures and the risk factors that accompany them. This will help prevent and treat them.

Hip fractures are among the most serious fall-related injuries and a major concern, especially for seniors. Older people fall or trip because they lack balance and time to react. This can lead to a long and complicated surgical procedure followed by a long rehabilitation process that limits mobility. Moreover, osteoporosis, which causes weakened bones, can make patients more at risk of hip fractures, which requires better prevention.

As we move lower down the body, wrist fractures, especially Colles’ and scaphoid fractures, are quite common. Most of these were caused by a reflexive attempt to break the fall. When broken wrists occur from falling, they usually need a cast or surgery and physical therapy to work well again.

Similarly, lateral malleolus, medial malleolus, and bimalleolar fractures should be diagnosed and treated accurately. If left untreated or not properly diagnosed, mobility may not return to what it was, as with a broken ankle from a fall.

Beyond the extremities, spinal fractures, particularly compression fractures, can occur through falling, often mechanical falling, where angles of impact provide adverse stress to the spine. Falls that have a major effect, such as falls from drops, result from sudden loss of muscle tone, resulting in an uncontrolled fall. This causes very bad and serious fractures of the femur and, thus, breaking the thigh bone. Moreover, pelvic fractures can result in a lot of problems that include severe pain and injury.

A number of risk factors make bone fractures more likely, including age, osteoporosis, and low bone density. Some of the common signs of a fracture are pain, swelling, deformity, and an inability to bear weight. In complicated cases, X-ray imaging and CT scans are used to assess the damage accurately.

Depending on the severity of the impact, treatment options for fractures include casting or bracing of the fractured area or surgical procedures. Analgesia, physical therapy, and rehabilitation are very important to recovery. Recovery rehabilitation helps restore function and avoids long-term complications.

Soft Tissue Injuries

When people fall, they often sustain soft tissue injuries like sprains, strains, and bruises to their muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Injuries can differ in their seriousness, causing pain and restricted movement. A sprain occurs when a twist or force overstretches or tears the ligaments. On the other hand, strains happen when a muscle or tendon overstretched or suffers injury from overuse. Injuries usually occur on the ankle, the wrist, the knee and the back.

Different types of falls contribute to each condition. When you trip, your ankle often twists, causing a sprain. If you slip, you might strain your back trying to regain balance. When you fall against furniture or a hard surface, you often get a bruise, which appears as a tender and discolored area on the skin.

A sprain or strain causes pain, swelling, bruising, and limited movement in the affected body part. When you sprain your ankle, it can feel unstable. When you strain your back, every step hurts. Bruises could develop from ruptured blood vessels under the skin. If you use the RICE strategy, it might help your injury heal faster. R-I-C-E stands for:

  • Rest — Rest the injured area
  • Ice — Apply ice for 15 to 20 minutes at a time to bring down any swelling
  • Compression — Use a compression bandage
  • Elevation — Put your leg up higher than your heart

Bruises also heal faster with ice and elevation. If there is severe pain, you cannot bear weight on the injured limb, or there is persistent swelling or deformity, see a doctor. These signs could suggest a fracture or nerve damage that needs professional evaluation.

Physical therapy can help you recover faster by restoring strength and flexibility when you suffer an injury. Moreover, it reduces the chance that you will suffer a re-injury. Exercises for ankle sprains increase stability. Stretching for your back strain helps release tightness. Bruises will heal independently, but if they are abnormally large or do not go away after days, they may require further evaluation.

Some injuries are caused by different types of falls. For example:

  • A trip causes a twist an ankle injury
  • A slip causes a strain and back injury
  • A hard impact causes a bruise

For this reason, addressing each injury promptly with the proper care will ensure better, quicker, and safer healing.

Internal Injuries

When a person falls, some hidden danger might lurk inside them that would not show on the outside. For example, a bruised rib might not show any cut, bruise, or sign. If these internal injuries, like bleeding or damage to the organs, go unnoticed, they can be fatal. A heavy fall can damage the spleen, liver, kidney, and other life-threatening internal organs of the body. People can sustain many internal injuries from a fall, such as:

  • Abdominal trauma
  • Broken ribs
  • A ruptured spleen
  • Lacerated liver
  • Damaged kidney

These injuries can be equally dangerous depending on how the fall occurred.

When you fall off a ladder, this is a mechanical fall. It can cause blunt force trauma and may break the ribs or damage the internal organs. Thus, you have a good chance of suffering rib fractures or suffering damage to internal organs, which leads to internal bleeding.

Syncopal falls, or drop falls, can increase your chance of internal injury. The unpredictable nature of these falls increases the force on delicate organs. Moreover, falling onto sharp objects due to tripping or slipping can cause internal bleeding, as these can penetrate organs like the liver or kidney.

Symptoms of internal bleeding can be subtle but alarming. You could experience abdominal pain, dizziness, difficulty breathing, pale skin, and confusion. These delayed symptoms often will not appear immediately, making the injury seem less serious. This is why you must seek medical help immediately. Otherwise, your condition will worsen. Doctors will perform medical imaging tests like CT scans and ultrasound studies to see if any bleeding pools or tears are happening elsewhere in your organs that need to be treated immediately.

Treatment depends on the severity of the injury. In minor situations, doctors could only recommend observation. However, if significant internal bleeding occurs, blood transfusions could be necessary. Otherwise, surgery could be required to repair damage to the organs. The danger is that internal bleeding can occur gradually, decreasing blood pressure and depriving organs of oxygen. Never ignore internal injuries from a fall caused by a mechanical process, a syncopal fall, or a puncture by a sharp object. It is sometimes possible to recover from internal injuries, but not always. Knowing the signs and seeking medical help can be the difference between recovery and severe complications.

Psychological Impact

Falls can cause not just bodily injuries but also mental illness or trauma. One of the most frequent psychological effects is the fear of falling, referred to simply as post-fall syndrome. This fright will take up most of your mind and make you anxious about falling again. You could start having racing thoughts due to your anxiety after a fall. Some people become depressed and feel very vulnerable in their everyday life. The emotional toll can even remove your self-worth. Something as simple as walking, being around others, or standing becomes daunting.

Sometimes, the psychological impact of a fall can be worse than the physical injuries. Older adults could start withdrawing from life to keep from falling again, while younger individuals may be frustrated that they cannot be independent. If these emotional impacts are not handled, they will intensify feelings of loneliness and hopelessness, making recovery harder. It is important to realize the importance of mental health. Support groups for fall survivors allow them a safe space to share their experiences and connect with those who truly understand. You can receive counseling through individual or group therapy for the anxiety or depression that could follow a fall. Furthermore, simple coping routines like deep breathing, mindfulness, or light exercise can reduce stress and improve your emotional recovery.

When fear or sadness becomes overwhelming, it is essential to seek help. Counselors or psychologists can work with you to develop a personalized strategy to help you regain your confidence. A fall can shake your confidence, but with the right support and care, you can regain your peace of mind and balance.

Dislocations

You could sustain a dislocation injury when the bones in a joint shift out of their normal alignment. This displacement puts stress on the surrounding ligaments, tendons, and muscles, causing pain, swelling, and instability. This kind of injury usually happens due to a high-impact fall or awkward landing when the force overcomes stabilizing structures of the joint and causes the bones to come apart.

Some areas of the body are more prone to dislocations than others because their joints are more unstable. Your shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and fingers are especially at risk. Some injuries require just a manual repositioning of the bones, while others necessitate surgery to fix the bones. To check how far your bone pops out and to check for other injuries, your doctor may do a physical examination and order tests, like X-rays or MRIs.

As soon as your diagnosis is reached, treatment will begin with pain and swelling management with immobilization and ice. Keeping the joint stable prevents any further harm while the doctors work on reattaching it. After the bones are reattached, rehabilitation is needed for stabilization.

If you do not get rehabilitated properly, your joint could remain weak and dislocate again. By strengthening the muscles around your joint and improving your range of motion, you can help prevent further injury. If you postpone treatment, serious complications can follow, like instability, arthritis in the joint and even nerve damage. Seek medical help if, after a fall, the joint gives severe pain or becomes deformed. These injuries can impair you for life.

Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

After an accident, there is much more to recovery than physical healing. You may face serious legal problems while seeking compensation for your injuries. You can suffer in many ways after a fall, physically, emotionally, and, of course, financially. If you win the compensation you deserve, it should take some pressure or stress off your shoulders. To help you through this process, you should speak with personal injury attorneys. With their experience, you will explore every available opportunity for recovery regarding your injury.

At The Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm, we help victims prove liability and negotiate with insurers. Our efforts aim to maximize your chances of winning the case. With our help, you can concentrate on your recovery while we deal with the legalities of your situation. Contact us at 800-492-6718 for further assistance.