A soft tissue injury (STI) is a broad term that covers many different types of injuries. They include damage or injury to the skin, tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the body. The term does not include injury to internal organs, e.g., the heart or liver, although these are soft. And, of course, it also does not include injury to bone structures in the body. A soft tissue injury is often diagnosed and treated differently than other injuries such as broken bones.
Common soft tissue injuries are as follows:
- Bruises: These are known as “contusions” in medical terminology. The application of blunt force to the body from a kick, fall, or blow causes bruises. The consequences of bruising can be pain, swelling, and discoloration because of bleeding in the tissue;
- Sprains: Movement that causes a partial tear to a ligament results in a sprain. Tendons can be torn completely, and full repair can mean surgery;
- Tendonitis: Tendons are flexible bands of tissue that connect our muscles to our bones. Overuse, often from repetitive motion, can cause the tendons to become inflamed, which is called “tendonitis.” This condition often afflicts tendons in the elbow, wrist, hand, and other joints. More than 50% of the repetitive motion injuries suffered by athletes that doctors treat are injuries to tendons.
- Repetitive motion injuries are also suffered by many people in connection with their employment. Many people miss many hours of work because of repetitive motion injuries;
- Bursitis: The bursa is a small sac filled with fluid that serves as a cushion between the bones and muscles or tendons. When it becomes inflamed, the condition is known as “bursitis;”
- Stress injuries: A stress fracture is a small crack in a bone. It is not as serious as a full break in a bone. Stress fractures commonly occur in the weight-bearing bones of the legs, from the hips to the feet. Over-exertion or an unusual increase in physical activity can cause stress fractures;
- Strains: Overuse, over-stretching, and forcing muscles and tendons can injure them.
Often, the treatment for soft tissue injuries involves rest, the application of ice, elevation of an injured limb, and pain medication. Serious injuries, such as a fully torn tendon, can require surgery.
What Are Some Common Causes of Soft Tissue Injury?
Soft tissue injuries can result from a wide variety of incidents. In many cases, soft tissue injuries happen when a person moves in the wrong way, e.g., twisting a knee or an ankle. Extreme strain and an unusual degree of exertion can cause soft tissue injuries. Incidents that can result in soft tissue injuries are as follows:
- Auto Accidents: Auto accidents cause soft tissue injury, especially whiplash, a neck injury due to forceful, rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck, like the cracking of a whip;
- Slip and Fall: Slipping and falling can cause soft tissue injury in any of the body’s joints, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles;
- Repetitive Stress Injuries: Using the same body part to repeat the same motion many, many times leads to repetitive stress injury;
- Sports Activities: Everyone has a favorite athlete who has suffered an injury during a sports competition. Athletes frequently suffer soft tissue injuries;
- Battery: A battery is the intentional infliction of force on another person’s body.
Generally, soft tissue injuries are associated with cases involving negligence; they also result from direct, intentional physical abuse that may be involved in a civil assault or battery.
Who May Be Liable for a Soft Tissue Injury?
A person or entity whose negligence causes injury, including soft tissue injuries, to another person may be liable in a court of law for the injury. For instance, if the victim suffered a soft tissue injury in a slip and fall accident on the premises of a business, the business owner may be held liable for the injury. Of course, the victim would have to prove that the negligence of the owner directly caused the slip and fall accident.
If a driver rear-ends the car in front of them at a stoplight, the driver may be liable for negligence if the driver of the rear-ended car suffers soft tissue injury, such as whiplash.
One person may intentionally batter another person and cause a soft tissue injury in this manner. If so, they too may be liable to pay damages to the victim to compensate them for their injury.
Soft tissue injury can result from repetitive motion of the type a person might make in performing their job. A person who is injured in this way may have a claim for workers’ compensation. They would make a claim through their state’s workers’ compensation system.
One thing to consider is whether or not the injury is a new injury or if the injury is simply a “re-injuring” or an aggravation of an existing injury. Soft tissue injuries can be prone to re-injury. An example of this is with a shoulder injury where the tendon is injured due to dislocation. Due to the weakened tendon, the shoulder may become dislocated again in the future.
A damages award is the typical remedy in a soft-tissue injury lawsuit. An award of compensatory damages requires the defendant to reimburse the plaintiff for their losses, both economic and non-economic.
Economic damages compensate the victim for all of the economic losses they sustain as a result of their injury. For example, damages would compensate the victim for the cost of all of the necessary medical treatment they need to return to good health.
Economic damages would also compensate for lost wages because the victim misses work. It would compensate the victim for future medical treatment if the victim has not fully recovered at the time of settlement or trial and future loss of earnings as well.
Finally, economic damages would compensate the victim for their loss of earning capacity if they are unable to return to the same type of work they had before they were injured.
It is important to acknowledge that if a victim has a pre-existing injury of the same type, it may lower the amount of damages that the victim can recover.
Non-economic damages compensate a victim for their pain and suffering and other non-physical aspects of their injury.
Do I Need a Lawyer for Help With a Soft Tissue Injury Lawsuit?
Soft tissue injuries are a very specific type of injury. If you have suffered a soft tissue injury, you want to consult a personal injury lawyer for help with the case. Your attorney can review the facts and determine if the negligence of another person or entity is responsible for your injuries.
If your job caused your soft tissue injury, you want to consult a workers’ compensation lawyer. They can guide you through the process of filing a claim through the workers’ compensation insurance system in your state.
Soft tissue injuries can be challenging to prove in court because it is difficult to diagnose them and estimate how severe they are. An experienced personal injury can enlist expert doctors to help make your case.
LegalMatch.com can connect you to a lawyer who can make sure that you get the appropriate legal remedy for your situation. Your lawyer can represent you in court and guide you through the entire process from beginning to end.
