How Long Are You Sore After a Fall?

Usually, when you slip and fall suddenly, your body's first response will be to release a flood of adrenaline. This is the body's natural coping mechanism to deal with stress and danger. The chemical prepares your body for a "fight or flight" situation. Once the fall is in progress, the instinctive reaction is to brace yourself for impact. This usually involves tensing up muscles and positioning yourself to lessen the blow by extending your arms. While your body uses instinctive reactions to soften the impact, your mind prepares for the aftermath.

The brain is an amazing organ and is the most complicated part of the human body. In serious slip-and-fall accidents, the brain may take extraordinary measures to mitigate further discomfort by releasing additional chemicals that naturally occur in the human body. Additionally, the brain can take over the nervous system to dull impacted nerves.

Even so, the after-effects of falls can be extraordinarily dangerous, potentially resulting in permanent disabilities and death in the worst case scenarios. While physical suffering is rough to endure, matters are made even more challenging when financial worries are heaped on top. Medical bills can pile up rapidly, and you may not be able to work for a while due to your injuries. Physical and financial hardships are bad enough, but a serious injury can also impact your ability to enjoy your life and have adverse effects on your mental well-being, too.  

Plenty of people will suffer a slip-and-fall accident and get up and go on about their life. Yet others will suffer injuries that have long-lasting or permanent effects like brain damage and paralysis. Some people make light of slip-and-fall accidents as a way to get an insurance payday. Still, slip-and-falls account for a significant percentage of emergency room visits every year. The dangers introduced by this sort of accident are deadly serious.

Here are a few statistics related to slip-and-fall accidents in the United States:

• One out of every five falls results in serious injuries such as broken bones or head trauma
• 3 million older adults are treated in emergency rooms every year for injuries related to a fall
• More than 800,000 victims are hospitalized each year from severe slip and fall accidents
• 300,000 older adults are hospitalized due to fractures of the hip, of which 95% are from slip and falls
• Falls are the prevalent reason for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Medical costs for falls exceeded $50 billion in the latest Centers for Disease Control study
• Older adults who experience one fall double their chances of another in the future

Hopefully, you'll be in a populated area where you can get help from others immediately. If you find yourself alone, try to stay calm and check for injuries. Take this part slowly, as your body is probably still flooded with adrenaline and other chemicals that deal with stress and pain. You don't want to complicate injuries by moving about too quickly, especially if you feel pain in your neck or back. If you feel back or neck pain, stay as still as possible until someone comes along, and they can call an ambulance.

If you are able and have your phone available, call emergency services and try to keep warm. If you don't have a phone and don't have neck or back pain, try to roll onto your side, push yourself up, and then crawl to a sturdy object that won't tip over when you bear your weight against it. Try to leverage yourself until you can get your bottom onto a higher surface into a sitting position and check again for injuries.

When possible, document the conditions around you by taking a picture or making mental notes. If debris or a liquid spill caused your fall, get evidence of this. Take information from any witnesses, including their names, phone numbers, and address. Be careful of what you say, and don’t admit any fault for your fall.

If you hit your head during the fall, it's crucial to understand that you may not be able to discern if you have a serious brain injury. TBIs can change how your brain processes information, and if you are on certain medications, like blood thinners, your chances of internal bleeding in the brain increase and can be life-threatening. Depending on your injury, you may have to wait until help arrives.

After a physician examines you, be sure to follow the doctor's orders and get in touch with Morgan and Morgan. Our slip and fall lawyers can help determine if you have a viable premises liability claim that will help you recover compensation for medical bills and other losses.

As explained previously, the body and brain have complex systems that enable injured individuals to cope with bodily trauma. This includes masking pain temporarily. It's essential to visit a doctor after a fall. Here are some warning signs for you and your family to watch out for if you're still on the fence about getting medical care.

Head injuries:

• Severe headache
• Stiff neck
• Unusual behavior
• Excessive sleepiness
• Uneven pupil sizes
• Vomiting
• Dizziness, vertigo, and balance problems
• Ringing in the ear
• Blurred vision and sensitivity to light
• Difficulty concentrating and remembering
• Loss of consciousness

You should be on high alert for any of these signs in the hours and days after you or a loved one hits their head, even if you think it’s okay. Brain injuries that go untreated can have devastating consequences that are long-lasting or permanent, including seizures and additional serious nervous system issues.  

Unrelenting pain:

It's common to feel sharp pain directly after a fall. Most slip-and-fall victims will have pain that may last a few days or months. Severe pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong, and you should pay attention to it. You may have sustained a fracture or nerve damage that should get immediate attention. Ignoring severe unrelenting pain could result in permanent injury.

Back pain:

Whether you had chronic back pain before the fall or have new pain, it's important to get it checked out. The fall could exacerbate existing conditions, and new conditions can have long-lasting effects if undiagnosed and untreated. Some issues that could be causing back pain can include the following:

• Cervical spine injuries (fractures and dislocations of the neck vertebrae)
• Fractures
• Soft tissue injuries (pulled tendons and ligaments)
• Bulging or herniated discs (symptoms include pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness)
• Sciatica (symptoms include lower back pain, tingling, numbness, and shooting pain in the legs and lower back)

Swelling:

Swelling is a natural occurrence after an area of the body has sustained injury and may be accompanied by pain and bruising. Swelling is a function of the body to deter movement of the affected area while it heals. However, swelling should subside within three months at the most. If the affected area remains swollen, it's time to see a doctor.

Stomach pain:

Stomach pain after a fall is a symptom of internal bleeding of the stomach, liver, or spleen and should be regarded as life-threatening. While unusual, unless the individual fell from a substantial height or suffered a blow to the stomach, it's critical to seek medical care if the pain is coupled with hardness or tenderness of the abdominal area.

While every premises liability claim will have different factors that will affect your ability to win compensation, here are some common dangerous conditions on a property that might lead to a visitor's fall:

• Loose or missing railings
• Unattended debris or spilled liquids
• Recently mopped floors with no "wet floor" signs
• Uneven floorboards or broken tiles
• Misplaced cables or electrical cords
• Badly maintained stairs
• Nails sticking out from staircases, floors, or porches
• Slick surfaces from weather
• Bunched-up carpets and rugs
• Unmarked excavations
• Neglecting to warn visitors of foreseeable hazards

When soreness or other concerning symptoms don't go away after a slip-and-fall accident, it's crucial to see a doctor. The benefits are twofold. You'll get the care you need to ensure your symptoms don't get worse, and you develop critical evidence that will be necessary for a slip and fall claim against the negligent party's insurance.

We recognize that some slip-and-fall accidents can't be prevented. Still, when they could have been but for a negligent party's lack of care, they should be held responsible for the damage they caused. Morgan and Morgan Law Firm has been helping victims harmed because of careless actions on behalf of other parties for more than three decades. We've recovered billions for our clients during this time because of our dogged pursuit of justice.

You and your family deserve to be compensated for others' misdeeds or inaction. We can help. Contact us today for a free and confidential case evaluation. If we're unable to resolve your claim successfully, you'll owe us nothing.