What Does Bruising Mean After an Accident?

When someone is injured in an accident or collision, one of the most common injuries that shows up first is bruising. This occurs when blood vessels beneath the skin sustain trauma and break open. This trauma causes blood to become trapped under the skin and subsequently appears in the form of dark blue, red, or purple skin discoloration. It can even happen internally and lead to serious health emergencies or even permanent organ damage. This is why it is absolutely critical that you seek professional medical treatment after any accident or collision, no matter how minor, superficial or insignificant your injuries may seem, as there may be invisible damage leading to long-lasting effects.

If you have been injured in an accident due to another person’s negligence, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your injuries. First seek out medical attention immediately. Then read on to learn more about bruising, and contact our law firm and ask to schedule a free case review so that we may answer your questions and explain your legal options.

Is Internal Bruising Life Threatening?

Internal bruising can be hard or even impossible to diagnose after an accident or collision, but it is a serious situation that may require prompt and effective medical treatment to ensure that you do not develop more severe complications afterwards

Some of the most common symptoms that may indicate internal bruising include:

● Blood in urine, which may indicate kidney bruising.

● Pain or tenderness in the area of the injury.

● A hematoma around the injury site

● Experiencing a limited range of motion in the area of injury

If you experience symptoms such as high fever, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, fainting, or confusion after an accident, you may have internal bleeding and must seek medical attention immediately.

What is the Difference Between a Bruise and a Hematoma?

Some injury victims mistakenly believe that a bruise and a hematoma are identical. However, a bruise and a hematoma are significantly different. A bruise, also known as a contusion, is used when describing contained bleeding from small blood vessels that have been crushed. Typically, bruises do not require medical treatment and go away on their own.

A hematoma occurs when there is significant trauma to larger blood vessels. A hematoma will also manifest itself as a hard lump underneath the skin that may take months to finally go away. In some instances, a hematoma may need to be drained.

What is Brain Bruising?

If you have been involved in a rollover accident or experienced whiplash, you may have suffered a coup, contrecoup, or coup-contrecoup injury, also referred to as brain bruising. A brain bruising injury can occur when the brain is forcefully thrown against one side of the skull and then to the other side. A variety of dangerous hematomas can develop as a result of this type of injury.

Coup injuries occur when the brain is damaged at the point of impact. This happens when the brain forcibly slams into the inside of the skull, causing damage at the direct site of impact. For example, if the motorist hits their head on the side of the passenger door during a rollover crash and the bruising occurred on the right side of their brain where their head made direct contact, this would be considered a coup injury.

Contrecoup injuries occur when the brain is bruised on the opposite side of the direct point of impact, the opposite of a coup injury. Instead of being damaged at the point of impact, the brain is forced in the opposite direction and the damage occurs opposite of the exact point of trauma or force. An example of this would be a motorist backing into a light pole; the force of the accident would case the brain to slide towards the front of the car, opposite of the impact in the rear.

Coup-contrecoup injuries involve multiple damage sites caused by the brain hitting multiple sides of the skull.

If you have been in a rollover crash or in a collision where you experienced multiple impacts to your head, you must seek medical assistance immediately to ensure that you do not have internal brain bleeding, which can cause permanent brain damage or even be life threatening.

What Should I Do if My Bruising Gets Worse Over Time?

If you have experienced external bruising due to an accident it may look worse before it gets better. As the body tries to reabsorb the blood from the broken vessels, the external bruise will turn a variety of colors until the healing process is complete. Your doctor can advise you of any precautions or preventative steps you need to take to stay healthy and let your body heal the contusion properly.

Internal bruising will require regular checks and much more intensive methods to heal properly. This will require a trained health care professional to monitor and implement an effective plan of care. If your symptoms start getting worse over time, it could mean that something has gone terribly wrong with the healing process, or even that further internal damage has occurred. Internal bruising is not something to take lightly!

If you have been injured in an accident, be sure to seek out medical attention right away so a doctor or other medical professional can properly diagnose and document your injuries. Then contact our law offices by calling (206) 589-8958 and ask to schedule a free consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers to discuss your case and see how we can get you the compensation you deserve.