In the event of an accident or vehicle collision, it’s important that every victim seeks medical attention – particularly children. Even if a passenger feels initially healthy, there are multiple injuries that are easy for both the patient and doctor to miss. In order to get the compensation you deserve, and to keep you and your child healthy, you should be aware of common injuries that are easy to overlook.
Nerve Damage After Joint Dislocation
Around one third of young people will fully recover from an anterior shoulder dislocation, but simply ensuring the joint is back in place is not enough. Lasting damage can occur after a child experiences a dislocation, including nerve problems. Some children will go on to experience dislocations in later life, while others will suffer from general instability in the joint.
Doctors should quickly identify damage done by dislocation, following some physical trauma.
Growth Plate Injury
The growth plate is also known as the epiphyseal plate. This is an area of tissue that is located at the ends of long bones in adolescents and children. These growth plates are there to assist with the growth of bones before a child becomes an adult, and determines both the shape and the length of the bone once fully matured.
Growth plate injuries are extremely common in children and adults who experience physical trauma. These injuries are easy to miss, too. While a parent or child might not notice any initial damage, a growth plate that has been affected by physical trauma can stunt growth or cause weakness in later years. For this reason, it’s essential that children and adolescents have full medical examinations after experiencing an accident.
Doctors will obtain comparison views of the opposite extremities, to see whether the growth plate has been damaged.
Stress Fractures
Typically, children should not experience lower back pain – unless they are suffering from a condition. If a healthy child begins to experience pain in the lower back or a tingling sensation down their leg after an accident, then it is likely that they have suffered a stress fracture. The pain, however, might not appear immediately.
This is another reason children and adolescents require full medical examinations after physical trauma. Fractures can easily be missed if the child reports no pain – and when a stress fracture is not properly treated, it can cause chronic problems in later life. Doctors should perform a full examination to see if there are any other nearby fractures.
Contact Tobler Law for Advice
For legal advice following an accident that involves a child, be sure to contact Tobler Law today at 480-989-9700.