What injuries do slips and falls cause?
Slips and falls are common occurrences that most people experience at some time. If you’re fortunate, your slip or fall won’t cause much more than some soreness, bruising, and a little shock. These all wear off in a few hours or days.
However, slips and falls can sometimes cause much more serious issues, such as:
- Fractures
- Dislocations
- Tendon strains
- Ligament sprains
- Cartilage tears
- Spinal injuries
- Head injuries
In older people, especially those with osteoporosis (a disease that weakens your bones and makes them vulnerable to cracking and breaking), fractures are a common problem resulting from slips and falls.
How do slips and falls occur?
A slip happens when you lose your balance because there’s no friction between your foot and the surface you’re walking on. Common culprits include spilled liquids, ice and compacted snow, and overpolished flooring. On the other hand, a trip occurs when your foot catches something as you’re walking, like a child’s toy or a loose paving stone.
The end result is the same — a fall. The injuries you sustain as a result of your fall vary depending on factors like the surface you land on (bare concrete is likely to cause more damage than a thick carpet), your age and general health (older people are more likely to suffer fractures), and how you fall.
It’s instinctive to put an arm out when you fall to try and save yourself, so fractures and sprains of the arm and shoulder are common slip and fall injuries. Slips often result in falling on your back, while trips are more likely to make you fall forward. Therefore, slips often cause lower back problems, and trips can result in facial injuries.
How are injuries from slips and falls treated?
To treat your injuries successfully, the Vital Orthopedic & Spine Institute team first performs a thorough exam and looks at diagnostic imaging tests like X-rays or CT scans. This enables them to treat both the obvious injuries and any underlying problems.
Potential treatments for your slip and fall injuries include:
- Pain relief medication
- Anti-inflammatories
- Muscle relaxants
- Physical therapy
- Wearing a brace or splint
- Trigger point injections
- Platelet-rich plasma therapy
- Stem cell injections
- Joint injections
- Epidural corticosteroid injections
- Nerve blocks
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Spinal decompression
- Nerve decompression
- Discectomy and fusion
- Joint replacement
If your slip and fall causes a severe injury like a fracture, you might require urgent surgery, but most patients recover from slips and falls without needing any operations.
If you slip and fall, contact Vital Orthopedic & Spine Institute for a checkup and get the treatment you need to avoid long-term problems. Call their office or book an appointment online today.
