When you deal with an injury as damaging as the ones that result from crush accidents, you will suffer from both short-term ramifications as well as long-term impacts. Though the full effects of this incident may vary, almost every crush injury will leave a lasting mark.
Unfortunately, this mark can alter your life in many ways, including your overall health and your ability to hold down a job. This is why it is important to know what to expect moving forward.
Factors that alter the impact
The National Institutes of Health examines some of the repercussions associated with crush injuries. First, both short and long-term repercussions will differ based on several factors. These factors can include the weight of the crushing object, the speed that it hit you at, your own physical health at the time of the incident, the distance that the object dropped before it crushed you, what area of your body is crushed, and how long it took you to get medical help.
Effects and the recovery period
Typically, crush injuries to the hands, feet and limbs can result in gangrene, sepsis, necrosis and the possibility of later amputation. The same is also true for crush injuries to the trunk, but you have the additional possibility of organ failure, which replaces amputation as the greatest potential risk you face. Any area of the body that gets its circulation cut off is at risk for cell death, too.
The recovery period for crush injuries can last months to years. Some people never recover to the state they were pre-incident in. If you have to get a limb amputated, you might also find it impossible to continue work in your previous field. This is one of many reasons why you may want to consider seeking financial compensation.