People in their senior years who have been involved in a car crash often find that their injuries have more serious consequences than those same injuries would for a younger person. Traumatic brain injuries, for example, can have especially serious effects on older people.
Broken ribs are a common injury suffered in car crashes (even when a vehicle has air bags), as well as falls and other types of accidents. Sometimes, even the force of the seat belt against the chest in a sudden or high-speed violent crash can cause one or more rib fractures. Seniors are more likely to suffer rib fractures in a crash than younger people because of the loss of bone density that occurs with age.
Even a single rib fracture can be dangerous as people age
Although the risk of mortality increases with the number of ribs that are fractured, a doctor involved in one study said one fractured rib in an elderly person can be as dangerous as eight broken ribs in a middle-aged person.
Broken ribs often heal on their own, although they can be extremely painful in the meantime. However, if they aren’t evaluated by a doctor and properly treated, they can lead to serious respiratory complications.
That’s in part because the fracture makes it painful to breathe or cough. Therefore, people with one or more broken ribs take smaller breaths and try to stifle their coughs. This can cause lung secretions to build up – possibly leading to pneumonia. Not only are older people at increased risk for pneumonia anyway, but it can be especially dangerous for them.
Early medical evaluation can be crucial to a person’s recovery – and compensation
This increased risk of dangerous outcomes from a broken rib is just one example of why older people need to get a medical evaluation as soon as possible if they’re involved in a crash – even if they don’t believe they’ve been seriously injured. The sooner someone is evaluated, the easier it is to link any injuries to the crash.
That can make a big difference in a person’s success in seeking compensation to cover short-term and long-term medical expenses from an at-fault driver. Another important step is to get experienced legal guidance as soon as possible.
