Under the law, a personal injury is any harm that you sustain, including physical injuries, financial costs and emotional trauma. Injuries also include personal losses, such as losing the care and companionship of a loved one.

As you work to resolve your accident claim, you may hear insurance adjusters, lawyers and doctors discuss different degrees of injuries. You may hear injuries described as minor, moderate, severe or catastrophic. Minor or moderate injuries can be injuries such as sprains, strains, fractures, bruising or superficial cuts. These may be painful, but they usually heal well and quickly, with minimal medical treatment.

You may hear insurance adjusters refer to "soft tissue injuries." Soft tissue injuries are injuries to the non-bony parts of the body, such as internal organs, nerves, muscles and connective tissues. Sprains, whiplash and pulled muscles are all types of soft tissue injuries. Soft tissue injuries may heal quickly, but they may also take a long time to heal. Some may even result in chronic pain or disability, which can be permanent if not treated properly. Typically, it is harder to recover substantial compensation in these cases than in cases involving serious or catastrophic injuries.

A catastrophic injury is a serious injury that is expected to permanently change the victim’s life. Examples of this type of injury include burns, amputations, spinal cord injuries, paralysis and head injuries (also called traumatic brain injuries). These types of injuries result in the most substantial settlements and verdicts because the injuries can be proven objectively and are more obvious to the insurance company or the jurors.

Although catastrophic injuries are immediately obvious in most cases, sometimes the full extent of the injury is not immediately revealed. This is especially true when the victim suffers a traumatic brain injury, which may also be called a closed head injury. In some cases, the brain may be affected in ways so subtle that only people close to the victim notice changes in abilities, behavior or personality. A closed head injury can be caused by physical trauma (a hard blow or penetrating wound) or violent shaking of the head. It often results from jostling of the brain. Such trauma can damage the tissue of the brain, which in turn affects the abilities controlled by the damaged tissue.

A concussion is the mildest form of brain injury, but more serious brain injuries leave their victims permanently disabled. Naturally, brain injuries affect many aspects of the injured person’s life, including physical movement, the senses, intellectual ability, creativity and even personality. Sometimes, what appears to be a minor concussion or brief loss of consciousness following a car accident can result in a serious closed head injury, with symptoms such as chronic headaches, memory loss, loss of concentration or changes in a person’s personality or behavior.