If you are involved in any type of motor vehicle accident and are fortunate enough to survive it, you may still have minor cuts and bruises, broken bones, or more traumatic and permanent injuries. Considering the sitting position of the driver and passengers, more severe injuries are inflicted on one’s knees.
Suffering knee injuries not only causes intense pain and severely affect your everyday activities including limiting your ability to go to work, complete basic chores and extracurricular activities. Those who suffer pain as a result of being involved in an accident may need to be checked out by the doctor for post-accident symptoms like soreness, stiffness and limited range of motion.
Knee injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents can vary in severity depending on whether the injured party was a driver or a passenger. In case of being rear-ended by another vehicle, for example, both knees could be pushed into the steering wheel or below the dashboard. Initial sore and stiff knees will have a limited range of motion, but these seemingly benign symptoms can indicate a more severe underlying conditions. The full extent of knee injuries cannot be fully ascertained without treatment by a medical specialist like an orthopedist and thorough testing procedures like Magnetic Resource Imaging (MRI).
The most commonly presenting types of knee lesions involve sprains and strains. With these type of truck accident injuries, severe pain is felt without any underlying ligament or cartilage tear. Most doctors will suggest the “RICE” therapy – Rest, Ice, Compression, Exercise. But having and a post-accident injury is classified as a strain or sprain does not you’re out trouble-free. Knee sprains and strains often extend past discomfort and become chronic injuries that become exacerbated due to weather or strain you put on these weight baring joints.
There are four ligaments in the knee composed of tough connective tissue that connects the bones articulating in the knee joint. Ligament tears are graded on a scale of 1-3 ranging from mild to partial to complete. Mild injuries can heal with rest or regular physical therapy, but if you cannot bear weight on the affected knee, surgery is usually required to re-establish joint strength and stabilization.
Each knee has two shock-absorbing discs of cartilage tissue known as menisci and can be torn from a trauma involving severe twisting. Common symptoms of such lesions involve immediate swelling, stiffness with significantly limited range of motion and a click-like sensation upon movement. A diagnosis of a torn meniscus after an accident warrants imaging procedures like X-ray or MRI testing with a possibility of corrective arthroscopic surgery followed by a strict physical therapy regimen with strength-building exercises.
If the patella, commonly known as the kneecap, strikes the dashboard in an accident, such as a head-on truck accident or crash in which you are rear-ended into another car, you are susceptible to suffering a fracture. This injury can be quite painful, making it difficult to even extend your knee or walk without a significant limp. A stable patellar fracture is a non-displaced fracture, meaning the pieces of bone remain in touch with each other for the most part. A comminuted fracture involves the bone shattering into three or more pieces. On the other hand, an open fracture can be the most serious, as in this situation the break causes bone fragment to stick out through the skin.
At HURT-511, our personal injury lawyers help injured workers recover the benefits to which they are entitled by law. For a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer, call us toll-free at 800-4878-511 or complete our online form. Our firm handles accident and injury claims throughout all five boroughs of New York.
HURT-511 operates in all boroughs of New York including all Bronx neighborhoods, namely: Bedford Park, Belmont, Fordham, Highbridge, Hunts Point, Jerome Park, Kingsbridge, Morris Park, Morrisania, Mott Haven, Parkchester, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Throgs Neck, University Heights and Woodlawn.
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