Knee Injury After Car Crash
If you have been injured in an accident, it’s always a good idea to contact a lawyer right away. Just to look over the case.
With many office locations we are the premiere law firm for medical injury victims with severe knee or meniscus injuries.
We at the Law Gang work for our clients, we will not just settle quickly we will work to get you the settlement you deserve.
We at the Law Gang won’t be bullied by big insurance companies, with our years of experience we know how to deal with insurance companies.
Getting injured in a car crash comes with lots of medical bills and other issues like missing work, and maybe not having a car to drive.
Having a knee injury is no different and can really affect your life.
Normal roads like Camelback, 24th, and 44th are just some examples of where car accidents take place every year.
What are Meniscus Tears
These are for lack of a better word tears of the meniscus cartilage due to trauma like a car accident or a sports injury.
These injuries are called traumatic tears.
When people get older they tend to get meniscus tears due to degeneration of the menisci over time.
This is where the cartilage becomes bitter from age.
Another form of a meniscus tear is what athletes refer to as the “ unhappy triad” this means that an athlete will twist or turn the knee to far one way or too quickly.
For athletes this can take them out of the game or sport for a significant amount of time.
Symptoms of a Meniscus Tear
If you notice significant pain and swelling in your knee you might have a meniscus tear.
Or if the knee continually is locking up when you bend it you might have a meniscus tear.
A truck crash or even a slip at Walmart can cause such injuries.
Other common symptoms include:
- Pain in the affected knee or area
- Knee swelling- unable to move the knee due to bruising or swelling
- Tenderness to palpation of the meniscus
- Locking or popping or clicking- have you ever heard someone’s knee pop, usually loudly that is a sign of a meniscus tear. Even when they are healed this may continue for a significant amount of time.
- Reduced range of motion to the affected knee- For example not being able to stand up entirely straight anymore
If this has happened to you call the Law Gang so we can help you recover from this devastating injury.
Types of meniscus tears
There are three types of meniscus tears:
Minor Tear-this like sounds is a minor injury to one with pain and swelling usually lasting approximately three weeks or so
Moderate Tear– This may not seem serious at first almost like a minor tear but will worsen as the days go by, this may seem to get better and then worse again. This may involve surgery to resolve or could result in pain and other symptoms for years to come
Severe Tear-This is the cartilage has separated from the knee and is floating inside the fluid of the knee. Sometimes known as fluid on the knee and can involve severe swelling and pain and the inability to fully be mobile.
These injuries can be devastating and recovery can take years of surgery and rehabilitation and are sometimes damaged permanently.
If you have a meniscus tear caused by the negligence of another let the Law Gang help you today. Call for a free case review and a free consultation. There is a 2 year statute of limitations in Arizona that you need to be aware of.
What causes Meniscus Tears
Since the knee is one of the most resilient joint areas of the body, it does after all for lack of a better description hold up the entire body and the entire weight of a person.
So it goes without saying that meniscus tear doesn’t happen easily.
The two main causes for meniscus tears are traumatic injury when the knee is bent and or twisted to far in one direction.
This can happen in a number of ways a sporting accident for example or something falling on you twisting your knee as it tries to hold you up.
The other is a hit to the outside of the knee area that causes a meniscus tear.
This is a serious injury because it also causes the ligament to tear. These require surgery of knee to repair correctly.
Other forms of tears are caused by degeneration of the cartilage. This can happen to people usually over the age of 40, and are common among smokers.
But not everyone over 40 just gets a degenerative meniscus tear.
Sometimes even older people get them from accident and or negligence, that’s when you need the Law Gang on your side.
Don’t spend the rest of your life in pain because of someone else’s negligence call is today.
Diagnose Meniscal Tears
Most of the time you will need to see an orthopedist to have a meniscus tear diagnosed, of course if you are injured in any form of an accident you should head straight for the emergency room.
There are a number of tests that doctors can do to diagnose a meniscus tear.
The McMurray test– This is where the doctor rotates your foot and extends the knee placingforce to see how the knee rotates and the stability of the meniscus
Fouche’s Sign- This is where they rotate the tibia bone to inside and keeping the knee outward to see how the knee might pop or lock
The Steinman’s Sign– The leg is straight and extended, the doctor sharply rotates the knee externally while slowly flexing the knee. This will cause pain if there is a tear in the meniscus.
Diagnosing a meniscus tear can be very painful for the patient, especially after an accident or an injury that was no fault of your own call the Law Gang today.
Treatment of Meniscus tears
Treatment for a meniscus tear can range from a very conservative approach to a very aggressive one depending on the severity of the injury, the age of the patient, and the case by which the person was injured.
Recovery time can also very for the same reasons.
The main two approaches are the conservative approach and the more aggressive surgical approach.
The conservative approach will not require surgery but will require long term physical therapy, long term rest for the injured knee and finally strength training to build up the muscles in the surrounding area for better stabilization of the knee.
This will also require anti-inflammatory medications or things like Tylenol for pain.
The surgical approach is the more aggressive form of treatment.
This is used in the most severe cases and can require months of therapy and rehabilitation. The surgery is usually arthroscopy to repair the small tissue area around the knee that does not have any blood supply so healing is unlikely by itself.
These injuries will require extensive rehabilitation and months of physical therapy.
If and only if the tear was repaired you could be looking at months with a full leg brace and crutches.
If you have experienced this at the fault of another call the Law Gang today we have experience with medical injuries such and can get you the settlement you deserve for your pain and suffering.
