After a frightening traffic accident on a California Boulevard, you may feel knee pain. Your knee may have been fractured after hitting the dash or the steering wheel. After you trip on a pothole in a supermarket parking lot, you may fall forward and hear an alarming pop in your kneecap when you land on it.
These are examples of common personal injury accidents where a negligent party can be held responsible. This means that if your knee requires weeks of expensive medical care to heal, you can ask a careless driver or an at-fault business owner for help with your recovery costs.
A Free Consultation with a Real California Lawyer For Knee Injury Victims
After you or a loved one have suffered a serious knee injury caused by someone’s negligence, you may have been told you are on your own when the medical bills arrive. That’s simply not true.
A free consultation with a California Traumatic Injury Lawyer is your best resource when you want to know what you can do to hold an at-fault party responsible for what happened. You’ll talk to a real lawyer at Maison Law and you’ll get an honest assessment of your knee injury case.
When you are through, you’ll know about every benefit available to you and your family. You’ll also have a clear understanding of your best path to holding a responsible party accountable for your fractured knee.
Knee Personal Injury Accident Dangers in California
Given the structure and function of the knee, even a minor internal injury to it can be particularly painful and require surgery. The knee is vulnerable in any collision on a California boulevard. Knees are at risk when pedestrians and cyclists are struck by careless motorists. Knees are often injured in workplace accidents, especially in agricultural and construction jobs.
Supermarket owners who leave a spilled soda or a water puddle on an aisle for too long are also liable for injuries when shoppers come along and suffer a slip-and-fall injury. Landlords are responsible for fixing crumbling sets of stairs before someone can take a tumble and land on a kneecap.
The knee is the largest joint in the human body, and given its complicated structure, it’s vulnerable to injury. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons advises that the knee’s main components consist of the following:
- Bones: The knee is made from three bones. The femur (thighbone), tibia (shinbone) and the patella (kneecap) are the bones of the knee.
- Articular Cartilage: This surface is found on the ends of the femur and tibia. It’s also at the back of the patella. It’s slippery, and the bones of the knee glide across those surfaces when the knee is bent.
- Meniscus: A meniscus is also cartilage, but it’s tough and rubbery. A meniscus works as a cushion between the femur and tibia.
- Ligaments: Bones are connected to each other by ligaments. Four ligaments hold the bones of the knee together. Those are the collateral ligaments on the knee’s sides and the cruciate ligaments at the front and back of the knee.
- Tendons: These connect muscles to bones. For example, the quadriceps tendon connects the muscles at the front of your thigh to your patella.
Common Knee Injuries
According to Revere Health, sudden acute injuries are the most common types of knee issues. Most are caused by trauma, but some can also be caused by twisting, bending or even falling on a knee. Here are some of the common types of knee injuries that accident victims suffer:
- Tendon and ligament strains and strains.
- Ligament and meniscus tears.
- Fractures of the patella (kneecap), lower femur, upper tibia or upper fibula.
- Loose bodies from fractures or tears that work their way into the joint and interfere with it.
- A dislocated patella or knee joint.
What Is the Most Common Knee Injury in a Car Accident?
One of the most common knee injuries treated in California emergency rooms after a car crash is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The ACL is a large ligament that’s injured when the knee is hyperextended.
The Mayo Clinic reports the ACL connects the thighbone and the shinbone. An ACL injury can result in instability and patients may find it too painful to put weight on their damaged knee. Surgery and physical therapy are usually prescribed.
Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), also known as “dashboard knee” is another common injury suffered by California car accident victims. The knee gets sent into the dashboard or any other hard surface and ligaments are torn or sprained. The PCL keeps the shin bone from moving behind the thigh bone.
A California Traumatic Injury Lawyer helps you determine what you’ll require in support to fully recover from any form of knee injury. Your lawyer then battles the insurance company to make sure you receive the compensation you need.
Conservative Treatment of Knee Injuries
Many knee injuries can be treated conservatively. A doctor might recommend a brace or RICE treatment involving rest, periodic icing of the knee, light compression of the knee and elevation. If that’s unsuccessful, the next step is usually physical therapy. If physical therapy is unsuccessful, you might be looking at knee surgery.
Knee Surgery
The good news about knee surgery is that many knee repairs can be done arthroscopically using tiny incisions and miniature instruments in outpatient surgery. Some injuries like fractures might require a larger incision for purposes of implantation of surgical hardware. In the context of post-surgery physical therapy, much depends on the type of surgery that the patient had. Continuous movement of the knee is important in regaining strength and preventing blood clots.
What Kind of Things Can I Receive Compensation for After a Knee Injury?
A sprained knee could be treated in an emergency room and heal on its own over a few weeks with the use of a brace. Staying off your feet will also be recommended. With a more serious knee injury, the effects could also stick around for months and also affect your wellbeing and freedom of movement over a lifetime. The pain may be a daily challenge for years, and your walking could never return to normal.
These potential life-altering outcomes make it very important to get the most out of any claim for damages filed with an at-fault party’s insurance provider.
That insurance support earned might have to cover your health issues over months or even over the rest of your life in the case of a permanent disability.
Your California personal injury lawyer will work to make sure insurance companies are aware of every damage you’ve absorbed since your injury and get estimates on hardships that may occur in the future.
These are just a few of the things that can factor into the amount you’ll see on a knee injury settlement check:
- Past and future medical bills.
- Physical therapy bills. Victims may need to learn how to walk and bend their knees again.
- Estimates on the lifelong physical and emotional costs of permanent physical disability.
- Support for the pain endured during recovery. A California knee injury lawyer would make sure victims didn’t face a lifetime of chronic pain alone without reliable medical care.
- Support for the emotional trauma endured during a frightening accident and through a difficult knee injury rehabilitation. The anguish of not being able to participate in family activities or enjoy former hobbies contributes to an overall loss of enjoyment of life.
- Past and future lost wages while having to miss work hours.
- Replacement of personal property damaged in an accident.
What Not to Say After an Accident to Protect Your Knee Injury Claim
On the scene of an accident and on the phone with insurance representatives, there will be key things you’ll want to avoid saying. Insurance companies are looking for any reason they can to wriggle out of having to support you as you recover from a knee injury.
These are just a few of the statements to steer clear of in the aftermath of a personal injury accident:
- Don’t say “my bad.” Admitting any kind of fault in your accident could hurt your case. In the aftermath of an accident, you may not have a clear idea of who was to blame for what happened. On the scene, don’t accept fault or apologize. These statements can be turned around on you later and used as proof you were to blame, even when you weren’t.
- Don’t say you are “all right.” Saying you aren’t injured after a car crash or a fall at a grocery store or at work is a bad idea. The fact is, the shock of what’s happened may be masking your pain. You may wake up the next morning in intense pain and have a doctor tell you you’ve got a fractured kneecap or a ligament tear. If you say something like “I’m fine,” insurance companies will use this statement to try to prove that any injury that arises later is made up.
- Don’t offer statements to insurance representatives. Insurance adjusters will be calling you in the days after your accident. They’ll ask how you are doing, but their real goal is to get you to consent to make a recorded statement. They are fishing for a statement they can twist later to downplay your injuries or your innocence. Decline this request for a statement. Give them only basic information and then refer them to your California Traumatic Injury Lawyer.
Contact a California Knee Injury Lawyer
After suffering any type of knee injury after an accident anywhere in California, contact a dedicated and highly regarded personal injury lawyer at Maison Law as soon as possible.
You can schedule a free consultation and case assessment at no cost or obligation at all. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injuries are worth. If you decide we can help you get the most out of your knee injury claim, no legal fees at all are due unless we obtain a settlement or award for you.
