In most cases this injury will not have been caused by a car accident however there is a significant proportion that is a direct result of motor vehicle collisions. Road traffic accidents are a major cause of traumatic injury and represent more than half of all cases handled by personal injury solicitors. If you have been injured in a car accident and you want to make a compensation claim for personal injury and loss just complete the contact form, email our offices or use the solicitor’s helpline. Our car accident compensation claim solicitors offer free advice without further obligation. If we deal with your claim it will be on a no win no fee basis, compensation is paid in full and you do not have to fund or finance your car accident compensation claim.
The knee is very important to a proper human gait. It needs to extend and flex during movement in order for us to run, walk, kick and sit properly. There are four bones that make up the knee joint. The femur is the upper bone that extends from the thigh to the knee. It can be fractured or dislocated from the knee joint. The tibia and fibula extend down from the knee and help with a bit of rotation of the knee. The knee rotates just a lit bit and too much rotation can damage the ligaments. The patella helps with the muscle attachment and stability of the knee. It is a free floating bone that is disk shaped.
There are two major muscle groups that balance each other out and allow movement of the joints. The quadriceps muscles are on the front of the upper leg and extend the joint to a straight position. The hamstrings flex the joint and are on the posterior aspect of the upper leg. The patella is encased within the quadriceps muscles.
The stability of the knee joint is due to 4 different ligaments. These are thick bands of connective tissue that hold the knee joint together. The medial and lateral collateral ligaments are on the side of the knee and keep the knee from sliding sideways. The anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament keep the knee from sliding forward or backward. They form an X shape on the surface of the knee. There are also shock absorbing cartilage pieces called menisci that lubricate the joint and keep bone from rubbing on bone.
The knee is susceptible to injuries. It can undergo direct blows in sports injuries or can twist or bend in the wrong way so as to damage the knee joint. Direct blows can bend the knee sideways, damaging the medial or lateral collateral injury. The ligaments can be stretched or torn. Grade one strains just stretch the joint; grade two strains partially tear the ligament; grade three strains completely tear the joint in two. Certain twisting injuries can stress the meniscus or cartilage so that it can tear or pinch itself between the tibial surface and the edges of the femoral condyle, which results in the tear of the meniscus.
You can damage the ligaments and tendons around the knee by acute hyperflexion or hyperextension of the knee by overuse or direct trauma. These are called knee strains. They are graded just like ligamentous strains. Third degree strains completely disrupt the muscle. You can also get an inflammation of the bursa around the knee that cushion the knee. The bursa can become painful and swollen. Knee injuries can cause sudden swelling from bleeding within the joint associated with inability to bend the knee. They can also be more insidious and swell over time.
Signs and symptoms of knee injury include pain in the knee and swelling of the knee joint itself. There can be difficulty bending the knee and inability to bear weight on the knee. If the swelling is immediate, then the ligaments are primarily affected. If the swelling occurs over time, then the cartilage or menisci are primarily affected. You can have injuries affecting more than one aspect of the knee which confuses the picture. There can be tenderness over the medial or lateral collateral ligaments along with bruising of the knee. Swelling can be intermittent and worse with activity or may gradually regress as you rest the knee. Pain may be at rest or may be during activity only. Pain with walking down stairs suggests you have a patellar injury from bending the quadriceps muscle in a certain way. Popping or grinding of the knee suggests a meniscal injury.
Doctors diagnose a knee injury through a careful history of the injury and a physical examination which shows the signs and symptoms of the knee injuries noted above. The doctor will look at knee stability and will look at bruising and tenderness. The knee can be evaluated with a plain x-ray or a CT scan or MRI scan of the knee. The MRI scan is a much better test and can show torn ligaments. Doctors can also do arthroscopy, which involves a camera that is inserted into the joint. Torn ligaments can be seen via an arthroscope. Surgeries to the knee can be done via an arthroscope, particularly torn ligament and torn meniscus surgery.
Almost all knee injuries heal with either surgery or rest. If the doctor needs to do surgery, it can be an open surgery or a surgery using the arthroscope. Rest, ice, compression and elevation or RICE is an acronym that helps heal injuries to the joint that are not surgically correctible. Each injury is unique and needs specialized orthopedic care.
If you have suffered physically, mentally or financially, you should consider making an accident compensation claim. For free telephone advice from specialist personal injury solicitors just call the helpline. Our lawyers will assess the strength of your claim and will advise you on your potential award of compensation without any further obligation.