Knee Injuries - By: Jason Epstein

Over the past several years, car manufacturers have focused on reducing injuries leading to wrongful deaths in car accidents . This has focused much of their attention on ensuring the safety of the driver and rider’s head, neck, and chest. These efforts have greatly reduced the number of deaths in car accidents. However, car accidents still occur every day and all of the focus on the upper body has left the lower body without any real safety advancements. The driver’s knees are especially vulnerable due to the close proximity of the steering wheel, dashboard, and driver side door.

Human knees are very fragile, especially to outside forces and to movement outside of their acceptable range of motion. The knee serves to connect the femur (upper leg) with the tibia and fibula (lower leg). It is made up of a variety of ligaments, soft cartilage and the knee cap. These parts allow for the great range of motion, but it also makes them very vulnerable to injury. Most knee injuries involve tearing the ligaments of the knee: the ACL, MCL, PCL, etc.

70% of all knee injuries occur in the ACL, so it is no surprise that ACL injuries are the most common type of knee injury in car accidents as well. They most commonly occur in head-on crashes where the knee is twisted into an abnormal position or struck at an intense speed. In these cases, the driver usually sees the oncoming danger and braces for impact while attempting to avoid the obstacle. While tensing in the face of an oncoming vehicle is a natural reaction, it often does more harm than good. It does not allow your muscles to absorb the shock, but instead transfers it at full force to the bones, tendons and ligaments. These injuries vary in degree where those more intense result in a complete rupture of the ligament while less severe cases include only a small tear and slight pain. When the ACL is either severely strained or torn the result is intense pain and a reduced or inexistent ability to put weight on the leg or walk. Other ligaments that often suffer injuries in car accidents include the MCL and PCL. The PCL is the common victim of a direct impact of the knee and the dashboard in a head-on collision.

Treatment and healing for all knee ligament injuries is similar. Reparative surgery is required in almost all cases to ensure that the ligaments heal correctly and full range of motion and strength can be reacquired. An extensive recovery period then follows, lasting six months or more. The victim must wear a cast and then a brace to ensure that the knee does not move as the ligaments reform. Physical therapy is key to regaining strength and motion once the knee has begun to recover. All of these treatments can be very costly and time consuming.

About the Author

Jason Epstein is the founder of Straight Talk Law. For more free “Straight Talk Law” information, please visit the website at http://www.straighttalklaw.com where you can order free books on personal injury lawyers, Washington auto accidents, auto insurance and other valuable legal information, offered as a public service by Jason and his law practice in Seattle, Washington.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Jason-Epstein/60628

Additional Articles From - Home | Reference & education | Legal