Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Foot injuries are a common but also commonly overlooked injury in car accidents. These injuries happen because your body may be thrown forward in a car crash, so your feet impact the gas and brake pedals or other hard surfaces in your car. In addition, front impact car accidents can lead to foot injuries because the front of your car can crumple in the impact, injuring your feet.
If you’re suffered a foot injury, you deserve fair compensation so you can heal fully. To find out more about how much your injury could be worth and what fair compensation might look like, contact Flaxman Law Group. Whether you’re injured in Colorado or South Florida, our boutique, family-focused law firm would be pleased to meet with you to review your situation and to provide you with some answers.
Common Foot Injuries in Car Crashes
These injuries are most common in car collisions:
- Fractures. Each foot has 26 bones and 33 joints. In a car accident, any of the bones can be broken or crushed.
- Compartment syndrome. This serious injury happens when any of the small compartments of tendons, muscles, or nerves in your foot suffer trauma. When this happens, your muscles become compacted and your foot will be very painful and swollen. Without proper medical intervention, which could include surgery, this injury will not heal properly on its own.
- Lisfranc fractures. This type of injury involves breaks to the bones on the top of your foot. These are the bones that connect your toes to the rest of your foot and these fractures tend to be complex. You may need surgery to correctly set these bones and you may need to stay off your feet for at least ten weeks.
- Cuts and punctures. Sharp objects during a car accident can puncture or cut your foot. If the tendons at the back of your foot are affected, your mobility could be affected. If arteries like the plantar arteries are cut, your injuries could be life-threatening.
- Injuries to the ligaments, joints, and soft tissues. Like any part of your body, your feet can suffer strains and sprains. In a car accident, you can also tear the ligaments of your feet or rupture tendons. Any of these injuries can be very painful and can leave you unable to walk for weeks.
- Calcaneus fracture. The Calcaneus is the heel bone, and when it breaks in a car collision you could experience severe swelling, pain, and even heel deformity. You may need surgery to treat this injury and you may need to stay off your affected foot for 12 weeks or more to allow the bone to heal.
Dealing with Foot Injuries After a Car Crash
Most of us take our feet for granted, but when we suffer a serious foot injury in a car collision, our whole life is affected. These injuries are painful and affect our mobility. It’s also not uncommon for foot injuries to lead to secondary injuries. If you can’t put your weight on your foot and you move in an awkward way while your foot heals, for example, you may start to experience back pain or other types of pain as your body adjusts to the awkward posture.
If you’ve suffered a foot injury in a car crash, you may be eligible for compensation. You may be able to seek compensation from your own insurance company or file a claim against the at-fault driver. To find out more, schedule a consultation with an accident attorney at Flaxman Law Group. Our family-based team works with injured individuals across South Florida and in Colorado.